‘Writing the novel was a private getaway’

Norma Allen asks Laverne is interesting. Is she based on someone you knew?

Joan Clark replies Like all my fictional characters, Laverne is a composite of many people I have known, some of whom I worked with the year I taught French and biology at Sussex Composite High.

Kendra Marion asks Who was the easiest character to portray and who was the hardest?

Joan Clark replies None of the characters were easy to portray, but Laverne was the most challenging because she

was so private and solitary.

Anita Scott asks Was this story more about what Laverne did, or how people behave and the results that can happen?

Joan Clark replies Both.

Diana Wong asks What made you decide to write about this topic?

Joan Clark replies I wanted to explore the nature of grief.

Teresa Salvatore asks What sage advice would you offer to your children or

grandchildren if they wanted to write?

Joan Clark replies My advice to anyone who wants to write fiction is to keep an ongoing journal and to read and reread the best fiction. I have read Alice Munro’s short stories many times over and am about to reread Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.

James Barnes asks You killed off the only ray of joy in the opening sentence of the novel. Was this a conscious decision or did it just work out that way?

Joan Clark replies For me, much of writing fiction comes from the subconscious, which is why the opening sentence simply appeared one morning.

Kitty Prophet asks You have written outstanding works for all ages — children, young adults and adults. What are some of the challenges you find in switching audiences?

Joan Clark replies The challenges of writing fiction for readers of any age are how to handle point of view, how to manage time and how to create a strong sense of place.

Terra Arnone asks My question is really a request: The Birthday Lunch threads from character to character intricately and I would love to see notes on how it was mapped out.

Joan Clark replies For me, writing fiction is instinctive and experimental, i.e. I write a scene, set it aside and write another. I do this over and

over, learning more and more about the story and its characters as I go along until the novel finds its shape.

Mary Forcier asks Where does your interest in Pieter de Hooch come from? How did you decide which painting Laverne would be so interested in?

Joan Clark replies When I was in Holland promoting the Dutch translation of my novel, Latitudes of Melt, I spent a lot of time in the Riksmuseum where I became fascinated by a 17th century interior painted by Pieter de Hooch. I felt I could walk right into the rooms de Hooch painted. I still feel that way.

Anna Walsh asks How long did it take you to write this book?

Joan Clark replies I spent between three and four years working on The Birthday Lunch. Writing the novel wasn’t a hardship. It was a private getaway, a place to inhabit in my imagination.