My dear writer-friend Merrill Feitell, (whose work you should go read!) recently tagged me for The Next Big Thing self-interview series, in which writers answer the same nine questions about their forthcoming books or works-in-progress. I appreciate this early opportunity to muse about my novel, A DUAL INHERITANCE, which will be published May 7th, 2013 and which you can pre-order here. Also I love getting to look into the processes of so many great writers. When the authors I’ve tagged complete and post their interviews, I will be posting their links here, so be sure to check back soon!
1. What is the working title of the book?
A Dual Inheritance
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
This book evolved– more than others I’ve written– from following different threads of my interests/obsessions/anxieties. I’ve always been interested in friendship (male friendship, in particular) in the early 1960’s, in cultural clashes and overlaps and insiders who feel like outsiders.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
Fiction
4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I love casting, so I could spend hours on this one question.The characters in A DUAL INHERITANCE mostly span about 50 years but since I don’t have to worry about that in a hypothetical answer, I’ll just say who comes to mind in an ageless way: Fred Ward or Dustin Hoffman or Sean Penn, Meryl Streep or Robin Wright, Peter Fonda or Alexander Skarsgard. Jemimah Kirke and Natalie Portman.
5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
I’m going to use a line from my recent starred Publishers Weekly review, because I just so appreciated it: An intensely detailed love triangle that is reminiscent of an East Coast elite answer to the Midwestern trio of Freedom.
6. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Three Years
7. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The business trajectory of one of the main characters– Ed Cantowitz– (and also his incredible, odd charisma) is inspired by my father’s best friend. However anything remotely personal in the book is decidedly not inspired by him.
8. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I invented the other half of this male friendship in the book– the character of Hugh Shipley–but fairly early on the writing process, I interviewed a dear friend who attended Radcliffe during (approximately) the same era as the characters in the novel; and when I described my invented Hugh Shipley, I asked her if she found him a believable character and if, perhaps, he even reminded her of anyone she’d known. Yes, she’d responded, enthusiastically, and she not only told me a bit about him, but she arranged for us to meet. It was, excitingly, like meeting a part of my imagination. Also, he was not only extraordinarily generous with his time and insights, but even more fascinating than anything I could have whole-heartedly invented.
9. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
A DUAL INHERITANCE will be published by Ballantine.
Check out Jennifer Cody Epstein’s Next Big Thing
