Author Brodi Ashton grounded romance ‘Everneath’ in reality

“You can only think of your audience so much,” says author Brodi Ashton. “That’s the fun part of being the author. All you can do is write the story you have to write, then you get to sit back and hear all the different ways it’s interpreted.”

Hearing and reading about what readers take away from her book is thrilling, Brodi told Cracking the Cover. “It’s one of my favorite parts of the whole process so far — getting letters from readers with all the things the got out of the book. No one reader takes the same thing away!”

Brodi’s debut novel, “Everneath,” hits bookstores Tuesday. It’s the first in a trilogy published by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins. The books follow Nikki Beckett, a teenager who was sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Nikki gets the chance to her old life for six months, after that, she’ll have to return to the underworld forever. But saying goodbye is more complicated than Nikki ever could imagine.

It’s hard for Brodi to say exactly where the idea for “Everneath” came from because it’s an amalgam of so many things in her life. “My mom used to read to me from ‘D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myth,’ and those stories stuck to me like peanut butter,” Brodi said. Witnessing friends from her childhood make decisions that affected the rest of their lives also came into play.

Though “Everneath” is being compared to other books with similarities to the Persephone myth, it’s not a literal retelling. Brodi started out writing the story of a girl who’d made a mistake and now was returning to face the consequences. “I’d written much of the story before I realized that the themes were similar to themes in Persephone,” she said.

“I wanted the romance to be grounded very much in reality, and I think that is probably the biggest way this story is different from the others out there.”

“Everneath” isn’t your typical paranormal romance, Brodi explained. Those are “usually defined by a human falling in love with a paranormal creature, and the obstacles they face are the differences in their makeup. Often there is a strange ‘attraction’ between them before they even meet. But with ‘Everneath,’ the true romance is between two humans, with no supernatural abilities. They fell in love over the course of years, just as normal humans would do.”

Most writers will tell you they feel some kind of connection or bond with their characters, and Brodi is no different. “Everneath” feels very personal and, at times, Brodi had strong reactions to the story she was telling.

“Nikki’s story hit me hard, but those are the stories that are the best to write,” Brodi said. “I was very sympathetic to her, and her struggle to find the “right” course of action. That being said, it wasn’t my own personal story. But my husband will tell you that after long spells of writing, my mood could definitely be described as ‘in a funk.’ Nikki’s story stuck with me, and I hope it sticks with readers.”

In many ways “Everneath” feels too polished to be a first novel. But Brodi’s background could play into that a little bit. After all, this isn’t the first thing she’s written.

Brodi has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Utah and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. But while she was always writing for school, she never thought it was very fun or that she had any real talent for it.

It was after she finished with school, that Brodi began writing short stories — memories about her grandmother, memories from childhood — and it became like therapy.

“It wasn’t until years later that I started to write fictional stories, and it was even longer before I finally finished a book,” Brodi says. “Finishing a book changed everything for me. It didn’t sell, or anything, but it showed me that I could do it. That’s why whenever anyone asks me for writing advice, I always say, among other things: ‘Finish the book. Finish it. Don’t get caught in an editing loop where you never get to the end. Finish it.’”

**Brodi took a lot of time and care to answer Cracking the Cover’s questions. Read a complete transcript of her interview.

**Brodi will be at The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City for the launch of “Everneath” on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m.