Lucy
Lucy asked Ruta Sepetys:

Hi! In both of your books, you write about some historically brutal circumstances and the people involved really suffered, they had to endure the cruelty of other people's actions and survive. I wanted to ask you if it was ever hard to hear the real life stories people told you during research. How did you deal with it? And how did it affect the way you portrayed the emotions of the characters in your stories? Thanks!

Ruta Sepetys Hi Lucy!

Thanks so much for your great questions.

Yes, sometimes it's very difficult to hear the testimony of the victims. When I'm writing a difficult scene I don't take a step back from it. I try to stay present within it. That way, I'm immersed in the emotional truth of the scene and can hopefully convey that emotion to the reader.

Thanks for asking!! :)
Ruta Sepetys
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