Hays Blinckmann
Author Interview - Hays Blinckmann
Author of Tiny Little Earthquakes
Elliot Hase is a sharp, observant nine-year-old girl growing up on a horse farm in 1980s North Carolina, where the adults are far less stable than the barn animals. Her mother, a charismatic alcoholic with a flair for drama and denial, careens through life in a haze of wine and self-pity. Her father, a distant doctor with a new family and a wife who rewrites history, offers more guilt than guidance. Caught between the two is Poppy—Elliot’s older sister, partner-in-crime, and cautionary tale—whose battles with addiction and self-destruction echo through Elliot’s own attempts to break the cycle.
As Elliot navigates funerals, failed interventions, AA and Al Anon meetings, and an elite boarding school that teaches more about co-dependency than calculus, she slowly begins to question not just the people raising her, but the identity she’s been forced to adopt to survive them. Her coming-of-age is shaped by secrets she didn’t ask for, betrayals she doesn’t deserve, and moments of brutal clarity that land like aftershocks.
The central conflict is Elliot’s internal struggle to define herself apart from the chaos of her family—trying to reconcile loyalty to her mother and sister with self-preservation, and survival with healing. Through humor, heartbreak, and sheer stubbornness, she learns that resilience isn't about being unbreakable—it's about breaking and rebuilding, again and again.
Author Interview - Hays Blinckmann
Author I draw inspiration from:
Jacqueline Susann. As an indie author, I thought a lot about her over the years. Valley of the Dolls initially received negative reviews, but Susann brought it to the public to decide. She and her husband, Irving Mansfield, drove from bookstore to bookstore promoting her book, which was credited with the “first book tour.” I love that level of faith in her work and hutzpah. And her husband supported it %100 — a good man. She didn’t let critics decide, but the public, and made it into the Guinness World Records for the best-selling novel. And well, who doesn’t love to reference “Sparkle, Neely, Sparkle!”
Author Interview - Hays Blinckmann | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
On my boat in Key West. The kids fish, and I read. Occasionally, I take a photo of them. I have never been to a beach, on an airplane, or gone to bed without a book next to me.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Raziel, the angel in Christopher Moore’s Lamb. He was a snarky, impatient, nitpicking angel. I guess he would have asked me, “Girl, are you wearing that to the fall of democracy?” You know, I probably would have had a coffee stain on my sweater, so he wouldn’t have been wrong. Lamb is the only book I have read twice.
Author Interview - Hays Blinckmann | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
There was a self-published book — I won’t say which one — that became very, very famous overnight. I could barely read it; I thought it was that bad. But how could I critique that author, having never written a book myself? I started my first novel immediately.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardback: Too heavy, “no need to live an uncomfortable life,” but they do look pretty in the living room.
Paperback: Any day, fits in my purse, but my eyes aren’t twelve anymore, so the font size looks like it’s warning for liver disease.
E-book: I couldn’t live without my Kindle, especially overseas. I front-load my Paperwhite with a library before I travel. Also, I can download an emergency book in Singapore with wifi. Zero downside unless you forget to charge it.
Audiobook is like that really cool guy I dated in college, I wish I could go back to that time when I had hours a day to listen to a soothing story. With kids, I’m interrupted every ten minutes. Also, books don’t write themselves, so I gotta do that, but hands down, I love audiobooks.
The last book I read:
Clay Girl by Heather Tucker is a heartbreaking, beautifully written coming-of-age story. Tucker was very clever with her words. I love that the main character was also so endearing and strong. Shit got real in that book.
Author Interview - Hays Blinckmann | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer — I type like I am trying to claw my way out of a foxhole blindfolded. I’m terrible at it, but still, my hand gets cramps if I write longhand. I keep legal pads everywhere with Uniball pens — usually uncapped — for notes and lists. I am very addicted to lists, character names I steal from our Sheriff’s website’s arrest log, or phrases I think are fun like “predatory tourism.” I can write up to 5000 words a day, nonstop, if I have the scene or chapter in my head. Honestly, I can only write for 3-4 hours, then I’ve exhausted all my thoughts. Plus, there usually is laundry and the latest episode of whatever I am addicted to on TV.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Marcellus, the giant Pacific Octopus in Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. One, I have always been obsessed with Octopi —they actually are in the Florida Keys’ waters. And two, animals hands down make the best friends, especially smart, rebellious, and quietly endearing ones like Marcellus. We would have understood each other.
Author Interview - Hays Blinckmann | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I was an oil painter for two decades and will return to it at some point. I love painting and have two degrees in fine art. But my secret wish? Sitcom writer. I would have murdered to work with Chuck Lorre on shows like Two and a Half Men or Mom.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I love fashion, but only from the outside. Clothes are such a beautiful art form, especially in Downton Abbey — the 20s/30s era. How they dressed at dinner! But realistically, I’m still that grunge girl in old, tattered jeans, a flannel shirt, and boots. I only ever wore one gown, my wedding dress, and it was from the Hollywood Golden Age.
Place I’d most like to travel:
My family travels an abnormal amount. My husband is German, and we spend a lot of time all over Europe. We’ve taken the kids quite literally around the world. Iceland, Kenya, Australia, and Turkey were insane. We are going to Argentina and Chile next summer, and I'm super excited for the Patagonian tundra. St. Petersburg, Russia, was always on my list, but a few dictators have to go before I can get there. Not giving up hope!
My signature drink:
I might die if coffee disappeared. And real coffee, nothing that tastes like a peppermint pumpkin Snickers. In Kenya, they'd leave a fresh carafe outside your tent before you woke up—my kind of people. Don’t speak to me before coffee.
Favorite artist:
That is not a fair question. For a Pisces who has two fine art degrees, as well as five decades of music on my computer, and has read a book a week most of my life, let alone filmmakers I admire. Goddamn Sophie’s choice here. Pieter Bruegel the Elder because a postcard of the Tower Of Babbel sits on my desk. The real painting is in Vienna, and it sums up my view of all art. It’s humans attempting to create something so ambitious and beyond their talents, and it ends up a beautiful mess. Nothing about that painting is perfect, except the actual execution, but it says so much about us as humans. That Pieter was quite crafty.
Number one on my bucket list:
The New York Times bestseller list, sure I’d try that (wink wink). But otherwise, I have had a ton of adventures in my life, so there aren’t many stones left unturned. You don’t live in Key West without an adventurous personality. If anything, I want to try “Princess Cake,” the Swedish green cake. I bake an inordinate amount (my speciality is chocolate chip cookies) so I need to try that cake.
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About Hays Blinckmann:
Hays Blinckmann
Hays Trott Blinckmann is a writer, journalist, teacher, and recovering painter. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She lives in Key West, Florida, with her husband and two sons. Her other novels include In the Salt, Where I Can Breathe, Here, Kitty, and the young adult novel Yell Out Loud. For more about Hays, visit authorhaysblinckmann.com and follow her on IG @authorhaysblinckmann.
