Julie Clark explains that an urban legend from her hometown about siblings who encountered an intruder inspired the seed of the story; learning there had been a surviving middle child sparked her imagination, leading to the creation of Vincent Taylor. She clarifies that The Ghostwriter is not the real legend’s story, sharing only the detail of a surviving middle child and exploring the trauma that would shape such a character.

Clark states that the protagonist would be Vincent’s daughter, Olivia, because she is interested in how trauma passes through families. Olivia was always conceived as a ghostwriter, a choice that felt organic rather than deliberate.

On structure, Clark describes her tendency to write multiple points of view and timelines. Originally, Lydia had a POV that her writing partners found uninteresting, so Clark shifted to Poppy’s POV, which became her favorite to write. She notes the complexity of weaving Olivia, Poppy, and Vincent’s narratives.

Clark details researching Lewy body dementia to accurately portray Vincent, including speaking to caregivers and joining online support groups. She emphasizes how the illness complicates tracking what Vincent knows across timelines and how brutal it is for patients and loved ones.

Discussing theme and characterization, Clark says both Poppy and Olivia are passionate about women’s rights, with Poppy rooted in the 1970s’ legislative shifts and Olivia reflecting ongoing contemporary fights over equality, abortion rights, and pay equity.

She identifies the hardest part of writing as managing who knows what and when, repeatedly revising the placement of reveals and syncing 1975 Vincent with the 2024–2025 storyline. Her favorite sections were immersing in 1975 through young Poppy and young Vincent, capturing the era’s culture.

Clark hopes readers take away that loved ones endure through memory, that personal narratives mix truth and myth to make sense of the world, and that long-buried secrets tend to resurface over time.