Oh, and the fairy stones can really be found at Fairy Stone State Park in Patrick County, Virginia. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the park and lake in the early 1930s. To learn more about the stones and the legend behind them, please check out the Virginia State Parks website (http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/blog/legend-of-the-fairy-stone).
An Interview with Angie Smibert
Q. Where did the idea for this book come from?
A. For Lingering Echoes, I wanted to tell the story of how Will lost his voice. The object at the center of this book is a jelly jar that captures sounds—like (spoiler alert!) young Will’s voice. The jelly jar was inspired in part by the Appalachian folktale “Soldier Jack.” In it, Jack is given a sack that captures things when he says the magic words, “Wickety wack, get in my sack.” In fact, the objects jump right into the bag. He grabs everything from a turkey to some poker-playing devils to Death itself that way. However, he keeps Death in the bag way too long, which creates all sorts of problems, and he eventually has to let him out. To me, that was the most interesting part. What if the sounds got bottled up in the jar? How would they be let out?
Q. You wrote a short story, “The Jelly Jar,” about this idea. How does Lingering Echoes differ from the short story?
A. Sometimes when I get an idea, I like to test it out in a short story. “The Jelly Jar” appeared in Cicada magazine a few years ago. Actually, I was playing around with the settings, characters, and ideas a bit before I wrote Bone’s Gift. (In the first few drafts, the jelly jar storyline was part of Bone’s Gift!) The two big differences between the short story and this novel are whose story it is and how the jar works. “The Jelly Jar” is told from Will’s point of view! And the jar captured sounds—but only until the jar was opened again. Then the sounds flitted down into the mines to where Will’s father had died. The novel is, of course, Bone’s story of how she helped her friend(s)—and herself—unbottle things trapped inside.
Q. In this book, Ruby, Will, and Bone are all dealing with grief and anger. Why did you pick those themes?
A. These themes arose naturally from the idea of the jar keeping things inside. All the characters in this story are experiencing grief—and anger is part of it. Ruby has just lost her father. Bone and Will lost parents, too, but both at a young age. In researching how the characters might handle their losses differently, I learned a lot about kids and grief. When young children experience a loss, they can’t really grieve fully. They regrieve the loss at different stages in their childhood. For instance, Bone’s father leaving causes her to regrieve her mother’s death. (But she doesn’t realize she’s angry with Mama—and directs it at Aunt Mattie, who, let’s face it, kind of deserves it. Kind of.) In fact, experts think children keep regrieving until they’re in their 20s.
Q. Do you believe in ghosts or haunted objects?
A. I am a skeptic—but I don’t dismiss the idea entirely. I love ghosts and other supernatural things (and Halloween) because they make awesome stories. And, I have to admit, I was a big fan of shows like Ghost Hunters. However, I think most ghosts can be explained scientifically and/or psychologically. That is, something like a strong electromagnetic field can make us feel creeped out or even see things. And sometimes we see what we expect or even want to see. To be fair, though, I think there’s probably 1% (give or take) of “paranormal” activity that we can’t explain … yet.
Q. Does anyone in your family have a Gift?
A. I didn’t think so when I was writing Bone’s Gift! Since it came out, though, I’ve learned that some extended/distant family members could dowse for water or cure warts! Evidently, there was also someone in the community who could make burns stop hurting.
Q. Who’s your favorite character?
A. I love all the characters (especially Bone, Will, and Mamaw), but I’d have to say my favorite character is Uncle Ash. He may seem a bit broken to outsiders, but he’s also seen and done more than most and chosen to follow his own path, making the best use of his Gift. I have a soft spot for nonconformists. And, of course, he’s always got his dogs with him.
ANGIE SMIBERT is the author of the Memento Nora series, which Booklist called “a gift for both reluctant and regular readers,” and Bone’s Gift, the first book in the Ghosts of Ordinary Objects trilogy. She grew up in Blacksburg, a sleepy college town in the mountains of southwest Virginia. Her mother’s family once worked in the long-closed coal mines along the New River. Angie always had stories in her head. Eventually, after a few degrees and a few cool jobs—including a ten-year stint at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center—she wrote some of those stories down. She now lives in Roanoke, Virginia. Visit angiesmibert.com.
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