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Ask the Author: Jean Hanff Korelitz

“Please reach me via the contact form at jeanhanffkorelitz.com

If you enjoy discussing books with their authors, please join us for BOOKTHEWRITER's Pop-Up Book Groups. www.bookthewriter.com ” Jean Hanff Korelitz

Answered Questions (17)

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Hi Jean, I picked up The Plot randomly at the library and loved it! Your prose is perfect while the stories are page turners - I’m hooked, and I’m enjoying your previous work as well as The Sequel. Are you working on something new? You are now one of the authors whose releases I anticipate with excitement! Best wishes, Heidi
Jean Hanff Korelitz Taking a bit of a break post THE SEQUEL, but will be back at work soon! many thanks, Jean
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As a Grinnell grad, I was delighted to see the college mentioned in The Latecomer and Admissions. Do you have a connection?
Jean Hanff Korelitz Nope, except that it's a perennial in Colleges That Change Lives and the great poet Amy Clampitt went there.
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I loved “The Latecomer.” Curious about two things: 1. With so many factual references, why does Rochelle’s Long Island hometown have a fictional name—Ellesmere? 2. With so much namedropping of colleges, especially Ivys, why only two about Penn—both of them derogatory? Trump? (Ok, I admit it, I’m a Long Island boy who went to Penn after transferring from Nassau Community College.)
Jean Hanff Korelitz not sure what you're referring to, but I have no beef against Penn! A great school.
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i just finished the plot and I loved it? sorry, no question, just wanted to let you know :)
Jean Hanff Korelitz thanks so much!
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What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?
Jean Hanff Korelitz I don't write autobiographically, so even if I had a great personal story I probably wouldn't use it in my fiction. Thanks for asking, though!
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Did you want readers to guess the truth so early? I knew right away.
Jean Hanff Korelitz Good for you!
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Have there ever been any LGBTQ+ people in your novels?
Jean Hanff Korelitz Yes.
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I just started the plot and so far i'm living. I want to know how did you come up with the plot for the story, as well as how did you develop Jake's character?
Jean Hanff Korelitz Thank you! It's a long answer...too longer for Goodreads, I'm afraid...
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Do you pick out the reader of audiobooks?
Jean Hanff Korelitz In the case of THE PLOT, THE DEVIL AND WEBSTER, ADMISSION and THE LATECOMER, yes.
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This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)
Jean Hanff Korelitz It was an error and has been fixed. thank you.
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Is the character Naomi Roth the same in The Sabbathday River and The Devil and Webster?
Jean Hanff Korelitz Yes! Well spotted! But there's a missing decade in there somewhere. I had to make it disappear in order to get the time periods to line up, otherwise the college-aged daughter in THE DEVIL AND WEBSTER would have been in her thirties...
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How do you deal with writer’s block?
Jean Hanff Korelitz By not believing in it.
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Jean Hanff Korelitz
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