More than you ever wanted to hear from Bestselling Author Jenny Crusie.
Sep12010
Jen Weiner has a fabulous blog–you must read her take on the Literary Establishment and the slavish love they’re showing Oprah-dissing Jonathan Franzen–and she’s been kind enough to review Maybe This Time, too. You should go look.
Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of twenty-one novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives on the Ohio River where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.
Loading ...
67 Comments to 'A Moment of Jen'
On September 1, 2010 at 4:06 pm Allie said...
In The Corrections, Franzen said you could buy porno mags at Wawa (a convenience store/deli chain). I put down the book and never went back to it. It was such a glaring error that could’ve been corrected by having any random person walk into one of the its many, many, many locations in something like 5 or 6 states now. It bothered me because I felt like Franzen was saying “Look, I put in something local so it’s more authentic!” so the error came off as totally pretentious. Ugh, it still bugs me to this day.
…You’re welcome for this highly pointless comment.
On September 1, 2010 at 4:23 pm Allie said...
Er, I just realized that I forgot to make my point: the error wouldn’t have been a dealbreaker for me if I hadn’t already felt like I was reading a Serious Book by a Serious White Male Author. I DO think it’s bs that women write “women’s fiction” and that when men like Nick Hornby do it they get praised to the rafters, but at least Hornby doesn’t put on that air of upper-middle class pretension.
Wawa, by the way, is a great workplace for single mothers who need flexibility in their schedules.
On September 1, 2010 at 7:00 pm Sam said...
Wawa is a great place. I love Wawa. I worked at the HQ as an intern, my dad works at the HQ, and my sister works at a store.
I agree with your comment totally.
On September 1, 2010 at 4:11 pm Eve said...
OMG I just realized something – the Jennifers are taking over the world?! 3 in one post? And we thought the V’s were gonna be a problem…
On September 1, 2010 at 7:17 pm Jennifer said...
Go, Jennifers!
On September 9, 2010 at 3:33 pm followingtheroad said...
Yay for Jennifers! We’re (very slowly) taking over the world…
On September 1, 2010 at 4:30 pm Kiersten said...
This was a GREAT interview! I read it last night and bookmarked it so I could write down a few pearls of your wisdom. (cough brownosing cough). I’ve been keeping up with Jen W.’s great comments and thoughts on the whole Franzen thing for a week or so now and she’s got a lot of insightful, interesting things to say.
BTW: Borders in Rockaway didn’t get delivery of MAYBE THIS TIME yet. Clerk said that they had a few new releases that didn’t/hadn’t arrive/d. Couldn’t raise the Ramsey store yet, so I am still bereft of the book – and with no new excerpts this week either! I am frustrated and sadly still Crusie-less but I journey on. Good times ahead!
On September 2, 2010 at 5:20 am colognegrrl said...
Well Amazon Germany won’t deliver before mid-September, if it’s any consolation.
On September 2, 2010 at 10:31 am colognegrrl said...
I’ve got to correct that. Just got the information that I might have it by Saturday. Now I regret having made appointments for the weekend.
On September 1, 2010 at 4:57 pm Lola said...
Great, funny interview.
On September 1, 2010 at 5:56 pm Eve said...
Wow, just read the interview – fascinating and frank. I’m very sorry you had to go through cancer and its consequential treatment. I don’t about the other readers but I’m assuming for the most part, none of had any idea.
Darn, I really liked you before now I can’t stop myself but consider you an inspirational rolemodel.
Crusie – making the world a better place one reader at a time.
On September 1, 2010 at 6:37 pm Jenny said...
The cancer was thirty years ago, it was a good solid wake-up call, and I had excellent excellent care because at the time I had excellent excellent health insurance. And I got lucky. It’s no credit to me whatsoever, but I do thank you for the kind thoughts.
On September 1, 2010 at 5:58 pm Eve said...
P.S. One thing from the interview stuck with me. What makes your books most memorable and with legions of loyal fans – those “heroines share the same value system”. Could you perhaps do a post on what those values are and how you feel or why they’re especially applicable in today’s world? Thanks very much for considering my suggestion
On September 1, 2010 at 6:42 pm Jenny said...
Oh, I don’t think their values are especially applicable, I think everybody determines her own value system. I just think that they all share the same value system because I write them, not because it’s a particularly good system. For example, they all seem to be fixers; when the hammer comes down they cowboy up. That can be good or bad. And they’re all independent to an extreme, also good or bad. Most of them are very hard for other people to get close to, their defenses are way up. I do think they try to play fair even if they don’t always manage it. The heroine I’m writing now, Liz, never lies. It’s not because she’s so good, it’s her FU to the world: You don’t matter enough to me for me to lie to you, I don’t give a damn what you think. That’s good and bad, too.
On September 1, 2010 at 6:52 pm Eve said...
thank you so much. This is excellent writing advice. My personal biggest hurdle is understanding the character so that I can write them. Real people I can sort of figure out before knowing them too well but these abstract “imaginary” individuals are tricky.
Do you then consider the value system anything that drives the character? General personality?
Again, thank you truly. There are too many days I contemplate on picking up a “quirky” habit like aggression or alcoholism and then I pick up any book of yours instead and feel better. Thank God for excellent insurance is all I’m saying.
On September 1, 2010 at 7:27 pm Jenny said...
I think the value system shows up with the character. There are some things your character simply will not/cannot do. That’s not the same as something she’d be extremely unhappy to do; there are things she really can’t do, things that her brain recoils so strongly at the thought of that her body shudders. And I think you find out those things as you write the characters, as they go in different directions than you’d intended, refuse to do things you need them to do. If you remember that characters aren’t what they say or what they thing but what they do, the actions they do, you have a good insight into their value systems.
On September 1, 2010 at 9:32 pm Eve said...
thanks you again so much! You’d make an amazing professor.
On September 1, 2010 at 6:53 pm Eve said...
P.S. Can’t wait to read Liz! She sounds awesome
On September 1, 2010 at 7:18 pm AB said...
I really enjoyed that interview, and was particularly happy to read about your plans for what to write down the line- the Alice/Nadine project sounds really interesting (though I’m aware it’ll still be a few years before you get there!) But yay for more Nadine, I’m curious about who she grew up to be.
I was actually wondering a few weeks ago if you were still planning on writing the book about the mystery author you originally concieved the Liz Danger books as being written by?
On September 1, 2010 at 7:31 pm Jenny said...
That’s Rosie Malone, from Claire and Rosie. It’s a collab, and right now I’m hip deep in the Liz books and my collaborator (who prefers to remain anonymous) is hip deep in her book, but we have a good start on it. We are very, very, very different writers, so trying to put the two characters together is trickier, but I love what we have and she’s a genius so I’m still excited about it. We’re keeping it a Fun Book (no contract) so there’s no pressure on it. Or us.
On September 1, 2010 at 7:33 pm Jennifer said...
I already love Liz. I noticed that the Lavender’s Blue audiobook is already available for pre-order on Amazon. I was checking because I was wondering how far apart the books would be released, seeing as how they are all scheduled for summer 2011.
AB, you should check out the page for upcoming books on the website. It’s been updated, with lovely summaries for the Alice and Nadine books.
Off to read Maybe This Time one last time before bed. Tomorrow, back to my normal, insanely busy life. This has been a lovely couple of days. Thank you, Jenny!!
On September 1, 2010 at 7:35 pm Jenny said...
You’re welcome, Jennifer.
That’s some serious pre-order optimism on Lavender. I haven’t even finished writing it yet.
On September 2, 2010 at 5:24 am colognegrrl said...
Somebody at St. Martin’s probably counts on your personal value of “I finish what I start”.
On September 1, 2010 at 10:18 pm AB said...
Oh, thanks for that!
On September 1, 2010 at 7:43 pm bernie said...
First, great review by Jen and enjoyed the interview and nuggets on futre projects ( Go Alice and Nadine!)
Second, loved what you said about fiction vs. literature. So tired of people that want you to feel stupid for reading fun fiction instead of “serious” books. Jude Deveraux writes a funny rant in two of her books where her main characters our writers, “Remembrance” and “Wild Orchids” … and an aside have to say Wild Orchids had one the most subtle creepy devils and really creepy ending so that I can’t finish that book at night.
Third, Amazon still has not delivered Maybe This Time!!! So if it is not here by Friday, I am buying another copy besides the pre-order. I can give that one to my mom, when it finally arrives through the agonizingly slow snail mail, who wants to come with me to your Naperville, IL book appearance. Yippee!
On September 1, 2010 at 7:53 pm GB said...
Is Stealing Nadine 6th on your to write list?
On September 1, 2010 at 8:32 pm Jenny said...
I don’t actually have a list. I’m not that organized. But I’d be writing the Alice and Nadine books together, and they’ll probably come after the Liz books although not necessarily . . .
I don’t know.
On September 1, 2010 at 8:21 pm Chris said...
Great and informative interview with Jen. I have a questions though (I know imagine that) but seeing that you are an establish author (not sure if term is correct) and great author do you still need contracts in order to publish the new books/ideas that you have? Also excited about the Nadine/Alice thought and Fairy Tales Lies. I know I will be patience for them……
On September 1, 2010 at 8:34 pm Jenny said...
I need a contract if I want to publish with a publishing house like St. Martins.
If I want to publish it myself on the net, nope, I’d just go to Lulu.com.
On September 1, 2010 at 8:36 pm Gretchen Galway said...
quote:
“There’s the real world full of a multitude of readers with a multiplicity of reading tastes, and it’s thriving and alive and interacting on the net, changing and growing and exciting because of its fluidity and passion, and then there’s the New York Times Book Review which is born ceaselessly back into the past by the literary version of the Tea Party who keep moaning that they want their America back, oblivious to the fact that their exclusive white, male America died with Gatsby.”
I’ve lurked here for a long time, pawed you at RWA, began writing romance because of you, but have never been compelled to post here until this quote. It captures what I loved about RWA when I went the first time–how damn SMART the women are in this community. It is a secret to the outside world, and one I try to share with my friends, but they’ve been brainwashed by Ivys and Stanford and even Oberlin to sneer and scoff at the best shit out there.
I may live in California now, but I too am a proud Midwestern woman with lots of knits and no patience for ignorant snots–what my Indiana stepmom calls “igs.” (She also, unfortunately, calls great reads “trash”, but she loves them and shares them with her friends.)
So, rock on! Thanks for being articulate and feisty.
Fading back into adoring silence. . .
On September 1, 2010 at 9:59 pm Jenny said...
No, no, stay out of lurk, we need you!
And thank you for the pawing and everything.
On September 1, 2010 at 10:26 pm Duncan said...
I liked what you said about fiction and literature too. It makes me think of what Edmund White said about the canon — that’s it is for people who don’t really like to read. “They want to know the absolute minimum list of classics so they can read them and be done with reading. Whereas people who really love to read, like me or like you, are always asking friends if they’ve read anything good recently, always trying to expand our list of books, open ourselves to new talent. I spend a lot of time each year reviewing books, so I can come across a lot of new writers — straight and gay — and I love finding out what other people are doing and thinking.” Though I’d say that I don’t have to ask people for interesting books — interesting books keep following me home until I keep them.
I also liked your remarks about the rear-guard battles of the White Guys of Literary Fiction. I read literary fiction as well as “fun” fiction too — Gerbrand Bakker’s The Twin was very impressive — but then not all literary fiction is by white guys either. There’s a constant pruning operation going on, to “forget” the women, the people of color, the gays.
I’m surprised I haven’t gotten a call from the bookstore to tell me that Maybe This Time has arrived. I hope it gets here soon, because I just started reading a very Serious, Well-Reviewed Memoir by an Elderly Boy Writer (albeit a Gay one), and I don’t think I can stand to finish it. He knows he’s Serious too, and he seems to me to be making very mistake in the book (especially overusing adjectives). So I need to get Maybe This Time, soon.
On September 1, 2010 at 10:54 pm Jenny said...
Love the Wilson quote, Duncan. One of my friends in the MFA program actually said, “I write for the canon.” I really liked her, too, so I chalked it up to youth. I do think the net changes everything. That and e-readers where you’re downloading books you want to read instead of books to carry around and impress people. One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons is one little girl saying to the other, “He keeps the latest Sendak on the coffee table, but he never reads it.”
On September 2, 2010 at 12:05 am Katrina G said...
Still waiting for the book to reach Ontario. Sigh.
On September 2, 2010 at 2:33 am Meredith B. said...
I would like to respectfully point out to Mr. Franzen that I have sold infinitely more copies of Anna Karenina, and the books of William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to Oprah viewers in the last six years than I have to any other group of people, including high school and college students combined. I take my hat off to the members of Oprah’s book club.
On September 2, 2010 at 3:55 am Micki said...
Super interview! I loved the laughs (vampires in the back of the room . . . or unicorns with serious snark?), and the substance is going to take me back there.
I’m so excited about the Liz Danger books, because it’ll be fun to see you have a lot of SPACE to do a romance — four books will give you lots of room to stretch, and I can’t wait to see what happens there.
Can’t wait for Maybe This Time, too, but it’s still en route . . . . Soon, soon.
On September 2, 2010 at 5:42 am Jenny said...
It’s really interesting arcing the romance over four books, especially since they’re both commitment phobic.
It’s the damn mysteries that are making me nuts.
On September 3, 2010 at 9:44 am Micki said...
I don’t have the kind of brain to construct a mystery, and to tell the truth, I don’t like the genre very much — a fantasy of justice. Some of ‘em just bludgeon you over the head with People are Rotten, and Crime Does Not Pay.
The mysteries I *do* like are often genre-bending, and have great characters. Brother Cadfael. The ones by Susan A(???) Witt(??) with all the great herbal information. I really liked Agatha Christie, although I would be hard-pressed to tell you a single plot or character. I do know I wouldn’t mind reading her again.
On September 2, 2010 at 3:56 am Moth said...
Is You Again permanently on the backburner unless a miracle of inspiration strikes?
On September 2, 2010 at 5:43 am Jenny said...
I keep thinking about it. I do think I’ll finish it one day because it’s still hanging around my brain, but first there are these other things . . .
On September 2, 2010 at 11:48 am McB said...
I loved the interview, and I loved the article, as well. I’ve often thought that if my only exposure to books had been the required reading list at school, instead of the tons of mixed-genre paperbacks I grew up surrounded by, I might have become one of those people who don’t read. There was some good stuff in there, but there was a lot of sloggy, dry stuff, too.
I like the idea that there are things you just can’t make your character do. I like the way you talk about them, as if they are just as real inside your head as they are for us on the page. …
… and I’ve just deleted a long, rambling paragraph about fiction v literature and what the best of both have in common (characters that come alive) and then I realized that I haven’t had nearly enough caffeine yet and it probably made sense only in my head.
Anyway, I wanted to say thanks once again for once upon a time deciding to write a book. Because there aren’t nearly enough really good reads out there and the world be a sadder place without Crusie heroines.
On September 2, 2010 at 2:59 pm Jenny said...
Thank you, McB. Argh would be a sadder place without you, babe.
On September 2, 2010 at 8:05 pm McB said...
*blush*. Thank you.
On September 2, 2010 at 12:02 pm Lola said...
Going to get my book today.
On September 2, 2010 at 12:03 pm Lola said...
Your book. But in my grubby hands!
On September 2, 2010 at 1:54 pm Betty Fokker said...
The interview was great! I can’t wait to meet you in person! Which is only a week away … *cue ominous music and sounds of a fleeing author*
I’ll be wearing a crown, so you’ll know it’s me. Just in case I was too subtle in person.
On September 2, 2010 at 1:57 pm K.L. said...
My copy arrived in the mail an actual day before official release, but I’m trying to hold off at least until the weekend. Its taunting me with its beautiful cover and snarky attitude. I know if I start, I will stay up too late, and I really do have to work during the day. I have no willpower to just.put.the.book.down.and.go.to.bed.already. sigh
On September 2, 2010 at 2:27 pm Kira said...
I just re-read Northanger Abbey, and Jane Austen has a whole long rant about how writers of “novels” (read: “trashy novels”, read: “chick lit”) have their own heroines read “serious fiction”, and how wrong that is – they should at least support each other! So her heroine is reading “Udolpho”. That was just so funny, so current.
In other words – not a new argument. And lo and behold Jane Austen herself is now “canon”.
Crusie will be, too.
(But they’ll have to do something about those sex scenes so they can put it in the curriculum)
On September 2, 2010 at 4:37 pm Betty Fokker said...
I also think Crusie will one day be “canon”. I think Bet Me will be her Pride and Prejudice. But she’s got a lot more books to write …
I loved Northhanger Abbey. It made fun and yet defended several genres simultaneously. And the heroine was both silly and sympathetic. I could definitely see (like with all Austin heroines) why the hero fell in love.
On September 2, 2010 at 5:06 pm Jenny said...
I love Northanger Abbey, too. It’s such a smart book. Well, it’s Austen.
On September 2, 2010 at 5:28 pm colognegrrl said...
They might have an abbreviated edition. Or by that time, a nation which makes it sort of compulsory for romance novels to have sex scenes in them will stop to pretend that it’s necessary as well as possible to withhold any mention of sexuality from children until they are able to procreate.
Sorry, but that’s just something I don’t get about the US.
On September 2, 2010 at 8:11 pm McB said...
I don’t think we are quite so bad anymore. These days any kid over 6 with access to a tv knows what’s what. And they always did know more than adults like to think.
On September 2, 2010 at 11:53 pm Jenny said...
That’s all you don’t get about the US?
I’ve lived here all my life and am constantly confounded by the lack of logic.
On September 2, 2010 at 2:29 pm JulieB said...
Jennifer W.’s questions were fabulouw — it’s obvious she’d been a great reporter.
All through the interview I thought, “I’ll comment on this,” “I’ll comment on that,” but in the end I’ll just say “ditto” to the observations that I learned a lot, thank you for sharing so much (and YAY to the full recovery), but I think my favorite comment overall was when you said you wrote scenes about the mouldering body in the August heat. Hee! I don’t think you even have to be divorced to understand that.
I love “Tell Me Lies” and I’m glad you wrote it — and changed the title. You may _think_ you don’t write kids, but when Emily talks, she is _real_.
On September 5, 2010 at 7:11 am Jenny said...
Thank you, Julie. I’m trying to better with kids. And of course Sweetness and Light are helping tremendously. By setting the microwave on fire.
On September 2, 2010 at 3:42 pm robena grant said...
Loved the interview.
Love, love, love the book. MTT was waiting on my doorstep when I got home from L.A. this morning. Thank goodness the sprinklers didn’t wet it. I like running my fingers over the lightly embossed cup on the cover. I’m hoping it’s like the magic urn and a genie will pop up and grant me three wishes. Ha ha.
And yes, I did stop to read a chapter before coming to the computer. I plan on half an hour of clean up, one hour of writing, then spending the afternoon on the couch, reading.
On September 2, 2010 at 4:16 pm JulieB said...
Oh! The sex scenes!!! I meant to ask (and really, since reading that I’ve been thinking about sex all day, so I don’t know how I forgot, but) when the person protested you speaking because you wrote about oral sex, what ended up happening, AND do you know which scene in particular was the problem? ‘Cause I’m thinking about taking a Crusie to re-read this weekend, and, well, I’ve been thinking about sex all day…
On September 2, 2010 at 5:05 pm Jenny said...
No idea which book she was talking about. I’m pretty sure it was pre-Bet Me, but it could have been any of them. And the rest of the membership ignored her and invited me anyway and were lovely.
On September 2, 2010 at 4:29 pm CrankyOtter said...
Oooh! Amazon had told me they were shipping MTT on the 7th, but decided not to wait on one of the other things in my order and *it*is*here*now*!!! Thanks Amazon, that was the right call. You ladies probably understand how hard it was to come back to work after finding it at my UPS box at lunch. I had to leave it taped shut and put it in the back.
Thanks for pointing me at this online discussion. It’s really amazing the number of people that don’t distinguish between pointing out unfair coverage and demanding an article written about themselves. But it was fun reading last night, while waiting impatiently for my own MTT.
On September 2, 2010 at 5:07 pm WapakGram said...
Fokker- Jenny is very brave and very patient with her faithful readers. Strange as they may be…Not that you are…but. well..um. LOVE THE CROWN idea. Still thinking of Cincy after Columbus to bask in your awesomeness also.
You meet the greatest people at a Jenny Cruise signing. They can become your friends and change your life.
Thanks again Jenny for another fabulous book. Please take time to bask… you have earned it!!!
On September 2, 2010 at 7:45 pm Clever Cherry said...
I finished MTT 2 nights ago. I think you are underestimating yourself when you say you can’t write children. These children were great. The kid in Don’t Look Down was great. Dilly was great. My favorite parts of Tell Me Lies are the conversations between CL and Maddie’s daughter. I reread them sometimes because they are amazing.
Jenny and all Buffy fans – I thought of you while I read Louisa Edwards new book Just One Taste last night. When her protagonist gets frustrated she says “Oh for the love of Buffy.” And there is a WWBD scene. I never watched Buffy but even I thought it was charming.
I have such an aversion to reading long hits of narritive that lead nowhere that I can’t write them. I have to stop myself or I will write an entire book of dialogue. I copied the above so I can further ponder it.
On September 2, 2010 at 10:15 pm Ericka said...
great interview – kuddos to you both!
i can’t wait to read it, but i need to get to bed early this week, so i’ll go buy it over the weekend. (i know i’m weak, and i’ll stay up all night reading it if it’s in the house.)
On September 3, 2010 at 3:22 pm DonnaT said...
I just finished listening to the audio of Maybe This Time–it was so, so good. I know I am going to listen to it again. Story was very believeable although you don’t believe in ghosts. You could write a sequel on North’s brother, Sullivan (loved his nickname–Southy (hope I spelled is right). Gave it 5 stars on Audible, which is the best. I will continue to listen to (or read) your books. Although I love to read, it is so hard to sit down and pick up a book to read so I generally listen to them in the car or while walking or cleaning up around the house. Also, the narrator can make or break a book–Angela Dawe gets thumbs up. Use her again. This is the third book I have read by you, but will go back and listen/read more and continue to listen/read to your new books in the future.
On September 3, 2010 at 4:47 pm Jenny said...
Thank you for the Audible report, Donna. I can’t stand being read to, so I’ve never heard any of books. I rely on the kindness of audio buyers to know what works and what doesn’t.
On September 5, 2010 at 7:28 pm Merry said...
This reader was much better than the woman who read “Getting Rid of Bradley.” She gave the hero such a scratchy voice that it was hard to imagine falling for him.
On September 5, 2010 at 3:13 pm Steph said...
I feel the need to apolygise. Amazon sent me two copies of Maybe This Time and I only ordered one so it seems that I have one of yours. I didn’t do it on purpose, really.
On September 14, 2010 at 6:18 pm Bharti said...
The comment about God’s Library is one of the funniest things I have ever read. Sorry for the lateness of my response. School has started and my kids are driving me nuts with their beginning of the school year angst.