Gabrielle’s Comments (group member since Mar 31, 2014)

Gabrielle’s comments from the Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry group.

Thanks to everyone who asked questions today! Delighted to know how many of you are truly close readers. Have a great night! — Gabrielle

Ekaterina wrote: "Hello Gabrielle,
'Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac' is one of my most favourite books,and the first I read in English, and now I've finished first chapters of 'The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry'. And I ..."

You're clever to notice this. Pretty much every character I've ever written is an orphan! They are unavoidable in literature -- stories, and particularly ones for children, are populated with orphans. They are a cliche, in a way. But the fact is, in life, most parents outlive children, and this creates orphans. In a way, "hating orphan stories" is a sort of denial of the inevitability of existence.

Amanda wrote: "Gabrielle Zevin; three questions for you!

One: The character Lambiase's journey in terms of what he read, and who he considered himself to be really facinated me. Did you base him on a real person..."

Re: Lambiase
I've written books for young people as well, and it's often said that kids who don't take up reading when they're young have a very difficult time reading as a hobby when they are older. I wanted to write a character who defied the odds a bit. And I wanted to write a person who became more empathetic because he had read more. In a way, becoming a great reader changes the way he does his job as a police officer, too.

Re: was I a bookseller?
No, but I wish I could lie and tell you that I was. I've spent years loving bookstores and traveling around the country as an author. I've done events where two people came, and one of them was the bookseller, and you notice things about how bookstores work! I've been driven around the country by a variety of sales reps, and I've seen them go through a Winter catalog. (Fascinating, if disturbing process for an author.) And in a way, A.J. Fikry is just as much people I've known on the publisher side of the business, too.

Re: Yes, I'd be happy to sign stock. Are you at a particular store? I think I might be doing a few stock signings already.

Finally, I am happy to hear that! Happy happy bookselling!

Kathy B. wrote: "Gabrielle, did you know when you started the novel what the fate of different characters was going to be, or did it evolve while writing?"

I did know pretty much everything before I started writing Fikry. The longer I've written, the less I find I like to discover as I go. Which isn't to say, I don't discover anything. Only that my discoveries tend to be smaller, I suppose. But yes, with A.J. Fikry, I knew what would happen. I knew how the book would end and particularly how I wanted readers to feel at the end.

Kathy B. wrote: "Not sure why this question occurred to me just now, but I know some authors talk about what music they listen to as they write, and, I'm assuming that others probably don't listen to music while wr..."

I have listened to music while I wrote certain books, but other books have been silent. My process is pretty fluid. The Birthright books and Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac required soundtracks, but Fikry, I wrote in silence. However, I DID make a playlist for Fikry after the fact.

Beth wrote: "Hello Gabrielle,
I love all the books that I have read by you (especially the Birthright trilogy) I was wondering what inspired you to become a writer and what tips would you give to..."

Thank you, Beth. I'm delighted to hear that! I gave a few of my best tips a little higher up on the message board. Read a lot, write a lot. Think a lot before you write. Get a good chair. Don't worry too much about word count, etc., etc.

I might give you a little more advice about reading as a writer, though. Read broadly... I didn't mention that. It is useful to read beyond just the things that you like from time to time. Really study the stories you like the best, though. Think about the construction and why the construction works.

Suz wrote: "I'm intrigued by the idea of growing up in a bookstore. Is there anywhere else that you would have liked to have been dropped off as a baby? I think a small bookshop is perfect."

Maybe an art supply store or a museum or a concert hall or a theater or a library?

Kathy B. wrote: "I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. this morning to finish The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. What an amazing book! Gabrielle, you always have such brilliant characters. For this book, did..."

Aw, so happy to hear that!

Re: Stories or characters first?
Ever since I published my first novel about a decade ago, I knew I wanted to write a book about books and publishing. I've been thinking about the book that would become A.J. Fikry on and off for about a decade. But I didn't really start writing the book proper until I had the AJ Fikry character. Without him, there was no book. I knew I might have something when I wrote that bit where A.J. tells Amelia all the things he dislikes to read.

Re: the book selection in Fikry
Mostly, they are things I've read, but they are not all my favorites. I did come up with a booklist for each of the characters. I thought it would be interesting to always describe characters based on what or how they read as supposed to physical character descriptions. The most challenging thing was choosing the short stories because they had a lot of work to do -- they had to be good chapter titles, they had to be stories that A.J. would want to recommend to Maya, and they had to work thematically. But luckily, I have read A LOT of short stories over the years. I enjoy short stories, though not as much as A.J.

Monica wrote: "What is the process that an author goes through to reference one of your novels? Or vice-versa..."

Do you mean clearing a passage? If it's for an academic paper, it is usually unnecessary. If it's a short enough excerpt (less than three lines), it's often covered by what's known as "fair use." To be safe, you can just write the publisher about the title you are interested in using and the nature of your request. Most publishers have rights departments and those e-mails can usually be found on their websites.

Nada wrote: "It's interesting that what makes this discussion possible is an Amazon owned online website. These resources have made it possible for readers and authors to connect in a way never before possible...."

This is an intriguing question and probably requires a dissertation to answer it properly. For many reasons, I think the health of bookstores and paper books are vitally important in terms of the quality of books that publishers will be able to put out. However, I don't think we can fight technology either. What I want is for people to be mindful. We don't want to accidentally find ourselves in a world without paper books, without literary fiction, without bookstores. People, as I said earlier on this board, have a lot of ability to determine what the future of their towns looks like, and I believe towns will have bookstores if people decide that it's important for their towns to have them -- this means choosing to patronize these bookstores, of course.

I like talking to readers online, but I also think we need to be mindful of the ways in which technology is changing the author/reader relationship. I don't think it's a great idea to buy a book solely because a writer is amusing on Twitter, say. I think it's important to remember that gorgeous, life-changing books come from unpleasant people. And vice versa. Mediocre novels occasionally come from people who are AMAZING on social media. But I digress.

Apologies! I probably haven't answered this question thoroughly enough.

Alithea wrote: "It was because of Elsewhere that I became a lover of books! The book was so insightful and original, I instantly fell in love. I loved the characters and the whole concept of there being an Afterli..."

Oh, thank you! I am so pleased to hear this. For years, I have considered writing a prequel to Elsewhere. (Always made sense to me that the story would move backwards instead of forwards.) It might be about the Captain and possibly about the time his ship got lost at sea. But I've never done it. In a way, I think it's because I'm happy with where I left Liz and company, but also, because people have loved Elsewhere so much over the years, I wouldn't want to ruin it for them in any way.

Susan wrote: "Gabrielle wrote: "Susan wrote: "I would like to know how you came up with the idea for one of my all time favorite books, elsewhere. I'd also like to know if you had the idea for the cover picture..."

Happy to hear that the cover still works and I am delighted to hear you enjoyed Fikry!

Marci wrote: "A friend made the comment so I'll ask you. any thoughts on doing a story from Maya's point of view?"

Hmm, I have heard this comment a couple of times now, and it's definitely something to consider. In a way, the Maya character is the one most in flux of any of the characters in the story. This is because she is growing up, so almost every time we meet her, she is a different person in a way. But yes, I've been thinking about Maya a great deal... So many secrets she doesn't know! What happens when she writes her first novel? But I'm not sure I want to delve into a sequel just yet. I'm happy with where I left the denizens of Alice Island.

Emily wrote: "Last year I read Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac on recommendation, and I loved it so much I'd have it buried with me in a big Egyptian-style funeral! Anyway, I gave it to one of my friends to read a..."

Thank you, and that is very flattering! Entombment, this is serious. The idea -- which I mentioned earlier in the message board -- probably came from my grandmother having Alzheimer's Disease.I found myself asking, Is a person more than his or her memories and experiences? It took me a long time to get the book just right, though. Sometimes, I think the reason people truly love a book is more because of the characters than the story, and I remember when I was writing the characters of MOATA, they (and particularly James & Will) seemed incredibly vivid to me. When I was done (and now years later), I still think of James. I worry about him and wonder what he's doing.

Don wrote: "Alas there is no longer a local bookstore like A J and his wife opened where I live, but your writing brought it to life for me. I am envious of the island residents.

My question: I am curious ab..."

I'm sorry you no longer have a bookstore!

To answer your question: I've always been fascinated by literary "frauds": the novelist JT Leroy (who did apparently hire a younger man to pose as the author at readings), the memoirist James Frey, of course. As an author, when I read a piece of nonfiction, I am usually aware of its construction, and so it's interesting to me where that "fraudulent" line is. I do, to an extent, believe what Leonora Ferris says in the book -- that something can be emotionally true without being literally so. I also think it's interesting the way people read books they know are written by men versus written by women. A woman at a reading I gave last night said she thought AJ Fikry was written by a man the whole time she was reading until she got to the end and saw my picture. I was fascinated by this comment.

Natalie wrote: "Elsewhere is one of the best books I've ever read!! It was so different than every other book I'd ever read. It was very original. I was wondering where in the world you came up with the idea for ..."

Thank you and thanks for asking! I've answered this question in detail a couple of times on this message board already so I'll direct you up, earlier in the feed. The short answer is insomnia & location or something like that.

Nick wrote: "You're responsible for the screenplay for my favourite movie, 'Conversations with Other Women'. How did that come about? I assume it was written with split-screen in mind, so what was it like worki..."

Thanks very much!

The director and I wanted to conceive of a story that worked with the split-screen format. The idea of a couple, who may or may not be together, appealed to us because the split-screen became a metaphor for the characters' relationship. So yes, the script was definitely written with split screen in mind.

Wikipedia is correct about my age at the time. I was the oldest twenty-five year old in the world. (I think I was 24 or 25 when I wrote it. We shot when I was 26; it came out when I was 28.) It was a privilege getting to work with such great collaorators at such a young age. Getting to work with excellent people makes your work better.

Susan wrote: "I would like to know how you came up with the idea for one of my all time favorite books, elsewhere. I'd also like to know if you had the idea for the cover picture or was it different from what y..."

Hi Susan, I've answered the question about how I came up with Elsewhere a couple of times on this message board already, so I'm going to direct you above!

As for the cover... The cover process for Elsewhere took a while. I think it's because my publisher really cared about getting it right. The snow globe WAS my idea, but it was in a list of about fifty ideas I sent them. I remember that I didn't even think it was my best idea, per se. My favorite idea for the cover was that I wanted it to look like a waterlogged book, like it had been out to sea for a very long time. But that idea was probably too obscure. In any case, I did very much like what the final jacket looked like and I think it was the right jacket for the book. I remember a rejected version of the Elsewhere jacket that had dead babies floating in a river... I think the book wouldn't have been terribly popular with that jacket.

Mia wrote: "I read your book Elsewhere several years ago. I love that book! It was so different than other YA books that I have read. I was also wondering where you came up with the idea for that book."

Hi Mia. Thank you! I answered this question a little above here in the feed. But I'll tell you something else about coming up with the idea: I'd stayed up very late and I was just about to fall asleep when I had a flash of an idea. It was in that strangely productive time between wakefulness and sleep; I closed my eyes, and I pictured a girl in a small cabin on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Where is she? What has happened to her? She arrives at dock and the sign above the pier says WELCOME TO ELSEWHERE.

Lily wrote: "Gabrielle, one of the first YA books that began my obsession with YA books was your book Elsewhere, and I was wondering - do you truly believe there's an after life, whether or not it..."

Thank you! I do not believe in a particular afterlife though I am prepared to be surprised by what comes next! I don't believe in an afterlife like Elsewhere either -- people often ask me this question. I wrote Elsewhere because I wanted to talk about the things that mattered to me in this life, the one I am in and the only one I know for certain. I think the reason there are so many books and movies about the afterlife is because it's good, and maybe even important, to reflect on the afterlife. It can help clarify the things we want from this life.