On Writing Characters Who Don't Look Like Me… and Ones Who Do

One of the biggest challenges I faced when writing The Foothills was: how do I keep six voices distinct?

It’s a great question. There are six characters, and they each get one section; each perspective is given exactly one shot. There’s no return, no revisits and no second pass. The story only continues from the perspective of the next character.

The more honest question, the one I asked myself constantly while writing, was different: do I have the right to be inside all of these people?