Book Divas

Book Divas interviews Jennifer Sturman, author of And Then Everything Unraveled.

I see that you have an MBA from Harvard! How did you end up becoming a writer?

I’ve always loved reading, so there was never a time when I didn’t think I’d eventually be a writer.  I was even beginning to play around with book ideas while I was getting my MBA.  But business can be fascinating, too, and some aspects of it aren’t that different from crafting a good story, whether it’s designing a new product, which is sort of like plotting, or understanding what motivates people, which is sort of like creating characters.

How did you end up choosing to write mysteries? Or did the genre choose you?

Mysteries have been one of my favorite genres practically since I learned to read, starting with Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden and moving on to Elizabeth George and Lawrence Block.  They’re also a good place to start for beginners, as they have a built-in plot structure – with a murder mystery, somebody’s killed, and other people have to figure out who did it.  Even if there’s not a murder, there is a question (or set of questions) to be answered, and the plot unfolds from there.

In And Then Everything Unraveled, do you think that on some level, by getting to know her relatives and sleuthing around, Delia comes to understand her mother better while she is not present? 

Absolutely!  I think it takes most people a while to figure out that their parents are human beings in their own right, with their own histories, and that their personalities and goals and how they see the world more broadly have all been shaped by those histories.  T.K., Delia’s mother, defines herself almost as much by what she doesn’t want as by what she wants, and a lot of that’s a function of how she grew up.  For most of her life, Delia’s only seen the end result – she hasn’t been exposed to what made T.K. the person she is today.  And being plunged into everything T.K. left behind definitely gives Delia fresh perspective.  It almost seems to me, that Delia’s world becomes richer and more vibrant after her mother’s disappearance, despite the very difficult situation of being without a mother and being in a new place.

Does this speak to how unfortunate circumstances can yield fortunate outcomes?

Sadly, somebody living a happy, problem-free life tends to be sort of dull on the pages of a book.  Delia’s life before T.K.’s disappearance was actually pretty good, but it wouldn’t exactly sustain a reader’s interest to the last page.  Creating problems for a character – putting obstacles in her path – makes her story more compelling, and it also requires her to dig inside and find out what she’s made of and what she truly cares about.  I wouldn’t wish unfortunate circumstances on anyone (well, maybe a couple of people), but they do allow a person (or the writer who’s telling that person’s story) to explore the full range of what the character’s all about.  All of which is a long way of saying that yes, unfortunate circumstances can yield fortunate outcomes!

I’m particularly interested in how you worked the very relevant issue of oil dependence into the plot. The theme of environmental activism and awareness runs through the whole book actually. In addition to being a writer, is this something in which you are involved?

I should probably be a lot more involved than I am!  I mean, I recycle and everything, but the environmental aspect came more out of T.K.’s and Delia’s characters than out of me.  T.K.’s a Stanford-trained Internet tycoon, and It’s pretty much impossible to be a part of Palo Alto’s high-tech community without also being highly aware of environmental issues.  I knew this would be a logical place for her to invest her time and energy.
 

When did you first move to New York City? Did you base some of Delia’s first experiences and impressions of the city on your own?

I moved to Manhattan after college, and except for a couple of short breaks, I’ve lived there since, so I definitely end up “borrowing” pieces of my own life for Delia.  It’s also fun to have to think through how the aspects of city life that are no longer new to me – a taxi ride from the airport, for example, or a visit to the theater district or Lower East Side – would seem to someone with much fresher eyes and an entirely different set of experiences and character traits. 

I feel like we’re left a bit dangling at the end. Does this mean that a sequel is in the works?

There’s definitely a sequel!  It’s called And Then I Found Out the Truth, and it will be published in 2010.  

As an experienced writer, do you have any advice for our aspiring writers?

My answer to this question is always a boring one, but I stand by it: write. 

In your opinion, what does it mean to be a Book Diva?

I guess it’s all about the love of books, and not being able to imagine a life that didn’t involve reading, writing, and talking about books.

Finally, what is your favorite 80’s teen movie?

Valley Girl.  Like Delia’s Aunt Charley, I own it on both VHS and DVD.  I also have the soundtrack and might just know every single line of dialogue by heart.

Thank you for this interview!

Thank YOU!