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 The author of Girls in Trouble talks about the inspiration of her latest novel, about sharing ideas with her writer husband, juggling family life and managing the impossible, how she started writing, her website, the author she would most like to meet, the film business, her latest projects, and more.
Interview by Donna Denn
Donna: Tell me about the inception of Girls in Trouble.
Caroline: My husband and I couldn't have any more children, and we wanted another so we
looked into open adoption--where the birth mother gets to chooses who will adopt her baby, and she always has contact with you. We just thought to do the adoption openly and truthfully was the best option for everyone involved. For six months, I was almost always on the phone with birth mothers, who were usually sixteen, smart, and desperate for some sort of approval that they weren't getting from their friends, their parents, and their counselors. I began to get the feeling that these girls wanted me to adopt them, as well as their babies! We ended up not adopting, for a variety of reasons, but these girls just
stuck in my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about them, so I wrote an article for Salon called "Dating The Birth Mother" about my experiences, and it got so much mail, I kept writing.
Donna: Is there a girl in your personal life who inspired Sara? Was there a Danny?
Caroline: Sara was a combination of many of the birth mothers I talked to, but mostly she was made up. Ditto Danny.
Donna: The book seems to be designed for a group discussion book. Have you thought about setting something up along these lines?
Caroline: I'm always open to group discussions! I'm doing a reading group guide for the book now, and I do book club talks via phone and/or email!
Donna: Your husband, Jeff Tamarkin, is a writer too. Do you share ideas for your writing? Or do you avoid the subject altogether.
Caroline: We talk about each other's work all the time! He writes nonfiction so he catches things in my work when I have someone driving on the wrong highway! I push him to make his nonfiction more emotional and storylike. We're doing
readings now together, which is a whole lot of fun.
Donna: How do you juggle family life with your writing? Any tips for the writing parent?
Donna: Oh, it's impossible! It's really hard. When Max was a baby, I kept his bassinet by my desk, and he'd sleep for two hours and I'd write, and then he'd wake and I'd play with him for two hours, then he'd sleep again. Now that he's seven, I write when he's at school. As soon as he's home, that's his time. My husband's a writer, too, so he understands that sometimes after Max is in bed,
we work for a while. But never too long, and we always have wind-down time.
Tips for the writing parent? Try to find a schedule for yourself--even if it's only one hour every day when the baby is sleeping. And always carry a
notebook so you can grab those moments of downtime (I've written scenes when my son was engaged at the park!)
Donna: You have a number of books out now. Coming Back to Me is new out in paperback. Do you have plans for the next new story?
Caroline: I have a new novel almost done in first draft. I'm really superstitious so I never talk about them until they are living, breathing, finished works. But it will take me another year to finish, at the very least!
Donna: Are any of your books a personal favorite of yours?
Caroline: I'm laughing because for me that's like asking me which of my children I like the best!
Donna: You also write for The Boston Globe. How did you start writing? Was it something you always wanted to do?
Caroline: I always wanted to be a writer. When I was a little girl, I wrote stories and illustrated them, and in high school, I used to get around doing papers I didn't want to do by writing stories instead. I was pretty determined.
Donna: On your website you have essays and stories for visitors to read. Tell me about how and why you set it up.
Caroline: I think the relationship between the reader and the writer is an important one. I want to know my readers and talk with them--and I hope they want to talk with me, too. I just thought a warm, friendly website would be a great introduction to me, as well as an invitation to people to contact me.
Donna: If you could meet any author living or dead, who would it be?
Caroline: Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is one of my all-time favorite novels. Plus, then I'd also get to meet Zelda!
Donna: You've written scripts for some of your other novels, are any in the process of becoming films? Have there been difficulties?
Caroline: Ah, the film business! My first novel, Meeting Rozzy Halfway was about to be
a film when the writers' strike happened. Living Other Lives was optioned by Spelling, had a script written by a Tony award-winning writer and never made it to the screening room. Into Thin Air was also optioned and to have a bit more control, I talked my way into writing the script. I told the producer I knew how to write and would get him the first act in a week, then I ran to the bookstore and bought up every single book on screenwriting, stayed up all night reading, and wrote a first act. Of course it was terrible! But the producer was pretty kind and because I agreed to write the script for nothing, he gave me six weeks to learn. And I did. And--the film went through three directors, added more producers, at one time had interest from Madonna--and never got made! I'm hoping it might be different for Girls In Trouble!
Donna: Tell me about any other big projects you are involved in at the moment.
Caroline: Well, I'm writing a new novel. I teach writing through UCLA online, which I love, I write my column for The Boston Globe, and I'm writing a script! Besides that, I have the wonderful chaos of family.
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