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- Author interview - |
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I nterview with Janet Fitch By Nancy Duncan Janet Fitch is the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller and Oprah book of the month selection White Oleander (Little, Brown & Company 1999). In this astonishing debut novel, Janet Fitch captures her readers from the very first page, leading them along a magnificent journey of self exploration into the depths of the human soul and the will to survive. The author recently took time out of her busy schedule for an interview, talking simply about her overnight success. Read our review. NANCY DUNCAN - Welcome, Ms. Fitch. In your interview with Salon.com, you mention that Ingrid evolved first. How did your main character Astrid evolve? JANET FITCH - I came up with Ingrid first. Astrid involved out of the original story. I listened to my intuition about what it would be like living with Ingrid. You can imagine a full plane of emotions. Ingrid is inward whereas Astrid is outward. They evolved out of that perception. What kind of research did you do for the numerous foster home settings where Astrid comes to live? I talked to women who had experienced living within the foster care system and women who had foster children. I bet you get asked all the time what your mother thinks of the book. I won’t ask if any of the material is based on your own up-bringing. So what does your mother think? She loves the book. She is so happy for me. Fortunately we worked out all our personal issues long ago. She’s seen how hard I’ve worked and she couldn’t be happier or more pleased. Were there particular issues you wanted to explore in White Oleander? I was interested in what it would be like to be an idealist. What happens to someone like that. The world is too big for beauty. What demons does beauty create for Astrid’s journey? What is it that makes some people transmute wounds? Or how can some people form moral systems and identify their system of values? Some found the book depressing. What’s your reaction? I knew it could be a depressing subject. Some want a Hollywood applause. Your prose is superb, artistically beautiful and poetic. Especially the beginning chapters. Thank you so much. It was a learned process. I didn’t come out of the egg like that. I could always tell a story. But I had to learn to write. White Oleander has been compared to Anywhere But Here [by Mona Simpson, 1992]. Any thoughts on this? I’m happy to be compared to anyone. I read the book. It’s a very funny book. In the United States, White Oleander is compared to Anywhere But Here. But in Europe it’s compared to John Irving’s work. I find that interesting. How long did it take you to write White Oleander? Four years. Each sentence is like a door. Has anything in your life changed since White Oleander was selected as an Oprah pick? It’s been very surrealistic. Suddenly people are listening to me. I’m enjoying that. Now when friends call they ask me if I am working. I’m being validated for putting in olympian efforts. Writing is invisible. It’s like raising a child. Writers continuously struggle. Luck plays a role. My publisher has been tremendously supportive. We are playing it low key. The phone rings more now. We haven’t made any changes. I’m doing what I’ve been doing for twenty years. Only now I get respect for my work. When my daughter was six, the teacher asked the children what they got in the mail at home. One child said letters from grandma. Another child said junk mail. My daughter said we get rejections. By five she knew the difference. Rejections are like splinters under your skin. The difference between a story teller and an artist is learn your craft. I finally came to a point in my writing when I decided that I would not imagine NOT writing. I couldn’t imagine not writing. I’ve been unpublished longer than I was published. Will White Oleander be made into a movie? Yes. The screenplay is being written as we speak. I know who the producer is but that’s about it. It doesn’t feel that real. You live in a private world as a writer. Congratulations! How exciting for you. Thank you. Yes it is. Do you have a favorite character in White Oleander? Each character was a favorite. Astrid was hard. She was my camera. Did you ever expect success? No. Not in my wildest dreams. Oprah actually phoned me at work to tell me my book had been selected. I couldn’t believe it. It has been an exciting time in my life. Any advice for writers? Writing is a personal taste. I write a particular kind of prose. People write to what would appeal to other people. Take a chance. Worry about the quality of work, not the market. What’s next for Janet Fitch? I don’t plot. I grope my way along. By the end of the draft I might have some shape. I started out my next book thinking I would write something loosely based on my grandmother who married a Hollywood wardrobe man in the 1920's. But the plot has changed. There’s an interesting male I hadn’t expected. I don’t know what he will do at this point. Any closing comments? I never expected this to happen. It’s an achievement of my heart’s desire. I feel fortunate. |
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