Author Feature: Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins has a new novel out next week that is going to make teens think.  While her books are too serious for me now, Ms. Hopkins's work is something that was certainly missing when I was a young adult ...and something I would have enjoyed then.

She explores all sorts of explosive topics and I love that.  In some circles that makes her controversial, but well, I'll put it like this:  In one of my all time favoirte films the character of Stephen Hopkins, signer of the Declaration of Independence, is quoted as saying, "...in all my years I ain't never heard, seen nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about. Hell yeah! I'm for debating anything!"   Now I have no idea whether the man actually said it, but I agree with him whole heartedly.  That's how I feel about Ms. Hopkins's books; they make you think and what could possibly be wrong with that?  I'm glad they're out there and when my daughter is ready to read them, I will love reading discussing them with her.

Here's a little bit about her latest, Rumble:

Can an atheist be saved? The New York Times bestselling author of Crank and Tricks explores the highly charged landscapes of faith and forgiveness with brilliant sensitivity and emotional resonance.

“There is no God, no benevolent ruler of the earth, no omnipotent grand poobah of countless universes. Because if there was...my little brother would still be fishing or playing basketball instead of fertilizing cemetery vegetation.”

Matthew Turner doesn’t have faith in anything.

Not in family—his is a shambles after his younger brother was bullied into suicide. Not in so-called friends who turn their backs when things get tough. Not in some all-powerful creator who lets too much bad stuff happen. And certainly not in some “It Gets Better” psychobabble.

No matter what his girlfriend Hayden says about faith and forgiveness, there’s no way Matt’s letting go of blame. He’s decided to “live large and go out with a huge bang,” and whatever happens happens. But when a horrific event plunges Matt into a dark, silent place, he hears a rumble…a rumble that wakes him up, calling everything he’s ever disbelieved into question.

A Conversation with Ellen Hopkins

Author of RUMBLE

Q:  The idea for RUMBLE came about after an exchange with a teenager on Facebook. You must get hundreds of messages from teens daily. What was so striking about this particular post?

A: In response to a mosque bombing in the news, I posted, "We all serve one Creator." This young woman, 16, responded, "It's awfully arrogant of you to think I have to believe in anything." That struck me because my own teen years were all about asking big questions: "What if God isn't what I've been taught he is?" "Can there be life after death without a God?" "Could the energy physicists describe in fact be our souls?" "How do we reconcile faith with science?" To have no belief, and be satisfied with that, seemed counterintuitive to being a teen.

Q: To build on that last question, you believe that teens should be asking big questions rather than cutting themselves off from possibilities. Why do you think it is so crucial, particularly for teens, to constantly consider “what if”?

A: Without "what if," where would we be? Still living in caves, eating grubs? The human intellect requires "what if" to move forward. Teens are the near future. They must question the status quo, and what they've been taught as "absolute truth" or condemn the future to the same mistakes their parents and grandparents made.

Q: What do you think of adults trying to censor teens either through what they read or what they write (as we see in RUMBLE)?

A: For the same reason they try to censor anything—fear.

Q:  You’ve said that the voice of your main character, Matt Turner, is the strongest and most unlike your own that you’ve ever created. Why? Did this make it more challenging to write?

A: Matt is able to channel the immense pain he holds inside through dark humor and sarcasm, not that everyone appreciates it. I'm more straightforward, including in my storytelling. It was actually fun to write a "sneak up from behind" kind of kid.

  

Q: Both extremes—atheism and fundamentalism—are represented in RUMBLE and interestingly enough they are represented by a boyfriend and girlfriend. Why did you choose to have Matt (the atheist) fall in love with Hayden (the evangelical)?

A: Love often operates outside of boundaries, doesn't it? I think there is a drive in some people to challenge boundaries, climb over (or knock down) obstacles, experience discomfort. And sometimes chemistry trumps intellect.

Q:  Bullying and suicide are major issues in RUMBLE. Matt’s brother, Luke, takes his own life after a group of teens discover he is gay and “out” him in the most humiliating way on social media. Does the internet make it easier for people to taunt and bully? What kind of research did you do on these issues and did you discover anything surprising?

A: Social networking is a weapon for kids who might not otherwise bully because they don't have to measure the pain they're inflicting by looking into their victims' eyes. Plus, "friends" can join in so easily. Rarely is it one person bullying in this fashion, and that is where the bullied kid begins to feel like there's no way out. It's a pack mentality. I did a lot of research, and it was the sheer number of kids who have been bullied that surprised me. Plus, the reason most of those who resort to suicide is they suffer from depression beyond that caused by the negative behaviors.

Q: PTSD is a topic you’ve written about in the past with your debut adult novel Collateral. Why did you choose to revisit it in RUMBLE?

A: PTSD continues to be a growing problem in this country, as more of our soldiers have returned home from war and are trying to assimilate. It's no secret that many veterans aren't getting the help they seriously need, and I think it's important to remind people of that. PTSD doesn't always manifest itself immediately. It can happen years down the line, and resources must be kept available well into the future.

Q: What do you hope people will take away from reading RUMBLE?

A: That forgiveness and redemption are only possible if you accept them, and that's all about accepting yourself.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: Tangled, my next adult novel—in prose!—is finished and in production, to release Summer 2015. I'm currently writing the next YA—not in prose! Traffick is the sequel to Tricks, and will publish Fall 2015.



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Want to win a copy of Rumble before it comes out?  Click here:  

http://girlsjustreading.blogspot.com/2014/08/giveaway-rumble-by-ellen-hopkins.html

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Author Interview: Allison Winn Scotch

Tuesday was the release of Allison Winn Scotch's 5th novel, The Theory of Opposites and today she willingly answers our questions.

GJR: You are a well-established author, why the change to self-publishing? What kind of leverage do you think it gives you as an author?

AWS:  I’d felt demoralized over how many things were out of my control at the big publishers once I filed my manuscript. And I’d seen too many wonderful writers get pushed aside because their books hadn’t done well, when all they’d done was write a brilliant book. If an author writes a brilliant book, and it doesn’t sell, I’m not quite sure why he or she is blamed. But anyway. I’d grown disenchanted with the machine, and I have an entrepreneurial spirit, so it was kind of the perfect mix and the perfect time for me. As far as leverage? Well, I mean, anything and anyone can fail. I could have failed miserably at this. I think the only leverage it gives me is the control that I get back – from pricing (the book is just $2.99) to the cover to the marketing. But that’s BIG leverage and peace of mind for me, and that’s what I wanted.

For more on this you can see her article on Writer Unboxed 

GJR: How much research went into deciding to move to self-published? Will you do it again?

AWS: A ton and yes. I would never have jumped if I hadn’t armed myself with all of the research about how to do it well and how to do it right. Self-publishing has earned a reputation as amateurish because people scribble their manuscripts and call them books. That’s not how it works if you really want to be a pro. The process is and should be just as rigorous as anything you’d go through at a publishing house.

GJR: Between Richard Chandler and Vanessa, there’s a lot of philosophy going on in the novel. How much did you have to crack open those college philosophy books for research?

AWS: Ha! Funny enough, Philosophy was one of my favorite classes as a senior in high school. To be honest, the tough part wasn’t mulling over the philosophy behind the characters, it was keeping track of who thought what and being sure that the lines didn’t get too blurry between them all. It took a few drafts to really be clear on who had which stakes in which camp.

GJR: Which camp of thinking, Richard’s or Vanessa’s, do you think you fall into? Or do you think life is a blend of both, applicable in different situations?

AWS: I definitely do not adhere to Richard’s thinking – that everything happens for a reason or that free will doesn’t exist – but certainly, there are wonderful or terrible things that just happen in life with no rhyme or reason. But I’m a person who likes to be in control of her life, so I’d have a hard time embracing the idea that life happens to us rather than the idea that we chart our own lives. So in that way, I think I’m Team Vanessa.

GJR: You recently had a huge life change, moving from NYC to LA. How much of that experience and taking that risk went into The Theory of Opposites?

AWS:  Interestingly enough, a lot. The move has been really wonderful for us, and I think has fostered a real sense of contentment in our house. I couldn’t have written this book without that sense of contentment…I think my joy spills over to the pages. Also, last year was a year of change for us, and as someone who thrives on change (I’m a Gemini!), I just thought, “Hey, go for it, why not?” The worst thing that could happen would be that I’d fall on my face, and if that happened too, then I’d just stand up all over again.

GJR: Last time we talked when The Song Remains the Same was released, you were taking a break from writing novels and working on another project. What became of that project?

AWS: I wrote a screenplay – I think that’s what we were talking about! – for a production company out here, and Hollywood takes forever, so I’m still waiting. But it was a super-fun experience, and I’m glad to have dipped my toe into those waters.

GJR:  What inspired you to come back and write The Theory of Opposites?

AWS: Honestly, the joy of these characters. I had sort of given up on novels, but I had started this book a year or so ago and abandoned it. I happened to open it up one day, and all it did was make me smile, so I wanted to keep going, keep hanging out, passing the time with this ridiculous family. I really came to love them more than almost any of my previous characters, other than maybe Jillian from Time of My Life. They hold a pretty special place in my heart, not just because they’re awesome, but because they brought me back to writing fiction again.

GJR: You made a pretty big announcement before the release date of the novel in which Jennifer Garner and her production company picked up the option to develop The Theory of Opposites. How excited and stunned are you? I know it’s early, but do you know how involved you will be?

AWS:  I’m so elated. I’ve known for a while that it was in the works, but to share it with the world was just so amazing. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been a big fan of Jen’s for a while. I sent her the manuscript shortly after I finished it – she was probably one of my first ten readers – and she and her producing partner read it quickly and immediately expressed their enthusiasm. Honestly, at that point, I was just so stunned that anyone outside my immediate circle loved the book that that was the biggest focus. But now they’re getting started on it, and I know they’re going to do great things with it. As far as my involvement? They are being super-kind and keeping me in the loop, which normally doesn’t happen, but I trust them and am letting them do their thing.

GJR: What’s the biggest difference (besides weather) that you’ve noted between NYC and LA?

Oh, I was going to say the weather. That’s not fair! Okay, people in LA are much more laid-back than in NYC. Not that there’s anything wrong with the NYC ‘tude, but at this point in my life, I’m enjoying the sunglasses/yoga pants/cheery attitude that abounds in my area.

GJR: How does your writing space in LA differ from the one in NY?

AWS:  Home office in both places! I’m a lucky girl.

As always, much thanks to Allison for taking the time out her schedule for our questions!


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Author Interview: JoJo Moyes

We are delighted to have bestselling author, JoJoy Moyes on the blog today where she answers some questions. Her newest book, The Girl You Left Behind is out now!

Q: THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND, though a love story, features strong female relationships as well. What made you want to write about the connections that can form between women? If Liv and Sophie had lived in the same time, do you think they would have been friends?

JJM:  My female friendships are so important to me; I honestly don’t know how women survive without them. I get very bored of reading manufactured narratives that pit women against women; the working mums vs. stay at homes, old vs. young, the ‘evil’ woman boss who is trying to keep younger women down—I don’t recognise these images—most women I know are actually pretty supportive of each other. So I liked having relationships in this book where women are supportive of each other, even if their relationships are often complex and changing. To me that reflects real life. And yes, I think that Sophie and Liv might have been friends—I think through her sister’s grief, Sophie might have understood Liv’s own. And both knew what it was like to utterly adore your husband.

Q: The reclamation of art taken during wartime is central to the plot. How did you first encounter this topic and what kind of research did you do to learn more about it?

JJM: I was briefly the arts correspondent for The Independent newspaper in London, so I knew a bit about the legal issues. But I read an amazing news story about a young woman reporter who had been asked to mind a huge collection of stolen Nazi artwork, and was given a very valuable stolen Cranach as a ‘thank you.’ Many decades later when it came up for auction it was recognised and became the subject of a claim.

Q: It would seem the issue of returning stolen art is clear-cut, but Liv finds herself trying to keep a painting that may have been ill-gotten. Is there room for sympathy on both sides?

JJM: Without wanting to diminish in any way the suffering of those who lost their precious belongings, I think there is. The more time that goes by, the more complicated the issue becomes, as people buy and sell in good faith, not knowing the painting’s tainted past. These things are also complicated when great legal industries spring up around them, as seems to have happened in the case of stolen artwork.

Q: You create a vivid sense of French life under the German Occupation in WWI. Did you know much about this period prior to writing the novel?

JJM: No I didn’t, but the more research I did, the more fascinated I became by it. I knew about the terrible losses suffered in northern France during the first world war, but I knew little about life away from the Western Front, and the fact that in a great swathe of northern France Belgian and French people had their homes and belongings requisitioned in such a widespread and systematic way.

Q: Sophie and Liv exist a century apart, but their lives are strongly connected, making the past feel very much alive in your story. Do you feel a strong link to the past or a particular historic figure?

JJM: That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure I do. I’m always amazed when people do past life regression and say they turned out to be Cleopatra or Florence Nightingale... I think I’d be the anonymous girl who ran the fruit stall near the river, or kept the accounts in the hat shop. But I do like to look at the lives of particularly brave women in history though, undercover women agents, in wartime or Amelia Earhart, say, and try to use their actions to make me braver in my everyday life, like standing up to a traffic warden....

Q: What do you hope readers will take away from THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND?

JJM:  I hope they’ll be transported into a time and place they didn’t know about. And I hope that they will put themselves in the place of Sophie and Liv, and ask: what would I do in their shoes? I love writing strong, resourceful female characters, and Sophie was one of my favourites, so I hope some women might be a little bit inspired too. Mostly I simply hope that they will feel glad they picked up the book and took the journey with me.

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Author Interview: Beth Hoffman

Yesterday I reviewed Ms. Hoffman's latest novel, Looking for Me and today she willingly answers our questions.

GJR: What was the inspiration for the novel?

BH: After touring with Saving CeeCee Honeycutt I had no idea what I would write next, and to be honest, I was too tired to give it much thought. One day I was upstairs in my little writing library cleaning a file cabinet when I came across a large envelope filled with old photographs. Some dated as far back as 1883, and several of the photos were of my grandparents’ farm where I lived as a child. The more I sifted through the photos the more I yearned for the simple days of my youth. I missed the smell of freshly tilled earth and the taste of sweet corn grown on the land that had been in my family for generations. 

Just as I picked up a photograph of my younger brother when he was a little boy, something flashed in my periphery. I glanced up to see a red-tailed hawk land in the tree outside my window. He settled on a branch, then turned his head and looked in the window. There I sat, surrounded by old photographs of my family and the farm I had loved so much while the hawk and I quietly considered each other. And then—wham—I knew I had the soul of my story.

GJR: How much research went into the wildlife portions of the novel?

BH: Since early childhood I’ve loved (and studied) wildlife and nature, so those scenes were easy to create. On my grandparents’ farm the crop fields backed up to hundreds of acres of dense woodlands that I often explored with endless curiosity. Fox, white-tailed deer, raccoons, beavers, rabbits, woodchucks and countless birds (from raptors to tiny chickadees) were frequent visitors to our farm. Wildlife was a big part of our everyday lives.

GJR: You used to be an interior designer, so I’m guessing that the furniture restoration parts of the novel are something you know about. What was the best piece you ever placed in a house or restored.

BH: Well, the best (as in most valuable and historically significant) was an eighteenth-century French armoire that I found for a client at an estate sale. It was made of walnut and so beautifully crafted that I literally gasped when I saw it. But my favorite personal piece is a 1908 antique Herschell-Spillman carousel horse that I have in my dining room.

GJR: Was there a secondary character you thoroughly loved writing? If so, why?

BH: I love all of the secondary characters, and for different reasons—but if I had to pick just one, it would be Albert. In subtle yet profound ways he was instrumental in not only helping Teddi become a master at her craft, but also in helping her find some semblance of ballast after her brother’s disappearance. While writing the manuscript, Albert frequently surprised me. I’d hear him speak in my mind and be moved not only by what he had to say but how he said it.

GJR: Why did you choose Charleston as the place that Teddi makes her life?

BH:  Above all, the atmosphere of the story I want to create will determine the setting. I need to feel connected to a location’s history and culture. One of my favorite things to do while crafting a novel is to explore opposites. The juxtaposition of Charleston’s refinement to Slade, Kentucky’s rugged wilderness intrigued me. Red River Gorge is wonderfully wild and mysterious while Charleston is known for its gorgeous architecture and gentility. The downtown area of Charleston was the perfect place for Teddi to reach for her dream while Kentucky was ideal to hold her roots.

GJR: My husband loves hawks, if you could be a bird of prey, which one would you be? Why?

BH:  I love hawks, too. But if I had to be a raptor, I think I’d like to be an American Kestrel. They’re fast and stunningly beautiful birds.

GJR:  Are you working on another novel (please say yes)? If so, can you give us a hint what it’s about?

BH: Though I do have some characters chattering my head, I don’t imagine I’ll come up with any solid ideas until after I finish my book tour. There’s no doubt I will write novel number three. I just can’t say when I’ll begin or how long it will take. 

GJR:  Is there a certain place you write? Please describe it to us.

BH: I write in several locations. A good number of scenes in Looking for Me were crafted on my visits to Charleston where I rented a small house in the heart of the historic district, and I’ve also stayed at a charming old inn called Wentworth Mansion. Many of the Red River Gorge scenes were written on location, too. While there, I always stayed in a rustic place called Hemlock Lodge.

GJR:  I’ve heard in order to be a writer, you have to be a reader; so what are some of your all-time favorite, go-to books?

BH: Truman Capote, Reynolds Price, and Carol Shields are the authors I most often turn to for pure reading joy.

GJR: You’re having an author get-together, dinner party. Who’s on the guest list, which recipe would you grab, and why? 

BH:  This is a tough question for me to answer, and here’s why: I’m a card-carrying introvert, and when I hear the word “party” I’m stricken with wide-eyed fear. LOL! So, if I were to host an author dinner party I’d keep the guest list small and would invite Pat Conroy, Alice Walker, Bailey White, and Ron McLarty.

I adore Italian cuisine, and though I have celiac disease and can’t eat wheat pasta, I’ve found many excellent substitutions. As for which recipe I’d grab, I’d make my all-time favorite—lasagna, served with a salad of spinach, pine nuts and figs, and to round out the menu there would be warm homemade Italian bread. The wine selection would be a smooth but robust Chianti and I’d make tiramisu for dessert.

Thanks to Ms. Hoffman for taking time out of her schedule to answer our questions. Watch for Looking for Me on shelves May 28th, 2013.

 

Author Interview: Erika Robuck

Last week, Julie reviewed the wonderful novel, Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck. Today, we are delighted that Erika was able to do our Q&A.

GJR: Why did you focus on this time in Hemingway’s life for the setting of your novel? Why introduce Mariella into his life?

Erika Robuck (ER): When I visited the Hemingway House in Key West, I was struck by the personality of Hemingway’s second wife, Pauline, throughout the rooms and grounds. Where ceiling fans were replaced with chandeliers and old bar urinals were tiled over and turned into fountains, I could see the mark of a woman who had wanted to change a man, and I was fascinated by it. Then I read Hemingway’s essay about the deaths of the vets following the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, and I knew I had to tell their story. Mariella grew as a bridge between Hemingway and the veterans, between the haves and have-nots.

GJR: Mariella feels a strong pull towards Hemingway throughout the novel. What do you think it was about him that made women fall in love and cling to him?

ER: I believe Hemingway’s alpha male status was what made him so attractive. Wherever Hemingway went, he had command of the room. His physical size, good looks, vocal power, directness, and intensity were magnetic.

Mariella, in particular, had spent her life around fishermen at the docks of Key West, and had just lost her father. She was more comfortable around men than women, and lacked a strong male figure in her life at that time. Hemingway filled that need.

GJR: As we see Mariella fall in love with Gavin, her feelings towards Papa change. She begins to see him in a new light; albeit not always a good one. Do you think that seeing him through other people’s eyes, made Mariella open her own? Or do you think being around him all the time helped cultivate that change?

ER: I think that seeing Gavin as Hemingway’s foil highlighted all of Hemingway’s shortcomings. Where Gavin gave Mariella space and left her feeling empowered, Hemingway came on strong and left her feeling guilty. While Gavin worked to serve those around him, Hemingway used those around him in his fiction and to suit his purposes. With Gavin around, Mariella could not ignore Hemingway’s faults.

GJR: Did you find it hard to write Hemingway, since you were fictionalizing an American icon? How long did it take you to research him? Did you already know how you wanted to portray him?

ER: I was a little daunted at the task of animating Hemingway, so I tried to get to know him on every level and through every stage of his life through biographies, letters, journals, photographs, and most important, his fiction. I generally research for about four months before writing a word, and during that time, I get to know my subjects intimately enough to form their characters. How I wanted to portray him grew more complex the more I read about him.

GJR: Was there a secondary character you thoroughly loved writing? If so, why?

ER: I loved writing Gavin and John. I have tremendous respect and care for members of our armed forces and veterans, and those men really stirred me. Their ability to fight, their loyalty, and the way they have to try to live normal lives after coming back from hell fascinates and inspires me. I loved Gavin and John so much that they unexpectedly made cameos in my protagonist’s past as a war nurse in my next novel, CALL ME ZELDA.

GJR: Mariella owns this story but Hemingway was a catalyst for a lot of things, including her meeting Gavin. How do you think these things tie together? Could Mariella be the same person without having met Papa?

ER: As much as Gavin’s goodness highlights Hemingway’s dark side, he also reflects Hemingway’s better traits of loyalty, love of country and freedom, respect for veterans, yearning for authenticity, and courage. Hemingway is drawn to goodness in others because he wants to be good.

I don’t think Mariella would have reached her full maturity and appreciation for the path she ultimately chose without seeing another path in Hemingway. As much of a friend as he was to her, Hemingway was also a test of her own loyalty, authenticity, and courage.

GJR: Has being a big fan of Hemingway and his books, changed you as a writer and as a reader? If so, how?

ER: It has. Part of what I love about Hemingway is his clear, spare prose style, and as a “student” of his, I’ve nurtured that aspect of my own style. I am not comparing my writing to Hemingway, only mentioning that it is more natural to me to allow the reader to infer than to directly spell out my message.

There are many writers who have to delete thousands of words while revising. I’m the opposite. The first drafts of my work are like the bones. I add muscle, blood vessels, and skin as I rework the material.

As a reader, I enjoy many different styles. In fact, once I finish a story by Hemingway, I often visit one of Fitzgerald’s stories for balance.

GJR: Unless you are like Papa and don’t believe in talking about your current work, can you tell us a little about your next book?

ER: Unlike Papa, I love to talk about my work. My next novel with NAL/Penguin, CALL ME ZELDA, will release in 2013. It is the story of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald after the party years, and in the midst of Zelda’s psychological breakdown. It is mostly set in the 1930s and 40s, but also takes the reader back to debutante dances in Alabama, the Roaring Twenties in New York, the French Riviera, Bermuda, and Asheville, North Carolina. I can’t wait to share more!

GJR: How do you feel social media has helped publishing and/or reading in general? What about for yourself?

ER: I enjoy social media so much that it does not feel like work. Twitter has allowed me to connect with other writers all over the United States and the world to compare notes, learn craft, point out conferences, form critique groups, and provide moral support. Writing doesn’t feel isolating anymore with so many authors on Twitter.

Social media has helped publishing, because now book buzz and word-of-mouth recommendations have a much farther reach. I chat about books and reading regularly with people all over the US and the globe, and I get ninety percent of my pleasure reading recommendations from my Twitter feed.

An interesting detail to note, however, is that writers who go on Twitter only to promote themselves aren’t very successful. It’s about genuine connection. When good news happens, you share it with your friends, but I don’t recommend that people sign up for Twitter and immediately start linking to buy their book on x, y, or z site. That’s a big turn off.

GJR: You’re having an author get-together, dinner party.  Who’s on the guest list, which recipe would you grab, and why?

ER: If I could pick anyone, I’d invite A. S. Byatt (POSSESSION), Ian McEwen (ATONEMENT), Toni Morrison (BELOVED), Margaret Atwood (ALIAS GRACE), and J K Rowling to my dinner party. I would have it catered with a big Italian feast and lots of wine because I’m a terrible cook, and because Italian feasts with wine seem to inspire passionate conversation. Then I would eat, drink, and LISTEN.

Thanks to Erika for taking time to do our Q&A. Hemingway's Girl is out today!

Author Interview: Betsy Woodman

A couple weeks ago, Julie reviewed Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes and we are so happy that the author, Betsy Woodman, took some time to answer our questions.

GJR: Is there any part of the main character, Jana which is autobiographical? If yes, what do you two share in common? If no, is she an accumulation of people you’ve known?

Betsy Woodman (BW): Jana is neither autobiographical, nor a composite of real people. She popped into my head one day fully formed, parrot and all.

She comes from a different generation, closer to my grandmother's than mine, and so has lived through different events in history, including two world wars and the coming of Indian independence. She experiences India as a bride and young mother and as a middle-aged woman, which I didn’t do.

Oh, we share a few things. We both struggle with our wardrobes and neither does well in the kitchen. Also, a few of my own childhood memories crept into hers, such as soaping up the bathroom floor and sliding back and forth on it. (Our first bathroom in India had no fixtures, just a plain cement floor with a drain.)

GJR: Besides Jana, who is your favorite character and why?

BW: Feroze Ali Khan, the proprietor of Royal Tailors. I love his ability to see two sides of a coin, his gentle toleration of his customers who are culturally different from him, the fact that he loves his wife so much, his eventual willingness to change even when it's difficult for him. I also love the pride he takes in his craft, and his aesthetic sense that dates back to the time of the Moghul emperors.  He is devout without being fanatic, and he knows that sometimes the loving thing is to let go rather than to hold on tight. Side note: Julie's favorite was Feroze as well.

GJR: You lived many years in India, what inspired you to write a novel about this expansive country and its people rather than a memoir or non-fiction book?

BW: A novel allowed me to incorporate humor, exaggeration, improbable happenings, and just plain fun. I also wanted a more shaped narrative then I would have had in a memoir–problems to be solved, interconnecting subplots, resolutions. Fiction also let me drawn on a much greater range of materials, including books, movies, artworks, and other people's experiences.

GJR: Obviously where we are raised has a tremendous influence on who we become, how do you feel that India shaped Jana?

BW: Jana's is totally formed by India. She has grown up hearing the tinkle of temple bells, the calls of street vendors, the prayers from the mosque, the creak of bullock carts passing. She's accustomed to the smells of jasmine, sandalwood, burning cow dung, and pigeon droppings on sandstone. Street traffic to her means cows, rickshaws, horse-drawn tongas, and only the occasional automobile. Most important, in India, she has been surrounded by people of different races, colors, religions, and ways of life. She loves that variety, and needs it to feel at home.

GJR: How did your childhood of growing up in India and then studying abroad shape you?

BW: It left me with a passion for history, traditional cultures, and languages. I love dictionaries and atlases.

Woodstock School and its spectacular Himalayan environment gave me an excellent education and a love of mountain views.  http://www.woodstockschool.in/

Lastly, living in both wealthy and poor countries made me aware of the huge global disparities in people’s life chances. I grieve that the world is still split up into friends and enemies. Spaceship Earth is small, and we’re all on it together.

GJR: What are some of your favorite books that are set in India? Or books that are about India?

BW: Hard question, since there are so many! Here are a few off the top of my head.

Big, powerful novels: Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance and Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide

Brilliant intimate novel: Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day; Classic memoir of English children growing up in India in the early twentieth century: Jon and Rumer Godden’s Two Under the Indian Sun; Moving account of a whole Bengali village taking a rail trip around India: Heather Wood Ion's Third Class Ticket. There are some more suggestions in the “etc.” section of Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes, and I also sometimes talk about books on my own blog, http://www.betsywoodman.com/blog/

GJR: Have you thought about doing a children’s book series with Mr. Ganguly as the main character? If not, I think it’s a great idea! J I think it would be a great way to introduce children to the Indian culture and how multi-religious it is.

BW: That hadn't occurred to me. With tons of pictures! What a great idea. I’ll ask Mr. G what he thinks.

GJR: I know that there is another book planned in this series, can you give us a little morsel of what the 2^nd book is about?

BW: Book two is called Love Potion Number 10. In it, a lot of people are thinking about love, wondering if it’s too late to find it, or worried they will lose it. I’ll let you guess whether Jana is one of them. However, I will tell you that she’s taken up Freudian dream analysis—with her own personal twist. Also, editor Rambir’s orderly life falls apart when he becomes a temporary bachelor, a reporter with ulterior motives interviews Jana, and Mr. Ganguly falls into dire peril.

GJR: You’re having an author get-together (aka dinner party): Who’s on the guest list, which recipe would you grab, and why?

BW: I’m a pathetic cook. Can I order out for Indian food? As long as the samosas are fresh and crispy, the naan puffy, and the palak paneer creamy, everything will be all right. I love the kind of party where you laugh until your sides ache, so I want humorists as the guests. We may have to resurrect some of them from the grave, including Mark Twain, Ogden Nash, Dorothy Parker, and Erma Bombeck. Among the living, my pals novelist Elizabeth Berg and columnist Terry Marotta are both very witty people and I think they would enjoy the evening and give the ghosts a run for their money.

I want to thank Betsy Woodman for taking time out of her schedule to answer the questions. For more on Betsy please check out her website and you can also follow her on twitter @BetsyWoodman.

Author Interview: Emily Jeanne Miller

Earlier today, I reviewed and raved about Emily Jeanne Miller's Brand New Human Being. We are delighted that Ms. Miller took some time out of her schedule to answer our questions.

GJR: Why did you choose Montana as the setting for Brand New Human Being?

Emily Jeanne Miller (EJM): In 1998, I moved to Missoula, Montana, to get a Master’s in Environmental Studies. I loved it there; the place really captured my heart and my imagination. I hadn’t really started writing fiction yet, then, but a few years later, when I was living in Florida (getting my MFA) and very homesick for the west, I wrote several stories that took place out there, including the one that would eventually become Brand New Human Being.

GJR: I thought going into the book that the redemption part would be the longest part of the book but instead it’s the lead up to the redemption that’s the longest. What made you decide to focus on the buildup instead of the redemption for the majority of the novel?

EJM:  I think that what interested me most in writing the story was Logan’s dislocation in his life, the desperation he begins to feel because of it, and the bad decisions he makes as a result. His unraveling is what allows him to grow. I wanted the book’s focus to be that.

GJR: I never doubted Logan’s love for Julie but from the very beginning I did doubt her love for him. Was that your hope for your readers? Did you want us to doubt Julie so that Logan’s journey would seem more rational?

EJM: Yes. I wanted Julie to be complicated, and imperfect (like all of us). She does love him, but she’s also completely fed up with his inertia. She wants their life to move forward, and he’s stuck in the past. Actually, I felt a lot of empathy for Julie, despite the fact that she wasn’t particularly nice.

GJR: Logan seems stuck or at a standstill after the death of his father. I got the feeling that Gus was a good dad but that Logan felt he was still somewhat of an enigma.

EJM: I agree. Gus was a larger-than-life figure to so many people, this great hero; it was hard for Logan not to resent him somewhat, knowing him as a real, flawed—and sometimes selfish, harsh, and inaccessible—person.

GJR: Do you think that Logan taking Owen on his quick exodus from his life will help their relationship in the future? Or is it something that Logan will always remember and will retell Owen because he was just a bit too young to remember it?

EJM:  I think that it is something Logan will always look back on as a turning point in his own life, but it’s also something he’ll always feel ashamed about, regarding Owen and what he put him through. I think that when Owen’s older, Logan will try to explain why he did what he did and that at some point, perhaps years into the future when he has his own kids, Owen will understand, and feel empathy for what his father went through when he was four.

GJR: How do you think it shaped Logan and Julie’s relationship/marriage by having them get together and married fairly quickly?

EJM:  It left them with a lot still to figure out—about each other, about marriage, and about themselves. Dealing with the death of a parent is hard enough without an infant in the mix—much less one who came into the world in a traumatic way. They didn’t have much of a “honeymoon” phase, is another way to say it; they’re sort of learning about each other as they go.

GJR: Do you think that Logan ever had real feelings for Bennie or do you think it was a schoolboy crush?

EJM: I think it was something in between. His feelings for her were real, but they were complicated; Logan was jealous of Gus—and also of Bennie, for getting so much of Gus’s attention and affection, which he felt he never quite got. So it was complicated—a schoolboy crush, with some Oedipus and Electra thrown into the mix.

GJR: Can you give us a glimpse of who/what your next novel focuses on?

EJM: Yes: Brothers. (GJR comment: Intrigued already)

GJR: You’re having an author get-together (aka dinner party): Who’s on the guest list, which recipe would you grab, and why?

EJM: Richard Russo, Michael Connelly, Alice Munro, Kauai Hart Hemmings, and John Cheever’s ghost. I’m not much of a cook, so I’d make lasagna, because they’re very hard to mess up!

                                                          

GJR: Since this is your first novel, did you have any preconceived notions about writing a book? What is easier or harder than you thought?

EJM:  It was harder, I think. I had no illusions about it being easy, but making myself sit down every single day, even when I felt hopeless or lazy or stuck (which was often), that was hard. On the other hand, I finished the whole thing in about a year, which feels pretty quick, in retrospect.

Thanks to Ms. Miller for taking time out of her schedule to answer the Q& A.

Photo by: Eliza Truitt

Author Interview: Allison Winn Scotch

Yesterday I reviewed Allison Winn Scotch's newest novel, The Song Remains the Same; which I loved!! Today, I'm thrilled that she took the time to answer our questions. This is her 2nd time doing a Q&A for us and we couldn't be happier.

GJR: Except for a few chapters, the novel is written from the point of view of Nell, how important was it for the readers to connect immediately with her?

Allison Winn Scotch (AWS): Given how little information Nell has about herself, and thus, how little information the readers really have about it, it’s critical that they connect with her on an emotional level right way. I have a few favorite sections of the book, but that initial opening chapter is definitely one of them: for me (and I know that I’m biased! Ha!), the blank slate of her situation is really moving and intriguing, so hopefully, if I did my job well, readers will agree.

GJR: Nell wants to be a new person before she even knew who she was before the accident, why was she so adamant about that?

AWS: Well, when she wakes up, she has all of these ideas about who she really should be. I think in the way that a lot of us would or could wake up in a new life or with no memory of our history and hope that we are completely fabulous. I mean, it’s doubtful that you’d wake up and think, “I hope I’m in a kind of crappy marriage or that I don’t like my job,” etc. And once she understands how middling her current life was, she can’t help but re-envision it for herself. That becomes what she holds onto as she sorts her way through the memory loss.

GJR: As soon as Nell learns that her dad left them, this becomes the focus of her quest. Why did you have Nell latch on to her dad as the key to her past?

AWS: Good question. When you’re writing complicated characters, you have to give them reasons for their complications. Often times, this comes from their past, just as often times outside of fiction, this comes from the past. I had to come up with a tangible reason for why Nell would become the person she became – someone who was living a life that really wasn’t hers – and why she’d stay stuck for so long. I think parental abandonment can do this: it would leave a scar even when you wished that it hadn’t. And you probably really couldn’t erase that scar unless you did some really hard work on yourself.

GJR: How much research did you do about dissociative amnesia? What kind of research did you do?

AWS: My father is a neurosurgeon, so I grew up knowing a lot more about the brain than most kids: it’s what we talked about around the dinner table. (Really!) So with that as a starting point, I spoke with my dad, I read case studies and research online, that sort of thing. It sounds totally implausible, but it actually does happen!

GJR: As a reader I was suspicious and less trusting of the people in Nell’s life than she was. Do you think it’s in our nature to trust, like Nell, or to be distrustful until someone earns it?

AWS: Ooh, fantastic question. I can only speak to myself, but I’m a pretty trusting person, albeit with caveats. What I mean by that is that I think I can also read people pretty well, and if they pass the sniff test, I generally give them the benefit of the doubt. But you have to understand that Nell didn’t even know what her own sniff test was. We all have ours, but she didn’t. She only knew that these people were important to her in the past – her sister, her husband – why shouldn’t she trust them? I think if you consider it from that angle, it’s easy to see why she did. She knew she once trusted them, so why not now?

GJR: How did you decide on the songs that are featured as “The Best of Nell Slattery”? Did the songs drive the chapters or did you fit the songs in afterwards? Did you have to get special rights to use the lyrics?

AWS: Another great question. I fit the songs in afterward, but I did know which parts of the chapter they would come into play for. And at certain points in the editing process, I adjusted the chapters accordingly. Originally, I wanted each chapter to start off with a stanza from a song, but this proved insanely expensive. It turns out that if lyrics are embedded within a chapter (but not used as the opening) you can use a certain amount of words/lines from a song without having to buy the rights, so that’s what I did. And ironically, it ended up being much better for the book – it just blended everything together in a much more seamless way. As far as how I chose the songs? I was all over the place for a long time until I finally honed in on that they all needed to be from a very specific time in her childhood. From there, I spent weeks pouring over billboard charts and listening to music that I thought would evoke each specific moment.

GJR: Music is huge in The Song Remains the Same: what are the top 5 songs that would be the soundtrack for your life?

AWS: Oh my gosh! Impossible question: I am one of those people who have about five songs from each year, much less my life. But a few that come to mind are “Babe,” by Styx (high school), “Better Man,” by Pearl Jam (college), “Little Silver Ring” by The Samples (also college), “Wide Open Spaces” by The Dixie Chicks (post-college) and “Read My Mind” by The Killers (also post-college).

GJR: You’ve said that The Song Remains the Same is the best novel you’ve written. That’s a pretty bold statement. What makes you say that?

AWS: Ha! I just…I just think I was pushed to write a better, sharper, more literary novel this time around. Partially because I wanted to challenge myself and partially because my editor insisted on it. I took more chances, I dove deeper into the nitty-gritty of my characters and their dark places. I don’t know. It’s hard to quantify, but I do think that writers all have their favorites. Whether or not readers agree is probably a different discussion! But we all know (I think) when we’ve done our best work…and conversely, when we haven’t.

GJR: Are you working on another novel? Any little morsel of you can give us about the plot?

AWS: I’m actually not right now. I’ve taken some time this past year to learn how to write screenplays (it’s a very different skill than novels), and I have a few of those in the works. I just wanted to stretch myself and try something different. I have no doubt that I’ll get back to book soon though! I adore movies but there is nothing quite like reading (and writing) a great book.

Thanks to Allison for taking the time out of her busy day to answer our questions!