Too Deep to Drown: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Too Deep to Drown: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.Following find an interview with author Stacy R. Ward:
1.What is the name of the book and when was it published? Too Deep to Drown; published February 2026
2. What’s the book’s first line? She was born to drown.
3. What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”. At seventeen, Meg Pullman has cut ties with her past. Emancipated and determined, she signs on as an intern in the engine room of a research vessel, certain the wide blue horizon will lead to her freedom. But the Pacific Ocean isn’t the escape she imagined. Its beauty is haunted by the cries of a polluted world. Ghost nets and floating trash islands echo her own buried pain. When a humpback whale and an unexpected romantic entanglement force Meg to confront the ocean’s wounds and her own, she discovers that true survival isn’t about outswimming the current. It’s about surrender. And sometimes, to survive, you don’t fight the waves. You let go.
4. What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event? The biggest motivation for me in writing this book was my own personal experience as a veterinarian who has cared for stranded whales on my local beaches, many of whom had ingested plastic trash.
5. What’s the main reason someone should really read this book? This book has a message for sure, but hopefully that is not what draws or keeps readers invested. I personally don’t love books that lecture, and I tried very hard to tie the environmental message to my protagonist’s personal journey so that her emotional journey, the action of the plot, and the secondary characters are the main draw. People should read this book mainly for entertainment–I think it’s a good time. But also, to feel something, as there are elements of this story that are meant to have an emotional impact, which, of course, is likely different for different readers.
6. What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of? I think the most distinctive attributes about Meg are her resilience and determination. She has relied on both heavily in her backstory and needs both to carry her through the pages of my book. I think Meg is representative of a lot of women in STEM careers. Environments are improving now, but especially when I was training, women often had more to prove than their male counterparts. Meg’s tenaciousness is a tribute to all the STEM queens everywhere. Keep doing it! The world needs you and your work.
7. When did you first decide to become an author? Fourteen years ago, my infant niece was diagnosed with a rare and devastating progressive neurodegenerative disease, and my baby sister’s world fell apart. I think writing became my way of arm wrestling the universe about something I had no control over. At first, I was writing only for myself—I think I was subconsciously giving my brain something else to stew over than my sweet niece’s struggles. Then, eventually, I became obsessed with understanding story structure, character arc, etc., and my writing became something I was willing to share with others. So, I guess I didn’t make a conscious decision to become an author. That said, writing is something I have worked very hard at.
8. Is this the first book you’ve written? Like with most authors, I have several manuscripts under my belt. Too Deep to Drown is my first published book. It took me a long time to leave my first manuscript to write other things. I was at a keynote given by the very talented Jason Mott years ago, and he said, “You will not sell your first manuscript.’ And though I think that is a fairly acknowledged truth in the writing community, I clung to it. I still love that story.
9. What do you do for work when you’re not writing? When I’m not writing, I am a small animal veterinarian, a reader, a mom, and a professional worrier about things too big for me to fix. I am so lucky that in my career I have had so many amazing experiences with incredible animals and been able to help people by helping their pets. I feel very fortunate to have been touched by good souls (two-legged, four-legged, finned, flippered, and winged!) along the way.
10. Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?) I think what really motivates me as a writer is to tell stories that mean something. To write a story that sticks with someone in some way long-term, even subconsciously. I’ve asked myself what the reasoning is underneath that desire (like I’ve put myself through a character analysis questionnaire about it!). Is it because I want to matter? Maybe. I’ll have to ask a therapist!
11. Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire? Having to choose between Madeline L’Engle, Rainbow Rowell, Jandy Nelson, and Barbara Kingsolver is like trying to choose a favorite child and is definitely not something to be done publicly, so I plead the fifth.
12. Which book do you wish you could have written? Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Ugh. Magic. I had a borrowed copy when I first read it, but I immediately went out and bought this book afterwards so I could keep this collection of words in my house forever.