Interview with D. L. Whipple, Author of The Outcast

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Outcast?

I grew up in a small town, much like Banning, challenged small-town norms, never quite fit in, and always felt like I was standing outside the circle. I began writing short stories in high school but didn’t share them with anyone. It was a release or maybe an escape for me. I sometimes felt out of place in school. Writing gave me control, the ability to make the world into what I wanted, to walk in someone else’s shoes. It’s been said that an author’s first book is autobiographical, so it is with The Outcast. The story, setting, and characters are fictitious, but at the heart of The Outcast are experiences and people who have touched my life. More than anything, I wanted the readers to experience the 60s before cellphones and the internet, where one’s value and relationships were not determined by comments on social media, when friendships lasted a lifetime and meant more than a name on a Facebook page.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Outcast, what would they be?

Against The Current pop band’s “Outsiders.”

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I’m not hooked on any genre. I skip around. I was a science fiction fan in my youth, then jumped to Hemingway, Steinbeck, and others. To Kill a Mockingbird is still my favorite book, and In Cold Blood and Executioner’s Song turned me into a true crime fan. I don’t think good writing is restricted to any particular genre.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

The God of the Woods, The Most Fun We Ever Had, and The Poisonwood Bible are books on my to-read list, as are a few series that I read and want to read more of.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

The easier question would be—which scenes were the most difficult? I have to give you two that I especially enjoyed. When Danny feels most alone on that first day at school in the cafeteria, Wendy sits across from him. I especially enjoyed their banter, even with the uneasiness they felt from being in a crowded lunchroom of people they had known most of their lives, yet each felt very alone. The other would be the opening scene of Danny and his brother feeding the cattle in the rainstorm. This scene introduces Danny, the setting of The Outcast, and the brothers’ relationship.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I have an affinity for any animal. At their core is honesty. They can’t hide their feelings. If you’re attuned to your surroundings, you know whether an animal likes you. Most times, they burrow right through a person’s subterfuge. I’ve had several muses, all cats, all strays or from a shelter. Toby is my current in-house muse. At times, I’ve sat, my fingers on the keyboard, my eyes fixed on the empty screen, and Toby appears. He can be annoying, sitting in front of my computer screen and refusing to budge until I allow him onto my lap. Still, that brief respite from writing often enables me to find the words that soon appear on the computer screen.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Never accept failure. It’s only another step toward success. The best learn from their mistakes and failures. I’ve seen early success ruin more people than failure. You appreciate more the things that come from hard effort. If you can’t accept failure and use it, writing is not your game. In The Outcast, I chose the epigraph “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” by Nietzsche. The impact of failure depends on how you perceive it and what you do with it.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

Finding acceptance within yourself, not through others, requires accepting yourself as the person you are. Danny struggles with finding his way after being judged unjustly by the community and his friends, when his only true path was always to do what he believed was the right thing.

D. L. Whipple is the author of the new book The Outcast

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