What was the original title of the book?
Breathing in Darkness
How many words was this baby originally?
It was a monster at 125 000 words. So I slashed the research and tightened each scene, finally managing to reduce the word count to 94 000.
What sparked the idea for All the Terrible Things?
After reading Hans Ruesch’s Slaughter of the Innocent, I felt compelled to write a novel around animal rights, even though I was warned the subject matter would make the book unmarketable. Around the same time, I read Leon Uris’s Mila 18 and that sparked the idea to include teenage protagonists and their love story, alongside Amy and Kane’s love story.
What sort of research did you do for All the Terrible Things?
I spent three years researching this book, watching videos and reading diaries of undercover activists. I then had to take a number of years to try to recover from the research. I’m still haunted by many of the stories I came across.
Have you ever participated in any similar activities that your characters in All the Terrible Things were involved in?
I might have allegedly damaged a vehicle rescuing two poodles locked inside on a hot day.
And I might have allegedly untied a donkey who had been roped to a tree with no access to food or water at a petting farm. And I’m neither confirming nor denying that I was escorted off the aforementioned property.
Lara Martin 