Chris Whitaker is the award-winning author of Tall Oaks, All the Wicked Girls, and the New York Times bestseller We Begin at the End. Chris’s latest book, All The Colors of the Dark, is a Read with Jenna book club pick and is currently being adapted for television. We sat down with Chris to discuss his latest release.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

In 1975, a small town in Missouri is rocked by the disappearance of young girls. When a wealthy family’s daughter goes missing, an unexpected hero arises in the form of a local boy named Patch. Described as a genre-bending novel, All the Colors of the Dark combines a coming-of-age tale, with a serial killer thriller and a heart-filled love story.

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Your debut novel, Tall Oaks, won an award with CWA. We Begin at the End had massive success, a Good Morning America pick, Barnes & Noble book club, do you feel any pressure with each successive novel to follow that up and if so, how did you deal with that pressure?

I think only the pressure that I put on myself. Certainly for the first few books, what you don’t realize for an author is that normally, when a book is published, not a lot happens unless you’re very lucky. So, my first couple of books did well critically, but didn’t sell that well, so I never felt that pressure until after We Begin at the End. I think that book was way better than the first two, because I’m a better writer. Like anything, the more you practice, the better you get. Conversely, the more that I write, the harder it gets. I think that’s because I’m pushing myself further as an author. I’m very self critical. After We Begin at the End came out, all of a sudden there were a million people waiting for the next one. I had a new agent and a new UK editor, I did feel the weight of it… all these people waiting, but I also knew I wouldn’t rush it and wouldn’t compromise on the story. I missed my deadline by a year and a half because I couldn’t do it in time. I think that’s because the story evolved into something way bigger than what it began as.

Congrats on being a Read With Jenna pick! What does that mean to you?

She’s the most passionate, most caring, kind, supportive champion of books. When she announced it, she was so effusive and it went straight to #1 on Amazon which is completely mind-blowing. It sold thousands of copies in pre-orders because of how much she loved it and how much people respect her opinion. I found out about the book club pick quite a while ago but wasn’t allowed to tell anyone. I was really excited about it, but at the same time didn’t quite believe that it was real until I physically saw the book and saw the Read with Jenna sticker. I saw it in a book shop in Aspen and that’s when I met Jenna. It was really cool. I don’t write a book with any other goal than just to entertain people and hope that they care as much about the characters as I do. So, when that seems to be happening it feels like I’ve done my job, which is a really nice feeling.

It was just announced that UPC is adapting your book, All The Colors of the Dark into a series. What has that process been like so far?

I found out from Jenna the other day that there’s already a pilot written. I knew they were writing it. I knew Sarah Gubbins, who is just the best writer. I met with lots of people who were interested in adapting it and now there’s a dream team of Jenna, Sue Naegle and Sarah Gubbins. There couldn’t be three better people to adapt it. I’m desperate to read it, and apparently it’s coming to me this week. I’m really excited, I know it’s the first draft and early stages, but it’s really exciting.

Where did the idea for this novel take place?

So, I had finished We Begin at the End and had quite a simple idea. The topline pitch was two abducted teenagers fall in love in the pitch black basement they’re being held in, having never seen each other, and the boy escapes and can’t find his way back to the girl. Police don’t believe that she’s real, but he knows in his heart that she is. I think it was three lines, and they bought the book based on those three lines. I knew I had the skeleton of the story, but it evolved into something way bigger. It turned into this boy searching for this missing girl, who may or may not be real, over 27 years. It became this huge story about obsession, first love, coming of age, family, and I just couldn’t let it go. I felt like it could be way bigger, and I think I kind of knew it would be when I pitched it. Until I started writing and really got to know the characters… It was supposed to be delivered in a year, and it took 4 years to finish.

Your books deal with heavier subject matters, is there something that draws you to that?

I had quite a difficult childhood, and have had a fairly eventful life. I had to decide early on with the PR team whether or not to talk about my story in relation to this story and I couldn’t separate the two.

When I was ten, my mother’s boyfriend at the time was a drinker and quite rough. I was asleep and he pulled me out of bed and my arm broke. I couldn’t tell anyone afterwards, because he wouldn’t allow it because he’d get in trouble. I told my parents I’d done it playing football. I feel slightly Patch-like in that, I went into the dark of that night–it was the whole night I couldn’t tell anyone or cry or anything–I went into the dark as one person and came out as someone else. I feel like it was a pivotal moment in my life.

When I was a teenager, I was mugged and stabbed. I think that happened because of what happened when I was ten. I didn’t like feeling powerless or like a victim when I was ten, so when someone pulled out a knife, I think I would’ve rather died than give them my cell phone.

It sounds mad on the surface, but it didn’t feel like a choice at the time. I felt like that was how it was supposed to be, there was no option to walk away.

Later, I got into loads of debt in the city and broke the law and lost loads of money, and I think on some level, it was because I was unable to ask for help. I knew, when I was crying out for help when I was a kid, that no one came. I’ve had loads of counseling, but I just think those scars are borne of my childhood. When I go to write, I’m particularly interested in, like, early teens, because that’s where I was when my life changed, and I think it’s quite an interesting time.

I think I’m drawn to that as a subject matter: How does your childhood affect the rest of your life? Is it something you have to outrun, how much control do we have over the choices we make and the good or bad things that happen? This was the first book I’ve properly explored it.

You seem to have a knack for writing these underdog, unforgettable characters. Where do they come from and can you talk about how you develop them into such memorable people? On paper, you wouldn’t necessarily root for them but they create such a lasting impression.

In a strange way, actually. I spend the first year of writing doing dialogue, before I get to the story. People find it strange, but if you think about how you get to know someone, it’s through conversation. Through talking and sharing, so I need to do that part of the book. I might take these traits of Patch that I know he has, or the same with Duchess, the key thing is why? The more you talk to someone and spend [time] with someone, the less you’re able to put them in a box, good or bad. We’re all more than the worst or best things we’ve done, that’s the foundation that I start with when I’m writing a character. The more time I spend with them, the more I grow to love them. I know that once I love the character, I’m part way there. If I don’t like them and don’t want to spend time with them, I can’t expect the reader to as well.

Where did the title come from?

The title was really difficult, actually. I wrote for years without any title, and nothing felt right. Normally you can pull something out of the text, so my editors were looking and looking to pull things out of the text, and it was my UK editor who suggested All the Colors of the Dark and it fit in such a way that nothing else did. It’s so bleak for Patch, even his life before is really dark, he’s kind of living slightly in the darkness, and then this terrible thing happens, and his world gets even darker, but then, because of Grace, you get to see these slivers of light coming in, and it’s like, all this light pours in as he gets out and starts to realize that people love him and how much Saint cares for him. He does these bad things but people don’t give up on him. A kid like that might not have ever discovered that had this thing not happened to him. I look at it now and can’t imagine it being called anything else.

Can you talk at all about what you’re working on next?

I don’t have a lot, but I can give you a little bit! I’ve started writing a love story, it’s called The Time Keeper. It’s a bit like The Time Traveler’s Wife meets The Fault in Our Stars. I’m looking at love and time and it’ll be ready in like, fifty years probably!