The Boy Who Steals Houses is 6 months old today!
They…they grow up so fast and I am not READY. 😫💛 Although I could swear this book has been out forever and no time at all? Being an author is basically throwing away the concept of time awareness, I swear.
To celebrate this little milestone of my second son, I wanted to spill some secrets! I did a post like this for A Thousand Perfect Notes (my debut which came out in 2018!). I’m going to talk more about WHY I chose to write certain aspects of The Boy Who Steals Houses! Because some things are utterly full of meaning…and other things happened because I was very, very lazy.
so here we go…
secret meaning and inspirations behind things in The Boy Who Steals Houses 👀
1. Almost everyone had a name change.
Because TBWSH stars a big family, I obviously had a lot of names going on and some just didn’t end up working. I changed a few. My editor wanted a few changed. Some of the characters I still refer to as their previous names because I haven’t got a working memory at all.
➢ Sam and Avery Lou were the ONLY main characters who stayed exactly the same!
➢ Moxie used to be Maxine/Max.
➢ Dash’s name stayed the same, but she used to be a younger brother.
➢ Jeremy was always Jeremy (but named after a Kookaburra children’s book my nephew used to read…yup), but Jack used to be Bram. (My editor changed Bram/Max actually.)
➢ Grady used to be Swaney, then Colin.
➢ Toby used to be Sparrow, then Mitty! I scrapped Mitty because it was too similar to Moxie.
➢ Vin used to be like…oh wow I don’t even remember?! It started with an E. 😂
And also The Baby? People keep asking me if the baby has a name and he does. I promise. Maybe I will reveal it one day. 😏
And unlike ATPN, where all the names had meanings, I just picked this lot because I liked them! Sam miiiiight be a nod to Supernatural. Shhh. And I picked De Lainey literally because I was staring at my bookshelf for inspiration and saw an author named DeLacey.
2. The glitter scene was inspired (again) by my niblings.
I wrote this rather soon after ATPN sold. I was about 21 and babysat my 3yo niece a lot, who was obsessed with glitter crafts. She still is. It’s terrible. So while Beck in ATPN speaks low and bitterly about glitter, I decided to go all out and just throw like 3kgs of glitter in Sam’s face.
Because the stuff never leaves!!! They are still picking glitter out of Sam’s hair in the last chapter!!! It is the best way to catch a thief!!!
3. The reason they eat so much brownie is because…I was.
I wrote the first draft during NaNoWriMo and my family were away. Basically it was just me, clattering around our empty house, supposedly “cooking for myself”…hahhahaha. I made a lot of brownie. I made Moxie’s brownie caramel to pretend I was being thoughtful instead of heckin’ lazy and just writing about whatever I was eating at the time.
4. SPEAKING of lazy…it’s set in summer because it was summer for me.
Literally all my books are like this!! Look at the book’s season = you know when I wrote it.
“Cait. where do u get your inspiration from??”
my wot now
5. Moxie’s sewing is actually a nod to a different fairy tale.
While TBWSH is a Goldilocks retelling (genderbent and contemporary), my original plan was to combine it with the Seven Wild Swans fairy tale. Basically that one is about a princess who has to sew shirts out of thistles to turn her enchanted swan brothers back to human. (There are a lot of variations. One has 12 brothers. I wasn’t going to do that lmaooo.)
I ended up abandoning that idea mostly, because I wanted Moxie to have at least one sister.😂And let’s be real: Moxie would not save her brothers if they turned into swans. She’d just let ’em go.
But that’s why she sews!
6. Originally there were no backstory scenes.
I didn’t want it to “be too tragic” like ATPN….ah haha hhah HHAHAHHHAH. Ahem. Anyway, my editor suggested (1) tone down some of the violence, and (2) add in backstory. So somehow I added in MORE VIOLENT BACKSTORY and idk I think they just went with it because they were exhausted from explaining that “backflash” was not a term. It is “flash back, Cait.”
(I’m joking.😂)
(I made my editor cry though. I am proud.)
7. That scene where Sam gets very intense road rash?
From being [redacted]. Ya. Anyway. One time when I was 12, my friend (her, outdoor person) gave me a skateboard (me, an indoor person) and said “go down our super steep driveway it’s lots of fun.”
Least to say, I put my hands out onto the driveway cement to SLOW MYSELF DOWN.
I left the skin of my hands on the driveway and I did not slow down.
(Why do 12 year olds exist. I swear we do not have enough brains to be out there.)
8. Sam being very small and Vin eyeing him off to fit in windows was a total Oliver Twist moment.
Because I was obsessed with Oliver Twist as a kid too. Look I don’t even know why but half my books’ inspirations seems to come from random childhood things?!?
Little Bill Sykes/Oliver moment right then.
9. I wrangled the whole middle of the book to be able to use the “you can just stay for one night” trope.
Cue, the character staying foreverrrrrr.
I love love LOVE contradictions on page. If you look closely, they’re everywhere in my books. My characters will think on thing (“I am about to die”) and say another (“Yeah I’m fine thanks”). Moxie will be snarky and pointy, and loves beautiful soft things. Sam is super gentle and kind, but also hits people. Stealing the De Lainey’s house is the best thing that ever happened to Sam, and also the reason the entire traumatic ending happens.
Contradictions and contrasts are my favourite.
10. The fact that Sam can “get lost in a crowd” is also something that’s happened to me!!
DIRECTLY FROM MY LIFE. I spent my entire teenagerhood having people tell me what happened at events…that I was also…at. Look, I was quiet and small and nobody noticed me. I spent 4 years at a youth group to have my brother’s friends still go, “Uhh, what’s your sister’s name?”
DEATH, my naMe is DeAtH.
I think I vented a little in this book.😌Bless me.
Anyway, a few people were dubious about this concept when I first wrote the book. I can 100% guarantee it can happen. Stuff a house full of kids, especially one that’s used to the chaos, and people just go missing while being right in front of your eyes. They also steal your favourite food out of the fridge. If you have siblings, there is a 90% chance you’ve had to hide your favourite food in order to be able to eat it before someone else gets to it.
Big family culture is fascinating.
| what about you? |
hey feel free to ask any TBWSH related questions today!!! i will answer all in the comments. and tell me if you’re a writer and change your characters’ names a lot!
I also have a giveaway going on instagram for a signed copy!
I love these type of posts! Looking forward to you rnext novel 😉
Aw thank you!! 💛
Hapoy 6-month anniversary!! I love posts like this, as well as your annotated scene in your InstaGram stories. I started TBWSH yesterday afternoon and finished it today. It was amazing, I just wanted to keep on reading it. Such a great book!! I think it will make my favourites of 2019 😍😍.
Eeeep I’m so glad you enjoyed those annotations! I had too much fun with that. 😂 And omg thank you for reading. That is SUCH a kind thing!!
I change my characters names all the time. I had a chain reaction of name changes in my current WIP, where I had to change one character’s name because it was too similar to another’s (Charl and Chandler… Chandler lost) but then the name I changed it to was too similar to someone else… OMG it went on forever!
And I only have two siblings but I can definitely attest to the so many children’s friends in the house no one really knows who they all belong to. We were further apart in age, so it wasn’t quite as bad, but still, when we had a bunch of friends from over the road who were all sort of in-between and actually we all tended to play in one big group… Yeah.
Yes yes that’s exactly what happened to me!! I changed Max to Moxie, and then had to change Mitty to Toby! It never ends. 😂
But right?! The whole “getting lost in a crowd” is not a far fetched concept.
Honestly the season thing is a mood, I always associate what I write to the season I wrote it in even if the book isnt set in said season and then editing it any other time of year is a pAin. Also character names are the death of me, why can’t they name themselves??? Rude
And I have a TBWSH question; the Lous and Beck and August went to the same school, did any of them ever interact? I feel like Beck and Sam have a lot of trauma they can talk to each other about kind of like the group therapy they desperately need
OH I’m glad I’m not alone with the season thing!! It’s just…natural?! Like how can I write it being cold, if I am very very hot in summer? Smh, cannot stretch the imagination that far.
and yes! They did interact. Sam’s 2 years younger, but Avery was in Beck’s class (he’s mentioned in ch 2 of ATPN) and there’s a chapter in TBWSH where Sam tells Avery to make friends with August instead. 😂 Possibly if August hadn’t been caught up with Beck, she might’ve helped Avery and Sam out :’)
So you’re telling me August could’ve helped Sam and Avery but she was too busy helping Beck???😥 Oh that hurts 😭
“tone down some of the violence” . . . Wasn’t that said about ATPN too? XD
I love this! XD I haven’t read TBWSH yet, but I really want to. I loved the Beck’s reaction to glitter in ATPN! Also, love the “staying for only one more night” trope. Contradictions are the best. And yes, big family culture is very interesting. They’re like their own countries.
omg it WAS. 😂 You’d think I learn, but yet I try with every draft. :’)
I’m so glad you liked this post though!!
YES HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TBWSH I WILL HAVE TO REREAD YOU FOR THE FIFTH TIME THIS YEAR
I have no chill sometimes but… ANYWAY I AM SO HAPPY (omg you have had a book out for six months? For me, it was SIX YEARS)
I am so excited for literally anymore of your writing. I would SELL MY BROTHER’S SOUL for even a sentence. (I’d sell mine, but, alas, I’ve been kissed by a dementor. Some people think I’m soulless bc I’m a redhead?? Nope it was a dementor)
Yes, I write and my character names are (usually) ridiculous and hilarious.
*coughs* I have a Sherlock retelling and the character’s names are LITERALLY Locke, Jon, and Mori. ??? I rename them a lot when I’m rewriting because having the same name usually messes me up. Then I go back and change the name back. (It’s so confusing)
I promise we’re nearing the end of the comment. QUESTION::: are the De Laineys actually just the Weasleys in different clothing?
omg the FIFTH TIME??!?! 😭💛 I’m going to cry. you are the besssst I can’t even say how special that is to hear!!!
I really hope to get another book out sometime! I’ve had a lot of follow up rejections that have been hard to deal with, but…still working here!!
omg a Sherlock retelling 😍 you go!!!
And there is some Wealsey influence for the De Laineys but let’s be real 😂 they were actually less chaotic.
I love the fairytale about the princess and her seven swan brothers! One of my favourite books, Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, is based on this tale 😊
Lol for making your editor cry though! I don’t think I’ve ever changed my characters’ names once I’ve started a book; for me, the characters always seem to arrive before the plotline, and they’re pretty much set solid in their name and characteristics from the get-go.
Oh I didn’t know that!! I need to read that book clearly. 👀
It’s funny because I can plot a WHOLE book and not have the character names yet!! I’ve got a NaNo project I want to do but…I have no names for the characters.😂
I actually really struggle to change a character’s name. Once I’ve used it enough – even if I only meant for it to be a placeholder – I’m basically married to it. Just out of interest, why did your editor ask you to change names? (If you’re allowed to answer that – I don’t know how this stuff works.)
Wrangling a whole book just to get to write one trope is so valid. I recently wrote the world’s most cliched plot twist into a sci-fi short story about a parallel universe, because I wanted to. Simple. As.
I used to struggle a lot with name changes, but I’ve kind of HAD to learn to be more flexible with things. 😂 The amount of rewrites I’ve ended up doing, and just learning to see books as elastic, and changeable, has been a huge learning curve for me. Definitely not saying every author has to go through that, but I did for some reason? (I don’t know if I’m allowed to say why my editor wanted me to change the names. 🙊)
I AGREE though. 😂 I have another WIP where I just was so very much working the plot around all the classic tropes I wanted. Zero regrets.
As a big family girl, I LOVED everything about the De Lainey family. It felt so much like home!!! Our house isn’t as chaotic normally, but it was still all so familiar. 😍
I too have much terrible experience with glitter, and I appreciated every glitter scene in this book. Getting a whole container of it chucked in your face would be hectic. 😂😂
EEEE JANE. 😍 I am so glad!! I mean, I have 5 siblings, but technically I spent most of my childhood with just 2 because the older 3 had moved out of home. But then they started bringing THEIR kids into the mix and just 😂 wild.
I am definitely going through something with the glitter hate here. 😌
I mean… can I just read every single deleted chapter and thought from your head because I seriously love this book so much!!
😍😍😍YOU’RE TOO SWEET THOUGH.
I’ve ended up having to change character names quite a bit in my writing, mainly because too often I write about real people who gradually evolve into fictional characters? Like I use them as inspiration and to fuel that I don’t change the name until I’ve taken enough elements from them to satisfy myself. Getting used to new names can be annoying, but I’ve found that characters’ personalities also evolve with name changes… Have you had any of that? And also, Jack as a Bram?! Haha I cannot imagine that.
Oh wow, yeah it probably would be better to change names if they’re based on real people haha.
And I definitely find names depend on personalities too! It can be sooo hard to find just the RIGHT name for that reason. (Jack is still WAY Bram to me. 😂)
If you have siblings, there is a 90% chance you’ve had to hide your favourite food in order to be able to eat it before someone else gets to it. IS WAY TOO ACCURATE STOP CALLING ME OUT LIKE THIS LMAO!!!! it’s been 6 months!!! im so happy for your book i still love it so much still and the delainey’s have my ENTIRE HEART <3 <3 Sorry I've fallen off the earth in terms of blogging (lol) BUT I MISSED UR POSTS SM!!! congratulationssss on writing some amazing books <3
Ilsa!!😭💛 THANK YOU. (And also I’ve been so slack with blogging too and I miss you and your blog!!) But, for real, food is sacred and siblings are monsters when they steal it. 👀
Haha, I LOVE these facts! Congrats so so so much on the sixth month anniversary!! And I loved reading the annotated version you posted on your Instagram stories the other day too. THE BOY WHO STEALS HOUSES was seriously one of my favorites this year. <3 <3 And… I feel ya. Names are so freakin' tough.
Eeep I’m glad you liked it!! And AHHH. It’s weird that it feels forever and short at the same time?! Also I’m so honoured you liked it 😭💛 (Names are wildly hard.)
Gosh I love this! I love learning all these juicy little tidbits about my favorite characters! You gotta tell us the baby’s name though. What if we guess? You can like, hold a contest! Also now I want brownies again, this is just getting rude! I am cackling at the “backflash” story too 😂
I’m glad you enjoyed this post!! 🤗And I had a scene for the baby’s name reveal but like 😭😂 it was for a sequel, but I don’t think I will ever get a sequel. I might be allowed to write a short story or something?!
AH this is such a lovely post, I always love finding out about these little secrets behind the stories! AND YES TO ALL THE BROWNIES, honestly no one can be mad at you for that, I’m all for the brownies in ALL the books, I mean… they’re clearly important.
Happy anniversary to The Boy Who Steals Houses!! So proud of you Cait and of everything you’ve accomplished. Can’t wait to read more from you <3 <3
um wow okay i LOVED this post !! i absolutely adored the book and this post is just an amazing add on to the book!! honestly you are such an amazing writer 😍
I’VE MISSED READING YOUR POSTS. College has me so busy and it makes me sad that I fell so behind on blogging. *cue sobbing* But this was delightful.
Do editors often want to change character names? What’s the reasoning for it? Personal preference, characters in already published novels with similar names, etc.? That nitty gritty editing stuff fascinates me.
I love including food in my stories when I’m currently eating that food! It’s just so easy and then it’s fun to reread it and go “oh yeah, I remember eating that . . . I should eat more of it.”
Your books are such cool fairytale retellings! I love how they’re just obvious enough to be a retelling without being a “boring” fairytale retelling that’s basically just the same fairytale all over again.
I LOVE THIS! TBWSH was one of my favorite 2019 reads and I am so happy for this dear child’s 6 month milestone! Huzzah for brownies and small broken boys!!! I can’t wait for your next book, whenever that happens. PLEASE BE SOON. Like…tomorrow?
I am SO BAD at changing character names. Sometimes I really need to because the name isn’t working, but it’s really hard. I get way too attached to names, even if they are terrible.
I am so glad that the Baby has a name. That eases my mind. I was very concerned.
That is so neat that the sewing thing is a nod to Seven Wild Swans! I have always thought that fairy tale was cool and I have thought of doing a retelling of it before…only I can’t think of anything to DO with it. But anyway.
I AM SO GLAD THAT THE FLASHBACKS EXIST. Flashbacks are my jam. Especially trauma filled flashbacks.
Thank you so much for doing posts like this, you are the best, Cait!
Waited to read this post until after I’d finished TBWSH and ahhh love all these fun little details. I’m a writer too and my characters get new names all the time. My current love interest in my book had to change because it used to be the name of my new brother in law and that just was a little weird for me. ha!
I loved TBWSH so much and love the way you share extra things too….. I am just waiting for 2020 new book from you…. I read about that artist hallucinations……. So eager to read…. Yahhh!!!
Hi,
I write often, mainly fanfiction but lately I’ve had an inspiration to write a book. I was basing a lot of my story, it was about three kids who went to a drama school in the winter term, off of things I wanted to happen at that point in time.
If you’ve ever heard of the young actor’s threatre it’s by me Kelsiebees and the weird thing was that everyone at school was calling me Kels, where my name is Kelsie,so to shut them up I decided to give all my characters the most beautiful names I could think of and then shorten them,Delphine got shortened to Delly and the other girl’s name got shortened too.Red, I gave a bit of backstory and made the other characters believe his name name was Red when it was actually Dylan.People said I had a huge crush on a guy called Dylan and I really liked the colour Red. Actually the name appears a lot in my books.
I also love your short story because I feel so sorry for Moxie and Dash! The rest of the charracters are great as well!
There’s no need for me to ask questions other than do Moxie and Sam ever actually get together because that would send my ship sailing!!! Anyways I love your books Thanks for writing them.