The Daughters Take the Stage

Q: Which daughter do you relate to the most and why?

A: I relate to all of the Daughters--really, I swear!  All of them have a quality that I know something about and that is very close to me. Asking me which one I relate to the most is like asking me to pick a favorite girl, and I love all of them.

Q: Do you listen to music while writing The Daughters? Any CD or band that you are most partial to?

A: Most of the time I don't listen to music when I write.  I need to hear the characters' voices in my head.  But as I'm writing, a scene will sometimes make me think of a certain song, and sometimes I'll actually work the song into the scene if it makes sense.  Like when Todd puts on "Detlef Schrempf" by Band of Horses for Lizzie--that song was running through my head as I wrote that scene so I thought, why not have Todd put it on in his room?

Q: As far as my favorite band or album, I have so many that I love.  Once I fall in love with a band or an album, I'm in love for life.  Like with Back to Black by Amy Winehouse.  I listened to it almost every day in 2007, but the other day I put it on and was singing to it at the top of my lungs!

A: The Daughters books include a lot of fun and fascinating details about life in New York City. What is your favorite thing about New York City?

New York demands your full participation.  You can't zone out in New York.  You can't roll up the windows and not notice where you are.  There's simply just too much to see and hear and witness.  Which is amazing for a writer. New York is a writer's dream because there are so many details to notice.   And good writing is always about the details.

Q: In The Daughters Join the Party, we meet a new daughter! What inspired you to tell Emma Conway's story?

A: I wanted to write about a girl who was a little more of a rebel than Lizzie, Carina and Hudson are.  And I wanted the stakes to be higher.  If you're the daughter of someone running for President, then you really do have to conform to a certain image.  It could make or break your parents' chances of being elected.

Q: What was your favorite book when you were a teenager?

A: Again, favorites for me are hard. But besides The Great Gatsby, I remember loving Sophie's Choice, Endless Love, J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories, and Interview with the Vampire.

Q: What has been the most unexpected part of watching your characters grow over four books? Did any character change or act in a way that surprised you?

A: Well, without giving too much away, let's just say that something happens in The Daughters Join the Party that I probably wouldn't have predicted when I first began the series.  But that's what happens when you follow characters for that long.  They're always going to end up growing and changing, and surprising you, just like real people.

Q: Do you have any advice for young writers?

A: Read as much as you can, and read everything--any book that looks interesting to you. Pretty soon you'll start to recognize great writing from not-so-good writing.   And keep a journal.  Get used to paying attention to small details, and then put them down on paper.