Goodreads asked Julie Mathison:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Julie Mathison BELIEVE is a bit of a mash-up of my own childhood, growing up in the late 1970's in Rochester, Michigan and later in Eugene, Oregon. The house on Rosemary Street is a lot like my house in Rochester, Buckminster Elementary is similar to Corridor School, which I attended in Eugene from 4th through 6th grade. And Melanie is a little like me -- but not like me too. My parents separated when I was young and eventually reunited, but I understood Melanie's yearning and felt I could expand on that. There are lots of things in the book that don't come from my life -- I never had a grandma like Gloria! This is the first novel I've written that draws on my own history, and the only one I've written in the first person. The initial draft was written in 20 days -- it just kind of poured out. Then, I went back and layered in new material, sometimes with the guidance of my agent at the time, and sometimes because I'd had some new insight. It was a relatively easy book to write. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

flag