Sue asked Chris Bohjalian:

I Loved The Double Bind. Will you ever write a similar book?

Chris Bohjalian Thank you so much, Sue, for your kind words about my work. So glad you liked the novel.

"Similar" is tough to parse. In some ways, I might say that "Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands" is similar: A young woman in serious trouble with a literary obsession -- in this case, Emily Dickinson.

But in other ways, it is very different: It's a page turner, I hope, but not a mystery.

And the tone is very different.

But my daughter, now 21, said something very astute when she read the rough draft for "Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands."

"Dad," she said, "take this as a compliment. But I think your sweet spot as a novelist is seriously messed up young women."

She's right. And Emily Shepard is clearly a literary descendant of Laurel Estabrook. . .who was a descendant of Carly Banks. . .who was a descendant of Connie Danforth.

And then there are my women from history, such as Serafina and Nevart and Hatoun -- all scarred in some way.

My point? There are similarities in my books. . .but I never want to write the same book twice.

Thanks for asking!

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