Young Adult Romance
Date Published: 02-14-2023
Publisher: Fire & Ice YA (Melange)
The Secrets of Constellations was selected by Barnes and Noble as a Top Indie Book for February and March, and on Amazon, it hit #1 Best Seller and #1 New Release in Teen & YA Adoption.
It’s been sixteen years since Norae Whelan’s adoption. She’s conquered her past by baking her way through her challenges. All that’s left is culinary school, until a unique stranger offers her an opportunity to learn the truth of her birth and with it, the trial of facing down what she thought she left behind.
Her birth mother’s hometown is a place where memories hide beneath the floorboards of an eclectic house. Inheriting a house and all its mysteries is one thing. The instant attraction to Orion Reise is another. There’s only one problem. Orion’s blind, and the reason behind it lurks through the downtown streets, dying to take him away.
With the end of summer fast approaching, Norae must make some big decisions. She’ll have to decide if falling in love with Orion is worth the price of letting go of her past and embracing a potentially, disastrous future.
Interview with S. H. Clark
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
Oh boy! If I can think back to the beginning, I think I’ve written around nine? But I’ve shelved a few whether its because of lack of interest or something similar was released. While I absolutely love The Secrets of Constellations, and I think everyone will enjoy it, my favorite novel has yet to be released. It’s a romantic retelling of an Edgar Allan Poe story. It needs a bit more work before we start going out on submissions to editors, but I think when it does, it will do really well.
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
I’ve thought about writing a sequel. With there being five roommates in Thatchor Manor, I have the opportunity to write a bit more. Readers want to know what happens next, but I’m currently on the fence. I think the book could stand on its own. If my publisher brought the idea to the table, then I’d consider it a bit more. We’ll see. As it is, I am working on three other novels and it would be a while before I got to it.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Every one of my stories could potentially stand alone. I remember being taught in my MFA, write the novel as if it were to be the only one to see the world. Publishing is a business, a contracted business, even though writers do have a say in what they write. So far, I haven’t written a novel I think can be part of series. I do have one coming that could, but so far, my novels stand alone. I’m not sure if that’s what I intended when I started writing, but as it stands, that’s what I have, and I’m proud of them.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
The novel had multiple titles: “Art in the Window,” “Finding Orion,” and “Scintilla” were the first three choices. I’m not sure when I decided to change it again. It could have been after my first ten rejections. I felt as though “Scintilla” wasn’t the right fit. An acquaintance of mine recommended I look at the names in the story and play off that. I really enjoy unique names (if you read the novel, you’ll see) and thought about the connection between the main characters, Norae and Orion. One of their first solo activities is looking at the stars in an avocado field. I thought about the secrets everyone in the house keeps, and from there, The Secrets of Constellations was born.
How long did it take you to write this book?
The idea for the novel happened in the winter of 2014 during a massive snowstorm while I was in Connecticut for my MFA residency. I was working on “Chasing Moonbows” (my self-published novel) at the time, so I set the idea aside for a while. I picked it up again in 2016. I felt like it was in a good place in 2019, and started sending it out on sub. I signed with my agent a year later.
What does the title mean?
The Secrets of Constellations refers to all the mysteries the Thatchor Manor residents hide as well as the mysteries surrounding an event in Orion Reise’s past.
What did you learn when writing the book?
I had the opportunity to learn about the side-effects of putting up a child for adoption. I understand everyone’s situations are different and there are reasons for everything, but I never heard people talk about the psychological effects on the kids. Because my main character was adopted when she was two, I wanted to learn everything I could about the process as well as what she might have gone through while growing up.
What surprised you the most?
I was surprised at how easily the story came to me, as if I knew the characters in the book in real life. Aside from their names (those changed over time), I knew the stories. I knew exactly how they felt, when they felt it, and how they grew into the people they were in the story. Because of this, most of the novel’s first draft was finished within two months. It was the editing and changes that took longer to accomplish (I hate the editing process).
Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?
Not yet! I get really close though. Maybe one day!
What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?
I like to go onto stock photo websites while I’m designing my characters and find models that resemble what they look like. When I’m focused on a scene with those characters, I’ll look at the pictures. That usually lets me picture them in my head where I can hear their voices. Other than that, my characters live freely in my imagination while I’m working on their novel and come and go as needed.
About the Author
S. H. Clark is a romance author in the following sub-genres: young adult, contemporary, horror, and fantasy.
Clark lives in Southern California with her two cats and her beloved coffee maker. When she's not writing, which is rare, she's an elementary school teacher on one of California's Native reservations. She holds multiple secondary degrees, including an MFA in Creative Writing, has a bookshelf overflowing with paranormal romances, and loves to write to the sound of a thunderstorm.
It's been said Clark has attempted to conjure Cadbury Cream Eggs with her Harry Potter wand.
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