The Invisible Ones follows a young woman who, after being separated from her siblings and institutionalized, strives to overcome abuse and reclaim her freedom amidst a backdrop of eugenic oppression. What was the inspiration for the idea behind your story?

Growing up, I had heard stories about female family members who were institutionalized. The stories never seemed to add up. The women were never released and their reasons for being there didn’t seem to make sense to me. I decided to research the topic of women and institutionalization and found a vast history of the practice of locking away women and those who were poor or considered “undesirable” dating back to the American eugenics’ movement. The goal at the time was to take those people considered inferior out of the general population and prevent them from having families of their own so they did not propagate their inferior genes. Essentially, the goal was to improve the population by removing those who didn’t seem to fit a high standard set by those in power.

Anna Wilson’s character is resilient. Can you share more about your process for developing her character and ensuring her experiences felt authentic?

Before creating Anna’s character, I researched women who had been impacted by the eugenics movement by reading first-person narratives, manuals for implementing the practice of eugenics, and accounts of women who had been institutionalized. Eventually, her voice came to be, and the story itself is a mixture of many of the women featured in the narratives I read. I blended their experiences to create one that would have been likely in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s.

How did you approach the research for this novel, particularly the historical aspects of institutional practices and societal attitudes during that era?

The research part of this novel was interesting, and there was no lack of information if you knew where to look. I started by reading every book I could find on American eugenics and the institutionalization of women, such as Imbeciles, War Against the Weak, and Women of the Asylum. From there, I visited the Vineland Historical Society and toured the grounds of the former Vineland Training School. I learned that New Jersey had a more progressive approach to individuals who were institutionalized, and they did not practice forced sterilization. This prompted me to move my story to Pennsylvania, where the practice was not uncommon. I also found interesting information about daily life in the early 1900s in old, local newspapers. Further, I watched video interviews of people who were institutionalized due to their undesirable traits, whether it was because they were poor, inebriates, women of loose morals, or uneducated. The eugenics movement lasted into the 1970s, so there were interesting video accounts of how people lived in these institutions that informed much of my book, including the scenes involving punishment and daily routines.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I’m currently finishing up a draft of a thriller, which is very different from The Invisible Ones. I’ve had a lot of readers ask about a possible sequel to The Invisible Ones. People want to know what happens with Anna’s mom, and I think that would be an interesting topic to explore. It would also give me an opportunity to delve into the impact long-term institutionalization had on those locked away in asylums.

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