I first read Rene Denfeld’s book The Child Finder when my son was a little more than a year old. Perhaps it was an odd choice to read a book about a missing child when I had a very small child of my own, but her prose, so thoughtful, and her handling of the subject matter, so respectful while still being suspenseful, made it the perfect choice. Her new novel The Butterfly Girl reunites us with Naomi from The Child Finder and introduces a girl named Celia. I caught up with Denfeld over email to ask her some questions.

Your newest book, The Butterfly Girl, is a continuation of Naomi’s story, whom we first saw in The Child Finder. In this book, we see her cross paths with a homeless child, Celia. What made you return to Naomi?

I knew when I finished The Child Finder that Naomi’s story wasn’t done. But what came next, I wasn’t so sure. It took some time before this story came to me, and it just felt so natural. I wanted to write The Butterfly Girl as both a continuation and a sequel. You don’t have to read The Child Finder to read this novel. Both work together, or they stand alone. I really loved writing this story; it felt very magical and hopeful to me. I hope readers agree!

You’ve written before that this book “felt radical,” in that kids—homeless kids—like Celia are used as plot devices, as minor characters. The reader is not meant to care about them. Can you talk a bit more about this, about why you chose to craft Celia the way you did (which was just wonderful, I loved her and wanted to reach through the page to her)?

I come from a really difficult background myself. I grew up with poverty and abuse. My stepdad was an armed robber and pimp—that should give you an idea of the kind of life I had as a young child. By the time I was a young girl, I was homeless. So the Celia character was inspired by my own experiences as a homeless child.

I think people like me—most of us women, actually—are used as plot devices in books. We are just there to be violated, exploited, used, and then thrown away. Our private pains or griefs, our sorrows, are not recognized or respected. This isn’t just true for homeless victims. It’s true for the majority of women or anyone who has experienced trauma. I want to write books that turn over the tropes. Usually homeless girls in novels are meant to be the victim who is killed and then discarded in a few pages—a cardboard cutout of a person. I wrote Celia like a real person. Which I am, and all of us are.

You’re also a mother. How do you think the creative community can support women, and mothers, especially?

I’ve been a single foster adoptive mom now for many years. I adopted three kids from foster care and I foster others. It has not been easy. That’s an understatement, right? Our society says we care about families, but we don’t, and it is especially true if you parent kids with special needs or trauma backgrounds. It’s hard if you are a writer and a mom because our writing community just isn’t friendly to mothers.

I think change can be as simple as bookstores making sure kids are welcome and having a box of toys for littles as their parents attend a reading event. It can be planning events with school nights in mind. Writing conferences really need to tackle childcare for attendees. What is interesting to me is my day job is in the justice system. I regularly attend conferences for public defenders. In other professions, childcare has been addressed for years. I went to one legal conference that was held in a Native American-run resort famous for its fabulous daycare programming for kids. Parents went to workshops while their kids attended fun, educational classes, petted horses and played games, and all the staff was trained on special needs, too. The writing community is kind of in the dark ages when it comes to being family-friendly.

How does your work as a public defender influence your writing, and vice versa?

It’s been a huge influence. I went into justice work because I wanted to help others. I’ve been a death row investigator now for years, and was the Chief Investigator at a public defenders office. I’ve worked hundreds of cases, including exonerations and rape trafficking cases. Each one has changed me. The biggest change has been witnessing firsthand the devastation of mass incarceration, the depth of injustice and corruption and the effects of racism. I wasn’t surprised Trump was elected, for instance. We disenfranchised the millions of Black voters who could have stopped him. We’ve been on a path of cruelty now for many years. Thankfully, many are waking up.

The Butterfly Girl touches on the subject of the foster care system—this is a personal topic for you. Can you speak to that a bit?

Absolutely! I love being a foster and adoptive mom. I’ve been doing it now for over twenty years. After I got off the streets, I decided this was how I’d be a mom. It’s been very healing for me. It’s a way of taking what happened to me and helping others. In my novels, I often have characters who either foster parent or are in foster care. It feels like an opportunity to get it right. Usually foster moms like me are depicted as money-grubbing, abusive evil witches. Just like stepmoms. It’s interesting how moms outside the norms are stigmatized and reviled in literature. I think it is a way of punishing women who want to change the world. Often any woman character who is an activist, artist, or change maker is depicted as either evil or deeply unhappy. Likewise, kids in foster care are often depicted as little devil seeds. Want to make a horrible bad guy? Tell the reader he was in foster care. It drives me bonkers.

What are you struggling with, as a parent and as a writer, right now?

Recently I had three kids fly the nest, including a teenage foster daughter. I only have one kid left at home. He’s 16 and doing awesome. I haven’t had less than three kids for over twenty years. I’m struggling with what I will do next. Part of me feels called to take in more kids, but I also need a break. I struggle with being aware of the need and my own limitations. I want to change this world for the better. And write books!

What books inspire you, and what are you reading right now?

I grew up in the local libraries. Books saved me as a kid. I love it all. Right now, I am re-reading This Particular Happiness by Jackie Shannon Hollis and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I think re-reading is a great way to learn as a writer. Sometimes we don’t pick up on the craft of a book until the second, or third read.

What advice would you give to a writer trying to juggle parenthood and writing?

Burn all your parenting magazines. Be aware that those endless lists of what good moms are supposed do for their kids keep you from writing and changing the world. Let the chores go. Takeout is okay for dinner. Embrace joy and celebrate love, not perfection. Stop centering your life entirely around your kids. Make room for you. Look at your daily schedule and ask yourself what can be cut to make room for your writing. Sit down with your kids and tell them Mom is a writer and this is important, so they need to help out. My kids all benefited from seeing a mom who prioritizes her own art and work. I think it is especially good for boys to grow up being expected to help around the house. It makes them better men.

What’s next on the horizon for you? The next book! And deciding what else I want to do with this one, precious life.

Author photo: Owen Carey