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Hayley Krischer: Certain Struggles Are Worth Having

Hayley Krischer is the author of two young adult novels, Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf and The Falling Girls. She is also an award-winning journalist who has written for the The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Marie Claire, Elle, and more. Where Are You, Echo Blue? is her first novel for adults. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Hayley Krischer

Photo by Lisa Kollberg

In this interview, Hayley discusses how her experience reporting on celebrity inspired her new novel, Where Are You, Echo Blue?, her hope for readers, and more!

Name: Hayley Krischer
Literary agent: Emily Sylvan Kim
Book title: Where Are You, Echo Blue?
Publisher: Dutton
Release date: July 16, 2024
Genre/category: Women’s fiction
Previous titles: Two YA novels—Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf; The Falling Girls
Elevator pitch: Where Are You, Echo Blue? is about the most famous child star of the 90s who disappears on the eve of the millennium, and the journalist, who is an obsessed fan, who searches for her.

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What prompted you to write this book?

I was writing celebrity profiles for The New York Times, which was a dream job for me. I interviewed Celine Dion, Gabrielle Union and Tatum O’Neal. But at a certain point I started to feel uncomfortable with the whole celebrity industrial complex. Who was I to ask personal questions? Was I part of this whole toxic celebrity world by interviewing stars? I especially connected with Tatum O’Neal, and I wondered what it was like for her to be famous for so long.

She was 10 when she won her Oscar for Paper Moon. Her life had been extremely difficult. She had very public struggles covered by the press, and she also wrote about those struggles in her book. I started thinking about a child star who didn’t have a support system in place to help her, loosely based on Tatum O’Neal. What if that star disappeared? Then I began thinking of a journalist who wasn’t so ethical. What if that journalist was someone who made very bad decisions. I knew I could make a commentary about celebrity culture and how dangerous it can be by writing this story.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I was completely obsessed writing this book. It took me about 10 months to write the whole book from beginning to end. I started writing it in June or July of 2021. I went back and forth with my agent who I completely trust. The idea did not change. She sent it to a few select editors around mid-May of 2022. About a week later, Dutton wanted to buy it. We had a terrific zoom call with the editor-in-chief and my editor. They had one ask: They didn’t want me to lock one of my main characters in the basement! (More on that below!) But I had a contract with Dutton by June 3 of 2022. The book comes out July 14, 2024, so that’s about three years from idea to publication, which is very fast for me!

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

Getting the right cover was definitely a learning process. The design team wanted a person—as in a real person. They had sent me a lot of images of models and photo shoots of women who could be fictional starlets. But none of them were the right person. When you’re trying to match a person to your fictional character, it’s very difficult. I kept thinking of the iconic cover of Daisy Jones and the Six, and how that model clearly influenced casting of Riley Keough’s look in the television show. But we kept running into so many issues. Echo had to look 19. She had to look innocent, but not too innocent. The fur coat she was wearing wasn’t the “right” fur because it wasn’t vintage enough. At a certain point in the book Echo cuts her hair like Deborah Harry and the model’s hair wasn’t wispy enough. I think my designer wanted to kill me. We finally found someone that everyone agreed on and then we couldn’t get the licensing rights. It was a mess.

At the end, I found the model who we ended up using. She really captured Echo’s essence and youth. Then everyone was happy! I give my design team and the editorial team so much credit for sticking with it and making sure Echo Blue was properly represented. It’s hard to stick with your gut when you’re the author. What do I know about design?? But I do know my character. Certain struggles are worth having.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I had been determined to write a book about a woman going into the descent of madness. There were so many books about obsession and mental health that I loved like, Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh, Bunny by Mona Awad, Looker by Laura Sims, and Animal by Lisa Taddeo. Goldie Klein, the obsessed journalist was an exciting character for me to write. It was my first adult book and I wanted her to let go, really be free and make terrible choices.

The original ending of my story had one of main characters locked in a basement. I didn’t want horror, but I wanted the reader to feel horror. It felt like a huge turning point for me that I was excited to commit to. But my editor wasn’t feeling it. She didn’t think it served the story. In fact, I’m not sure she was going to buy the book if I didn’t take that part out. I was so torn. Here was my moment to descend into madness! But I had to really look at the full book. Did that scene serve the story? Or did it serve me? In the end I realized it was a “kill your darlings” moment. So, I let it go and the story is better because of it.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

Echo Blue isn’t just about celebrity culture. It’s about relationships. Father’s and daughters. Best friends. Working relationships. I hope that people get how much of a toll it takes on a young person to have that much responsibility for being in front of the camera. Young stars are so important to Hollywood because they are the actors whose stories give us hope. But we can certainly be more gentle and more forgiving of them as they grow up. It’s just not fair how the media treats young stars. The pressure seems horrific.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Don’t give up! I’ve been writing since I was in high school but didn’t publish my first book until I was 48. Writing is the one career that the older you get, the better you get.


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