Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Jill Baguchinsky (So Witches We Became)!
Meet the Author: Jill Baguchinsky
Jill Baguchinsky is an award-winning author who grew up on a barrier island just off the coast of Southwest Florida, where she read too much Stephen King and dodged more hurricanes than she could count. After one storm too many, she and her mini menagerie of rescue animals moved inland. Aside from the manatees she used to watch in her backyard canal, Jill doesn’t miss much about island life. She invites you to visit her online at jillbaguchinsky.com.
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About the Book: So Witches We Became
A queer, feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, this ode to female-rage is a perfect pick for fans of She Is a Haunting, and a reminder that if “boys will be boys”, girls will fight back.
For high school senior Nell and her friends, a vacation house on a private Florida island sounds like the makings of a dream spring break. But Nell brings secrets with her—secrets that fuse with the island’s tragic history, trapping them all with a curse that surrounds the island in a toxic, vengeful mist and the surrounding waters with an unseen, devouring beast.
Getting out alive means risking her friendships, her sanity, and even her own life. In order to save herself and her friends, Nell will have to face memories she’d rather leave behind, reveal the horrific truth behind the encounter that changed her life one year ago, and face the shadow that’s haunted her since childhood.
Easier said than done. But when Nell’s friends reveal that they each brought secrets of their own, a solution even more dangerous than the curse begins to take shape. Reading like a YA feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, So Witches We Became is a diverse, queer horror about female friendship, the emotional aftermath of surviving assault, and how to find power in the shadows of your past.
Step into your witchy power or be swallowed by the curse–the choice is yours.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I grew up on Marco Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida, so I’ve been through plenty of hurricanes. We never got a direct hit, though, until Hurricane Irma in 2017. That was the first time I ever evacuated instead of “hunkering down” at home for a hurricane; the risk of storm surge-related flooding was too great to stay. We ended up lucky; although our home needed some major repairs, things could have been much worse. Still, the entire experience—especially the unease that came from tracking the storm’s path, evacuating, and not knowing what I’d be coming home to—changed me. I knew I’d eventually write a hurricane book, both to help myself process some lingering emotions, and to play with that kind of slow, creeping dread in a more entertaining way.
That idea evolved into So Witches We Became, but along the way I realized that I was focusing on the wrong antagonist. Hurricanes aren’t villains; they’re forces of nature. Meanwhile, public discourse at the time was full of comments like “boys will be boys” and excuses about things like “locker room talk.” Hearing so much of that made me mad. Really mad. That rage inspired the real villain – the human villain – in So Witches We Became.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
I’m really fond of Harry, Harper’s high-strung older brother, who gets roped into chaperoning Nell, Harper and Dia on their spring break trip. He’s extremely responsible, a stickler for following the rules – he totally gets that from me – but as we get to know him better, we start seeing him as more than just a stick in the mud. He carries emotional baggage of his own to the island, and he can be adorably awkward.
YABC: What came first, the concept, landscape, characters, or something else?
A few spooky plot details are based on things I actually experienced about a decade ago, so I guess those technically came first! I was at a vacation home with a group of friends, and weird things kept happening. The phantom ice cream truck occurrence happened almost exactly as I describe it in the book, and there was a broken-down bus on the property similar to the one Nell finds on the island. The layout of the house in So Witches We Became and some of the surrounding property (especially the long, narrow dock that stretches out over the bay) are based on locations from that trip.
I don’t know if anyone else who was on that vacation remembers those details the way I do, but I did warn everyone that I’d be writing some of that week into a book someday – and now here we are!
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
I would definitely stick with horror. Horror can play around with just about any other genre and still be horror. There’s a swoony little romance subplot in So Witches We Became that balances out some of the darkness and trauma – if I can get away with that in a horror story, I can get away with just about anything.
YABC: What is your favorite snack when writing?
I’m usually too busy tossing snacks to my office assistants to remember to grab anything for myself! They prefer romaine lettuce, cucumbers, and green bell peppers. (My office assistants are guinea pigs, and they are always hungry.)
YABC: If you were able to meet them, would you be friends with your main character?
I think Nell and I would get along great. We’re both the “mom friend” in our friend groups. We could chat about horror stories and bond over the fact that we both have childhood trauma related to sleep paralysis nightmares.
YABC: What do you do when you procrastinate?
I think I’m the opposite of most writers when it comes to procrastination – most of the writers I know clean the house when they should be writing, but I write so I can put off cleaning. I’ll write an entire chapter to avoid scrubbing a toilet.
YABC: What fandom would you write for if you had time?
In terms of fanfic? Ghostbusters. The 2016 reboot. I’m not nearly as active in the fandom as I used to be, but that movie still owns my heart (the entire franchise does, but especially the reboot). Holtzmann in particular practically writes herself.
Now, if we’re talking in a professional, intellectual-property sense… I could absolutely knock anything related to Disney’s Haunted Mansion franchise out of the park. Fan for life here. Obsessed. That ride is my entire aesthetic. Call me, Disney. Let’s discuss.
YABC: What is your favorite holiday or tradition and why?
Is Halloween too much of a cliche for a horror writer? The approach of Halloween signals so many good things for me. Shorter days and cooler weather are coming. Stores are increasingly full of spooky decor. Those twelve-foot-tall skeletons are waking up from hibernation and returning to lawns. Pumpkin spice is invading. Black cats are getting the appreciation they deserve. It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
I always like to mention that content warnings for So Witches We Became are available on my website, for those who like to review such things before reading: https://jillbaguchinsky.com/swwb-content/
Title: So Witches We Became
Author: Jill Baguchinsky
Release Date: July 23, 2024
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA fiction, horror
Age Range: 14+
