Abbott Kahler Keeps Readers Guessing in 'Where You End'

Bestselling nonfiction writer, Abbott Kahler, stops by to discuss her intriguing debut novel, Where You End. In the story, identical mirror twins, Kat and Jude Bird, face a crisis when Kat is involved in a serious car accident that leaves her in a coma, and when she wakes up, all she remembers is her sister’s face and name. As she recovers, she relies on her sister’s help to piece back together the events of her life, but little does she know that Jude has decided to take the opportunity to re-write history and change the details of their past. For Kahler, her understanding and knowledge of twinhood comes from her own mother. “My mom is an identical twin. She’s actually a mirror twin and her name is Katherine and her twin is Judith, and so that’s where I got the names in the book. They’re actually named after my mom and her identical twin, and I began thinking about… I knew this close, very unique, twin relationship my entire life and I began thinking about what my mom and my aunt would’ve done in this situation, how would they have reacted if one of them had suffered a traumatic brain injury? Would they have lied to the other? Would that have been seen as a gift or a betrayal? How far would they have gone to re-create this fantasy and, sort of, try to manipulate the past and so I really used their bond, too, as a springboard. There’s a twin language in the book that’s actually based on the language they spoke as young kids. So, it’s drawn from my mom and her twin.”

As readers delve into the story, they learn, along with Kat, that Kat has a deep, violent anger that lies within her. Kahler explained that adding that dark, twisted element to her stories is something that drives her writing. “Give me a seedy underbelly and I will crawl beneath and look around. I love subversive characters. I love examining people’s dark impulses. I love when people triumph over darkness, which I think happens in this book, there’s definitely redemption art… and I really just think that’s also part of the twin trope. People are fascinated by twins because there’s a darkness in literature pertaining to twins… I think that twins sort of necessitate a dark story. You can’t read a bright and happy story with twins.”

For those thinking of pursuing writing as a career, Kahler offers some insight on the publishing process. “…you get your foot in the door, and I think people out there, if there are any aspiring writers, a lot of luck plays into this. So, don’t think you don’t have talent, you have the drive, you have the talent, you keep working on your craft, a lot of it’s luck. You have to hit the right editor on the right day, the right agent on the right day, the right publishing team on the right day, the right marketing group on the right day, and it all comes into play… It’s not an easy business. I feel very, very fortunate to have had whatever success I’ve had and it’s not an easy business and you only write because… you don’t write expecting to make money. Don’t go into publishing thinking you’re going to make money. Go into publishing because you don’t know what else to do with yourself but write.”