Tell us about FALLING UNDER

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you just wanted to hide in your house? That’s what artist Mara Foster does, every day. Talented but fragile, she lives in self-imposed isolation, painting the same thing over and over.

Then she meets Hugo. Seized with desire for a better life, she throws herself back into the world, hoping that pretending to be normal will make her so. But of course it’s not that easy…

What genre is it?
Contemporary.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
If you like a read that is fast-paced, intense, sexy, deep, and manages to be both dark and funny at the same time, you’ll love Falling Under. It really is an emotional rollercoaster of a story, with enough juicy issues and controversial plot points to keep most book clubs talking late into the night. I’ve had many book clubs read Falling Under, and I also think it really appeals to women in their 20s and 30s.

Complete this sentence for us: If you like ___________, you’ll love Falling Under
This question is the hardest! Falling Under honestly doesn’t compare easily to anything I’ve read. The closest I can come is that it’s similar in tone to the TV series, Six Feet Under. (Strangely, many readers who loved Twilight also love Falling Under, though Falling Under is absolutely nothing like Twilight. Someone else compared it to Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I believe the thing Falling Under has in common with these books is “intensity”.)

Mara Foster is real; she’s not some idealised fictional character. She has frailties and complexities that we all can recognise. How much of a challenge was it to create her?
When I was in the conception stage with this book, I knew there were certain big issues I wanted to write about–the effects of divorce on children when they become adults, for example. I also knew I wanted to write about someone with an artistic temperament and dealing with anxiety. I wanted to tackle some deep territory, but I didn’t want to write a depressing book. For me, the darkest times really pull out my sense of humor; it’s a survival tactic, I think, and really soul-saving. I therefore wanted the book to be funny, and also sexy, and to really ride the edge, emotionally speaking. So I needed a great character with a high degree of self-awareness, a great sense of humor about herself, and someone who’s a fighter. As I mulled this over, Mara just sort of…appeared on the stage of my mind. Just walked in. So the writing of the book was a challenge, but finding the character was a fairly organic process, born of the research I was doing, and my own preoccupations and the story I wanted to write.

In what ways does your background as a playwright and an actress help or hinder you as a novelist?
It’s a huge help. Massive. My years in the theater taught me so much about conflict, character, story structure, pacing, language. When I write dialogue, I’m hearing it and feeling it, and if it’s clunky or overwritten, I can usually spot it pretty quickly. In terms of the physical–ie descriptions of what people are doing, I often envision that as if it were on a stage, or on camera, and it’s like blocking for me. Where I’m perhaps hindered is in description of things like setting. I tend to skip over a lot of that and then I have to go back and layer it in. The dialogue comes naturally, the emotional/inner world description comes naturally and the who’s doing what does too, but ask me to describe a sunset and I have to really work at it.

Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I am a voracious reader of fiction and I don’t limit myself to any particular genre. To me, a good book is a good book and it could be a mystery or a dystopian or a beautifully wrought literary story. What I’m reading depends on my mood, and I usually have a few different types of books on the go. I’m also the mom of two little girls, married to an actor/real estate agent, and I live in Toronto.

Have you got a blog or website where readers can keep up with your work? How can we follow you on Facebook and/or Twitter?
I’m on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Danielle-Younge-Ullman-Author/121367807980739?ref=hl
And Twitter: @DanielleYUllman
Here’s my website: www.danielleyoungeullman.com.

Where can we buy Falling Under?
Everywhere! (At most digital bookstores, in other words!)

What’s next?
I haven’t made any official announcements yet, but there is a deal in the works for my YA novel, Princess Rehab. Details TBA!