I also found an interview with Nate Powell featured on tfaw.com for this week. While a lot of the interview is focused on the relationship between the two step-siblings featured in the book and how people/families handle mental illness, the interview briefly touches on Powell’s inspirations (for the novel and in life), his hobbies, and his future plans within the industry. Powell mentions that his older brother has a developmental disability, and how he had volunteered with the developmentally disabled for many years before writing this book, but he is very clear when he says that he didn’t take these things as an inspiration for Swallow Me Whole.