Merrily asked Julia Glass:

I was very intrigued by the placement of the flashbacks in "And the Dark Sacred Night." Did you outline the structure of the book first? Did you try placing the flashbacks in different locations in the story? A reader

Julia Glass I am the Queen of the Flashback--and that isn't necessarily a brag! Some readers relish a multilayered story that shuttles back in forth in time; others can't bear it. (The latter are not among my fans.) When I write about my characters' actions and emotions, about the texture of their everyday lives, the past is as important as the present--just as Fenno and Walter's therapist tells them in my latest novel, using as a metaphor those iconic Louis Armstrong lyrics: "the bright blessed day and the dark sacred night." Flashbacks occur organically as I write along in the present moment. It's as if I'm walking along a road in the forest and, now and then, get the irresistible urge to take a detour into the woods (sometimes long, sometimes short), though I always circle back to the road. I am often guilty of writing flashbacks within flashbacks. I wasn't so aware of this habit until readers of Three Junes began to ask me about it. Now I try desperately to make myself ignore that awareness as I work on something new! I want the rhythm to come naturally.

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