Joseph Moldover: Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment

Joseph Moldover is a writer and clinical psychologist who lives and works in Massachusetts. His debut novel, Every Moment After, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2019. His short fiction has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Stonecoast Review, MonkeyBicycle, One Teen Story, Typehouse, The MacGuffin, and elsewhere. From 2020-2023 he co-hosted the online program and podcast “Authors Love Bookstores” for A Mighty Blaze. Learn more at JosephMoldover.com, and follow him on X (Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.

In this interview, Joseph discusses how the connection he felt to his character’s voice helped inspire his new contemporary YA novel, Just Until, his advice for other writers, and more.

Name: Joseph Moldover
Literary agent: Adam Schear (DeFiore)
Book title: Just Until
Publisher: Holiday House/Margaret Ferguson Books
Release date: October 29, 2024
Genre/category: Contemporary Realistic YA
Previous titles: Every Moment After
Elevator pitch: Seventeen-year-old Hannah Lynn is on the cusp of breaking free of Evans Beach, Maine, when her nephews are taken by the state, leaving Hannah and her dad as the only people standing between the boys and the child welfare system. Slowly, she finds herself drawn into their lives and confronted with a choice between her own dreams and the needs of two boys she’s come to care for more than she ever thought she could.

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What prompted you to write this book?

My connection with Hanna’s voice, and through that her character. She’s so funny, smart, and independent, but also very vulnerable, and I immediately knew she had a story to tell. I’m always interested in the question of whose voice is being left out of a narrative, and in this one there are a lot of big voices: Hannah’s father, who is larger-than-life; her sister, who struggles with immense challenges; and her nephews, whose plight drives the action. It would be easy for Hannah to fall between the cracks, which is what has been happening her whole life. Writing this book, for me, was a way to create space for Hannah to tell her own story.

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

I started working on this book a bit over five years ago, and it went through tremendous changes. I played with lots and lots of plot ideas, trying to amp up the antagonistic forces, or make Hannah’s goals more epic and dramatic. I caked on a lot of artificial plot devices to try and hold the reader’s attention and make things more exciting. Basically, I didn’t trust my protagonist to tell the story. Hannah’s voice, however, always stayed the same and in the end, I needed to strip a lot of what I had done away and simply allow her to speak.

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

This was a wonderful, very rigorous process of editing and publishing. One thing that surprised me was how easily a strong editor (in my case, Margaret Ferguson) could see the little seams of old drafts I thought I had tucked away. This book went through a lot of revision before it got to editorial. I would think I had cut something—a character, a subplot—but there would be a sort of “lump,” something that was there that didn’t have to be there, and my editor picked right up on it. Once you put something into a novel, it’s difficult to truly take it out.

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

I did a lot of research into the child welfare system for this book, reading different scholars and journalists and consulting with social workers. As a child psychologist, I thought I understood the system. I didn’t. I realized that I brought unexamined assumptions to the table based on my class and racial background, and that many of my beliefs about supporting children and families in need were diametrically opposite to those of other, very well-informed, people.

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

I hope this book will open readers’ eyes to the almost half a million children and adolescents who are in the American child welfare system on any given day. They and the families supporting them are often invisible in their schools and communities. They experience disproportionate levels of disability, psychological disorder, trauma, and discrimination and they are subject to vast systemic inequities around race and class. Telling their story is a step toward further conversation about meeting their needs.

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

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Experiment with voice, with plot, with genre. Try writing in first, second, and third person. Set your story in outer space. Make your protagonist 100 years old. Find the characters and stories that unlock something inside of you and don’t worry too much about where it fits or what it means for your career. There is very little you can control in the publishing industry, but you can produce work with is authentic and meaningful for you.