Interview: Gabrielle Zevin

Presenting an interview with Gabrielle Zevin, in which the author shares her writing process, mentions astronaut ice cream, and quotes passages from some of her favorite books - which are some of mine as well.

I once knew a boy who survived a vehicular accident and had almost a completely different personality afterwards. Naomi's story was, in part, inspired by your grandmother's struggle with Alzheimer's Disease. How much research did you do while writing Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac?

Naomi started out a secondary character in a different book I was writing. The book I thought I was writing was about a girl's reformatory in 1940s New Orleans. I started researching amnesia because one of the characters in that book had or was feigning amnesia. For a variety of reasons, I decided to put that book on hold. But I kept reading about amnesia/head trauma - I already had the research material, after all - and little details about the book that would become MEMOIRS OF A TEENAGE AMNESIAC came to me as I read. For instance, I discovered that people with head traumas can be sensitive to light and experience heat as cold. So, I saw a girl wearing sunglasses though it was overcast and a heavy coat though the day was mild.

( Read more... )

Recognize the endings? Feel free to leave a comment below with your guesses, or learn the answers.

Visit Gabrielle Zevin at memoirsofa.com