Canadian author Brianne Sommerville studied English literature and theatre at Queen’s University before entering the world of public relations and marketing. She writes news releases and key messages by day, and fiction by night after her three kiddos under five have gone to sleep. Brianne has always been drawn to mysteries and suspense, particularly domestic suspense and psychological thrillers. In 2018, while on maternity leave with her eldest child, Brianne was feverishly scribbling in her notebook, confiding in its pages about her darkest fears as a new mother. It was the infinite days and sleepless nights fraught with anxiety that ended up laying the groundwork for her debut novel. What began as her sleep-deprived stream of consciousness evolved into If I Lose Her, a universal story of a new mother whose mind may or may not be unraveling
About If I Lose Her: The pregnancy podcasts warned Joanna Baker about the baby blues, but when a near-fatal mistake places the first-time mom under the watchful eye of Child Protective Services, she receives a serious diagnosis: postpartum depression. Jo hears the words, yet they don’t make sense. Nothing does. Her blackouts are increasing, and she can’t recall events she’s been accused of. As she fights to keep her daughter, she discovers cracks in her neighborhood, family, and her own home. With the support of her sisters, she attempts to piece together her traumatic past and uncover who is truly in control. Jo must battle her faltering mind to save what’s most important—her daughter.
Brianne Sommerville stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about researching and writing the book:
With a communications background, sharing the truth is always top of mind but I gravitate towards writing fiction where I can use my imagination and provide escapism for my readers. While my works are largely fictional, I still want my stories to be believable and as authentic as possible, which is why research is still important to my process.
Research usually doesn’t come until I have a strong understanding of where I’d like to take my story. I often begin with my personal experience (write what you know, they say), which was the case with my debut novel.
During the first few months of new motherhood, I was experiencing postpartum anxiety. We had a scare during delivery and a code pink was issued due to my daughter’s slow heart rate. After that, I had a hard time shaking concerns about her health. I found solace in confiding in my journal about the fears I was hesitant to share with friends and family. Those diary entries ended up inspiring the novel and I think it helped with the relatability of my main character Joanna Baker. I wrote the first drafts during the early days of motherhood over two maternity leaves, so my experiences were fresh and uninhibited. Research was easy when I could draw from my own immediate experiences. I’m taking a similar approach with my sophomore novel What She Left Behind, which features a sixteen-year-old diary point of view. I dug out my old teenage journal to help create an authentic teen voice.
Once I have my story shaped (I’m a plotter versus a pantser), then the drafting begins. If I encounter something in the plot that I want to learn more about, I usually put a placeholder in or I’ll take some time to do initial internet research. Like most thriller writers, my search history is alarming. I’d share some examples here but then I would be giving away major spoilers!
I consider myself a visual learner, so sometimes reading about a subject doesn’t cut it. Recently, I spent an hour watching YouTube videos of a dashcam in a snow plough so I could experience what it is like to drive one as I have a character in What She Left Behind who clears snow. That same novel involves renovations of a century home. To prepare, I watched many episodes of This Old House, a longstanding home-improvement show. It is on those days that my writing progress looks minimal but really, spending the time on that research helps ensure I am creating authentic characters and a realistic situation.
I also lean on friends and family who have experience or backgrounds in areas that I want to tap into. For example, I recently picked my sister’s brain who studied art therapy, to ensure a scene depicting a dementia patient’s therapy session was realistic. If I Lose Her references pharmaceuticals, so I consulted my father-in-law who has a pharma background.
A lot of the themes I explore involve mental health and other sensitive topics that require a level of research to ensure characters and their situations are represented appropriately. For If I Lose Her, I drew on my own experience with postpartum anxiety so that the additional research I engaged in complemented my firsthand experience.
Connect with Brianne on Instagram, Twitter/X, Goodreads, and TikTok, or visit her website to learn more about If I Lose Her, which arrives on March 5 in e-book, paperback and audio, wherever books are sold.
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