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FeedQ&A: William Awbrey Yarbrough
Talking shop with the first-time novelist from Berwyn.
(page 1 of 2)
Ethan Myers is lost. His father, Frank, once a national bestselling author, is mired in an extensive writer’s block and locked in a lingering depression following his wife’s tragic death. With Frank unable and unwilling to be the father his son desperately needs, Ethan struggles to overcome a hidden drug addiction while attempting to find himself amid the heavy shards of his mother’s death. Then a mysterious angel in black appears in his dreams and reveals disturbing serial images. That storyline forms the basis of Deliver Us (Xlibris), the debut novel by Berwyn’s William Awbrey Yarbrough, a 2008 Episcopal Academy graduate who is now a freshman English major and creative writing minor at the University of Richmond.
MLT: What prompted the novel?
WAY: One day, my mother told me about a contest centered on explaining a fairy tale, like how Humpty Dumpty got on the wall in the first place. I explored how Little Bo Peep lost her sheep. I never finished it, and the contest had ended, but I had fun with it, turning Little Bo Peep into a modern-day story of teen motherhood.
MLT: Tell us about the title.
WAY: Society offers a lot of quick-fix remedies—drugs, sex, religion, even violence—but none ever really fixes our problems. The book takes you through the downward spiral that can come from that sort of desperate and naïve thinking.
MLT: Is Ethan you in disguise?
WAY: Ethan is a lot like me. He’s very private, slightly tortured, confused, lost, alienated, angry, happy and sad at the same time. Really, he’s one big ball of torrent emotions. He’s got a good heart and he wants everyone to be happy, but the pressure on him causes him to cave in and shut down every so often.
MLT: Are the characters modeled after real-life people?
WAY: Frank is my favorite character—but he’s nothing like my dad, for which he’ll probably breathe a sigh of relief. Ethan’s other two friends are loosely based on two of my friends, though I can’t say who. Ethan’s aunt is like one of my aunts, and Prof. Robert Carson is loosely based on my junior-year English teacher at EA, Robert Bishop. Deliver Us is dedicated to him.
MLT: Any warning labels?
WAY: Ethan’s conflict with the angel—the center ring for the religious issues in the book—directly corresponds to my own questions about Christianity. There’s drug use, along with violence, sex and a few curse words. It’s pretty depressing and dark, even a little gothic, like Wuthering Heights. But just because I’m a teenager doesn’t mean the book solely focuses on teenage issues. The adults, too, face serious moral issues.
MLT: What does this quick, successful start mean for you?
WAY: My friends joke about being on Oprah. I laugh, but in my head I’m thinking, “What if that actually happens?” When I saw the cover for the first time and read my name underneath the title, it was surreal. I’m on Amazon.com and Borders.com. People I don’t know might even buy my book. I’ve finally found something I really like doing. I never thought I’d find it this early—or at all. I guess you could say that I’ve been delivered.
MLT: Does your experience at EA fit into the book?
WAY: The school Ethan goes to is loosely based on Episcopal, in how its goal is to create young leaders, but also how it’s focused on upholding its prestigious image.
