Maggie Shipstead
My first novel by far! Both Seating Arrangements and Astonish Me started as short stories that I couldn't quite get to work, so at least I had some idea of where I was going with the plot, but since Seating Arrangements was my first attempt at writing something long (I was 25 and had just finished my MFA), I had noooooooo idea how much stamina would be involved and how complicated it is to juggle all the pieces of a novel. Plus, that book had a "can I be a novelist?" sort of pressure attached to it. Astonish Me came about almost as an accident. I thought I was just revising the short story (this was in the charmed year-long period between when I finished final edits on Seating Arrangements and when it was published), but then it started to grow and grow. I didn't really think I was turning it into a novel until I had. I was writing for my own enjoyment, really. I'll probably never have a more pleasurable writing experience.
More Answered Questions
Kim
asked
Maggie Shipstead:
As a reader, I can get awfully wrapped up a book and its characters and sometimes find it difficult to let them go when the story ends. (That happened to me when I read Seating Arrangements.) As a writer, do you have this same difficulty? Some authors seem to explore a similar theme in a very different storyline but is it the theme or certain character traits the author wants to revisit?
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