Julie Carrick Dalton
Author Interview - Julie Carrick Dalton
Author of The Forest Becomes Her
The Forest Becomes Her is hopeful novel about three women from different generations navigating the complexities of family, the impacts of our choices, and our deep connections to the natural world beneath our feet.
In historic, bucolic Concord, Massachusetts, a centuries-old forest has been removed to make way for a new, eco-friendly housing development. The locals are upset by the destruction, but out-of-towners like Hazel Stoddard are flocking to put down roots in their new guilt-free dream homes.
Soon, a tragedy leaves Hazel unmoored in her new life, and she begins to feel the pull of the absent forest. Hazel is not alone—her neighbors, real estate agent Stella Flint and teenage environmentalist Polly Bauer, each have their own traumas and their own relationship to the land. The three women are drawn together to save the last remaining oak tree, or they risk losing themselves to lingering shadows that only they can see.
In The Forest Becomes Her, Julie Carrick Dalton brings hope and reverence to this lush celebration of multigenerational female relationships, the ever-evolving female form, humanity’s connection to our changing world, and the mysteries that still exist in nature.
Author Interview - Julie Carrick Dalton
Author I draw inspiration from:
Charlotte McConaghy. I love all of her books, but Wild Dark Shore, in particular, is one of my all-time favorite books. I consider it literary because of the elevation of the writing, but it also has the page-turning qualities of a thriller. The setting, a cold, windy, remote island near Antarctica, is eerie and chilling, yet gorgeously written. I love the way Charlotte creates an isolated setting and makes the reader appreciate its harsh idiosyncracies through the eyes of the people who live there. I love the way she brings the reader close to her characters while portraying a story that has high stakes for the entire planet. Her writing is tender and intimate, but the stakes are universal. Not only is Wild Dark Shore a fabulous read, but it's also a master class in how to write an excellent novel.
Author Interview - Julie Carrick Dalton | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
My favorite place to ready is on my porch swing. But this is no ordinary porch swing. During the pandemic, my husband and I salvaged wood from a nearby barn that had been torn down. We hired someone to build a one-room writing cabin for me to work in. It is my happy place. I write at a desk my grandfather built. I sit in the chair that had been my grandmother's desk chair when she was teacher. The bookshelves are filled books my mom read to me when I was little and the ones I read to my four children. My kids made most of the art on the walls. But the best part of my tiny cabin is the porch swing. My grandparents had a farm in the Appalachian corner of Western Maryland where I spent summers as kid. We didn't have a phone, TV, or even hot running water. When I wasn't climbing trees or helping my grandfather in the garden, you could find me swinging on their creaky porch swing with a stack of library books. When my grandmother sold the farm when I was 17, I laid claim to that swing. I hauled it around with me for thirty five years, never finding a place to hang it. Until, finally, we built this little cabin. That same porch swing from my grandparents' farmhouse, now hangs on my cabin porch. And somehow, after all these years, it still creaks in the exact same pitch it did when I was a little girl. There is no better place to read.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott! I hope it's a long elevator ride. I'd really like to discuss the day her sister Amy burned the only copy of her book manuscript. How on Earth was she able to forgive her? An RA in my sophomore dorm once flipped a circuit breaker, cutting off power to my room. I lost a brilliant essay I had been writing about Paradise Lost. I still carry a grudge. How did Jo get past the destruction of a whole novel? I'd also like to discuss the state of publishing - then and now. I think she would be mortified to find out writers today are expected to market their own books and be witty on social media. Then again, Jo was witty and clever. Maybe she would like it? My dream would be that she would invite me to be her critique partner so we could read each other's books by firelight. We would use typewriters and quills, of course. Did I mention that this elevator would transport me back in time to the 1800's? I'm pretty sure that's the era I was supposed to have been born in.
Author Interview - Julie Carrick Dalton | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
It wasn't a single moment, but more of a slow burn that started at birth. My mother was a professional puppeteer (among other things), so I grew up surrounded by fabulous storytelling. I wrote and performed my first puppet show script when I was nine or ten. I got hooked pretty quickly. I moved on to writing fan fiction for the TV shows Mork from Ork, Wonder Woman, and Charlie's Angels -- and making my friends act them out with me. I moved onto writing (really bad) poetry in high school, then journalism in college. I didn't start writing novels until I was in my late thirties, but it felt like I'd been building towards it my whole life.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardcovers are my favorite. I can't really think of anything I don't like about them, other than the price, maybe. They are substantial, they hold up, and they look great on a bookshelf. If given the option of a hardcover, I rarely buy paperbacks. I guess they are nice to slip into a bag on vacation because they weigh less. And, of course, they are more affordable. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of ebooks. I like touching paper when i read. But audiobooks? I LOVE audiobooks. I listen to them while I exercise, cook, walk my dogs, and drive. I particularly love listening to them while I work in my garden. I listened to Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility on audio while working in my garden a few years ago. At the time, I was writing my second novel The Last Beekeeper. One the the narrators in Emily's book , Dylan Moore, had the perfect voice for the character I was writing. I started hearing Dylan's voice narrating my book as I wrote it. And guess what! Dylan ended up narrating the book for me. I think a great narrator can really bring a story to life.
The last book I read:
I just read Coyoteland by Vanessa Hua, which is set in the Bay Area. It's a great story about several families trying to keep up and get by under the pressure of modern life. It takes on issues of race and class and the ways technology is changing the way we live. It also explores our relationships with the environment and our ecology. I highly recommend.
Author Interview - Julie Carrick Dalton | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Even though I just claimed that I wish I was born in the 1800's and wrote with a quill, I actually love my laptop. I'm a huge fan of Scrivener software, which helps me organize my novels in chapters. It allows me to move chunks of text around and to see the whole book in a table of contents. I use Scrivener to color code my chapters, and I love the cork board feature that allows me to leave myself notes on individual scenes. I write all my first drafts in Scrivener. Then I export the document into Word and edit it there. Although I rarely write with pen and paper, I do graph my novels quite extensively. I make complicated charts and graphs following individual characters' arcs, plot arcs, and relationships. I'm currently working on my fourth book which I'm plotting in a circle, which is new for me. I've charted it out on a giant poster board. I find it helpful to have a visual of the structure of the book to look at as I write.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
I would have been best friends with Nancy Drew. I didn't encounter many real mysteries as a kid, but my friends and I were great at inventing them. I would have helped Nancy with her sleuthing. We would have conspired to interpret clues and catch bad guys. Reading Nancy Drew made me feel resourceful and brave as a kid. I think we would be great pals as adults too, taking on bigger mysteries and bringing down crooked billionaires!
Author Interview - Julie Carrick Dalton | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I would design the interiors of tiny Homes or Sprinter vans. I'm obsessed with tiny spaces, flexible furniture, and creative storage solutions. I would love to work on projects that build functional, smart tiny homes as transitional shelter options for people in crisis.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I love seventies fashion. Flared jeans, bold prints, wide head bands, psychedelic influences leftover from the sixties. And, of course, disco! How fun would it be to dress like ABBA everyday? As a child of the seventies, I love that wide leg and flared pants are in again. (Did I mention that I played keyboard in an ABBA cover band back in the day?)
Place I’d most like to travel:
Istanbul! I'd love to visit the spice markets, Turkish baths, the Blue Mosque. So many things I want to see! I think I could spend an entire week just in the spice market! And I'd go to a different hammam every day. I'd also love to explore the Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern. Istanbul had been on my bucket list for a long time. It's going to happen one of these days!
My signature drink:
My go-to drink is soda water with a splash of cranberry and a lime. Bonus points if you toss in a sprig of fresh mint.
Favorite artist:
Emmi Whitehorse' is my favorite visual artist. She's a Navajo painter from New Mexico. I saw her work in an auction once and started following her. I love the way she incorporates delicate micro-elements of the natural world into large-scale abstract pieces that are so soothing to look at. If you don't know her work, check her out immediately!
Number one on my bucket list:
I've always wanted to learn how to play the banjo and the harmonica. I grew up playing the piano, violin, and flute. As an adult, I messed around with the guitar for a while, but I've never tried the banjo or harmonica. There's still time!
Find more from the author:
IG @juliecdalton
Threads @juliecdalton
Substack juliesplottwist.substack.com
FB @juliecarrickdalton
About Julie Carrick Dalton:
Julie Carrick Dalton
Julie Carrick Dalton is the author of The Forest Becomes Her, The Last Beekeeper, and Waiting for the Night Song. She is the winner of the New Hampshire Book Awards' People's Choice for Best Novel, and was a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award, the Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature, and the ASLE Book Award. Her novels have been named to Most Anticipated lists from CNN, Newsweek, USA Today, Parade, and others, and were selected as an Amazon Editor's Pick for Best Book of the Month. A former organic farmer, forest manager, and beekeeper, and a TEDx speaker, she is a frequent speaker on the topic of fiction in the age of climate crisis at universities, museums, and conferences, nationally and internationally. She currently serves on the teaching faculty of Drexel University's Creative Writing MFA program, is a 2026-27 Visiting Scholar of Note at the American Library in Paris, and is a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard. When she isn't reading or writing, you can probably find Julie kayaking, skiing, swimming, gardening, or trying to track down her four children and two dogs.
