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Live Chat with Debut Author
Celeste Ng,

Our Live Chat has concluded. To sign up for the program and join future chats, go to the Penguin Debut Authors Program.

(more information here).

 Live Chat with Celeste Ng, EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU(03/26/2014) 
3:08
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Getting ready for our live online chat with Celeste Ng, author of EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU, coming from The Penguin Press in June.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:08 Nora - EarlyWord
3:08
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:08 
3:34
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Below is a special video that Celeste recorded to introduce herself to you...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:34 Nora - EarlyWord
3:42
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You are welcome to enter questions at any time. We will try to get to all of them in the hour. Don't worry about typos (and please forgive any on our part!)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:42 Nora - EarlyWord
3:43
Celeste: 
Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be here!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:43 Celeste
3:44
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Hey, Celeste! Glad to know you're in the house. We'll begin chatting in about 15 minutes.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:44 Nora - EarlyWord
3:45
Celeste: 
Looking forward to it!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:45 Celeste
4:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
HI Everyone -- we're ready to start!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord
4:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Unfortunately, it seems the comment section is running slow...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord
4:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
If comments are not coming through, I may ask you to email me.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord
4:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
But, let's get started. Welcome, Celeste!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord
4:02
Celeste: 
Thanks, Nora! And hi, everyone!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:02 Celeste
4:02
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I see some people gathered -- please say hi to Celeste!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:02 Nora - EarlyWord
4:04
Nora - EarlyWord: 
OK -- I don't see any comments coming through, so there may be a problem. You can email questions an comments to me -- Nora AT EarlyWord DOT com.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:04 Nora - EarlyWord
4:04
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Let's start with an advance question about your intro video.

One of our program members wants to know how you created that great painting based on the Annie Dillard quote. She says she wants to do her own version of one of her favorite quotes.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:04 Nora - EarlyWord
4:05
Celeste: 
Oh, thank you! I'm happy to tell you how I did the painting.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste
4:05
 Nora - EarlyWord
Celeste's Image of a Quote from Annie Dillard
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 
4:05
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's what it looks like...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Nora - EarlyWord
4:05
Celeste: 
The painting was inspired by the work of an artist called Lauren DiCioccio (http://laurendicioccio.com), who lays clear plastic over pages from magazines and covers the letters with tiny dots of paint.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste
4:05
Celeste: 
I wanted to use a quote that had special meaning to me and make it beautiful.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste
4:05
Celeste: 
I wrote the quote out on the canvas very lightly, in pencil. Then I got 26 different colors of paint and assigned each letter a color--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste
4:06
Nora - EarlyWord: 
oops - a bunch of greetings just came in -- will post them...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Nora - EarlyWord
4:06
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
Good afternoon from the Midwest; looking forward to the chat session
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Lucy
 
Celeste: 
Hi Lucy! Nice to meet you!
  Celeste
4:06
Celeste: 
And then I made a blotch of paint over each letter, using the appropriate color. So if you look REALLY closely, you can see the letters very faintly beneath the paint.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Celeste
4:06
[Comment From Sue DSue D: ] 
Hello - I really enjoyed the video Celeste created. My kids horned in and asked me to play it again. They enjoyed it too!!!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Sue D
 
Celeste: 
Ha! Thank you, Sue! So glad you (and your kids) enjoyed it.
  Celeste
4:06
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
HI, Celeste
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Lucy
4:06
[Comment From AnneAnne: ] 
Hi Celeste -
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Anne
 
Celeste: 
Hi Anne--welcome and thank you for coming!
  Celeste
4:06
[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ] 
Glad to join you for this author chat! Can't seem to log in to twitter.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Catherine
4:07
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Sue -- sounds like you have some very cool kids!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:07 Nora - EarlyWord
4:08
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Celeste -- I love the telling details in your book, like the heartbreaking moment when Hannah reaches for her mother’s hand and she doesn’t see it. How did you develop that? Is it natural, or did you consciously work on it?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Nora - EarlyWord
4:08
Celeste: 
I've always been drawn to details, and in fact they've always been a big pat of my writing.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Celeste
4:08
Celeste: 
My early stories were probably about 98% detail and 2% plot.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Celeste
4:08
Celeste: 
I've always felt that details aren't just "details"--in a lot of ways, they *are* the story.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Celeste
4:09
Celeste: 
And details help especially with writing about children--those details reveal what they may not be able to verbalize.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:09 Celeste
4:10
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I found it especially effective in portraying children -- it's those details that reveal what they may not be able to verbalize.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:10 Nora - EarlyWord
4:10
Celeste: 
Yes, *exactly!*
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:10 Celeste
4:10
Celeste: 
Those details can put us right into a child's mind.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:10 Celeste
4:11
Nora - EarlyWord: 
And then, for adults, sometimes what we articulate is not what we really feel!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:11 Nora - EarlyWord
4:11
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Another advance question about the video -- from Boston Librarian:

Tell us about the “major structural” changes you mention in the video.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:11 Nora - EarlyWord
4:12
Celeste: 
The first draft of the book was in multiple parts--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste
4:12
Celeste: 
2 chapters in one time period, then 3 chapters of Marilyn in college, then 3 chapters of James in college, etc.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste
4:12
Celeste: 
That didn't work, so I tried braiding the timelines together--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste
4:12
Celeste: 
And it took me a long time to figure out how to move back and forth in time, so that past and present made sense together.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste
4:13
Celeste: 
Was that not clear from the diagram? :)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Celeste
4:13
Celeste: 
(I'm looking at it now, and it kind of bewilders ME...)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Celeste
4:13
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I'm afraid that the Legal Seafood Menu was much clearer!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Nora - EarlyWord
4:13
[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ] 
As the title suggests, the characters have trouble verbalizing their thoughts and communicating with each other.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Catherine
 
Celeste: 
Catherine, that's a great point--there's so much that these characters leave unsaid, to each other and to themselves.
  Celeste
4:14
Celeste: 
While writing the novel, I kept asking other writers what they'd done, and got vague answers. Now I understand why--we're all just muddling around until things click into place.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:14 Celeste
4:14
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Did you realize you needed to make that change, or did it come from your editor.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:14 Nora - EarlyWord
4:14
Celeste: 
I realized it. The parts of the story weren't coming together the way I wanted them to.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:14 Celeste
4:15
Celeste: 
Fortunately, when I thought I'd gotten it right, my editor agreed!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:15 Celeste
4:15
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I like Catherine's comment about the title. How did you come up with it?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:15 Nora - EarlyWord
4:16
Celeste: 
It came to me in the first draft, as I was roughing out the final scene--it's an echo of one of the final lines of the book.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:16 Celeste
4:16
Celeste: 
It struck me that it really applied to the whole book, and might work as a title.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:16 Celeste
4:16
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I was wondering, as a parent, how are you able to write about something as horrible as a child disappearing. Didn't it scare you?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:16 Nora - EarlyWord
4:17
Celeste: 
It terrified me!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste
4:17
Celeste: 
But that's usually my approach to writing-- I often find myself writing about the things that scare me most.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste
4:17
Celeste: 
It's almost a way of exploring things I hope never to experience in real life. "What would this be like? How would I respond?"
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste
4:17
Celeste: 
I think that often, we write (and read) about horrible things, as a way of stretching ourselves emotionally without going through the experience--an empathy exercise.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste
4:18
Nora - EarlyWord: 
That may also be why we are willing to read books that scare us in some way.

What else have you written?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:18 Nora - EarlyWord
4:18
[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ] 
I think you're quite brave, Celeste, to examine the things that many of us would prefer not to think about.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:18 Catherine
 
Celeste: 
Thank you, Catherine. I'm always happy when readers are willing to read books about things that scare *them*, as well.
  Celeste
4:19
Celeste: 
I've written a bunch of short stories, and some essays--all of which fall under the same category of "exploring things that scare me."
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:19 Celeste
4:19
Celeste: 
And two extremely awful "novels," when I was about 13 and 15, which are consigned to a locked file cabinet.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:19 Celeste
4:20
Nora - EarlyWord: 
How did you get this one published?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:20 Nora - EarlyWord
4:20
Celeste: 
My route was pretty traditional: I started it in grad school, worked on it for 6 years while holding various strange, ill-paying jobs--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:20 Celeste
4:21
Celeste: 
And then, when it was finished, my agent was able to sell it to the Penguin Press. I was very lucky, in short.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:21 Celeste
4:21
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
Were those early novels also explorations of things which scared you?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:21 Lucy
 
Celeste: 
Lucy, they weren't--they were more fantasy/wish fulfillment, like "What if I lived in Colonial America?" (which I thought was a cool time period, at 13). That's one of many reasons they didn't work, I think. :)
  Celeste
4:23
[Comment From A First Flights MemberA First Flights Member: ] 
I found these charachters staying with me and that I was thinking about them long after I had closed the book. Have they stayed with you?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:23 A First Flights Member
 
Celeste: 
Thank you--what a kind thing to say! I'm so glad to hear that. They *have* stayed with me; it's hard to spend 6 years with anyone and not have them work their way into your brain on some level.
  Celeste
Celeste: 
I do miss them, now that the book is done.
  Celeste
4:23
[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ] 
I experienced a very palpable sense of sadness reading this novel. The lost dreams and potential--and the issues of abandonment, alienation, and otherness--really got to me. There's a lot in this story for readers to relate to.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:23 Catherine
 
Celeste: 
Thank you, Catherine (or perhaps I should say, I'm sorry). One of the things I hope the book will do is get readers thinking about otherness, and alienation, and what it's like to be an outsider in some way.
  Celeste
4:24
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I agree, Catherine. I was very moved by another telling detail; the quotes Marilyn had marked in her mother's cookbook and what it said about her. Where did THAT come from, Celeste?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:24 Nora - EarlyWord
4:25
Celeste: 
The cookbook itself is based on my mother's own Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1960s-- which actually had all of that commentary in its recipes. I didn't make those up.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:25 Celeste
4:25
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I wondered if you had made them up, but we have proof that you didn't...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:25 Nora - EarlyWord
4:26
Celeste: 
I saw them one day while idly flipping through the cookbook, and they just stuck with me. Eventually they found their way into the novel.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 Celeste
4:26
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 
4:26
Nora - EarlyWord: 
That word "behooves" just kills me!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 Nora - EarlyWord
4:26
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's the one about preserves...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 Nora - EarlyWord
4:26
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 
4:27
Celeste: 
Those quotes really startled me. And they were all throughout the cookbook--which came out in 1968, by the way. (I backdated it for the novel, so that Marilyn's mother could have it.)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27 Celeste
4:27
Nora - EarlyWord: 
And here's the cover of the book -- some of you may still have it in your libraries!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27 Nora - EarlyWord
4:27
Celeste: 
We tend to think that the era when women were expected to just cook and sew for their families was long ago--but it wasn't actually that long ago. Just a generation or two ago... It's so easy to forget that.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27 Celeste
4:27
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27 
4:28
Celeste: 
It's strange to say, I actually adore that cookbook. It represents a lot of things that bother me deeply, but at the same time, it belongs to my mother's. It's a complicated object with a complicated personal history.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Celeste
4:28
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Amazing that it came out in 1968 -- that summer students were getting their heads beat in for protesting the war in Chicago -- such disparate strains in the culture at the time!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Nora - EarlyWord
4:28
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
I have a copy of this edition in my kitchen and still use it :-)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Lucy
 
Celeste: 
My mom still uses hers! In fact she won't let me have it because she still uses it as a reference.
  Celeste
4:28
[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ] 
I had one of those Betty Crocker cookbooks and thought it was the bible--it was a required textbook for a home economics class I took in high school!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Catherine
4:29
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I was wondering about the use of the term "Oriental" in your book. It's a fraught term, but of that time. Did you feel strange using it?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Nora - EarlyWord
4:29
[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ] 
I still use my Betty Crocker book. It doesn't have quotes in in , but I did find a four-leaf clover. Perhaps I was hoping it would bring me good luck since my mother really never taught me to cook.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Andrea
 
Celeste: 
Andrea, I love that story.
  Celeste
4:29
Celeste: 
I did feel strange using the term "Oriental." It's a complicated term, as you point out, and not one I use myself...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Celeste
4:29
Celeste: 
But it would have been inaccurate to use the term "Asian," as we might today.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Celeste
4:29
Celeste: 
And in many ways I also wanted to startle the reader, to jolt them by using a term we don't see much now, as a way of asking them to think about its usage and its implications.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Celeste
4:30
Nora - EarlyWord: 
That also makes me wonder why you chose this particular time period. You're too young to have known it personally.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:30 Nora - EarlyWord
4:31
Celeste: 
Yes, I grew up in the 1980s--so I was *just* after this time period. But my family lived through it, and my childhood was really colored by that experience.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:31 Celeste
4:31
Celeste: 
It was the right time period to explore some of the issues I saw this family grappling with--race and ethnicity, being in a "mixed" marriage, women's roles and opportunities.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:31 Celeste
4:31
Celeste: 
And I was surprised, in writing the novel, how much of the '70s in particular had carried into my childhood: we had rotary phones, record players, all of that. Maybe my family was a throwback? It didn't feel foreign to me.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:31 Celeste
4:33
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I wonder if some people identify with their parents' time periods more than with their own?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:33 Nora - EarlyWord
4:34
What time period do you feel shaped you?
The one I grew up in
 ( 33% )
My parents' time period
 ( 0% )
Both
 ( 50% )
None; I am my own person
 ( 17% )

Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34 
4:34
[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ] 
First lines are critically important to engage the reader. Did you always have the first line or did it come to you later in the writing process?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34 Andrea
 
Celeste: 
The first line came in the last draft, actually!
  Celeste
Celeste: 
The original first line was "At first they don't know where Lydia has gone."
  Celeste
Celeste: 
But in the last draft, I wanted it to be more decisive, and to not withhold information from the reader.
  Celeste
Celeste: 
Funnily enough, though, I recently looked back at my very first notes--and I found that when I started writing the proto-draft, I'd started it with "Lydia dies: that's the first thing" and then scrapped it. So the opening kind of came full circle.
  Celeste
4:34
Celeste: 
There's an interesting theory about immigrant families--that in many ways the children sort of get stuck half in the current time and half in the older generation's time period.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34 Celeste
4:34
Celeste: 
I don't know if that's true, but it's interesting to think about.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34 Celeste
4:37
Nora - EarlyWord: 
"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet." IS much more effective and let's the reader in on what happened. Were you afraid to show your hand so early?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:37 Nora - EarlyWord
4:37
Celeste: 
Yes, I was really afraid of "giving too much away" in the early drafts.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:37 Celeste
4:38
Celeste: 
But in the later drafts I realized that the real story is not "Where is Lydia?" but "How did this come to happen?"
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:38 Celeste
4:39
Celeste: 
In the new draft, you know several important things by the end of the first chapter--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:39 Celeste
4:39
Celeste: 
That Lydia is dead (and where she is), and that Marilyn had also gone missing years before.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:39 Celeste
4:40
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Speaking of Marilyn, I wonder what readers think of that event. Here's another poll.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:40 Nora - EarlyWord
4:40
What did you think of Marilyn leaving?
Surprised by her ambition
 ( 0% )
Understood why
 ( 67% )
Revealed her disconnection
 ( 33% )
Sorry she had to return
 ( 0% )

Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:40 
4:40
[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ] 
I love the first two sentences. It just mde me want to find out the whys, how and whos. It certainly didn't give too much away for me
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:40 Andrea
 
Celeste: 
Thank you, Andrea! That's great to hear.
  Celeste
4:41
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I agree with Andrea; the mystery was how it happened and not so much what happened.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:41 Nora - EarlyWord
4:41
Nora - EarlyWord: 
According to our poll, more people feel their lives were shaped by both their own time period and their parents'. I feel this is true for me, too.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:41 Nora - EarlyWord
4:41
Nora - EarlyWord: 
It seems like James’s wish for his children to have friends is a good counter to their mother’s demand for popularity. Yet, interestingly, you show how heavily each can weigh.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:41 Nora - EarlyWord
4:42
Celeste: 
Yes, I think the real burden is not the particular expectation, but the pressure such a loaded expectation carries with it.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:42 Celeste
4:42
Celeste: 
It's so hard to disappoint your parents. I wonder how many things people do to try and avoid that.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:42 Celeste
4:43
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Why did you choose the daughter, rather than the son, to bear the burden of the mother’s career expectations?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Nora - EarlyWord
4:43
Celeste: 
Marilyn’s expectations are so closely tied up with gender--it made more sense to me that she’d look to Lydia to fulfill those dreams.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Celeste
4:43
[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ] 
I think we all try to please, esppecially our parents. Who wants the burden of that disappointment?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Andrea
4:43
Celeste: 
It wouldn’t have been as revolutionary, or as difficult, for Nath to become a doctor, nor would it have meant as much to Marilyn, I think.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Celeste
4:44
[Comment From Sue DSue D: ] 
Are you planning on touring with your book? If so, where? and are you coming to the Midwest? Say St. Louis??
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:44 Sue D
 
Celeste: 
Sue, I am! I'm working out the tour with my publisher now.
  Celeste
4:45
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Do I get the feeling you're in St. Louis, Sue?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Nora - EarlyWord
4:45
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Are there other ways for librarians to reach you?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Nora - EarlyWord
4:45
[Comment From Sue DSue D: ] 
Yup
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Sue D
4:45
Celeste: 
Currently I have events planned in Boston, NYC, Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, and Ann Arbor--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Celeste
4:46
Celeste: 
but I'll be working to arrange more. St. Louis would be lovely!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste
4:46
Celeste: 
Right now, you can contact me (or my publicist) directly through my website: celesteng.com.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste
4:46
[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ] 
Where in Houston? I'm there.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Andrea
 
Celeste: 
Andrea, I'll be at Brazos Bookstore!
  Celeste
Celeste: 
It would be lovely to meet you--if you come to the reading, be sure to say hi!
  Celeste
Celeste: 
Oh, the date would probably help. It's tentatively scheduled for July 17, time TBA.
  Celeste
4:46
Celeste: 
There will be a page for book clubs up there soon, with a book club kit that Penguin is designing (we're actually putting it together right now!).
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste
4:46
Celeste: 
And I'll be available to visit book clubs as well, in person locally or via Skype.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste
4:47
Celeste: 
Oh, and all of my events are also listed on my website. (Or will be when I get the details!)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:47 Celeste
4:47
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We're nearing the end of our chat -- just a few more minutes to get your questions in.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:47 Nora - EarlyWord
4:49
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
Oh, will let our book discussion leaders know about the forthcoming book club kit!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:49 Lucy
 
Celeste: 
Lucy, thank you! Please do! It'll have some goodies in there--a playlist, some articles, likely a vintage recipe, and more.
  Celeste
4:49
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Right; I feel this book has rich discussion material for book clubs.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:49 Nora - EarlyWord
4:50
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Speaking of the characters living with you -- I keep wondering how Hannah and Nath grow up. What about you, Celeste? Do you see them as being able to escape the weight of their parents expectations?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:50 Nora - EarlyWord
4:50
Celeste: 
I hope so! I hope that this experience will make their parents more aware of the demands they make on their children...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:50 Celeste
4:51
Celeste: 
..and make Nath and Hannah more understanding and tolerant of their parents, as well.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:51 Celeste
4:51
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
Plenty of 'issues' to talk about along with the cookbook tie in - book club heaven! :)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:51 Lucy
 
Nora - EarlyWord: 
What a thought! Everyone could learn to cook eggs "husband style"!
  Nora - EarlyWord
4:51
Celeste: 
I tend to think the only way to survive a family tragedy is to grow closer together.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:51 Celeste
4:52
Celeste: 
And I love all of these characters--so that's what I hope will happen for them.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:52 Celeste
4:53
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I am very curious about the character of Jack. I saw the surprise about him coming in a way, but was still surprised. How did you come up with him?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:53 Nora - EarlyWord
4:53
Celeste: 
He was there from the beginning. In the early draft, this neighbor kid kept showing up--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:53 Celeste
4:54
Celeste: 
--and at a certain point I realized how he fit into their story.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:54 Celeste
4:54
Celeste: 
Jack is actually one of my favorite characters in the book. Am I allowed to say that?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:54 Celeste
4:55
Celeste: 
I feel like I just picked a favorite child.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:55 Celeste
4:55
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Ha! I don't think it's like kids -- I think you CAN have a favorite!

Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:55 Nora - EarlyWord
4:56
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I hear that so often from writers -- that characters "show up" and demand to be in the book. Is it supernatural?
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:56 Nora - EarlyWord
4:56
Celeste: 
For me, it's probably more "subconscious" than "supernatural"--
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:56 Celeste
4:57
Celeste: 
In a lot of ways, writing is kind of an act of faith.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Celeste
4:57
Celeste: 
Your brain puts all these things together and you have to trust that they do, in fact, all fit together somehow.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Celeste
4:57
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We are ending in a just a few minutes. Had to get in this comment from Lucy, envisioning the book club...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Nora - EarlyWord
4:57
Celeste: 
Or that the character who just keeps showing up and insisting he belongs actually has a role to play.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Celeste
4:57
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
I can hear the members discussing which style of eggs their husbands prefer ... :-)
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Lucy
 
Celeste: 
Ha! I love it.
  Celeste
4:58
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We do have to end now. Thanks so much Celeste, for your thoughtful answers.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:58 Nora - EarlyWord
4:58
Celeste: 
Thank you so much, Nora! And thank you to all for chatting!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:58 Celeste
4:59
[Comment From LucyLucy: ] 
"... an act of faith." Your own 'commitment' to the story ...
Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:59 Lucy
 
Celeste: 
Lucy, exactly.
  Celeste
5:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
And thanks to all of you out there for joining us and for your great questions.

This Chat will be archived here on the site.

If you enjoy this program, be sure to tell your friends and colleagues that they can sign up here.

And, watch for the ARC of the next title in the program, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 5:00 Nora - EarlyWord
5:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Bye everyone!
Wednesday March 26, 2014 5:00 Nora - EarlyWord
 
 

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