Lucky Break

In Lucky Break, published by Orca Book Publishers, Lucy “Lucky” Graves breaks her ankle in a rugby game which places her future plans in jeopardy. Author Brooke Carter talks to Erin Steel about writing her latest Young Adult novel.

Erin Steel (ES): Who is Lucy Graves? And what is she like?

Brooke Carter: Lucy is a teen athlete, a rugby star, and someone living with PTSD. She is incredibly bright, driven, and struggling to find her way when her identity as a rugby star is threatened by an injury. She makes lists, partly to deal with uncomfortable feelings, and because it’s how she makes sense of the world.

Erin Steel: The title of the book is Lucky Break, and Lucy’s nickname is Lucky. Is Lucy Graves lucky? Why or why not?

Brooke Carter: There is an inherent irony in the title. Of course, it is “unlucky” to break a leg or to experience significant trauma and loss, but at the same time, there is a sense of luck or good fortune to be a survivor and to be someone who has the support and resources to come back from a low point. Lucy is lucky—she has good friends, a present mother, consistent mentors, and the resilience she needs to succeed despite setbacks. In many of my books, I explore themes of ambivalence. I’m fascinated by characters caught between courses of action or ways of thinking. Lucy is both lucky and unlucky, and to some degree, there is no such thing as luck at all. There are only the choices we make and the relationships we build.

Erin Steel: This novel is written in the first-person and uses repetition and lists as stylistic devices. Why did you choose to tell this story in this way? How does it enhance character?

Brooke Carter: A first-person narrative made sense for this story because while it is action-packed, it is also an interior story that relies very much on a connection to voice. The reader needs to hear Lucy’s thoughts and experience what it’s like to get stuck in her thought loops or anxious moments. The repetition also helped to reinforce Lucy’s mindset. The lists are symptoms of Lucy’s struggles and are coping mechanisms that serve to illustrate her need to control what’s happening to her. Through these lists, the reader gains insight into her life. At the same time, the lists are a structural device that I used to communicate complicated information about the game of rugby. This is a hi-lo book, and there are constraints on language and sentence structure—and rugby can be a confusing game. Whenever I write a book, especially a hi-lo, I need to determine the unique structure first. The frame of the story is as important as the narrative, right down to the number of chapters. It all works together. Once I have found my unique structure, the rest falls into place.

Erin Steel: Lucy’s life revolves around school and rugby. What compelled you to write about a girl who plays rugby? What was the genesis of this story?

Brooke Carter: I had a brief rugby career… and then I broke my leg in two places. It was tough. I felt like I had screwed everything up, and all because I wanted to try a new sport. One can easily decide in that instance that trying new things is a bad idea, but I learned that when we experience these setbacks we also experience significant growth. In my case, I was fortunate that key people around me were willing to help with my long recovery, and I learned to rely on others. It was years later that I decided to write about it, and it was in response to a growing awareness of anxiety in youth sports. Mental health is so critical to an athlete’s development, and it should be addressed the same way nutrition and training are addressed. I also wanted very much to write a sports book that centred on girls, particularly about girls being excellent in sports.

Erin Steel: How did writing about a sport many teens may not be familiar with impact the writing and editing process in both positive and/or negative ways?

Brooke Carter: The challenge in writing about rugby is that (in this region of the world) not everyone is familiar with the sport or the rules. I knew I needed to educate the reader about the sport or else the action sequences would not make sense. That’s where the lists came in and having Lucy’s passion for the sport come through in her first-person narrative. It is a tricky thing when writing sports action scenes to not become bogged down in details or jargon, and to ensure that the pacing is kept tight and exciting. When it came to editing, that was tricky in a different way. I was blessed with an amazing editor, Tanya Trafford, who always knew what I was trying to accomplish, but who was also keeping the bigger picture in mind in terms of the hi-lo accessibility aspects, the audience, and the constraints of the style guide. Copyediting introduced some issues when it came to measurements (metric vs. imperial), but we worked it all out in the end.

Erin Steel: A few of the themes in this novel are sport, mental health, trauma, and friendship. What are you hoping a teen reader will glean from reading a story that includes these issues?

Brooke Carter: I would love for teen readers, whatever their interests or passions are, to be able to see themselves in this story. Yes, it is about rugby on one level, but really, it’s about resilience. We all face hard times, and being an adolescent is such an intense period in someone’s life. The stakes feel so high, and the lows feel very low. What I hope is that teens can find a safe person in their life to talk to when the pressures get to be too much, and if they’re struggling please reach out—to a friend, a coach, a parent, a teacher. I also hope they will come to understand that there is no finish line, only a process of growth. We work toward the next goal or the next “try” or toward winning the next game, getting into the championship, getting the scholarship, and so on. And there’s the sense that if we can just make it to that next goal we will finally be happy. Of course, that isn’t true, and there will always be something else on the horizon. We must learn to enjoy the process over the outcome. We must try to enjoy the present moment.

Erin Steel: The love interest in this story, Andy Williams, is different from Lucy, but also very different from how boys in sports stories are often portrayed. What was your thought process when you were developing his character alongside Lucy’s character?

Brooke Carter: I felt very much like I wanted Andy to be a nurturing, kind, and caring character. Partly this is because Lucy deserved a boyfriend like this, and I wanted that for her, but also because I know that boys are more than capable of being nurturers and I felt like that is routinely underrepresented in youth fiction. While he is not athletic himself, he brings so many other kinds of gifts to the story. I also wanted him to be able to reflect on how wonderful Lucy is—he sees her for who she is and accepts her.

Erin Steel: Lucky Break is part of the Orca Soundings series which are short, high-interest novels written specifically for teens. How do you approach writing a novel for a series like this? Does it differ from writing other types of Young Adult novels?

Brooke Carter: Because of the constraints (no metaphors, no complex sentences, simplified diction, avoiding flashbacks, linear timeline, one point of view, and so on) I find it much more challenging to write a hi-lo than a full-length book. My writer’s tool chest has serious limits. That said, I have learned more about writing effective narratives through the process of constructing hi-lo books than any other format. All extraneous scenes and words get cut. The structure must be very tight. Typically, I employ a screenplay structure to keep the pace moving. Many of the books turn into allegories. On one level they are about the surface story, but there is a deep, deep subtext there as well. Sometimes that’s not obvious to every reader, and that’s okay. Sometimes that subtext is just for me. It may seem easier to write a short book but writing a story that has the depth of a full-length novel in under 20k words (and sometimes much less) is incredibly challenging. The painful part is when you find yourself writing a very beautiful sentence, but you must murder it because it’s too long or complex. I have learned to rely on images and tend to approach the prose from an imagist perspective to get my meaning across.

Erin Steel: You’ve written several Young Adult novels. Why are you drawn to writing books for teens?

Brooke Carter: My own teen years were a challenging time, and I suppose they still seem fresh to me. It’s a time when our friends are everything to us when we’re trying to figure out who we are, and when everything is terrible and exciting all at once. For a writer who is always writing about ambivalence and about characters who are “stuck” in some way, it’s a rich source of inspiration. I believe teens deserve to see themselves reflected in the books they read, and that literacy is crucial to freedom. Books were essential to my own survival as a teen, so if I can be a small part of that for another young person, then that’s a wonderful thing.

Erin Steel: What’s next for you? Can you share?

Brooke Carter: I tend to have several things cooking at once. While I am continuing to develop books for teen readers (and have delved into Middle Grade recently as well), I am currently polishing up an experimental literary novel for adults. I have a love of weird fiction and narratives with unique structures, and I’m trying to push myself to grow in another way. Every new format and genre helps me to be a more effective writer. It’s like writer cross-training.

ES: Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview.

About the Author