Chris Bohjalian talks about THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, flawed heroines, the bliss of writing, and so much more

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoFooter, li.MsoFooter, div.MsoFooter {mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-link:"Footer Char"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; tab-stops:center 3.25in right 6.5in; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast {mso-style-priority:34; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} span.FooterChar {mso-style-name:"Footer Char"; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Footer;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:522934649; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-796213606 1939876946 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-start-at:6; mso-level-text:"%1\)"; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; mso-ansi-font-weight:bold;} @list l0:level2 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l0:level3 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; text-indent:-9.0pt;} @list l0:level4 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l0:level5 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l0:level6 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; text-indent:-9.0pt;} @list l0:level7 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l0:level8 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l0:level9 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; text-indent:-9.0pt;} @list l1 {mso-list-id:1165248113; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-1642556678 67698705 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;} @list l1:level1 {mso-level-text:"%1\)"; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:6.25in; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level2 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:6.75in; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level3 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; margin-left:7.25in; text-indent:-9.0pt;} @list l1:level4 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:7.75in; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level5 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:8.25in; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level6 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; margin-left:8.75in; text-indent:-9.0pt;} @list l1:level7 {mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:9.25in; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level8 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:9.75in; text-indent:-.25in;} @list l1:level9 {mso-level-number-format:roman-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:right; margin-left:10.25in; text-indent:-9.0pt;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} </style><br /><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0in;"><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_hr0dXPtga..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_hr0dXPtga..." width="210" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L7u1p7w0Pr..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="912" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L7u1p7w0Pr..." width="269" /></a></span></span></span></b></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b>“<i>Filled with turbulence and sudden plunges in altitude, ‘The Flight Attendant’ is a very rare thriller whose penultimate chapter made me think to myself, ‘I didn’t see that coming.’ The novel — Bohjalian’s 20th — is also enhanced by his deftness in sketching out vivid characters and locales and by his obvious research into the realities of airline work.”<br /> <b>— Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post</b></i><br /><i><b><br /></b></i><br /><br /><i><b><a href="http://chrisbohjalian.com/">C... Bohjalian'</a>s</b> brand new novel, “<a href="http://chrisbohjalian.com/the-flight-... Flight Attendant,</a>” just landed. I couldn't resist opening with that play on words. I first met Chris on a stage at Rainy Day Books. Pictures of You was just published, I was on tour, and I was NERVOUS. Chris was so funny, warm, supportive. AND he wore bright yellow sneakers in honor of my red boots. We had a blast that day, and I've loved him ever since.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>His latest novel, THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT is smart, surprising, and I guarantee you'll be up all night because what's sleep compared to tension and suspense?</i><br /><br /><br /><i>Ready for the impressive bio?<br /><br />His books have been chosen as Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Hartford Courant, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Bookpage, and Salon.</i><br /><i> </i><i>His awards include the Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts; the ANCA Freedom Award for his work educating Americans about the Armenian Genocide; the ANCA Arts and Letters Award for The Sandcastle Girls, as well as the Saint Mesrob Mashdots Medal; the New England Society Book Award for The Night Strangers; the New England Book Award; Russia’s Soglasie (Concord) Award for The Sandcastle Girls; a Boston Public Library Literary Light; a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Trans-Sister Radio; a Best Lifestyle Column for “Idyll Banter” from the Vermont Press Association; and the Anahid Literary Award. His novel, Midwives,was a number one New York Times bestseller, a selection of Oprah’s Book Club, and a New England Booksellers Association Discovery pick. He is a Fellow of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences.<br /><br />Thank you, thank you, for everything, Chris.</i><br /><br /><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I always want to know what was haunting you that made you know that now was the time to write this novel.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I didn’t necessarily know “this” was the time for this novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Sometimes I seem to get lucky and sense what’s out there in the zeitgeist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But I wasn’t thinking when I began writing what would become <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Flight Attendant</i>in March 2016, “Russian espionage and election meddling will be a news story in March 2018.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I wish I had that kind of foresight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">But I have always been fascinated with the Russian soul and loved Russian literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And as you know from our wonderful events together in 2011 when you were touring for your magnificent novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pictures of You,</i> and I was touring for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Night Strangers</i>, I’ve always been fascinated by aviation and air travel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I am in awe of flight attendants and pilots.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And one evening, it all came together at – appropriately – a bar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I had just flown into JFK from Armenia via Moscow, and I was meeting a friend for dinner at an Armenian restaurant we love in Manhattan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I was an hour early and so I settled with a glass of arak, a Middle Eastern anise-flavored alcohol I love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And my mind was thinking about air travel and Russia, and I suddenly I was scribbling frantically on every piece of scrap paper the bartender had handy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The premise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>A flight attendant who drinks too much would wake up in a sumptuous hotel bed in Dubai next to a dead body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>All I knew when I started writing was that it would be a thriller with a deeply flawed heroine, and there would be Russian intrigue.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So much of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Flight Attendant</i> is about what we remember and why, what we are addicted to and why, and how those forces shape us. Can you talk about that please?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">As a species, we move away from pain and we move toward pleasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I assume all animals do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">In the case of my flight attendant, Cassie Bowden, she has become addicted to the pleasure – alcohol – that took away her pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Her deep emotional pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>All those margaritas and negronis she downs in the course of the novel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>All that arak and all that wine?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It’s drowning a lot of unhappiness and a lot of terrible scars from her childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, yes, she is a functional alcoholic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And like a lot of alcoholics, she is also a profoundly wounded bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I think that’s why I cared about her so much and worried about her so much.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I remember years ago, you were talking about researching plane crashes, and how people shouldn’t rest their feet under their seats if they’re ever told to brace for impact in an imminent crash, because they might break their ankles and be unable to walk away from a crash! I imagine you learned some new things in researching this novel! Pray tell!</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, I learned the difference in cost if you want to kill a contracts manager in Donetsk versus Dubai.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>That helped the novel immeasurably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">But the things I learned that have really stayed with me are just how spectacular most flight attendants are and how hard the job really is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The women and men who keep us safe and manage the passenger cabin of an airplane are well-trained, dedicated, and incredibly fast on their feet – and they deal with all sorts of horrific passenger misbehavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The stories they told me about drunk passengers, entitled passengers, ornery passengers, and just plain rude passengers were astonishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And, yes, I used a lot of those stories in the novel – including the tale I came across in my research about the grandmother who allowed her toddler grandson to try and urinate into an air sickness bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The lad missed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The nearby passengers wound up soaked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And the grandmother?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Not an ounce of contrition.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Holy cow, you have movie rights optioned!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Will you do a cameo? Any interest in writing the script?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Yes, Kaley Cuoco of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big Bang Theory</i> has optioned it for a limited series for Warner Brothers TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I couldn’t be happier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>There is no actor I can think of more perfect to bring my alcoholic hot mess of a flight attendant to life than Kaley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">           </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am not writing the script.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But I am co-writing the screenplay for the film of my 2017 novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sleepwalker</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">I’m also writing a new stage adaptation of my 1997 novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midwives</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I also have to ask you this: The galley is phenomenal looking, with quotes from every major paper around. Yet, knowing you, I know that you are one of the kindest, most down-to-earth writers I know. How have you avoided what fame does to some writers?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, I could ask the exact same question of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And I think most of our mutual friends who write are pretty down-to-earth and keep us humble.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Also, writing isn’t a zero sum game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>There’s room for all of us. I’ll bet you read between forty and fifty books a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Finally – again, like you – I never lose sight of what a blessing it is to be a novelist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It’s just so damn much fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Flight Attendant</i> is my twentieth book, and my goal has been to never write the same book twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And that’s meant I’ve never been bored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Some novels have been much harder to write than others and some books have been much better than others, but so long as I’ve tried something new and tried my best, it’s always been pretty satisfying.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What’s obsessing you now and why?<br /></b><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">            </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’m deep into my next novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Shhhhhhhh. . .</span></div>