Interview with Michael Swartz, Author of Split

 

Welcome to YAOTL, Michael. Please tell us about Split.

Thank you so much! Nothing ends in a tie; one side has to win. This is the recurring thought for sixteen-year-old Ethan Rivers. Ethan is a chimera: the real but rare in-utero fusion of fraternal twins into a single child. But Ethan is Split; the physical traits on his left side resemble his father's, and the characteristics on his right mirror his mother's. When Ethan’s father becomes increasingly violent, Ethan struggles to understand the importance of his unique diagnosis and whether he is doomed to behave like his father.

What initially drew you to making a chimera your protagonist? Was there a specific patient encounter that sparked this story?

In early 2019, while at the pediatric cardiology office, I learned about a patient who was a fetal chimera. Rarely during early gestation in a set of fraternal twins (two separate eggs fertilized by two separate sperm, each with their own and unique genetic code vs. maternal twins where a fertilized egg divides into two separate fetuses, each with the same genetic code), one of the twins dies, and the surviving fetus absorbs the genetic material. The result is someone with two distinctive sets of DNA. The patient learned about her diagnosis from an astute clinician who observed slight left vs. right-sided physical differences. I had read about chimera patients within the medical literature, but had never read about a protagonist with a chimera diagnosis. However, the scenario seemed perfect for a nature vs. nurture coming-of-age story.  I imagined Ethan, the protagonist in SPLIT, with left vs. right-sided physical differences, but most importantly, those differences aligned with traits he observed within his parents. Families often discuss the physical features of children, such as eye color, a pointed or rounded chin, or hair color, that are passed down through each generation. In my own family, my son is a near replica of when I was a child, and my daughter looks nearly identical to my wife. Those physical traits could serve as a constant reminder of the genetic differences between his left and right sides, creating the feeling that he had two different identities. Whenever he looked in the mirror, his two different colored eyes would stare back. If his mother were passive and his father was violent, it would give the protagonist reason to worry about which side might dominate their identity.

Ethan's journey is a powerful one, as he goes from believing his genetics determine his fate to understanding that who he is isn't defined by DNA. Did you know this would be his arc from the very beginning?

Great question. Yes, I had a good understanding of the global arc from the very beginning. I like to outline the story before I even start. Although I don’t know the finite details, as those change almost constantly through the first several drafts, it’s really important for me to understand where a character starts, the struggles and choices they will face, and then the resolution before I start putting my fingers on the keyboard. I’ve found that if I don’t, I start to ramble, and the plot doesn’t move along. Fortunately, I have a 90-minute drive several days a week to work, so it gives me a lot of time to think about my characters and their actions. I sort of think of it as a chess game. Move a piece and see what happens. If I don’t like what might happen, move the piece back and start again.

As a physician's assistant with extensive medical background, how did you go about making sure this concept of chimerism would be accessible to general readers?

Fortunately, I think the concept of a chimera, where the genetic material from a non-identical twin is absorbed by another, is something that is easy to grasp. Materials are absorbed by our body during digestion and even through our skin. What is more difficult is understanding the genetics and the mechanism of how a fetus may be absorbed by another. For good reason, I kept all this information out of the text so as not to slow down the plot. When Ethan does learn about the science of a chimera, he learns most of his information from conversations with his allergist and, later, a Syracuse University genetics professor. Since both adult characters are talking to an adolescent, they also kept out the scientific jargon for a better flow of the story.

Why did you choose to set the story in the 1990s, particularly around the Gulf War era?

There are many reasons I set the story in the 1990s. The concept of chimerism in the medical literature emerged during the mid-late 1990s. Although there were papers that were published as far back as 1946, the concept gained more traction in the mid-1990s, particularly after a paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Second, the scientific community during the 1990s had only a small grasp on genetics, and so chimerism was a new and emerging concept, and there wasn’t a wealth of information. Probably most important, I didn’t want Ethan to find out any answers on his own. If the story were set in the present, Ethan would have unfettered access to the internet to search for chimerism. Having the story set in the 1990s forces Ethan to struggle, and the backdrop of the Gulf War fits in perfectly with that timeline.

The small-town Syracuse setting plays an important role in how secrets spread and reputations stick. How did you feel the small-town setting specifically amplify the themes of reputation and secrets?

I chose a small town just south of Syracuse, New York, to isolate Ethan and his friends, and more importantly, to keep his enemies close. In a small town, the star or the villain is never forgotten, and neither is the student who looks different from the rest. But most importantly, there is a perception in many small towns that because there are fewer inhabitants, the townspeople all know each other. Unfortunately, in many cases, all that is really known is a neighbor's job and their family. A firefighter is viewed as a hero. A teacher is viewed as patient. Unfortunately, these attributes may not represent who a person truly is, especially within their own home.

The novel tackles domestic violence, bullying, and generational trauma. What was the hardest of all the hard scenes to write?

Probably the domestic violence scenes. I tried to exclude the events themselves and write more about the aftermath. I am fortunate to have never witnessed domestic violence, and although I read several accounts and stories, it’s an event that, of course, doesn’t sit well with me.

Speaking of hard scenes, the scene where Ethan hits Jackson is a turning point. How did you decide this was the moment Ethan would act violently?

I needed a scene where there would be two different viewpoints. There is Ethan’s, of course, and there is also his friends Mo and Aia. They believe that Ethan was justified. Ethan, however, believes that it’s his father’s genetics that are taking control of him because in the past, he would have acted passively like his mother and walked away.

What’s next?

I am currently writing a novel that explores inaction or indifference vs. action. I can remember as a kid learning about the question of what I would do if there were someone in a burning building. Of course, there are more than a few answers, but the most common are to either run in after the victim, call for help, or do nothing. My current project is exploring this concept through the eyes of a protagonist who also has a very interesting medical condition.

Where can we find you?

My website: www.michaelswartzwrites.com

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