E. Lockhart interview!

Chicklish is delighted to interview E. Lockhart about The Boy Book and Dramarama!

 

First up, The Boy Book (read an extract here). This is the sequel to The Boyfriend List (extract) and contains the further adventures of Ruby Oliver - subtitled "a gazillion lists, three potential boyfriends, several penguins, and me, Ruby Oliver". Our review is here.

   

Hello, E. Lockhart! Have you ever had a job like Roo's in THE BOY BOOK?

Roo works at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, doing a paid internship. She gardens, and gives a lecture about penguins while they're being fed, and answers questions in the kiddie farm area. And no!  I never did anything like that.  But when I go to the zoo, I  always notice the people who give those little penguin lectures (or sea lion lectures, whatever), standing there in their zoo uniforms.  And I wonder what they're thinking about as they watch the crowd. So that's where that key scene comes from in THE BOY BOOK, where Roo is trying to keep her composure, talking about penguins while Jackson....  misbehaves.

   

So... is everything Roo says about penguins true?

Yes, to the best of my knowledge, it is all true about HUMBOLDT penguins, which are a particular kind. 

Oh, are you asking about the penguins who were a gay male couple and adopted a rock? Duh. Yes, that's true, too. Here's an article.

It's also true about the neurotic polar bear.

 

Don't really tell us the answer but... is there a chance that Roo will find love? 

Of course. There is a chance for ALL of us to find love! 

But. Um.

Love in high school isn't usually the end of the story, is it? 

I mean, how many of us are with our high school sweethearts? Or would want to be?

But there IS a third Ruby Oliver novel, and it is tentatively called A REAL LIVE BOYFRIEND. I am supposed to start writing it next week.

 

And now... DRAMARAMA, the story of Sadye at summer drama camp - reviewed by Chicklish here, and read some of the book here. 

Did you feel you had a 'bigness within' when you were growing up? Is any of Dramarama based on your own experiences?

Sadly, the unitard/canvas work/tree acting experiences in Dramarama are all drawn from life. And only the tiniest bit exaggerated!

And YES, about the bigness. It has taken me a long time to figure out how to let my bigness out, when I am not physically so very big and tend to be described as cute. Or moderately cute. But inside, I am ginormous! 

Is one of the themes of Dramarama that everyone's life is full of drama, whether they can succeed on stage or not?

Of COURSE everyone's life is full of drama. We are human! Stuff happens! The things in Sadye's  life might seem very small from the outside - the drama is that it matters to HER, very much. 

I think the central theme of Dramarama is the question of what to do with one's ambition, the search for a path in life - and what to do when the path you thought you were on... might not be your path after all. 

Who would you like to play Sadye in a musical performance of Dramarama? (Out of any stars, past or present?)

Liza Minnelli, age 17. But you didn't really need to ask me, that, did you?  :)

On your website you have an iTunes playlist for Dramarama. Did you write this book to music, and if so, do you always write to music?

Actually, I can only write in total silence. I listened to the Dramarama music after writing, or before -while exercising or grocery shopping or cleaning the house, or whatever. (My glamorous life! ) But when I sit down to write, I need to focus. Music interrupts my train of thought.

 

Thank you so much for talking to us, E. Lockhart, and we really look forward to reading more of your books!