I loved this book and was very curious how this young woman had so much insight...the answer...she wrote on a subject she knew something about first hand. She grew up in the south and experienced a life with the family "help."
Her Abilene was named Dimitri and she had a fierce love and respect for her.
Here are some interesting points from her talk:
*She lived certain aspects of the story she wrote.
*She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi.
* She went to Alabama where she got a degree in English/Creative Writing.
*After college she moved to NYC and worked in magazine publishing and marketing and wrote this first novel.
*She got 60 rejection letters for The Help.
* For the cover design she chose a picture of a black woman's hand holding a small white child's hand. Her publisher called and said they couldn't use that picture because it would make the book look racist...
*Her one request about the cover...any colors but LSU's...
*Alas, the final cover design has no hidden meaning...she was just tired of looking at artwork...and yes, the colors are vaguely LSUish!!
*Her best friend begged to write the screenplay version, she hesitated because he hadn't been successful up to that point...but in the end...
She is currently working on a new novel and she claims that it is not going well at all...she has no idea what the characters are thinking/doing at this point and she and her agent go to lunch and talk about everything but!!
And her advice to budding writers...
Read everything, everything, everything. Do not give up...ever! if you believe in the story you have written, keep submitting the manuscript.
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