The Memories, Lies, and Other Binds
Press Kit 

sample interview including faqs

An Interview with author
Katy Foraker

Writing for me is like food for the soul. I have all these ideas bouncing around in my mind— sometimes for years! Writing helps me get it all out. When those ideas are out on paper, they’re not taking up real estate in my mind any longer, which is a great feeling. Also, the process of writing; getting into that mode when the words are just bursting out of me is so cathartic. Some people ask me where the words come from, and unfortunately I don’t have an answer for that. They come from the ether and I mold them into scenes in the book. I can’t explain it any other way! 

In essence, I write because I love to write--it feels good. and if at least one person enjoys my writing, it would make me fulfilled as a writer. 

Why Do You Write?

I had this story in my mind for decades, probably since I was a teenager! I really love the urban fantasy stories (Buffy, Angel, A Discovery of Witches, The Rook, etc.) of the early 2000/2010s, but I didn’t really love how a lot of the female main characters were written. I wanted one who wasn’t “The Chosen One” or super-strong, or hard. I wanted her to be a reluctant hero with faults, not just a physically strong heroine from the beginning. 

Reading The Rook, by Daniel O’Malley was also a game-changer for me. It was the first urban fantasy I read with a female main character where the plot didn’t center around romance. It was such a breath of fresh air! It was just a fun, and sometimes silly paranormal story, and it made me realize that my own book didn’t have to be centered on a romance I didn’t want it to have. 

Writing this story during the pandemic also made me want to create a story that allowed an immersive break from the current reality. That’s why the story is set in 2021, but there’s no pandemic. It’s not an epic fantasy and doesn’t take itself too seriously for this reason as well.  It was also very intentional that the story ended with the cotton-candy ending. There is enough trauma going on in the world, I wanted readers to feel very satisfied and content when they read the last sentence. 

What was the inspiration behind MEMORIES, LIES, AND OTHER BINDS?

Creating the characters for the novel was probably one of the most interesting parts of writing the book! I started with Zoey’s character, and one of my favorite things with writing is juxtapositions. I wanted her to be this immortal character, but she’s also been locked up for the past few centuries which doesn’t allow her to mature emotionally. Immortal characters in other stories are often represented as these mature, grounded personalities, but Zoey has a bit of a ‘young soul’, she can be childish and brash. She can also be incredibly docile given her 18th Century upbringing. I wrote the story during the height of the pandemic (Winter 2021) when most people in DC were still staying locked inside and developing new routines to cope with everything being closed down. That went into a lot of molding of Zoey's character: the fact that once you settle into a new routine, it’s hard to try to break out of it. 

In creating all the side-characters, I remember sitting down on my couch staring at the blank character sheet. I had a vague idea (basically the vibe) of the characters, and drew inspiration from friends, co-workers, and troupes. Once I had them written down with some back story, I remember it feeling so odd writing them into their first scenes. Before writing MEMORIES, LIES, AND OTHER BINDS, I had only written fan-fiction and was accustomed to writing with fully fleshed-out characters. These characters were complete strangers to me in the beginning! But as I continued to write the book, they took shape and evolved on their own! It was definitely a ‘trust the process’ sort of thing. I also tried to make the characters as believable as possible. Most of my friends have mixes of different religions, ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, etc. and you’ll see I tried to incorporate those like Astrid being a quarter-leprechaun to Charlotte’s Pagan upbringing.  

And for anyone wondering, I would also say that my own personality is most like Charlotte’s.

What Inspired the characters of MEMORIES, LIES, AND OTHER BINDS? 

During the pandemic, I was watching Good Morning America and they were talking about the best ways to pass the time during lockdown. They suggested doing an activity that brought you joy as a child, like knitting or coloring, etc. As a kid I used to write. A lot. So, I decided to take the time during lockdown to write the story that’s always been in my mind. 

I also was diagnosed with cataracts (due to sublux [dislocated] lenses as part of Marfan Syndrome) and became at high risk of developing glaucoma. As a result, starting in November 2020, I started to rapidly lose my vision. That jump started me to try to write this novel as quickly as possible while I still had the majority of my sight. In January 2022, I had reconstructive eye surgery to save and restore my vision, which thankfully was successful! I can now see 20/20 and just need to use reading glasses when at the computer or reading. 

What Made You Want to Become a Writer? 

I consider myself a pantser writer with guard rails. I don’t write the scenes in sequence with the novel until the middle/end. I start with a few key scenes that are itching to get out of my head and just write those as I see them. I might write some notes on specific scene details or dialogue I don’t want to forget, but that’s it. When the story starts to take shape, I write a ‘Beat Sheet’, which are all the points in the story in order so I make sure I don’t forget everything. 

I usually write in the evenings after work, and always enjoy a glass of wine to get the creative juices flowing. I have a lot of anxiety about writing, and the wine helps with that too (for better or worse!). I would describe writing a lot like method-acting in that I have to actually feel the emotions of the characters to be able to write them. Because of that, some scenes are incredibly hard to write. The scene where Augustine show’s up at Zoey’s apartment took me nearly five hours to draft—I was constantly taking breaks because that scene was so emotionally draining. 

What is your Writing Process Like? 

Read and write. It doesn’t matter what it is, just read and write. I am constantly reading—especially when I am in writing mode and I find it helps me discover new words, dialogue tags, more concise ways to convey emotion that I can put my own spin on. My favorite author is Deborah Harkness, I just love the way she writes! So you can usually find me re-reading one of her books when I’m in writing mode. 

I would also encourage aspiring writers to write everything-anything their heart tells them to. I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to my own writing, and there are many brain dump scenes/exercises I do that no eyes other than mine will ever see. But in that writing, there is always potential—a piece of dialogue, an action sequence, etc. that I often re-leverage for the novel. It is also important to remember that there are so many changes from messy first draft to final, but you have to start somewhere. I also truly believe in the 70/20/10 rule in that: 70% of what you write will be OK, 20% will be good, and 10% will be great. The only way to write more ‘great’ sentences is to write more in general. And lastly, it’s easier to revise writing when there are actually words on the paper. 

What is Your Best Advice for Aspiring Writers?