Ahead of the publication of The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything on Feb 28 in the US and March 16 in the UK, we interviewed debut author Kara Gnodde in conversation with her BPA mentor Sara Sarre. Find out where Kara found the initial inspiration for the novel, how the mentorship worked, and how she found her agent and publisher.

“When you get the right feedback, it resonates in a way that’s almost like you recognise it, like you knew what was wrong with your work. There were principles that Sara taught me. The thing that has most stayed in my head is: allow the reader to work things out themselves. Trust the reader to be cleverer than you currently are. It’s a mistake so many beginner writers make. It took me a while to realise it was my lack of confidence as a writer that meant I was feeling I had to tell it again and again and not trust the reader.” – Kara Gnodde

Get your copy of The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything: UK Edition; US Edition.

Find out more about the BPA Mentoring Programme.

Kara Gnodde was born in Johannesburg and raised on a diet of Dr Seuss and no TV. After graduating from the University of Cape Town, she joined Saatchi & Saatchi in London as a strategic planner – work that required head and heart, her favorite kind. She lived in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore before settling back in the UK with her husband and three children. A discussion on the radio about a maths problem that could change the world, or perhaps just help keep her desk tidy, gave her a place to start The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, her debut novel.