Talking with Tim

Pictures of You

Caroline Leavitt‘s latest novel, Pictures of You, is already in its third printing. So I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have recently email interviewed her about the book. As detailed at her site, the book can best be described as: “A mysterious car crash on a deserted, foggy road brings three people together in a collision of their own: A photographer fleeing her philandering husband and consumed with guilt. An asthmatic boy with a terrible secret. A husband who realizes that he never really knew his wife.”

Tim O’Shea: After reading your recent essay for The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review, I am left with one question. Had you ever regarded writing as a form of therapy prior to writing your latest novel-and would you agree that to some extent it is a form of therapy?

Caroline Leavitt: Great question. I absolutely agree. I think I knew early on that writing made me feel better. I was a tense, moody, unsettled kid with terrible asthma, and I started out writing when I was most unhappy or felt most alone. I could lose myself and my problems in the work, and I quickly became addicted. I also quickly learned that to be any good, I had to write when I was happy, too—every day, in fact. I also knew somehow that I could be a happy, silly person in everyday life IF I got out all my demons in my work.

O’Shea: Is this the first among your nine novels to have been regarded be picked for so many book-of-the-month club honors (including by Costco, BJ’s Bookclub and The Nervous Breakdown Bookclub, among others)? How important is it to yourself as well as your publishersto be able to elevate the book’s profile through these promotional channels?

Leavitt: Another great question and one I’m happy to talk about because I feel like I need to tell other writers, yes it can be done. It’s really important to leap to this next level, something I’ve never had, except maybe for my first novel. People take you more seriously. Word of mouth, which really sells books, I think, starts to take off. One thing really feeds another in this amazing, amazing way.

My first novel MEETING ROZZY HALFWAY had this kind of attention, and I was naïve and young enough to think it would always be that way. I soon learned otherwise. My publisher went bankrupt. Two other publishers went out of business. I had editors leave and my novels were orphaned. Once, the WHOLE sales force left a month before my novel was to come out. I had to fight for every review myself. I had to pay for my own tour, which was always local, and of course, I had no ads or promo. My editors and publisher rarely returned my calls or emails, even after I managed to get reviews from great places like Washington Post or LA Times!

PICTURES OF YOU was one of three novels I had on contract with another publisher. The editor said, “I don’t get it. It simply isn’t special enough. We don’t want it.” I was sure my career was over. Who would want to publish someone who had not broken out after so many novels? My fabulous agent told me not to worry, sent it to Algonquin and three weeks later, I had a book deal and my life changed.

They started promoting me 8 months before the book was out. They sent me out on the road months before publication so two months before publication, the book was already in its third printing. They’re sending me on a 16-city tour! They call and email all the time—I’ve never felt so incredibly supported. I know definitely that the publisher has made all the difference for me. I could not have done this on my own. It’s Algonquin’s thinking outside the box, their respect and devotion to their authors that has made all of this possible. To say, I worship them, is to put it mildly. They saved my career. They MADE my career.

O’Shea: Back in 2008, when the publisher first bought your current novel-it was called Breathe. What prompted you to change the title to Pictures of You?

Leavitt: I originally called the novel Traveling Angels, which is a screenwriting term, which means a stranger comes into the midst, shakes everyone up and leaves. I thought it was perfect, but Algonquin thought it wasn’t strong enough. I wanted to call it Breathe next, which I thought was eerie and perfect, but no one else did! So we brainstormed. My editor, Andra Miller, came up with the idea of The Cure song, Pictures of You. I love The Cure, and I worship my editor, so the title stuck!

O’Shea: Do you think that your work as a writing instructor at UCLA, in addition to your critical analysis for multiple publications help makes you a more effective novelist?

Leavitt: Yep. I do. I think being able to look at someone else’s work and figure out what works and why, and what doesn’t work and why not (and how to fix it) is invaluable. I make all my students critique one another because I feel that it’s so important.

Plus, you know, it’s a thrill when I see talent. I really want to help. One of my students just got an incredible agent for a novel she started in my class. As soon as I saw the first line, I went nuts. I knew she had something incredible. Another student of mine sold a novel she started in my class for six figures! I love this!

O’Shea: Given that you do not drive, does that mean you take public transportation or cabs a great deal? I’m curious, if so, does not driving allow you the opportunity to observe people more as you go on errands-and potentially get inspiration for stories or characters that you would not gain if you were driving a car?

Leavitt: Well, I lived in the heart of Manhattan for many years, and there was no need to drive or even take cabs. Now I live in Hoboken, which is a 7-minute subway ride out of the village, and everything there is also walkable. And yep. I daydream all the time, which is lovely.

O’Shea: Nine-year-old Sam Nash is a pivotal character in your new novel. What’s the biggest challenge to trying to get a grasp of a young character’s voice like that?

Leavitt: It takes so much time to get it right. Usually, the characters feel dead on the page for months and months and then suddenly, something clicks on, and they let me inside and I finally am able to hear them.

O’Shea: I’m curious do you avoid reading reviews of your own books, or do you seek them out? For instance, I wonder how satisfying it is to read a review like this one, where the reader admits “I am only about 1/2 way through it (just had twins and it is difficult to find time to read) I find myself trying to carve out time each day to immerse myself further and deeper into the lives of these characters”?

Leavitt: Oh, sigh. Reviews. Of course I read them and I study every syllable of them, almost neurotically. I love the good reviews! But it’s hard not to be derailed when I get a review like one on Amazon that said, WORST BOOK EVER. Or how about the one on Goodreads that said, “These characters have no morals.” They sting. I cry sometimes. But the best thing I ever did was to become a book critic myself for People and The Boston Globe, because I now understand how much of it is personal, how everyone is going to see something different in a book. I’m so grateful for the reviews (and I always thank reviewers), and I try to shrug off the bad ones.

O’Shea: Not every author has a spouse that is also a writer as you do (writer/editor Jeff Tamarkin). Is it some solace, when you’re struggling with a writing challenge of some kind, to know that you have a sympathetic ear in your own home who can relate to some of the creative obstacles you face?

Leavitt: It’s incredibly helpful. When I wail that my career is over and I hate the book I am writing, Jeff says, “Now I know it’s going well.” He knows what it’s like. He understands the weird hours, and since he has weird hours, too, it makes things much more fun.

O’Shea: How much fun was it to participate in this humorous look at marketing by PaperRats?

Leavitt: I LOVE the PaperRats. I actually and shamelessly begged them to let me participate in a video, and I never had so much fun. They wouldn’t tell me the script but gave me a sheet of things they wanted me to film, like Show sarcasm. Roll your eyes. Look irritated. I would do it again in a heartbeat! (You listening, PaperRats?)

O’Shea: Is there anything you’d like to discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

Leavitt: I would love to beg people to check out my tour at www.carolineleavitt.com and try to come to a reading or event. Authors always worry about going to a reading and finding only two people there, so please come if you can!