If you haven't yet read a book by David Klein, add him to your library immediately! His debut novel, Stash ,is a page-turning story of suburbia and secrets and moral complications that arise when a woman fights between doing the right thing and doing what she really wants to do.

Lisa Steinke: What three words would you use to describe your book?
David Klein: Compelling, tense, realistic


LS: What is your favorite thing about your book?
DK: The characters have distinct voices and lives, yet their stories are intertwined and their lives changed forever by the story events.

LS: What was your high point while writing your book? Low point?
DK: The high point was after I’d written four or five drafts and finally believed I had a powerful story on my hands. Anytime before that was the low point, when I was struggling through early drafts, searching for the essence of the characters and their motivations.

LS: How did you come up with the title of your book?
DK: While writing the book, I used a number of working titles, none of which I felt passionate about. Then, about the same time I reached the high point of writing the book, I understood that each of the characters was trying to make a break with their past in some way and get a fresh start. But that isn’t always easy to do. Clean Break represented a desire, a goal—but one that is difficult to achieve.

LS: What are you reading now? What’s up next?

DK: Right now I’m into The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides, and am re-reading one of my favorites, Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Next up might be David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.

LS: If you could see one person, alive or dead, reading your book, who would it be?
DK: Oprah. For mercenary, not aesthetic reasons.
 
LS: What’s the best compliment you’ve received about your book?

DK: From a bookstore owner: “I was so hooked on this book. Norah, our daughter, didn't have school on Friday and it was gray and rainy and to be totally truthful I let her watch way too much TV so I could keep reading your book.”

LS: What’s the #1 thing you want people to feel after reading your book?
DK: Emotionally satisfied and spent.

LS: Favorite line or passage from your book?
DK: So many to choose from! How about, “She didn’t believe any harm could come from what she was about to do.”

LS: Are you working on your next book? If so, any hints?
DK: Always working on the next one. And in this case, I’ve got a few ideas smoldering. At this point, they’re all top secret.

Thanks, David!

To find out more about the talented David Klein, visit his website.