Jennifer's comments (member since Apr 20, 2008)

Jennifer's comments from the Q&A with Jennifer Weiner group.

See, I think the idea of Bret Michaels is hot, but the reality, not so much. The hair thing disturbs me…I mean, what’s going on underneath that bandanna? Troubling.

In terms of the self-esteem thing, I don’t know if any woman gets to the point of absolute self-acceptance, but I want a world in which my big girls don’t spend endless amounts of time tormenting themselves about their size. Limited amounts of time are okay, but endless amounts are not.

OMG. Loved that book. Loved TWENTIETH CENTURY GHOSTS even more, if that’s possible. I definitely think he has his own voice – you can see his father’s influence, but other influences, too, especially in the more surreal short stories.

You know, I think that Jewish readers find the books very familiar, and I think (I hope?) that non-Jews find them, um, delightfully exotic? Kind of like I’m finding Jhumpa Lahiri’s new book?

The thing is, my agent, who isn’t Jewish, is one of my first readers, and anything that isn’t making sense to her through context I’ll change so that she knows what I’m talking about.

I did write the book in alternating chapters. I did a first draft that way, then I pulled out all the Joy stuff and read it – and revised it – as its own little mini-book. Then I put it all back together.

I generally don’t work from a specific outline, but I always have some idea of how the book’s going to end before I start it (and, like I said before, in this case, I knew pretty much exactly how it was going to end.)

A funny story about ARCS: whenever I get early copies of one of my books, I send one to my Mom, with this inscription: “Best wishes, happy reading, and DO NOT SELL THIS ON EBAY I WILL KNOW!”

When I was the mother of a baby/toddler, I'd write for four hours in the afternoon, while she was with a sitter. When she was in preschool, I'd drop her off at 8:30, go to a coffee shop, and write until it was time to pick her up at 12:30. Now that I'm the mother of an almost-five-year-old and a new baby, I'm writing while the little one sleeps. Over the summer, I'll start leaving the house again, for two hours, then three, then four, and I'll build up to my previous 20-hour-a-week writing schedule. Of course, the truth is, writers are always working. There's always a part of my brain that's with the characters, even when I'm swimming with my daughter, or changing diapers, or grocery shopping, or driving the carpool. Which I think makes me creative, not neglectful. At least, I hope that's how my daughters will experience it. And, as hinted at in the previous answer, I have lots and lots of help (sitters, assistants, housekeepers, and family close by).

Neglect the housework. Seriously, that is the only way I get anything done!

In terms of writing, motherhood, and working full time, I'm not sure how anyone does it, except I once read an interview with Diane McKinney Whetstone where she described getting up at four in the morning and writing before her kids woke up and before she had to go to work. As I am a giant slug and an Olympic-level sleeper, that approach would not work for me. I think the only way to get it done is to hire some help. Find a sitter, join a babysitting co-op, convince your husband or partner to watch the kids for an evening or an afternoon so you can take your laptop to a coffee shop or lock yourself in the bathroom and write. Treat it like you would a doctor's appointment: yes, it's a hassle for everyone, but it's important, so you make arrangements so that you can be there and get it done.

I didn't have a three-book master plan while writing, but I do think the door is definitely open. Cannie: the hot flash years!

As for what I'm reading, I read a bunch of books at a time. Currently on my nightstand: Julie Buxbaum's THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE, the re-release of Ann Hood's SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF MAINE (her latest book, THE KNITTING CIRCLE, just about broke my heart), Sarah Hall's DAUGHTERS OF THE NORTH, Marc Acito's ATTACK OF THE THEATER PEOPLE (I loved it so much I blurbed it, but my blurb got in too late, but trust me, it's hilarious), Suzanne Finnamore's SPLIT, Stephen King's ROSE MADDER (I'm re-reading it) Max Apple's THE JEW OF HOME DEPOT, THE SOLOIST by Steve Lopez, and SO THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE FOR, which is a breastfeeding guide, so it's more of a niche audience thing. I'm looking forward to new books by Jen Lancaster and Emily Giffin. And I read Tori Spelling's autobiography on the plane trip back from L.A. last week, and I liked it. So there.

My absolute favorite author of all time is Susan Isaacs, whose work I cannot recommend highly enough...and if you're looking for Cannie's literary ancestress, check out Gail Parent's SHEILA LEVINE IS DEAD AND LIVING IN NEW YORK.

Here’s the thing: I knew how CERTAIN GIRLS was going to end before I started it. I knew that Peter was going to die before I sat down and wrote Word One. (And it’s strange for reviewers to say that they didn’t see it coming, because when you look at the very first conversation this character has, it’s all about death).

So: I knew that Peter was going to die, and it didn’t make me happy (and I knew that readers would howl, and believe me, that prospect did not delight me, either). Here’s the thing: I believe, at some deep-down level, that writers are, at least to a certain extent, as the editor Maxwell Perkins once said of Thomas Wolfe, divine wind-chimes. I also believe, to quote Stephen King, that 85 percent of what goes on in a writer’s head is none of his (or her) business. We’re not necessarily the ones telling the story, it’s more like the stories bubble up from somewhere, and we just get to put them down on paper…and then edit, and rewrite, and revise, and cut, and rewrite and edit some more.

I also think the ending was kind of hard but fitting. I think that Cannie’s story is always going to be about surviving the worst thing you can imagine, and going forward and finding happiness in spite of it. It’s the bitter with the sweet thing, the joy in the midst of sorrow.

That being said, I will tell you that this is the first book when I’ve ever gotten a phone call from my Mom that basically consisted of her yelling “How COULD you??!?!” in various tones and at different volumes. That was interesting.

Given the much-discussed travails of newspapers in general and book sections in particular, I'll just say that I'm happy to have my books reviewed anywhere, whether it's by a professional critic of a fellow novelist.

In terms of covers, I think wise writers (and publishers) rely on feedback from the marketplace -- if pink covers, or truncated female body parts, or the backs of women's heads, are proven to catch reader's attention, then why would you dig your heels in and demand a cover that you've decided is better (or, worse, designed to appeal to a male readership that I'm pretty certain doesn't exist)? I think even prize-winning, critically-esteemed novelists have accepted the reality: bookselling is a business, and you have to give your book a cover that will get it noticed in a store full of a thousand competing products. At least they seem to accept that reality in paperback (and, for the record, I think the semi-decapitated, lingerie-clad body, aspirational accessories, and pink, pink Cosmopolitan on the cover of Jane Smiley's latest are just lovely. They'd get me to pick up the book, anyhow).

My superhero story is entitled "League of Justice (Philadelphia Division)." It's about a woman who's going through a divorce from a fellow novelist who's written a Jonathan-Franzen-sized hit (without the Jonathan Franzen Oprah-dissing controversy). Beaten, bitter, and broken-hearted, she moves to Philadelphia, gets a job at an advertising agency...and starts getting emails from dead people. I'm not sure how it would work as a full-length novel, but I never say never.

Thanks for joining me on GoodReads!

I’m looking forward to taking your questions about CERTAIN GIRLS, my other books, television, “Rock of Love,” and five-month-olds (mine is very drooly).

Enjoy!