Laura Pritchett is the author of seven novels and two books of nonfiction. Her work is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by her upbringing in Colorado. Both her fiction and nonfiction often focus on issues of ecology, conservation, climate change, and social justice. She has been awarded the PEN USA Award for Fiction, the High Plains Literary Award, the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, the Colorado Book Award, the WILLA Fiction Award, and shortlisted for many others. She is the editor of three anthologies, all on environmental topics, and writes regularly for magazines.
SunLit: Tell us the backstory for your new novel, “Three Keys.” What inspired you to write it? Where did the idea originate?
Laura Pritchett: Such a fun question, because I love the backstory for this novel. I was at a writing residency in New Mexico, sipping coffee and considering the sunrise and Sangre de Cristo mountains, when I first entertained the idea of becoming a criminal. Or, rather, having a character do so.
What if I just stayed after my month was up? Or broke back in later? Besides the two wild horses that rambled by occasionally, I wasn’t sure anyone would notice my continued presence. So, that’s what my character does – she breaks into people’s homes as she travels across the West and then the world. But just so you know, she’s very polite about it.
To be clear, I had no plans to really overstay my welcome. I’m fundamentally too polite and basically a law-abiding person. But I started considering the anonymity a middle-age woman might want in certain circumstances and the kind she gets from society, whether she wants it or not. Also, because I was at the Aldo and Estella Leopold Writing residency, land ethics and care of Planet Earth was on my mind, and that’s one of the big themes. It all happened in one sunrise.
SunLit: Your excerpt is from Chapter 1. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?
Pritchett: Well, first chapters are always nice — this selection allows readers to begin from the beginning. If it’s intriguing — and I hope it is — then they can order the book and read on!
SunLit: Your protagonist, Ammalie Brinks, is wrestling with middle age and a world that no longer conforms to the norms she used to observe. Did you construct this character from whole cloth, or is she more of a composite?
Pritchett: Like me, Ammalie is going through the transformation into middle age — and confronting the accompanying invisibility situation. And it’s true that our culture does a fine job of erasing older women — an impulse that must be met with resistance, of course. How satisfying, then, to be playing around with the idea of anonymity and the exact opposite, which is really being seen as the manifested, powerful, perfect self we are.
As we all know, the pandemic changed the world, and as it went on, I became increasingly interested in the ways we adapted to isolation, our newfound awareness of the fragility of all we’d taken for granted, and how the outdoors can serve as a safe haven.
So all these themes — remoteness, invisibility, middle age, self-sufficiency, adventuring, the glory of nature, and the responsibility of caretaking of our planet — came together in “Three Keys.” Ammalie is not me – and not a composite either, really – she is just Ammalie, and Ammalie wanted to take a “Very Grand Adventure,” as Peter Pan puts it. She discovers that by breaking into other people’s lives, she can find her own. I suppose I’m always on my own path of finding myself, too. Aren’t we all?
UNDERWRITTEN BY
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit.
SunLit: Ammalie has a rather unique adventure. What influences and/or experiences informed the storyline before you sat down to write?
Pritchett: I love to travel – and I’ve spent time in all the remote locations that she does – Colorado, Arizona, New Zealand. I’ve also experienced a few of the adventures she gets into, such as doing a “water drop” on the US/Mexico border (which I wrote about for Colorado Sun).
My experiences as a solo female traveler added to the plotline — there are certain safety and self-reliance concerns that come up for Ammalie that have also come up for me. I have never broken into a home, though! And much is fiction. I can’t give away the plot, but much of what happens to her is pure imagination. That is the joy of writing fiction.
SunLit: You’ve long had an affinity for nature. What role does the natural world play in the “Three Keys” storyline?
“Three Keys”
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Pritchett: A huge role. Ammalie is wanting to fall in love again — she’s single and lonely and wants companionship — and she does have some excellent romantic adventures. But she is also falling in love with the planet. And when we love something, we yearn to protect it.
Part of her arc is learning the natural history along the way, and then deciding to do something for Earth. I can’t give her storyline away — that would ruin the plot! — but her story is fundamentally about a new and better relationship with our spectacular and rare planet.
Anyone who knows me knows the forces that guide my life: books and nature (specifically in Colorado). I have the honor of directing the MFA in Nature Writing at Western Colorado University, and so nature-filled, place-based books are my thing — and thus the natural world shows up in all my writing.
SunLit: How does Colorado, in particular, figure into the story?
Pritchett: One-third of the book takes place in an unnamed area near Salida, in a home that is remote enough that she can remain unseen. She also stops to admire the start of the Royal Gorge, which is near Antonito, Colorado, before traveling on to New Mexico and Arizona.
As a Coloradan since birth, I love this state, and all my other books are set here too. This is the first book that I’ve taken elsewhere, in fact.
On that Colorado note, I’ll add that I’m looking forward to upcoming readings all over Colorado: Denver, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Montrose, Glenwood, Steamboat, Durango . . . I’m getting to explore this whole state, which, as you know, is one of my goals. I always joke that I want business cards that read “Professional Coloradan.” Interested readers can find my tour schedule at www.laurapritchett.com
SunLit: What was the most fun part about creating the book?
Pritchett: A playlist! For the first time in my publishing life, I’ve been asked to create an official Book Club Kit, complete with discussion questions, a map, a recipe, and so on. My favorite thing to make, perhaps, was the playlist that Ammalie listens to on her drive.
I picked a lot of Colorado-centric songs (either the musicians are from here or the song is set here). You can find it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0dI5uDJOLB4dBWOEMsgK0z?si=6689f442d4d34cd6
SunLit: You’ve already had a big year: “Three Keys” is your second book to be published in 2024. What has it been like to have two releases so close together?
Pritchett: Busy but happy. On days when I’m tired, I remind myself that this is what I always wanted and have worked decades for. I’ve gotten thousands of rejections and earned three degrees and have typed millions of words for this dream. Also, it’s a short term busyness — I’m sure I’ll be quietly writing in the years to come. They just happened to come out at the same time. It really wasn’t my plan. But I’m certainly delighted by it!
SunLit: You’ve mentioned that you’ve got a memoir in the works. What can you tell us about it – both in terms of the inspiration for it and your timeline for completion, especially given your exceptionally busy year?
Pritchett: I’ve had to back-burner it so as to “birth” these other babies — and a book release is really a big deal for an author, so I want to give it my full attention. Authors work so hard for years, so dedicating time to finding our audience is important.