Hush, Hush

About Becca Fitzpatrick

Becca Fitzpatrick lives in Colorado with her family. Her Hush, Hush saga, including Hush, Hush, Crescendo, Silence and Finale all debuted as New York Times bestsellers. When she’s not writing, she’s most likely to be found prowling sales racks for reject shoes, running, or watching crime dramas on TV.

Author photo by Ali Eisenach.

An interview with Becca Fitzpatrick:

Q. What kind of research did you do for the Hush, Hush books?
A.  I grew up attending Sunday School every week and hearing stories from the Bible, so I felt very comfortable with the idea of writing about angels. Rather than throw myself into extensive research on angels, my version of their world and mythology came from inside me, shaped by my own life experiences and creativity. Also, I read the journals I kept in high school. I tried to recapture what it feels like to fall in love for the first time, to feel betrayal for the fi rst time, and dealing with complicated family situations.

Q. Are the characters in your books based on real people or are they the product of your imagination?
A.  Most of the characters are based on people I knew in middle school and high school. When I started writing Hush, Hush, I wasn’t thinking about writing an entire book. I was simply taking experiences from my own high school years, twisting them around a bit, and putting them on paper. Occasionally, when readers tell me certain things in my stories would never happen in real life, it’s all I can do not to smile and think, “Oh, but those things did happen!”

Q. How did you come up with the character Patch, and why did you decide to make him a fallen angel?
A.  When I started writing Hush, Hush, I knew I wanted Patch to be the ultimate bad boy...but with a twist. He hadn’t always been bad. In fact, at one point, he’d been really good, and something had caused this big change. While pondering what had caused Patch’s fall from grace, the metaphor of “falling” that I was  carrying around in my head became something quite literal—I realized he was a fallen angel. Since I already knew Patch was going to be the ultimate bad boy, this revelation seemed perfect—after all, fallen angels are the original bad boys.

Q. What or who inspired you to become a writer?
A.  It’s a funny story—I didn’t start writing until my husband surprised me by enrolling me in a writing class for my 24th birthday. I was so nervous to be in the class. All of the other students had graduated college with degrees in English or literature, and I graduated in health. I felt completely out of my element, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I’d been an avid journal-writer for many years, but I never knew how much I’d love telling stories. It was in that class that I started writing Hush, Hush, eight years ago.

Q. What is the biggest challenge you have to face when writing a book?
A.  It changes from book to book. Hush, Hush was, in essence, “crashed” into my publisher’s schedule, which means editing had to be done in a fraction of the time. It was a very busy time for me. I also had to face the challenge of learning how to handle criticism, a big hurdle for all debut authors, I think. With Crescendo, the biggest challenge was tackling a massive rewrite. The story that’s published today, and the story I originally turned in to my editor bare no resemblance. With Silence, the third book in the series, the biggest challenge has been making sure I feel that I’m going to exceed my readers’ expectations. Not the easiest of feats, but I’m determined to do it!