Interview: Rebecca Barrow on YA Thriller ‘And Don’t Look Back’

Your book, And Don’t Look Back, has just been released and it’s already received glowing reviews. Can you tell us a little more about it?

Thanks for having me! And Don’t Look Back is a twisty thriller that centres on Harlow, a girl who has spent her entire life on the run. When her mother is killed in a car accident, Harlow is left to unravel the secrets of her life and her family all alone.. 

The main character of this book, Harlow, is a strong teen who must make a number of difficult decisions after the loss of her mother. What inspired you to write Harlow’s story?

I really love writing about mothers and daughters, and I thought it would be interesting to explore generational trauma—how a girl like Harlow is shaped by her mother’s experiences, and how she deals with that while at the same time struggling to figure out who she is in the same way all teenagers do. I really enjoy writing older YA because that time in life is so interesting—you’re on the precipice on adulthood but still a kid, at the same time. And like Harlow, a lot of teenagers are dealing with really heavy things like the loss of a parent or mental health struggles or a million other things, and I think it’s important to acknowledge those things.

This book is full of twists and shrouded in secrets. Did you find any aspects of it difficult to plot, or did it come easily once you started planning and/or writing? 

It took a while to come together but once the planning was done, the writing came quite easily. I usually don’t like to plan too much because I like discovering things through the writing, but often writing a mystery means you need to plan, so it’s about finding the right balance for me. Some of the plot aspects had been in my head for years just waiting for the right story so it really was a mix of long term planning and figuring some things out as I went!

You have written a number of successful books for young adults. Do you ever worry about running out of ideas for new stories? 

Yes, I actually really do! I don’t think I will ever run out of ideas, but I do find they sometimes take a while to come to me. I’m definitely not one of those authors who have so many ideas that the main struggle is choosing which one to work on, but I think needing to let things develop in the back of my mind can also be really beneficial. I don’t see myself ever not writing. 

… I really love writing about mothers and daughters, and I thought it would be interesting to explore generational trauma.

Do you have a writing routine and, if so, can you share it with us? 

I write in twenty-minute blocks and use a program called Freedom to block the internet while I write, otherwise I would never get anything done. I usually have a word count goal so I just keep writing in those twenty minute slices with breaks in between until I have the words! I like to use different playlists for different books, to help me get in the right headspace, and that’s about it! 

Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what else did you want to be? 

I have mostly always wanted to be a writer but I did entertain the idea of several other careers—nurse, fashion designer, and choreographer were the big three! But it was mostly always writer for me.

Rebecca Barrow

Rebecca Barrow is the critically acclaimed author of And Don’t Look Back, Bad Things Happen Here, and several others.

She is a lover of sunshine, Old Hollywood icons, and all things high femme. She lives and writes in England.