Best of Interviews: Mameve Medwed

We'd gotten a question on inspiration, and began thinking of memorable inspirations for stories we'd come across. One we love was the crazy kernel that Mameve Medwed nurtured into Of Men and Their Mothers. Rather than answer the question ourselves, we thought we'd bring back a "Best Interview" so you can hear the story again from Mameve yourself!

Mameve Medwed’s books are known for their strong sense of setting, fully-drawn characters, and plots that build on comedies of manners in the issues that matter most day-to-day: love, children, parents, career, self. Of her first novel, 1997’s Mail, Publishers Weekly noted that “Medwed’s talent is in the details,” and her books have been praised by the likes of Arthur Golden, Tom Perrotta, Gregory Maguire and Anita Shreve. Her book, Of Men and Their Mothers, was a BookSense “Notable Book” last May. She graciously agreed to be interviewed for The Writers’ Group blog, and offers insights into her path through and take on the literary life.

Hannah Roveto: Thank you for sharing your time with us. I’ve read your first four books, already bought the fifth, and the fact that you are known for humor is of particular interest to me. First off, Mail came out in 1997. What was your background to that point? You were writing already?

Mameve Medwed: Thank you, too! Yes, I was writing short stories and had published a lot. Mail started as a short story published in The Missouri Review. I thought I was a short story writer. Elinor Lipman called and said, you know, you need to write a novel. I told her I didn’t know how, and she said, “Nobody does. Take Mail and turn it into one.” So I did it, kicking and screaming. Then it finds an agent, results in a bidding war, and I thought, this isn’t so bad! I felt I never wanted to write short stories again. I love the luxury of working on something for a matter of years. I always panic at the end of a story, worry where the story will go, and will I ever get another idea. Novel writing delays that panic.

HR: How did you meet Elinor Lipman?

MM: I met Elinor almost thirty years ago in a writing class at Brandeis, adult ed, twelve weeks for forty bucks. We hit it off and became fast friends right away, especially since we were the only ones writing funny stuff and we were considered not “serious!”

HR: What did you learn as you grew into a novel writer?

MM: I don’t know what I learned, in that I did it by the seat of my pants. I’d always keep one paragraph ahead of myself. I was so certain I couldn’t do it, that nobody would want it, I didn’t set any limits on myself. I let my imagination spin, went on tangents, moved back and forth in time. I took classes, of course, at the Cambridge Center and at Radcliffe, which were tremendously helpful. I was quite sure nothing would come of it, though. I still feel that way with every novel, that I’m reinventing the wheel for myself.

HR: Did you have a writers group in those early days?

MM: I’ve certainly been sustained by writers groups and seminars, but all the groups petered out over time. They’d work for a while, then they didn’t. I have one reader over the years, Elinor, who’s been a constant. I read her work and she reads mine. Sometimes my agent reads before I’m done, sometimes someone else.

HR: Do you have a formal process or rules any longer?

MM: No. (Laughs.) Ellie send stories chapter by chapter, very polished. I send her big messy manuscripts I’ve certainly gone over a number of times, but I think she has the harder end of that deal. I don’t want to be stopped too early on.HR: If you are asking someone else to read, are there any guidelines you suggest to them?

MM: I’m very careful whom I ask to read. I have to know the person, know they know me. I want brutal honesty wrapped in encouragement. I don’t want to feel like I’m going to go home and fall on my sword; I want a certain professionalism. You need to know if the story works, the characters are real, whether there are any confusions. Is it too long, and so forth.

HR: You’ve said Mail took about three years to write, and your other books have come out at about two year intervals. Can you talk a bit to your process while you write? Do you outline, or know where your stories are headed, and do you have any thoughts on those “messy middles?”

MM: I’ve been told I’m “so prolific.” Of course, between the time you have a book accepted and when it is published is about eighteen months, so there’s been an additional six months or so of time nobody sees. I have very bad habits, or at least, a horrible time starting a new book. First, I’m often in the whole publication-touring-promotion phase for another book, so it’s hard to switch heads. I haven’t given birth to the old book yet, fully. Nothing flows, and that is torture. It’s an exquisite and delightful torture.

I never know the story when I start to write it out. That’s what makes it interesting to me. If I know, then to me the process feels too mechanical. I like the surprises along the way; they keep me going. If I felt I had to analyze or intellectualize the elements, I’d be paralyzed. I used to feel dumb, but I’ve learned to trust the subconscious when I’m in the zone.

The first draft, I try not to overthink. E.L. Doctorow had a quote about writing a novel: “It’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” I keep that over my computer.Once I have about fifty pages, though, I have a place to go. Then I’m really good, have exemplary habits. I can work for eight or ten hours a day and will do at least two pages each day, which accumulates. I let myself write badly; everything including the kitchen sink goes in, what I read in the newspapers, everything. I don’t worry about the middle, because I know I’m going to revise. In revising, I cut huge swathes through it, connect the dots, address continuity. If you allow yourself to write badly the first time through, you use some of it, not other parts, but it’s all there on paper.

HR: So you never know the endings, even in a book like The End of An Error (re-released in paperback last April)?

MM: No. I didn’t. And I don’t know that afterward she sticks with that choice or regrets it, either.

HR: Humor is tricky. What do you think makes it work, if it is something that can be quantified at all? Any tips for someone working in this category?

MM: I don’t think I’m funny. I’m dead serious when I’m writing. That it was funny was a surprise, that people laughed. I suppose it’s my voice, my style. I’ve been on panels, talked about it a lot, and I’ll say that when you’re going to write anything, even humor, it still has to be serious. I do write serious books, about life, love and loss. Robert Stone said it’s the great thing about literature: it makes the world less lonely.To write it, I know the characters have to be real, layered; they can’t be caricatures. The biggest danger in comedy is to have cardboard characters. You need a real person with an inner life. Trollope says that easy reading takes hard writing. You have to go over it a million times to make it seamless, make sure it flows.

HR: When you are ready to start a novel, what sets it off: a moment, a story you hear, a character idea? What inspired your newest book, Of Men and Their Mothers, for example?

MM: I always like writing about mothers and sons; there were certainly experiences with my own mother-in-law that prompt thoughts, and stories I hear. Although then you need to take it and bring it to another level. And class – that’s something we dare not name in our society. For the new book, I’d had some thoughts. Then a somewhat scruffy man was looking for some neighbors, who were out. I told the woman later about him, and she asked me to come over. She pulled a bag from the freezer: breast milk that had been in there for three years or so. Her husband was a lawyer who’d done a pro bono case for DSS and his client asked him to store the milk. The idea of someone’s breast milk in a stranger’s freezer for years… well, that clicked right away with what I was thinking!

HR: What do you like best about the literary life?

MM: I like that I am the god of my domain. I can do whatever I want. And I do love the torture of writing, which gives me the clay to do revision. I like the big feeling of having a book in me, no matter where I go, carrying it inside of me. I don’t like giving up that control once it’s done, when it depends on so many other people, on budgets, reviews and sales. It’s hard to give up the story to that. Most of us are shy, find it hard, worrying about what another person will think even though you know it’s only one opinion; but will it make or break the book? The lovely part, then in turn, is to have a book in your hands, in bookstores and libraries. You get that connection with readers.When you start writing, all you want is to have a book. Then you say, okay, all I want is another book. You’re never satisfied, and each time the anxiety gets ratcheted up, and then the book comes out and that alone doesn’t fulfill you. In the end, it always goes back to the joy and torture of writing your world. Every single time, you have to go back to the writing.

Information on Mameve Medwed’s books, from those above to How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life and Host Family, as well as essays and public appearance dates are at http://www.mamevemedwed.com/.

Jamie Cat Callan: When the Going Gets Rough

Here's a Thanksgiving treat that won't put on a pound and could lift the weight from your literary shoulders now and again! We promise not to tease you any longer about any guest starting this week, and yes, we are posting her a day early so you can enjoy and ponder her response as you hit the road or the kitchen.

Jamie Cat Callan is a writer and writing teacher extraordinaire. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, to The Missouri Review, to UCLA Magazine. Awards include the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, the Goldwyn Award in Screenwriting, two First Prizes in the Writers Digest Fiction Competition, a Bread Loaf Writing Conference Fellowship, and several residencies. Her March 2009 release entitled French Women Don't Sleep Alone: Pleasurable Secrets to Finding Love will be her second book on love and romance; she is author of the YA novel Just Too Cool, and she is spending time in Los Angeles these days researching a novel based on adventures she had as a script girl for Meg Ryan.

We invited Jamie to take a question of interest to all writers, whether on our first, fifth or fiftieth manuscript, because in Jamie's spare time she is the author of The Writers Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises for the "Write" Side of Your Brain, and has taught this right-brain approach not only at Boston's Grub Street, but at Yale University, Wesleyan University, NYU, UCLA, to name a few.

Q: I'm facing a terrible writer's block. Threads head into dead ends I can't get out of and characters don't act or speak the way they should, no matter what I do to force them back toward my outline (which seemed right when I started). What tactics can you suggest to keep things flowing and get back on track?

A) I believe each individual writer possesses a kind of gold--an individual voice and style that is so unique, no one else can replicate it. Sometimes it's hidden in that deep place within that is bound up in love and tears and confusion and joy and secrets. As a writing instructor, I see it as my job to help you find that core--that heart center--where good, strong writing flows. To do this, I use "right brain" technique. I bring games and laughter and even a kind of creative irrationality into the classroom, so that you feel safe to take risks and to jump into that deep pool--where you will find your own gold--your own truth. So when the going gets rough:

1. Leave off the writing each day at a place where you'll be excited to go back. Don't completely "scratch that itch," so that you'll have something to look forward to the next day.

2. Throw scraps of interesting sentences, pictures and even discarded passages from other work in a box next to your desk. When you hit a wall, reach into the box and just go with whatever you get. Use the power of the right side of your brain, that part that's intuitive, nonlinear and slightly wacky, kind of like your third cousin--the one with the sequin eyeglasses and the bright red beehive. It's the opposite of the left brain--that's the more analytical and critical part--perhaps your mother's voice in your head asking you what makes you think you could be a writer.

3. Go for a walk. Actually, Dorothea Brande in her landmark writing book "Becoming a Writer" suggests that any rhymic, repetitive, nonverbal activity will get the juices flowing. When I worked for Meg Ryan and someone asked me to xerox an entire book (a bound book--so it would take hours)--I welcomed it has an opportunity to think and take notes on my own book.

4. Don't ever let the "paint get dry." By that I mean, don't spend too long away from your project. Otherwise, it's harder to re-enter the dream of the narrative.

5. And to continue the metaphor, try "throwing some paint" on the wall. See what sticks. Embrace your wacky-inner-child self. How do I "throw paint on the wall"? First off, I always approach my work as if I'm just going to fool around. I make no demands on myself. If I'm stuck, I like to go out and eavesdrop and use "found dialogue" the way visual artists use found objects to make sculpture. It's amazing how you can get inspired just by standing in line at the CVS prescription line!

6. Hook up with writer friends who will encourage you, give you a deadline, suggest agents, etc. and give you a good boot in the pants, when necessary.

The going is always rough. I think that's just the way it is, and I think that's why we write.

Author Spotlight Series: Marisa de los Santos

Posted by Lynne Griffin

When I saw the advance praise for the new novel, Belong to Me, by Marisa de los Santos, I was delighted. A big fan (along with millions of other readers) of her first novel, Love Walked In, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. De los Santos delivered with her second gem. After finishing Belong to Me, I contacted Marisa asking if she’d like to be part of our author spotlight series. And lucky for us, she agreed.

Lynne: Can you share with our readers a glimpse inside your literary life?
Marisa: I taught literature for many years at the undergraduate level. And spent most of my time writing poetry. The idea for Love Walked In came to me after I had my first child. It was published in 2006 and before it was off my desk I started writing Belong to Me, which was just published in April.

Lynne: How great is it to have two novels out in a two year period?
Marisa: It’s been wonderful, really. Belong to Me has brought new readers to Love Walked In. It’s been very special to have new life to that book, through my latest. I love hearing from readers who’ve really connected with Cornelia Brown.

Lynne: I was surprised Belong to Me was a sequel. Can you tell our readers how you came to that decision?
Marisa: I started on Belong to Me, when Love Walked In wasn’t even off my desk. The characters wanted to say more, so I wrote it before Love was published. For me, each book evolves over time. I don’t have lots of ideas that I can pick off a shelf. I write the book I need to write at the time. Belong to Me has a different mood, a different tone. I worried people might not like it because the characters are in different places in their lives. In Love Walked In, there was lots of room for play. Belong to Me is more serious, but it had to be written that way; it’s a more grown-up book. My third is not a continuation of last two. But who knows about my forth.

Lynne: I know you’ve had the same editor for both books, but not the same publishing house. Can you tell us about that?
Marisa: After Love Walked In was published, my editor moved to Morrow. I will be there for my next two books, as well. It’s very nice to have a home. It’s been a very positive experience, and I think that has to do with the fact that I’ll be with them. It works for me—and for them—to think long term about our efforts. It would only make sense; it’s an investment.

Lynne: Any words about your agent and editor relationships?
Marisa: I’m very fortunate to be close to both my agent and editor. All the relationships are very personal, with your agent, editor and publicity staff. For me the experience has been extremely positive.

Lynne: How do you balance writing and promoting?
Marisa: The times I’m not writing are just as important as when I am. The first time I was on the road, I remember sitting in a hotel room trying to write. I wasn’t in my space. I’m a homebody when I’m writing. I need total immersion, as much as you can get of that when you have a family. That’s what I need, I figured out. So now when I’m promoting, I’m writing less. But I do a lot of the working out of the story in my head, so I’m always doing that.

Lynne: Tell us about your writing routine.
Marisa: During the school year, when my kids are in school, I write between 8:30- 2:30. Each day I start by reading pages from the day before, and then I plunge in. I write sentence to sentence, and I don’t know my story until I’m writing. I have a vague sense, but the story comes as I write. My first drafts take a long time because I fine-tune as I go. I don’t have numerous drafts, but more of a thorough continuous draft. I send my manuscript to my agent in chunks. She’s a great editor. I’m very at home with her.

Lynne: What’s most important to you as a writer?
Marisa: I can’t write for an audience. I never want my books to lack integrity because I’ve not been true to my story and the characters. I value my audience, but I have to write what I have to write.

As a writer and a reader, characters are paramount to me. I love language, but I get impatient when books don’t have a story to tell. The highest compliment I can get is that my characters feel real. The books I go back to over and over again—the ones that become part of my life—are the ones where the characters are alive.

The way I write is character-driven. I don’t plot, I let the characters tell me what the story is.

Lynne: How are you contending with your new found success?
Marisa: It’s all wonderful. This whole publishing life for me has been full of serendipitous things, some incredibly miraculous things, but it doesn’t change my daily life. The thing that brings it home for me, isn’t the sales figures, it’s the email, the conversations with readers. The fact that my books are touching people, reaching people, that’s the best thing.

I’m grateful things are happening now that I’m happy, and my life is firmly in place. It is all a great privilege to be doing this, though there was no big identity shift, because I’d had always been a writer. The real relationship is between you and the work; nothing changes that, and nothing should.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with the people I’ve worked with; they’ve been dedicated to me and my books. I know I’m blessed and I live in a state of gratitude.

Thank you, Marisa, for sharing your time with the readers of The Writers' Group. Your insights are incredibly valuable.

Author Spotlight Series: Mameve Medwed

Posted by Hannah Roveto


Mameve Medwed’s books are known for their strong sense of setting, fully-drawn characters, and plots that build on comedies of manners in the issues that matter most day-to-day: love, children, parents, career, self. Of her first novel, 1997’s Mail, Publishers Weekly noted that “Medwed’s talent is in the details,” and her books have been praised by the likes of Arthur Golden, Tom Perrotta, Gregory Maguire and Anita Shreve. Her new book, Of Men and Their Mothers, is a BookSense “Notable Book” for May. She graciously agreed to be interviewed for The Writers’ Group blog, and offers insights into her path through and take on the literary life.

Hannah Roveto: Thank you for sharing your time with us. I’ve read your first four books, already bought the fifth, and the fact that you are known for humor is of particular interest to me. First off, Mail came out in 1997. What was your background to that point? You were writing already?

Mameve Medwed: Thank you, too! Yes, I was writing short stories and had published a lot. Mail started as a short story published in The Missouri Review. I thought I was a short story writer. Elinor Lipman called and said, you know, you need to write a novel. I told her I didn’t know how, and she said, “Nobody does. Take Mail and turn it into one.” So I did it, kicking and screaming. Then it finds an agent, results in a bidding war, and I thought, this isn’t so bad! I felt I never wanted to write short stories again. I love the luxury of working on something for a matter of years. I always panic at the end of a story, worry where the story will go, and will I ever get another idea. Novel writing delays that panic.

HR: How did you meet Elinor Lipman?

MM: I met Elinor almost thirty years ago in a writing class at Brandeis, adult ed, twelve weeks for forty bucks. We hit it off and became fast friends right away, especially since we were the only ones writing funny stuff and we were considered not “serious!”

HR: What did you learn as you grew into a novel writer?

MM: I don’t know what I learned, in that I did it by the seat of my pants. I’d always keep one paragraph ahead of myself. I was so certain I couldn’t do it, that nobody would want it, I didn’t set any limits on myself. I let my imagination spin, went on tangents, moved back and forth in time. I took classes, of course, at the Cambridge Center and at Radcliffe, which were tremendously helpful. I was quite sure nothing would come of it, though. I still feel that way with every novel, that I’m reinventing the wheel for myself.

HR: Did you have a writers group in those early days?

MM: I’ve certainly been sustained by writers groups and seminars, but all the groups petered out over time. They’d work for a while, then they didn’t. I have one reader over the years, Elinor, who’s been a constant. I read her work and she reads mine. Sometimes my agent reads before I’m done, sometimes someone else.

HR: Do you have a formal process or rules any longer?

MM: No. (Laughs.) Ellie send stories chapter by chapter, very polished. I send her big messy manuscripts I’ve certainly gone over a number of times, but I think she has the harder end of that deal. I don’t want to be stopped too early on.

HR: If you are asking someone else to read, are there any guidelines you suggest to them?

MM: I’m very careful whom I ask to read. I have to know the person, know they know me. I want brutal honesty wrapped in encouragement. I don’t want to feel like I’m going to go home and fall on my sword; I want a certain professionalism. You need to know if the story works, the characters are real, whether there are any confusions. Is it too long, and so forth.


HR: You’ve said Mail took about three years to write, and your other books have come out at about two year intervals. Can you talk a bit to your process while you write? Do you outline, or know where your stories are headed, and do you have any thoughts on those “messy middles?”

MM: I’ve been told I’m “so prolific.” Of course, between the time you have a book accepted and when it is published is about eighteen months, so there’s been an additional six months or so of time nobody sees. I have very bad habits, or at least, a horrible time starting a new book. First, I’m often in the whole publication-touring-promotion phase for another book, so it’s hard to switch heads. I haven’t given birth to the old book yet, fully. Nothing flows, and that is torture. It’s an exquisite and delightful torture.

I never know the story when I start to write it out. That’s what makes it interesting to me. If I know, then to me the process feels too mechanical. I like the surprises along the way; they keep me going. If I felt I had to analyze or intellectualize the elements, I’d be paralyzed. I used to feel dumb, but I’ve learned to trust the subconscious when I’m in the zone. The first draft, I try not to overthink. E.L. Doctorow had a quote about writing a novel: “It’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” I keep that over my computer.

Once I have about fifty pages, though, I have a place to go. Then I’m really good, have exemplary habits. I can work for eight or ten hours a day and will do at least two pages each day, which accumulates. I let myself write badly; everything including the kitchen sink goes in, what I read in the newspapers, everything. I don’t worry about the middle, because I know I’m going to revise. In revising, I cut huge swathes through it, connect the dots, address continuity. If you allow yourself to write badly the first time through, you use some of it, not other parts, but it’s all there on paper.

HR: So you never know the endings, even in a book like The End of An Error (re-released in paperback in April)?

MM: No. I didn’t. And I don’t know that afterward she sticks with that choice or regrets it, either.

HR: Humor is tricky. What do you think makes it work, if it is something that can be quantified at all? Any tips for someone working in this category?

MM: I don’t think I’m funny. I’m dead serious when I’m writing. That it was funny was a surprise, that people laughed. I suppose it’s my voice, my style. I’ve been on panels, talked about it a lot, and I’ll say that when you’re going to write anything, even humor, it still has to be serious. I do write serious books, about life, love and loss. Robert Stone said it’s the great thing about literature: it makes the world less lonely.

To write it, I know the characters have to be real, layered; they can’t be caricatures. The biggest danger in comedy is to have cardboard characters. You need a real person with an inner life. Trollope says that easy reading takes hard writing. You have to go over it a million times to make it seamless, make sure it flows.

HR: When you are ready to start a novel, what sets it off: a moment, a story you hear, a character idea? What inspired your newest book, Of Men and Their Mothers, for example?

MM: I always like writing about mothers and sons; there were certainly experiences with my own mother-in-law that prompt thoughts, and stories I hear. Although then you need to take it and bring it to another level. And class – that’s something we dare not name in our society. For the new book, I’d had some thoughts. Then a somewhat scruffy man was looking for some neighbors, who were out. I told the woman later about him, and she asked me to come over. She pulled a bag from the freezer: breast milk that had been in there for three years or so. Her husband was a lawyer who’d done a pro bono case for DSS and his client asked him to store the milk. The idea of someone’s breast milk in a stranger’s freezer for years… well, that clicked right away with what I was thinking!

HR: What do you like best about the literary life?

MM: I like that I am the god of my domain. I can do whatever I want. And I do love the torture of writing, which gives me the clay to do revision. I like the big feeling of having a book in me, no matter where I go, carrying it inside of me. I don’t like giving up that control once it’s done, when it depends on so many other people, on budgets, reviews and sales. It’s hard to give up the story to that. Most of us are shy, find it hard, worrying about what another person will think even though you know it’s only one opinion; but will it make or break the book? The lovely part, then in turn, is to have a book in your hands, in bookstores and libraries. You get that connection with readers.

When you start writing, all you want is to have a book. Then you say, okay, all I want is another book. You’re never satisfied, and each time the anxiety gets ratcheted up, and then the book comes out and that alone doesn’t fulfill you. In the end, it always goes back to the joy and torture of writing your world. Every single time, you have to go back to the writing.

Information on Mameve Medwed’s books, from those above to How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life and Host Family, as well as essays and public appearance dates are at http://www.mamevemedwed.com/.

Author Spotlight Series: Lenore Hart

Posted by Lynne Griffin

I admit, the more I write, the harder it is to read. I find it's all too easy for me to be pulled out of a story by two dimensional characters, implausible plot lines or stilted dialogue. So how refreshing it was to pick up and begin reading Becky--The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher by Lenore Hart. I was immersed in the life of Becky Thatcher, Tom Sawyer's true love, by the end of the first page. Hart, or perhaps I should say Becky, held me captive until I read the last page; in fact, I'm still fascinated with this novel. And I'm delighted Lenore Hart has agreed to share her thoughts on living a literary life with me for our author spotlight series.

Lynne Griffin: Can you tell our readers a little about how you came to write fiction?
Lenore Hart: I began writing when I was in fifth grade. I wrote mostly short stories and moved on to poems in college. I was a writer-in-residence in Florida. Then my poems kept getting longer and my settings kept getting larger, until I ventured into writing a novel. I was a librarian while I wrote my first novel, a horror suspense story about a woman who comes back from the dead. When I graduated I had no idea how to tackle getting published. No one told you how to do it. Back then you were limited to sharing what you knew with a few people and they would share what they knew with you. It was difficult. I received nice letters, but the novel was rejected.

LG: You have a unique agent story that involves also finding a husband. Can you elaborate?
LH: Well, fast forward to my librarian days. I was in charge of coordinating an author luncheon for all the branches in my area. David Poyer, who'd written his fourth or fifth novel by then was to speak. After the luncheon, he asked me out. I didn't tell him I wrote fiction, I was intimidated. Later I didn’t want him to read my work because I didn’t want him to think I was dating him because I wanted to get published. And of course I didn't want him to think my novel was awful.

Later he took a short story of mine and gave it to his agent. When I met his agent, he asked me if I had a novel. I literally spewed my colorful frozen drink across the table. He calmed me by saying instead of giving it to him, why didn't I just tell him about it. I did and he encouraged me to send him the novel when it was ready.

LG: And I take it you did.
LH:I gave it to him six months later and he sold it as a paperback original to Putnam. I wasn’t afraid to have people read it by then, but it was a genre novel, so I decided to publish it under a different name--Elisabeth Graves.

LG: What made you make that decision?
LH: David gave me great advice about not typing myself. I wasn't sure the direction I wanted to take my career, and I thought this was a smart move at the time.

LG: Did you publish any more horror novels?
LH: No, but I did have a ghost story published in Scandinavia. It was around that time, I decided to get my MFA and pursue a wide range of writing. At the end of the program I wrote my novel Water Woman. It's about a woman in the 1920s who is the tom boy of the family. After her father dies, she takes over the boat trotlines. It's historical, with a strong sense of place. I grew up in Florida in a rural environment with lots of water, fisherman, farmers and woods. In this novel, I wanted to capture life on the eastern shore of Virginia, which at the time was the last undeveloped piece of coastline on the east coast.

It was published by Putnam, first in hardcover. The paperback is still in print.

LG: You continued to branch out, first with the literary novel, Ordinary Springs and then with a middle grade book and a young adult historical. When did the idea for Becky come to you?
LH: David and I took our daughter on a camping trip. We made our way home from the Grand Canyon by way of Missouri. We saw the cave from Tom Sawyer; it was all cleaned up and wholesome. My husband wondered if anybody had written about all the kids grown up. He asked me who I would write about--I didn’t even have to think about it. Becky.

In Twain's work, men seemed real, but woman insipid. I'd read he loved his wife, always wanting to please her. Did you know Twain let her read and make edits on his work? Yet his female characters were all Victorian, pure, weepy, and delicate. I thought girls even then wouldn’t be that way. I thought it would be really interesting to see how Becky grew up. I knew she needed to tell the story.

LG: What was the process of writing Becky like for you?
LH: This novel took me the longest to write. I read all of Twain's books, everything I could about Hannibal, and silver mining. I did so much research, and I was teaching at the time too. It was important for me to get Becky's voice right. I thought of her as southern, well read, with plenty of money because of her father, the Judge. She was a well-rounded character because of her social status, and she was independent, ready to cope with anything. I knew she'd be an articulate narrator, and though I didn’t want to imitate Twain's colloquial style, I knew I needed aspects of it.

LG: I loved the book. It was like taking a vacation from everyday life. I admired everything about Becky, and her story is completely believable. You must have been offered a contract quickly.
LH: Actually the editor for my two previous novels rejected it. I was devastated, but I believed in the book. My agent and I agreed it should be submitted to other editors. My editor at St Martin's got the novel immediately. I was sold on her because she understood the story. And of course she was very enthused about it. I’m very proud of Becky, it is my best book. I felt she got the short end of the stick and I really wanted to tell her true story.

Thank you, Lenore for sharing the details of your literary life and your writing process for Becky. Take it from me, it is a terrific read, and for writers looking for a stellar example of characterization, capturing voice and period details, wonderful pacing and plot--Becky should be moved to the top of your to be read list.

Author Spotlight Series: Jay Asher

Posted by Lisa Marnell

The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: You listen. Number two: You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you. (from Cassette 1: Side A)

I first heard of Jay Asher’s YA novel, Thirteen Reasons Why when I read his deal on Publisher’s Marketplace: it sold at auction to Razorbill which is Penguin’s teen imprint. Months later, the cover of Jay’s book caught my eye. The silhouette of a lonely girl on a playground swing was haunting, and the pretend packing tape on its cover intrigued me.

Thirteen Reasons Why takes place over the course of a single evening after Clay Jensen discovers audiotapes on his doorstep. Making his way along a route through town, he listens to Hannah Baker’s voice chronicle the tragic sequence of events that led to her decision to commit suicide weeks earlier.

When Jay Asher was in Las Vegas years ago, he took a self-guided tour with an audio cassette. That idea stuck in his mind though the story to accompany it was yet to come. It was during a winter drive on an ice coated road in Wyoming that the premise for his YA novel came.

In writing this book, Jay was trying something new. For twelve years he had written humor. He was ten pages in when he decided to enter the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s & Illustrators (SCBWI), Work-In-Progress grant. Luckily for Jay, they only requested ten pages!

Lisa Marnell: What were your concerns about writing a YA novel that deals with suicide?

Jay Asher: Having a My Space page makes it so easy to be in touch with readers. I wondered what sort of stories I would hear, what feedback kids or adults would give me. I have heard from many people with all kinds of stories. Some kids have told me they were suicidal or knew people they now suspected might be suicidal. Others have highlighted specific passages that were meaningful to them. One teenager saw the signs and has since been diagnosed as depressed and is getting the help he needs.

LM: After many years of writing humor, what was your experience in writing a book that dealt with a character who had killed herself? How did you keep from getting depressed?

JA: There were times I would get so depressed since I knew what would happen to Hannah as I wrote her story. Before I got the idea for Thirteen Reasons Why, I thought, what’s fun about writing something that’s a downer? One thing that kept me going was the promise of writing one scene in particular which was necessary: the hot tub scene. I knew it would be such a writing challenge that I focused on that.

LM: From a writer’s perspective, what thoughts were foremost in your mind when writing this manuscript?

JA: Books I like have an element of suspense to them. As I worked on this novel, through both the planning and the writing, I really thought about that. I wanted to make the reader want to keep turning the pages.

LM: I read on your My Space page that you initially started writing Clay’s parts as well as Hannah’s parts, going back and forth between the two of them. After reviewing your work, you wrote Hannah’s story the full way through. Tell us more about your approach to writing Thirteen Reasons Why?

JA: For me, the writing experience involves a tremendous amount of brainstorming. The writing itself comes later for me, and can be difficult. Once I’m in the zone though, I find the writing can be exhilarating.

LM: Tell us something that’s unique about writing for teens.

JA: I’m fascinated with the way nothing is purely black and white for teenagers. Events in their lives are open for interpretation, there are different ways to connect the dots, different ways to see some things. As in Thirteen Reasons Why, gossip and rumors can be so prevalent in their day to day.

LM: As I mentioned, I read about the auction for your book on Publisher’s Marketplace. Can you tell us the details about how it happened?

JM: Well, the agent I have currently is my fourth agent as I had previous agents for the picture book manuscripts I wrote. Because I had won the SCBWI grant, editors more willing to read my novel, but it was rejected. Writing is art, and art is subjective. One editor wrote me a two page summary of everything he didn’t like about the book. Then, my agent very quickly got three offers, and three very different perspectives. I decided to go with the editor at Razorbill.

LM: Because we have a writer’s group blog, we are fascinated with your blog, Disco Mermaids. It’s similar to ours, though I understand you all write for children/teens. Can you tell us a little about how your group and how it works?

JM: Robin, Eve and I used to be part of a larger writing group, but we all couldn’t meet at the same time. Since the three of us wrote the same type of fiction, we decided to form our own smaller group. I find the group is most important early on. Lots of brainstorming goes on in our sessions. We’ve been meeting every Tuesday lately.

LM: What’s next for you, Jay?

JM: My contract with Razorbill was a two book deal, so I’m busy working on something else which isn’t easy. Thirteen Reasons Why was life-changing.

Thirteen Reasons Why has won the following awards and acknowledgements:

Best Books for Young Adults (YALSA)
Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers (YALSA)
Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults (YALSA)
Borders Original Voices finalist
Barnes & Noble - Top 10 Best for Teens
Book Sense Pick - Winter
Chicago Public Library Best Books
Association of Booksellers for Children - Best Books

Since our interview, Jay told me he’s agreed to be on a panel at the SCBWI summer conference this year in Los Angeles. The panel includes children’s and YA authors who won SCBWI grants and continued on to publish.

Jay, we look forward to meeting you in LA!

Author Spotlight Series: Pauline Chen

By Amy MacKinnon

I first learned of Dr. Pauline Chen and her book Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality (Knopf, 2007) a couple of months before her book was actually published. I was in my local independent bookstore when the owner told me of a publisher-hosted luncheon she had recently attended. It was held in honor of a brilliant new voice in literature and her debut about the medical profession's attitudes toward death. Of course it was Pauline Chen. The owner, a grand dame in bookselling circles, predicted Dr. Chen's book would be a magnificent success -- if I recall correctly, she herself read it in one night. I took a bit longer, but like the New York Times, Final Exam is one of favorite picks from 2007. In honor of good books and the paperback release, may I present author Pauline Chen...

Amy MacKinnon: A lot of writers complain that they don’t have enough time to actually write. One of my favorite stories is that of National Book Award recipient Julia Glass who completed Three Junes in bursts of fifteen minutes stolen here and there from her job and family. But you’re a surgeon, mother of twins, and active in the greater world, you must be more present than most of us. How do you create the time?

Pauline Chen: I’m flattered by your comments, but I know of many people with bigger daily challenges than mine who manage to get everything done. They are amazing!

In terms of writing, I think Julia Glass is right on target. Soon after my twin daughters were born, I read an article in The Atlantic Monthly about Alice Munro. The article discussed how Munro had written during her children’s naps. After reading that piece, I realized that I had to take advantage of every chance I had, even if that chance was fifteen minutes.

That was generally how I worked – writing in small spurts -- until the last couple of years when my relationship with writing itself changed. I used to think of myself as someone just trying to write, someone for whom writing was a hobby. Thus, writing was an “extra piece” I needed to fit into my day. But the more I began to think of myself as a writer, the more writing became an inherent part of my life. I now cannot imagine not writing; it would be like not brushing my teeth or turning away from my family.

I sometimes think of the advice I used to give new surgical interns. I would tell them to list the most important things in their life. Then, I would have them cross out everything except for the top two or three items because that would be all they would have time for during internship. While my present life is not like an intern’s or even a resident’s, I still do a lot of juggling every day. But writing is not the “extra piece” at the bottom of the list. It’s right up there near the top.

AM: Many writers say they knew they always wanted to write. Given how beautifully crafted Final Exam is, I imagine the same is true of you. Did you always write? At what point in your life did you do it with the intention of getting published?

PC: I’ve always been drawn to writing and to stories. Many of my childhood memories revolve around stories, stories that my father, a gifted storyteller, told my siblings and me.

But publishing always seemed impossible when I was growing up. My parents were immigrants and English was very much a third and fourth language for them. Writing in English, even simple thank you notes, was a terrible struggle, so publishing was as far from their reality (and their reality for their children) as you could possibly imagine.

During high school and college, a few of my writing teachers suggested I try to publish, but I still couldn’t imagine it. And then during medical school and residency training, I rarely wrote. I was too busy trying to catch up on lost sleep and meals.

After I finished my surgical training, I found myself drawn again to writing and took a couple of writing courses. One of my teachers encouraged me to continue writing about my experiences in medicine, perhaps put together a book. I remember the first time I mentioned this to my father. “Are you nuts?” he said to me. “Every English major in the country wants to write a book! To publish you need more than perfect English — you need the best English. How could you possibly think that you could write a book that might be published? That might matter to people?”
It was a devastating conversation. But in a funny way, it was also inspiring. I now had something to prove.

These days, my father is my biggest fan. He eats up every review of my writing; and if there’s a hint of criticism, he’ll first fret -- they are like daggers to his heart – then will rail against the critic. My father calls me up in advance to remind me not to be late to my own events, and my hardcover publicist even gave my father the ultimate Stage Dad compliment – that his work on behalf of Final Exam was so good he could consider himself an official Knopf publicist. My father reminds me of that one often.

AM: Being a surgeon, you must have a dimension to your personality that's fairly analytical. I saw you at a workshop last year given by Michael Lowenthal and, even though your book was already published, you were listening as attentively as the rest. Have you taken many writing classes? What’s your approach to craft?

PC: I tend to believe that people who start their professional lives doing things other than writing – doctoring, parenting, teaching, you name it -- actually have an advantage when it comes to becoming writers. They have the benefit of experience and the confidence that comes with having already successfully become whatever those other jobs required them to be. They can apply those experiences – learning to become a doctor, parent, teacher, etc -- to the process of becoming a writer. In terms of writing, I still feel like I have so much to learn about the craft. But the approach I use is pretty much the same one I used as an undergraduate interested in academic research and as a resident interested in surgery.

As an undergraduate, I was lucky enough to have a mentor who was devoted to the intellectual development of his students. Early on, he told me that before I began any paper or project, I needed to read everything I could get my hands on for that particular topic. “Reading up on the literature” would not only give me a solid grounding but would also help me to push the field forward in some way and create new work. That advice is invaluable for writing. I think that writers have a responsibility to know what has come before them and to push their genre forward.

In my surgical training, I learned that only with frequent practice could one liberate the art. As a medical student and surgical resident, you learn to operate by first learning to tie knots and wash your hands. You keep tying knots and washing your hands until you can throw those sutures and scrub up in your sleep. After that, you begin to cut. And then you start operating. And you practice and practice and practice until one day you find that operating is the most natural of actions. When that operating becomes natural, you discover something. You suddenly go from being wholly focused on every one of your actions -- how to hold the knife, how to hold the needle driver, where to place the stitch -- to thinking about the larger picture -- how the operation as a whole is preceding, how the patient is or will tolerate certain maneuvers, how even to coordinate the relative strengths and weaknesses of your current operating team such that the operation proceeds most smoothly. You see certain shortcuts, refine ways of moving, cutting, suturing, all of which make your operating look more like a well choreographed ballet than a step-by-step technical procedure. What you have done, after practicing technique over and over again, is you have liberated the art. I guess then that my approach boils down to those two lessons: read as much and as widely as possible and practice the craft constantly.

Classes and seminars did have a very important role in my development as a writer. I don’t think I would have ever started pursuing writing seriously if I hadn’t taken writing courses. And I still find places like Grub Street to be terrific sources of inspiration.

AM: Tell us about your road to publication: how you came upon your agent, how long before she submitted your manuscript and it sold to Knopf.

PC: In finding my agent, I did pretty much what all the books and magazines advise you to do: I sent queries to agents who represented work similar to mine. One of them wrote back and said that although she liked my work, she worried about a conflict of interest with her current client. She then suggested I pass my work along to one of her colleagues at the agency. That colleague is now my agent.

For the first month, my agent helped me fine-tune my proposal. We went through at least five drafts; the introduction was the hardest part to get right. When the proposal was finally in its best possible form, my agent sent it to about a dozen editors at different publishing houses. I think we heard back from Knopf a couple of days later.

I feel pretty lucky because I have a wonderful relationship with my agent, my editor at Knopf, and my editor at Vintage (Knopf did the hardcover; Vintage the paperback).

AM: Since this is the Writers’ Group, we’d like to know if you have a writers’ group or trusted readers.

PC: Writing is such a lonely pursuit, so I think writers’ groups are really wonderful. When I first moved to this area, I joined a local writers' group. Being with people who were struggling in similar ways and who wanted nothing more than to do good work provided me with great inspiration. Unfortunately, I had to drop out after about a year because of time constraints. But I still consider several of them to be close friends.

I do have a few trusted readers and feel pretty lucky to be able to get their advice. I think their sensibilities in my particular genre are exquisite, and I really appreciate the fact that they are absolutely honest with me.

But one thing I have learned over the last few years is that there are also bad times to share your work. A promising piece can be crushed if you share it too early on or to too many people. There’s an art to knowing when to solicit comments, even from your most trusted readers.

AM: There’s a passage in Final Exam where you reflect eloquently on Dr. Hacib Aoun’s advice on treating patients. You write, “I want to cry for those in whose bellies I find disseminated tumors, but cannot for fear of being unable to see clearly enough to sew them closed.” I hope I don’t sound insensitive, but it felt a bit like a metaphor for writing. When we see what’s wrong with our manuscript, something we feel passionately about, we must maintain some distance so as to treat it appropriately. Were you able to be as sanguine about your writing when the time came?

PC: I think when my husband watches me revise, he thinks a lot about Faulkner’s line about killing your “darlings.” I’ve heard him tell friends that he cannot understand how his beloved wife could be so detached about her own work. I suppose it’s understandable that he of all people would find this troubling to a certain degree, but I think it has more to do with my medical background than any inherent ruthlessness.

I do feel a sense of disappointment when a favorite phrase or paragraph seems out of place in an essay, but I also feel a kind of wonderful freedom that I can never have in medicine. If you make a mistake in your writing or cut something out of an essay, nobody gets hurt or suffers. For a surgeon, it is absolutely thrilling to be able to cut with such abandon, without any kind of life-or-death repercussions. The only casualty in this type of cutting is my particular attachment to a phrase or sentence or paragraph. And that’s pretty minor in the scheme of things.

Plus with computers there’s that wonderful “Cut and Paste” function where one can save everything that has been deleted. In medicine, we don’t always get those kinds of second chances. Do you know how many files I have squirreled away of “ruthlessly” deleted sentences and paragraphs that I’m actually hoping to use one day?

AM: What has been your most touching experience from sharing Final Exam with the world?

PC: I think what has touched me the most from sharing FINAL EXAM has been the courage of other people. People at readings, lectures, or in letters have shared some of their experiences of loss. Doctors and other health care professionals have told me stories about patients they cared for 10, 20, 30 or more years ago. All of these stories are not the kind that people usually share with one another or even acknowledge in public. I am profoundly honored and touched to be witness to this kind of sharing of stories.

AM: Care to share what you’re working on now?

PC: I’m working on a new book, some new essays, and a talk. I’m also getting back into clinical work again. And of course, I’m trying to be as present as I can for my family.

AM: What three bits of advice would you most like to share with other writers?

PC: Read a lot. Write a lot. And believe that you have a story worth telling. It all seems pretty straightforward, but I think accomplishing these three things well is very difficult. I think that last one in particular is the biggest hurdle for anyone who is starting to write. One of my UCLA writing teachers put it best. “Every one of us has a unique journey,” he said to me a year ago when I visited him in Los Angeles. “These journeys may not be the stuff of mainstream interest or even of commercial interests, but each is interesting, important, and relevant. And all of our journeys, no matter what they are, deserve a voice.”

AM: Final thoughts?

PC: I love your blog!

AM: And we love your book. Thanks so much for stopping by the Writers' Group. Readers, any questions for Dr. Chen?

Author Spotlight: Chris Bohjalian

Posted by Lynne Griffin

When I contacted Chris Bohjalian to ask if he would be part of our Author Spotlight series, I admit I expected the New York Times bestselling and greatly revered author of the books, Midwives, Buffalo Soldier, The Double Bind and the soon-to-be released Skeletons at the Feast, to be too busy to respond, never mind accept the invitation to be interviewed. His first response to me was “Call me Chris, Mr. Bohjalian is too formal.” Even our courteous email exchange, couldn’t have prepared me for the generous and gracious interview that was to follow. Chris Bohjalian is a marvelous example of a talented, successful writer and he's an extremely charitable man.

Lynne Griffin: Can you give our readers a glimpse inside your literary life?
Chris Bohjalian: I always knew that I wanted to be a novelist. I’ve been a writer since I was six years old. My dad still has my early pages tucked away and at times threatens to bring them out and show the world.

My day job, until age thirty, was in advertising. I’d get up at five and write until seven. And I wrote Tuesday and Thursday evenings and on Saturdays. I think that’s why I still get up and begin writing at five. It’s my most productive time of day.

Now I write between 5 and 10 AM. From 1 to 2, I work on publicity. Writers today must spend a good deal of time marketing their books. There’s always one more email, or book group to connect with, always one more reader. Or interview. (He laughs)

Connecting to readers is deeply satisfying. We all know that today the novel is beleaguered. Years ago, Evelyn Waugh and Eudora Welty didn’t worry about marketing their work. With all the choices people have for ways to spend their time, I’m happy to connect with them when they choose to read my work.

Back to my typical day; after I do some marketing, I ride my bike or workout, and then it’s time to care for my daughter.

LG: How have you managed to maintain your determination to live a writer’s life?
CB: An aspiring author needs a thick skin. I’d amassed two hundred and fifty rejection slips, before I sold a novel. You must write because you love it.

I’ve been writing full time for 16 years. I still begin work at 5 am. And I still must be excited by what I’m working on. If I don’t love it, my readers won’t love it.

My papers are archived at Amherst College. There are over 750 pages or parts of 4 novels cataloged there. These novels weren’t working. And if a novel isn’t working—and it shouldn’t happen—the writer must let it go. This is partly being a good writer and partly being a good entrepreneur.

When an idea simply isn’t working, it’s time to move on. I have two completely finished novels that will never ever be published. They represent a detour worth going after, but not worthy of being published. I don’t want to let my readers down. These novels would diminish what my readers think of me.

LG: What’s harder for you—first draft or revision?
CB: Gabriel Garcia Marquez says the only reason writers publish is to stop writing. I edit right up to the last minute. I finish when I’m asked to please be finished. And still I always find something about the published book that I would change.

I start writing each novel with great hope. There are joys in the first draft, it’s a journey of discovery. I love it when characters take me by the hand and lead me into the dark of the story. Sometimes I know where a scene is going, but not what the character will say and do, you know, the cause and effect of it. Revision is the craft work. Though there is a certain amount of artistry there.

LG: How long does it take you to write a first draft?
CB: First drafts take me about 9-14 months. Once I have a first draft, then I can start making decisions. My shortest drafts were for Midwives, The Double Bind and Skeletons at the Feast. Before You Know Kindness and Buffalo Soldiers took much longer.

I keep a diary of words written each day. I do this for encouragement purposes. But for time management, as well. This way, when I’m going on book tour or doing a lot of book groups, I can gage where I’ll be in the process of writing and submitting a novel.

LG: What’s most important to you in your agent relationship?
CB: What I love about my agent is that she gets my work. She doesn’t counsel me to be something I’m not. A good agent is not simply smart or simply well connected. He or she appreciates what you do, and doesn’t want to mold you into something more marketable.

LG: Does the self-doubt ever go away?
CB: I’m always assailed by doubt. But my wife is usually the one to remind me that I doubt myself at some point with every book. She reminds me to have faith in the fact that I’ve done it before.

LG: What’s the best place to put your publicity efforts?
CB: My instinct is that there isn’t one place. I’m grateful beyond words when bookstores get behind my work. Interviews, connecting to readers, participating in book groups, they’re all important. I keep coming back to booksellers and stores, though. Hand selling a book is critical.

LG: Do you have early readers? Have you ever worked with a writers’ group?
CB: I’ve never been part of a writers’ group. I was fortunate to have a really good editor, early in my career, Mike Lowenthal. For the past thirteen years, my current editor has given me wonderful feedback. And my wife, Victoria Blewer, is a spectacular early reader.

LG: Which of your books is your favorite?
CB: My favorite book by far is Skeletons at the Feast. It’s a book that’s been gestating since high school. And then came back to me years ago, when I was first shown a beautiful diary from the period. For me it was writing about a new setting, and it’s the first book I’ve written, not set in the present. All of that was challenging and wonderful for me. It’s a very dark story, wrenching really, but still it was extremely satisfying to write.

LG: You maintain a terrific website, write a column for the Burlington Free Press and have books hitting the shelves 1-3 years apart. How do you do it?
CB: I’m a bit right brain, a bit left brain. If you’re going to be connected to readers in 21^st century, you’ve got to have enormous passion, commitment, and organization. You need a rapier focus on text.

Joyce Carol Oates came to the Burlington Book Festival last year. She said she used to write on a computer then went back to her typewriter because she found the Internet too distracting.
It’s easy to get sidetracked by it, and email. That’s why I dedicate separate writing time and time for publicity.

LG: Some writers carry off one great book, maybe two. What is your secret to hitting the mark time and time again?
CB: Some of my books have done better than others both from an acclaim vantage point and among readers. It seems that those that have done the best are the ones where I was willing to go into the belly of the beast for the story. And I do work hard on editing my drafts. I’m into quality control; I do sweat the commas. And finally, I take risks with my work. Twenty-first century readers love drama. I respect my readers.

Please join me in thanking Chris for sharing his writing life with us. And check out his calender of events, as he tours for the paperback release of The Double Bind. Skeletons at the Feast, due out in May, is available for pre-order.

Author Spotlight: Carolyn Parkhurst

Posted by Lynne Griffin

Every writer hopes her journey toward publication will be a magical one. And who doesn’t dream critics will hail her debut, “brilliant” and “inventive,” and proclaim her second novel, “a deeply affecting page turner.” For Carolyn Parkhurst, author of The Dogs of Babel and Lost and Found, dreams do come true.

In the first of The Writers’ Group 2008 author interview series, Carolyn Parkhurst shares an inside look at her literary life.

Lynne Griffin: Can you share with our readers the highlights of your writing life?
Carolyn Parkhurst: I’ve always wanted to be a writer. In the beginning, I wrote and worked at a book store, though it was hard to get a lot done. I decided to get an MFA, and while it’s not for everyone, I really thrived in a place where everyone was focused on writing.

I wrote my first novel, The Dogs of Babel in about two and one half years. I finished just before I had my son. A few months after he was born, I put together a list of five or six agents to query. I used books, read other authors’ acknowledgment pages, and talked with friends. I signed with an agent relatively quickly, from that first round of querying, and he sold my novel in about two weeks. I think it’s important to submit work that is as good as you can possibly make it.

LG: I’ve read stories about your editor reading your book and making a middle of the night phone call to your agent to make an offer.
CP: Yes, it’s fun to have a good story. The whole process was very exciting. Submission of Lost and Found was different in that I submitted to my editor at Little, Brown with fifty pages. With some back and forth, it ultimately was placed there.

In some ways it was better to be writing with the certainty it would be published. On the other hand, it was hard at times to write under pressure. It worked out fine, though.

LG: Do you have a writing routine? What’s your process?
CP: In the early stages, I do a lot of brainstorming. For the novel I’m working on now, I thought through the idea for about a year and half and now it’s been just months that I’ve been writing it. I brainstorm, jotting down ideas. Writing little pieces. I don’t journal, but I often write things that don’t end up in any books. I think in the early stages, it’s important not to edit yourself too much.

I typically write every week day, but not always. And not on weekends, holidays or vacations. I like to really be there for my children and the other people in my life. I don’t write at home. I leave the house, go to Starbucks or a place like that. With my first book, I wrote a page a day. I could do more, but tried not to do less. I haven’t done that since. My writing now has to fit into a schedule, because I’m a parent. I can write for a couple of hours—two or three at a time—that seems to work for me.

LG: In a blog post earlier this month, I wrote about knowing your novel’s theme before you write. Do you know your novel’s themes or do they present to you along the way?
CP: I often don’t know what my novels’ themes are until closer to the end. I think it’s probably a mistake to start there. To me it’s more organic to know the story or the characters first.

LG: Another post this month explored a novel’s seeds. What were the seeds for your novels?
CP: I always start with a couple of different ones. I usually start with a situation and then a character. In The Dogs of Babel, I had this idea of a man whose wife has died. He needs to know what happened, yet there needed to be something off balance in the way he handles his grief. So situation, then character, and then comes the character’s voice.

In Lost and Found, I wondered about those stories you hear about teenage girls’ hiding their pregnancies. And then I thought about how reality shows might change people. Those two things came together for me.

LG: What’s different about writing a second or third novel, when you’re already agented and published?
CP: The way I manage time is different. I have a family now and I didn’t with book one. It is harder to focus sometimes because my mind is occupied, there are more distractions. But I have more confidence that I can do it, because I have. While there is something new with each book, and you can’t just rest on the idea that you’ve done it before, I have a different kind of confidence. It’s of course easier to be agented and published, I feel lucky. I’d say overall it’s mostly good, but I still have realistic concerns.

LG: How do you balance writing with promoting?
CP: Well of course its part of my job to do both. In truth, promoting is distracting from writing a new book. It’s time consuming and requires you to put yourself out there, be a more public person. But I’m always happy to do the promotional work I’m asked to do. There’s a flurry of opportunity in the beginning, when a new novel comes out. And then later, as little things come up, I do that. Interviews, book groups.

LG: Do lulls in publicity worry you?
CP: Like anyone I like it when there’s interest in my work, but then it’s not my most productive writing period. Then when things aren’t going on, I wonder if people are still reading my work. There’s a typical cycle to it.

LG: Our readers will be happy to know you work with a writers’ group. How does yours work? Who are your early/late readers?
CP: There are six members, and once a month three writers submit work. Most are working on novels, though there was one person working on a memoir and occasionally someone submits short stories. Everyone at the moment is published, but it wasn’t always that way. It is important though that we’re all at roughly the same level and that we generally like each others work. My first readers are my husband, my agent, and my writers’ group. I really value the feedback. It’s easy to lose perspective if you’re entirely on your own.

One of the important things you need to learn is how to sift through feedback. When one loves something and one hates it, you need to listen. You need to see if you can do something with that feedback. But you shouldn’t make changes that aren’t true to your vision.

LG: Are you working on a novel now? What’s next for you?
CP: I’m working on a third book; it was submitted on sixty pages. I just accepted a two book deal with Doubleday.

LG: What’s your most important advice related to craft?
CP: In terms of getting published, without a doubt it’s persistence. You have to learn how to accept rejection; every author has drawers of rejection letters. You have to trust you will find your audience, or that they will find you. Don’t aim for an audience, writing what you think is the next big thing. Trust that your work will choose you, and that readers will find you.

Huge thanks to Carolyn for taking the time to stop by The Writer’s Group. I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say we can’t wait to read her next novel.