Author Gabrielle Zevin said she will try to stop by an answer a few questions.

And now she's here! Welcome!

Please post questions for Gabrielle Zevin in this thread!

Hi Twilight Moms,

I'm thrilled to be able to discuss MEMOIRS with you. I'm a TWILIGHT fan myself and on a personal note, Stephenie was probably one of my first author friends. What I admire most about Stephenie's books is the way she writes with such abandon.

I'll probably be staying clear of the other discussions -- I now realize that I have an embarassingly thin skin where my books are concerned -- but as was mentioned, I'm glad to answer any questions you might have here.

Sometimes, people ask me about the opening line of the book: "Above all, mine is a love story." Well, I think that all our lives are a series of love stories. That who and what we choose to love becomes the story of our lives, whether we know it at the time or not. So, I think that was what the book was about for me -- the idea of love and how it changes over time -- parent/child love, romantic love -- first love, and smarter, better second and third love, too. And the real trick of this is that every book I've ever written (I've just finished my fourth) has been a love story of sorts and, in a way, could start with that same first line. There's a quote I like -- it's from a Nick Laird poem and I came across it in Zadie Smith's book ON BEAUTY: "Time is how you spend your love."

Well, that's my two cents. Thanks again for including me.

Yours,
Gabrielle

Thank you for hanging out with us! (I need to visit with you about the Twilight Teens site at some point...but that is a different discussion for another time.)

I was wondering how much of the story is autobiographical?

Welcome Gabrielle

I am *almost* finished with the book and can't wait to run back here with some questions for you!

I'll apologize in advance... I always seem to want to know about the mundane

Is there any significance to the number 13002?

Do you yourself watch nature shows? I absolutely loved the porcupines!

On a more serious note:

I've read that you reinvent yourself all the time and don't think you have to get hit on the head to do so. Do you think, though, that sometimes one has to have a serious wake-up call like Naomi's to realize certain things about your life and make changes?

I drew certain parallels to Naomi/James and Cass/Nigel. If James were to come back in Naomi's life in the future, would they have a chance?

Respectfully,

Shannon

Gabrielle-
Thanks so much for coming to talk to us. I don't really have a question just yet, just some blatant fan gushing. Elsewhere was the first book I read after reading the Twilight Books and it stayed with me for weeks. I absolutely loved the world you created there and the idea of understanding what exactly living is. Whether your alive or dead. It was a beautiful story.

I have been reading so many romantic books lately that I love the part in the book when you realize who the "love story" is really about. Memoirs through me for a loop. After reading the book I thought alot of about the story and all the different relationships Naomi had. Whether it was with her parents and their new families, Will, James and ultimetely herself. I loved how she had to find out who she really was even before the memories all came back.

I look forward to reading more of your books.

Nat

Gabrielle,
Thank you for writing such a fantastic book! It was seriously the first book I have read since delving into the Twilight world over six months ago! I loved the complexity of trying to figure out who you really are without knowing who you are. I think it shows how we are always trying to figure out who we are and where we are headed.

My question is if given the chance would you have changed anything about Naomi's estranged relationship with her mom and step-family? I know that there was some resolution at the end, but is there hope that they could've salvadged some of what they had?

I loved your book and I look forward to reading "Elsewhere" and any others you may write. I also look forward to recommending this book to all of my friends young and old!

Thanks again!!
Janeece

Hi! and thanks for being willing to answer some of our questions!

I think that biggest one that I have right now is how did you come up with the premise of the book? Having the protagonist have anemisa is definitely not your everyday plot for a book

I haven't started the book yet, Just got it today, but I wanted to say Welcome to TWILIGHT MOM'S.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to hang out with us Gabrielle. I'm looking forward to reading your book and coming back here with questions~

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to hang out with us Gabrielle. I'm looking forward to reading your book and coming back here with questions~

First off, let me just say that Elsewhere is one of my favorite books. I teach children's and young adult literature and I have used this book in my class many times. Students (who will soon be teachers) are always intrigued with it.

But that's not what this conversation is about.

I wanted to tell you I cried during Amnesiac because of Naomi's desire to NOT admit her love for someone else. I can understand that, but you can't always help it. I thought the way you captured her frustration with that was very real.

But I'm more interested in your writing process. Every author I have talked with has a different process, so what's yours? I attended a dinner with Sarah Dessen a few years ago, and she told our table that she knew everything pretty much she writes. She always know the endings. Some writers don't.
Do you? Do you know where your books are going when you begin?

Also, when do you write? What do you listen to while writing? Just tell me a bit about your process.

Oh, and how long have you been writing for?

Thanks!

Thanks for the question! Very little and most of it, if that isn't too ridiculous to say. Most of my books have started from a question I've been asking in my personal life -- Memoirs came from my grandmother's Alzheimer's disease and the question I was asking was, Is a person more than his/her memories and experiences?

In terms of autobiography, the other thing MEMOIRS probably came from was my ten year reunion from high school and some rather uninteresting reflection I was having at the time about who I was then versus who people thought I was versus who I am now and blah blah blah.

Of course, I've never been an amnesiac though I have been a girl and a teenager. And I've definitely had a crazy boyfriend or two. And I am deeply flawed like Naomi and definitely selfish at times. But if you knew me, you wouldn't find me very like her. She was really born from the last line of a Rilke poem that was my favorite when I was her age: "And here, there are no eyes that cannot see you. You must change your life."

I like the mundane!

Re: 13002

13002 is one digit off the number of Liz's cabin in Elsewhere which is 130002. I was twenty-six years old when I sold my first book which is what the digits add up to. I picked 13 at the time because it is an unlucky number (Liz had just died), and 2 because she was about to have a second chance. There might have been other reasons, too -- I tend to overthink things -- but I can't remember what they were.

Re: Nature

My mom loves nature shows, and since I got a dog about ten years ago, I've been very into them myself. All the ones in the book are based on actual nature programs, I am proud to say.

Re: reinvention

Did I say that? Well, I feel like every time I write a different book, I become a slightly different person. You change as the books change, and the books change you.

Certainly, a life altering event can be a welcome catalyst to change (not to mention a helpful starting point for a book!). But what I really think is that we shouldn't wait for them. They may never come. As a human, I believe very much in the possibilty of change that comes from within.

Re: Naomi/James & Cass/Nigel

Oh, I'm so pleased you asked me that! Yes, I did want there to be parallels betwen the two relationships. And I do think that if Naomi encountered James at a later time in her life, things might be different. When I wrote this book, I wanted very much to tell a story about a boy and a girl who didn't work out -- not because he was essentially flawed or bad, but because they were humans and humans are victims of time and timing. Most of us do not marry our high school boyfriends, you know? I loved James when I was writing him, but I knew he wasn't the best boyfriend for her during the time of the story -- he wouldn't make a particularly good boyfriend to anyone at that point in his life -- and the story for me was about how growing up means growing wiser in love as well. With that in mind, you can also draw parallels between Naomi/Will and Cass/Nigel -- because I highly doubt they'll go to the same college or get married as soon as high school is over either. And I sort of had this sense that Cass & Nigel had probably been best friends in high school, too.

Okay... since I have not yet finished I will ask you something not directly related to your book...

Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process? It seems like every author I speak to has a slightly different process and I find them all fascinating.