And yet she decided to do exactly what she f*cking wanted to.
Similar is true in America.
You just returned from a West Coast tour forBeautyland.Whats the most frequent reaction you get from readers?
Its exactly what you asked during your interview with Dakota: What do you make of this extraterrestrial?
How do you feel about labels?
Labels can be helpful and they can be limiting.
Even using the word neurotypical and our understanding wouldve changed regarding depression.
Why did you make that a focus?
Do you find the same is true where you are?
That conversation is quite loud in the UK.
I have the same experience.
Have you ever heard the episode ofThis American LifecalledThree Miles?
I feel like it should be necessary listening for anybody who is interested in class.
But she steps off the bus and sees this privileged school and she has a full-blown panic attack.
She just could not handle seeing what other people had been privileged to experience.
I think about that a lot.
But theres a part of me that thinks running can sometimes be the right thing to do?
Whereas to make great art, I think youve got to try and stay connected to your own perspective.
Yes, thats something I experience as a writer every single day.
It can be a challenge writing from within a terrain that you havent seen represented on the page.
Weve all heard that.
But it was a surprise for me that I was avoiding certain topics.
And when I asked myself,Why wont you write about this?
I cant see how they could be literary.
And when I realized I was doing it to myself, I realized I had to write about them.
And all of those topics are inBeautyland.
What kind of things were you avoiding?
In an early draft, Adina was ethnically ambiguous.
We were shocked because these stories were so brilliant.
But there is fear there.
But that doesnt seem authentic to me.
Its not how I want to show up in the world.
When you talk about awards, in what context do you worry about being overlooked?
It could be anything.
Its like, OK, well, will this be the reason that I am discounted this time?
Should I be more of this or more of that or less of this?
Its an eternal question.
I think that troubles people in all industries imagining what success looks like.
Im sorry to tell you, but it wont be that that makes you happy.
This is why my family left the church we grew up in.
She would still donate, but she just didnt use the envelopes.
Instead, youll sit detention in school.
Go home and tell your mom that.
So I told her, and that was the only time I can remember my mom ever crying.
And then she stopped going to church.
I dont think she should also have to miss her class trip.
I agreed with her, so I took it out.
Gosh, what a horrible experience for your mother.
Has your mother readBeautyland?
My mom has read this book more than any of my other books.
She read it in draft.
She helped me in revision.
Every time a new review comes out, I think she reads it again.
One of the greatest joys of everything thats happening withBeautylandis that were doing this together in a new way.
Tell me about the experience with the TeaTime Book Club.
Theyve been really lovely and really supportive.
Do you always respond to reader questions?
If I dont, its because Ive somehow missed it.
How do you feel about Goodreads?
I know that authors have a lot of mixed feelings about it.
I dont read Goodreads.
I dont read Amazon.
I dont read reviews.
Is there a reason for that?
And I give a shot to avoid things that will not help my writing.
So I am just really careful with that stuff.
