Tara asked Maggie Shipstead:

Maggie, I adored Astonish Me. I practically devoured it in one sitting! Your depection of the culture and neuroses of the professional dance world was spot on. Did you dance professionally as a young adult? If not, what type of research did you do?

Maggie Shipstead Thanks, Tara! This is by far the most frequently asked question--if I'm a dancer--and anyone who's ever seen me dance can attest that I'm not! My mom is a serious, lifelong ballet fan (she danced as a hobby, even in her 20s) and she started taking me to about four ballets a year from when I was five until I left for college. I grew up in Orange County, CA, where there's a great performing arts center, so I was lucky enough to see ABT every year and lots of other major companies. Since then, I've kept on going to the ballet when I have the chance, especially when I'm traveling. And I've read some dancer memoirs and watched lots of documentaries. So I had pretty decent ballet knowledge (for a layperson) when I started writing the book, but, as I wrote, I did a lot of additional research: more reading, lots more watching. YouTube was an incredible resource for me because of how many dance videos there are. Some companies, like NYCB and the Royal Ballet, post cool behind-the-scenes videos, which especially helped me with the class and rehearsal scenes in the book. I tried to listen carefully to how dancers describe their experiences, and then the rest--the actual feeling--I had to imagine. Fiction is always a risk!

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