Behind the Scenes with Patti Callahan Henry

Bonus Green Room Footage + Q&A with This Week's Guest

A Conversation with Patti Callahan Henry

A chat with Patti including insights not covered in our on-air interview, which you can WATCH or LISTEN to now!

Also! Scroll down for bonus green room footage of Patti talking about the ins and outs of book tour preparation.

Q: You speak in the author’s note about your discovery of Barbara Newhall Follett’s story—a fascinating tale surely many of your readers will learn about for the first time within the pages of your book. Was there anything you uncovered in your research about her that you found truly remarkable?

PCH: Until I discovered Barbara Newhall Follett’s story while researching women who created languages, I had never heard of her—a surprising realization, given the extraordinary blend of wonder and tragedy that defined her life. Barbara’s story captivated me with her remarkable imagination and resilience in the face of immense personal challenges. She created entire worlds and an intricate language called Farksoola to express herself when the real world felt confining or painful. Her disappearance eerily mirrors the fate of the fictional character in her fantasy novel, The House Without Windows. I was astonished to learn that her life’s work, including her intricate language, is preserved in sixteen boxes housed in the archives at Columbia University in New York. Barbara wrote mythical stories of escape, of running away, and through her stories she gives us insight into her obsessions, but not her fate. I wanted answers even if it meant creating them in fiction.

Q: You’ve written both contemporary and historical fiction novels. How do you navigate all your ideas, and how do you decide what to write next?