1.For Sara B. there’s a lot of inner dialog going on, and it’s pretty dark stuff too. Why did you make Sara so violent and at times pretty macabre, in her way of thoughts?
I wanted to illustrate that side of everyone's mind that people generally don't want to admit to having. it's definitely exaggerated, but that's part of the satire. Sara is also in crisis — she's having a breakdown — and anyone who has ever experienced any kind of mental meltdown knows that your thoughts aren't always rational or pleasant, and that life can get pretty dark.
2.How did you come up with the idea of putting two old ladies like Esther and Lila in the story? They sort of don’t fit in at all, and then somehow they do.
i have a great love of vintage clothes and fashion magazines (and a huge personal collection), and i wanted to incorporate this somehow. the characters of lila and esther just made sense to me as i was writing. since i start the process only knowing the beginning, middle and the end of the story (just like in school!) and the main character's voice, it's an adventure for me, too, imagining who sara might run into or meet. specifically regarding lila and esther, their meeting reminded me of the odd and random encounters many of us have n our lives with the most unlikely people; sometimes the friendships stick and sometimes they don't. thankfully, in this case they did, because i love the old ladies, and think they offer a nice counter-balance to sara's erratic behavior.
3.Were you trying to shock or maybe provoke some of the readers with using a very direct and uncensored language?
no, there was never an intention to shock. the language and thoughts and general vulgarity is simply part of the character. some of it may come from the fact that other than geneieve, sara's friends are primarily male. of course, the book isn't going to be for everyone, and indeed, some readers get quite offended and upset, but it's also important to keep in mind that the book is satire and therefore everything is exaggerated, including the language. (plus, there really are people out there who talk like that!)
4.There’s almost no mentioning of Sara’s family, just that she doesn’t speak to her mother. Where IS Sara’s family?
there's the one brief mention of her mother, but i didn't want to weigh the story down with mother-daughter issues, since i think that would have detracted from the core of the story. i have always imagined that sara's mother is living on the sunshine coast of western Canada with a younger husband and too many face lifts.
5.I kind of got the feeling that the book was cut short. I wanted to know more about everything. But then again, I almost always do. Like what happened to Genevieve and her show, and would she ever forgive Sara? Couldn’t the book have been just a coooouple of pages longer?
the story had to end when it did, or it would have been twice as long. i also didn't want things to be all neatly wrapped up, particularly with genevieve. women's friendships are complicated and i wanted to show that. they can end in the most sudden and unexpected ways.
6. Did you try out different endings to the book? Or was Sara’s destiny written in stone?
the original ending was very slightly different (and actually shorter); sara didn't have the final encounter with the parrot girl, but otherwise, it was pretty much the same. that it ended with a new beginning for sara seemed to fit, and as i said, continuing the story would have made the book very long, really two books instead of one. i sometimes wonder what would have happened to all of the characters, as i suspect many readers so as well, but think it's best left for everyone to imagine their own version of what happens next.
Ah, I do love that cover. I hadn't heard of this book before your interview with Pamela. I'd also never thought to question an author about the endings of their novels and whether they had significantly changed it throughout the writing process. Excellent question.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the interview =)