In the chick lit arena, Emily Giffin is a heavyweight.  Bestselling author of 4 books including popular duo Something Borrowed and Something Blue, her fans are eagerly anticipating the release of her fifth, Heart of the Matter, due for release in spring 2010.

Yet despite a full editing schedule, she graciously took the time to field ChickAdvisor's member questions about life and literature.

ChickAdvisor: The ladies on our site are huge fans of your work.  Do you have a Canadian book tour scheduled for the near future?

Emily Giffin: I love going to Canada on my book tour! Would not miss it! Both Baby Proof and Love the One You’re With hit number one in Canada and I will always be grateful to my Canadian readers for that. They are among the most enthusiastic, generous readers anywhere.

CA: Are any of your books autobiographical to some extent?

EG: There are aspects of all my books and protagonists that I borrow from my own life and life experiences. And many of my secondary characters are amalgams of people I know. But (fortunately!) none of my stories are straight autobiographical accounts.

CA: Which of your stories was most difficult to write?

EG: They all have their challenges, but Something Blue was probably the toughest just because of what was going on in my life. I was pregnant with my twin sons, Edward and George, and on bed rest with preterm labor for two months. It was tough to make my deadline reclined in a hospital bed!

CA: You don't seem to show much favoritism with your characters.  Are there any you particularly like or dislike, and with which do you identify?

EG: Believe it or not, I love Darcy. She was undeniably selfish and shallow, but I loved watching her transform in Something Blue. One of the reasons I wanted to write both [Something Borrowed and Something Blue] is that I wanted to show that there are two sides to every story and no relationship is black-and-white…

Overall, I think I’m probably more like Rachel, but I think I have a little bit of both women in me. To write convincingly, I think you must be able to relate, in some way, to what a character is feeling and going through. Like Rachel in Borrowed, I was a lawyer who was unhappy in the big firm culture. Rachel was generally a rule follower and risk averse until the summer after her thirtieth birthday, and upon turning thirty, I, too, reevaluated my life and decided to make a major change. I quit my legal career, moved to London and began writing full time. As for Darcy in Blue, she and I both moved to London at a crossroads in our life, and we both have identical twin sons (the scene with her doctor in London at her first ultrasound was the most autobiographical scene in any of my books). And like both women (and most women everywhere) I know what it’s like to have a complicated female friendship.


CA: When or how did you decide the Something Borrowed, Something Blue story should be written as companion novels?

EG: I didn’t plan to write a sequel at the outset. In early drafts of Borrowed, I thought often about what Darcy would say if she could hear Rachel’s thoughts. How would she defend herself? How would she view events differently? And yet, I never really considered writing the sequel until the completion of Borrowed when I spent some time fine-tuning Darcy. To your point, she was undeniably self-centered, superficial and self-indulgent in my first book, but I never viewed her as evil. I wanted to be sure that she was not coming across as a flat character devoid of any depth or warmth. After all, Dex spent seven years with her and Rachel put up with her for much longer. To make that part of the story realistic, I thought it necessary to soften some of her edges, and so I added in a few scenes to show her good-hearted side. In so doing, I became much more interested in Darcy as a person—which was the genesis for my sequel.

CA: In Baby Proof, you suggest that a person could put aside their deepest desire to save their relationship.  Do you personally believe this to be true?

EG: This is a difficult question and really at the heart of what Baby Proof is all about. What will we do for true love? Will be make any sacrifices for our soul mates; or, do we, by definition, want the same things as our soul mates? More specifically, I really wanted to consider the question of whether there is ever a deal-breaker when it comes to love. Couples can compromise on a lot of major life issues, but having a child might be the only all-or-nothing proposition. So I thought the baby issue was the perfect way to explore the theme of whether true love really can conquer all.

CA: In the book, you explored one woman’s decision not to have children. Do you think that, at a time when women are just as invested as men in their careers, a woman's decision not to have children is more common and/or more accepted? Or, is the stigma that a woman "should" follow a maternal instinct (one she "naturally" should have) as persistent as it's always been?

EG: Yes. I think that societal pressure is as persistent and pervasive as ever. In many ways, I think it remains the last great stigma against women. I think society makes assumptions that a woman without a child couldn’t have one, rather than didn’t want one (which is why the term “childless” is much more common than “childfree”). If we learn that a woman is childless by choice, we instinctively make judgments about her—and view her as either cold or overly consumed by her career. There’s just something about motherhood that’s exalted about all else, and the result is that women who choose not to have them are marginalized. Consider the “mommy wars” that we’re seeing in the media now. The debate is always couched in terms of women who “do it all” by balancing motherhood and a career versus women who stay at home as full-time mothers. Women who don’t want children aren’t even being discussed. And after writing this book, I know there are plenty of such women out there. I have received so many emails from women eager to share their own stories, and tell me how glad they are that I wrote this book.

CA: Who is your favorite author?  Your favorite book?

EG: Favorite author is Alice Munro. Favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird.

CA: When did you realize you wanted to write full-time?

EG: I always knew I wanted to be a writer, since as far back as I can remember. However, I went to law school and practiced law for five years at a large Manhattan firm before I made the official leap, moving to London to write my first novel. At the time it felt like a huge risk, but now I consider it the best decision I ever made. I think, in life, it is important to always reassess where we are and be willing to throw off the bowlines, take a chance, do what you love and really go for it.

CA: What are some of the challenges you faced while switching careers?

EG: My parents were worried about me leaving the safety net of a lucrative career at a law firm. Assuaging their concerns was a lot of work. I worried that I would have to return, disappointed and defeated, to my firm and face all the naysayers.

CA: Who inspires you to keep writing?

EG: My mother. A former librarian, she taught me to love books, encouraged me to follow my dreams to become a writer, and is my biggest supporter. We talk about books, reading and writing nearly every day

CA: What is the most important advice you would give a budding novelist?

EG: Do what you love, don’t let rejection discourage you, and have a thick skin. Also, read as much as possible.

CA: What's next for you?

EG: I am finishing my fifth novel, Heart of the Matter. It’s due to my editor on July 1st. Crunch-time! After that, I will continue to write for as long as I can. I also just read a first draft of the screenplay for Something Borrowed. I am thrilled to tell you that I loved it. Very witty and heartwarming. Can’t wait to see it on the big screen.

EmilyGiffin.com




We're thrilled to feature the newly-released-in-paperback Love The One You're With as our latest Book Club pick!  30 lucky Club members will receive a free autographed copy from Emily and discussions will begin soon.  Stay tuned...