Sam asked Jennifer Egan:

I so enjoyed The Candy House (and A Visit From the Goon Squad, and your other books as well). The characters are so intricately linked across time and circumstance (and across books!) Do you draw this out on a whiteboard or something? How do you keep track of all the connections? Do you know ahead of time how you want your characters to be linked or is it a more of an "Ah Ha" moment?

Jennifer Egan Hi Sam and massive thanks for the kind words. The answer is: no whiteboards! I write very improvisationally, and follow the clues that come up in that unconscious outpouring into the results that feel most interesting. I do MANY drafts; it's a very organic process of evolution. I find that what I come up with in this rather inefficient way is more interesting, and draws less on group-think, than what I can come up with sitting in a chair. If you take a look at my website, Jenniferegan.com, I've tried to expose some of this process by letting you see the published first page of each chapter and then what came before it, right down to the handwritten dated first draft. Huge thanks for reading, and all best, Jenny

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