It spans decades of their lives, detailing childhood fiascos and very adult drama.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What is the first thing ever that you remember writing?
What is the last book that made you cry?
Credit: Mary Grace Long; HarperCollins
News of the World, by Paulette Jiles.
I finished it on an airplane and cried my eyes out.
What is your favorite part ofThe Last Romantics?
I really like the last few pages.
I just wasn’t sure if I could pull it off.
But after many rewrites and a few new grey hairs, I think I got it.
Helen Oyeyemi’sGingerbreadis by my bed now.
Where do you write?
Wherever my children are NOT.
Which book made you a forever reader?
I remember two books in particular that provoked intense emotion in me as a child.
I read them countless times just to see if their impact would ever lessen.
What is a snack you couldn’t write without?
Does that count as a snack?
What was the hardest part to write inThe Last Romantics?
For some reason, I had the most trouble finding Renee’s character.
Like Renee, I’m a classic first-born, so I knew the rough outlines of her personality.
But the specifics of her life What were her passions?
Who was her partner?
Was she a parent?
In the final manuscript, she’s a transplant surgeon and a mom.
If you could change one thing about any of your books, what would it be?
I wish I had finishedThe Last Romanticssooner so my grandmother could have read it.
