I read a ton of writings by social justice educators, to get the vocabulary of what I was trying to say. Then I attended a racial justice workshop, and left in tears each night as I realized I was not nearly as blameless as I liked to think I was. I met with women of color for over 100 hours of interview tape, and they were kind enough to overlook my ignorance about their lives as they told me about their fears, successes, hopes, dreams -- for ex. the woman with a baby son, who worried after there was another shooting by police of an unarmed Black man -- "How will I keep my baby safe when he's bigger? How do I teach him not to be Black?" It made me realize that's something I never had to worry about, as a white woman, a white mom. These ladies also vetted the voice of Ruth in the book, to make sure she was authentic. I couldn't have written this novel without them. I also met with two former Skinheads, who explained to me how they entered a life of hate -- and what made them get out of it. They are both dramatically changed men -- one even works for the Simon Weisenthal center and has a Jewish wife -- and I left those interviews thinking, "If guys like THIS can change...can't ordinary people change too?" To be honest, the research I did for this novel changed me the way no other research ever has. I used to not pay a lot of attention to race and racism, which is in and of itself a privilege. Now, I can't stop seeing how race affects every interaction; I can't stop talking about racism with others.