Q: I read on your website that at first you didn’t try to make it as a writer for fear of failure. What finally made you change your mind and go for it? Partly it was failure of another sort. After going into debt to get a teaching degree, I realized that teaching really is the most important job in the world … but I’d never be happy in a classroom. And partly – mostly – it was because no matter what job I did, my brain insisted on making up stories. At a certain point, they just had to make their way onto paper.
Q: How did you celebrate landing your first publishing deal? I’d been dreaming about the Big Moment for years. There’d be a phone call, and I’d jump up and down with excitement, then I’d call my husband at home, and we’d pop open a bottle of Dom Perignon. (Which we’d have to buy first – I don’t exactly have Dom sitting around the house.) But it didn’t work out that way. My agent received an offer long before I expected to hear anything, but it was for much less than we’d hoped for, so we countered. Rather than celebrating, I spent the weekend worrying that the offer would be withdrawn (even though my agent assured me it wouldn’t). After a few days, the money got a little better, but before I’d decided to accept it, another editor jumped into the bidding. There was a lot of back-and-forthing until I wound up with a nice two-book deal. By then, the initial excitement had passed, and my husband was out of town on a business trip. I think we drank a belated bottle of champagne (nothing too expensive), but I can’t really remember.
Q: You write books for both teens and adults. What do you enjoy about writing for both? While the books are quite different, my experience of writing them is pretty much the same. I’ll start with a primary character and a unique situation and go from there. I do enjoy getting to write about a greater range of characters and topics, plus I get a kick out of my teen fan mail. Teens are far less inhibited about contacting authors than their adult counterparts (or maybe they just have more time). An awful lot of them request help with book reports.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from your novels? If my readers come away from my books with a greater or different understanding of themselves or their worlds, great – but my only solid goal is to provide a happy escape from reality. The best letter I ever received was from a soldier’s wife. She said she and her best friend lived in constant fear for what could happen to their husbands in Iraq, but that they loved my books because they made them laugh and forget their troubles, at least for a little while.
Q: Just Like Me, Only Better will be out in April. What can you tell us about this book? I’m really excited about this book, and not just because in its review, Booklist called me “an author to watch.” (Up until now, apparently, I have been an author to ignore.) Just Like Me, Only Better tells the story of Veronica Czaplicki, a suburban single mom and substitute teacher who gets hired as a part-time celebrity double for an imploding young starlet named Haley Rush. Since Veronica is forbidden to tell anyone about her job, she must live a kind of double life: getting spray tans and going to film premieres during the day; eating macaroni and cheese and watching videos at night (because she can’t afford cable). The story is filled with twists and turns, Hollywood glamour and Hollywood dysfunction.
Q: Are you currently working on another novel? I’m writing a book about three women dealing with parenthood issues. The story is told from three different points of view, which is a first for me.
Q: Where do you find your ideas for characters and plots? I’m always looking for plot ideas, so pretty much everything that I read or observe goes through my “Can I use this?” filter. A few years ago, my husband told me about a business associate who bears such a striking resemblance to Jack Nicholson that people ask him for his autograph – and who has a daughter who works as an Angelina Jolie impersonator. I didn’t immediately say, “Hey! I’m going to write a book about a celebrity double!” But the inspiration was there when I needed it.
Q: What is one of your greatest personal achievements? I have a happy marriage and two great kids.
Q: What would be your advice to aspiring writers? Understand that it takes years to develop your craft, and don’t rush to publication. Also, be prepared to take criticism – and learn from it.
Q: You have lived a bit all over the US. Which was your favorite, and where would you love traveling to? After college, I spent five years in Boston. I love it there: the sense of history, the architecture, the intellectual spirit. I even like the weather. I never would have left, but I fell in love with my now-husband, which kind of messed up my plans. As for traveling, I went to France last spring – Paris and the Loire Valley – and I can’t wait to go back … someday.
March 30, 2010
