There’s so much to say about Sonya, do check out her site. One of my all time favorite book titles belongs to her: ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. That was before I actually wrote such a book! And I still love it.
1. I’ve been recommending your novel-in-verse to everyone. Even the never-married-with-no-children ones love it. It’s the perfect gift for my friends with a child going off to college. Everyone laughs and cries. Did you have doubts, especially when known as a YA writer, that it would be so well-received? If so, what kept you moving forward?
You are such a sweetheart, Jo. Thanks for doing all that recommending! If you keep this up, you will turn me into the next JK Rowling. And if that happens, I will buy you a Ferrari… [Jo: I will paint it pink just like the Cadillac Elvis gave his mama.]
Of course I had doubts about writing my first book for grownups. I was born worried. And I was supposed to be working on a YA novel that I was under contract for. But every time I sat down at my computer, I found myself wanting to write about going through menopause instead, and about my imminent empty nest, and about being offered my first senior discount—not exactly subjects that teens would find enthralling. For a while, I tried really hard not to write it, but this was one of those books that grabbed hold of me and just wouldn’t let go. I honestly felt like I didn’t have any choice in the matter. Holly demanded that I tell her story!
2. One of the reasons your book is so captivating is that the voice of Holly is utterly authentic. I’m sure many readers confuse you with Holly. Can you share your thoughts on life imitating art. Where is Sonya, your husband, children, editor and more in this story?
By a very strange coincidence, Holly is a poet and so am I. And I’ve been through lots of the same things that Holly has— menopause, freaking out at the relentless decline of my body, being behind on a deadline, dealing with having an empty nest, and doing all of this while trying to care for a sick mom who lives thousands of miles away. But I am not Holly, and the husband, daughter and editor in the book are made up characters. Honest! I’ve got two kids, a son and a daughter, and when I was writing about Holly’s daughter, I was drawing on feelings I’d had about both of my kids leaving for school. So the feelings were real, even though the situations were fictionalized.
Or as someone once said (of course, I can’t remember who, because my brain’s a sieve): “All of it is true, but none of it really happened.”
And it wasn’t easy to let Holly tell the whole truth—about her insecurities, fantasies and deepest yearnings—because I was painfully aware that people reading my book would assume that all the most humiliating parts were based on my feelings and experiences. And on my body! Even the most sophisticated readers fall into this trap.
3. When taking from real life, do you have any rules to avoid lawsuits, or just having someone hate you forever?
I try not to write things that would embarrass anyone I know. If I think there is anything even remotely questionable, I check with the person first to make sure they won’t mind. And so far, I’ve only made a few enemies…
Just kidding! Everyone has been extremely generous with letting me “borrow” from them.
4. Which poems do readers recall the most when they meet you? What are the “Hunchback” Greatest Hits?
Well, everybody’s got their own favorite, but this little rhyme is the one that most people seem to really get a kick out of:
To the One-Pound Bag of Oreos I Just Bought:
It’s so sad
to think
that just moments
from now
you
will be gone
and I’ll
be a cow.
It’s ironic, because my editor suggested I cut it from the book. But I thought it was funny, and it happened to be my agent’s assistant’s favorite poem, so I used that as ammunition in arguing for keeping it in. And I’m so delighted that it made the final cut.
Here is another one of the “greatest hits”:
If Only Michael and I Had a Court Reporter Living With Us
She’d record every single word
we said to each other—
her silver hair pulled up into a neat brioche
on top of her head,
rocking ever so slightly, her eyes closed
in Ray-Charlesian concentration,
her quick fingers clicking away
on the keys of her stenotype machine
while the ticker tape transcript,
that oozing ribbon of absolute truth,
gathered in white-looped paper mountains
around her primly crossed ankles.
Her presence in our home
would doubtless cut in half
the length of time Michael and I
spend arguing.
Whenever our fights escalated
to the you-know-I-can’t-stand-it-
when-you-say-that stage, Michael would
protest (as usual), “I didn’t say that!”
But there she’d be,
our intrepid court reporter,
to check back through her tape
and set him straight.
“Actually,” she’d say,
glancing at him coolly over the top
of her tortoise shell spectacles,
“your exact words were…”
5. I saw a video of you speaking to a group of women writers and thought, “She should have her own TV show!” Anything in the works? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04iYme5KCnM
Why? Do you know any TV producers? If you do, please tell them I’m available! Seriously though, I love speaking so much that sometimes I fantasize about trying to create a one woman show using the poems from The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus. But I’m very busy writing that YA novel that I should have been writing when I was writing The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus. The new one is about a compulsive liar named Colette. She’s so devious. I love her!
But even though I’m busy writing, I want your readers to know that if their book club chooses to read the book, I’d be happy to Skype into their book club discussion of the book. Because all writing and no play makes Sonya a dull author…
And for the next few weeks, I’ll be posting poems from The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus to my blog, about how it feels when your child leaves for college, so if you know of anyone going through that, please send them this link: www.sonyasones.com/wp/whats-new
Thanks for having me Jo, and for asking such fun, thought-provoking questions!
xx,
Sonya