I love White Oleander, and also Paint it Black. How much of your life did you insert into Paint it Black? And what compelled you to want to write such a unique story?

Janet Fitch Hi Theresa! Sorry I let you sit with this question so long! (Forgot about this function on GR!) Much of the externals are things I'd experienced/known about--the Los Angeles of the punk days, though I wasn't in the scene, just went to shows and so on. Internally--lets just say our books are a perfect blueprint of our psychic life, but only as our own therapists would understand how. I'm more Michael than Josie--a lot of it was about wrestling with perfectionism as an artist. I was in a pretty dark place when I wrote it, had lost a book after White Oleander. It seemed possible--a three person story and one of them was dead. thanks for asking! Glad you liked it!

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