Jodi Picoult webchat, 27th April, 2009

Jodi Picoult is the bestselling author of sixteen novels (and counting). She was born and raised - happily - on Long Island... something that she believed at first was a detriment to a girl who wanted to be a writer. "I had such an uneventful childhood that when I was taking writing classes at college, I called home and asked my mother if maybe there might have been a little incest or domestic abuse on the side that she'd forgotten about" Picoult recalls. "It took me a while to realize that I already did have something to write about, that solid core of family, and the knotty tangle of relationships, which I keep coming back to in my books." Her latest book is Handle With Care.

About Handle With Care :

Everything breaks. Some things just hurt more than others. Charlotte O'Keefe's beautiful, much-longed-for, adored daughter Willow is born with osteogenesis imperfecta - a very severe form of brittle bone disease. If she slips on a crisp packet she could break both her legs, and spend six months in a half body cast. After years of caring for Willow, her family faces financial disaster. Then Charlotte is offered a lifeline. She could sue her obstetrician for wrongful birth - for not having diagnosed Willow's condition early enough in the pregnancy to be able to abort the child. The payout could secure Willow's future. But to get it would mean Charlotte suing her best friend. And standing up in court to declare that she would have prefered that Willow had never been born...

Read more about Jodi on her author page

Buy the book

Comments

[Rosie Smith]

Hello, I was wanting to ask you about your books in general. You've written so many, and although they are similar in some ways, other aspects are very different. How to manage to research so many different topics? Is it something you've aquired a knack for over the years, or do you happen to have good friends in the police force, etc?
You must do a lot of work!

[Rhiann Johns]

Your books often have a moral decision such as in My Sister's Keeper - is it right or not to create a life to save another, etc? So I was wondering whether your personal views about the subjects described in your books have changed during the course of writing the book?

[Maggie Dana]

Hi Jodi:

Growing up in the UK (I now live in the States) I had a friend named Cherry who owned a pony but she (the friend, not the pony) was always in danger of breaking a bone. She probably had this same disease, but I don't remember anyone ever putting a name or a label on it. Then again, I was only 13 at the time, and it was a very long time ago.

Cherry seemed to live in one cast or splint after another and I never understood why her parents allowed her to ride. I had a pony, too, and I often fell off, so I know how easy it is to break something when you topple off a horse.

Love, love, love your books. Keep 'em coming.

Maggie

[Emily]

Hi, Jodi. I'm a freshman in high school and we just read Nineteen Minutes. That I can honestly say was one of the best books I have ever read! Now I have to do a Character Anaylasis on one of the characters in the book showing how they have changed. Who would you suggest and for what reasons? Thanks soooo much!

[Jeanette]

Hi Jodi
Your books that I have read have been excellent, especially the Change of Heart - it kept you wondering what she would do right up till the end .... very exciting and thought provoking.... cant wait to read your new one Handle with care ..... keep up the excellent work.

[Meg F]

Hi Jodi - your books cover such a wide range of topics (all of which are heartbreaking) how do you come up with each new theme? Do you see something in the news, or do other people recommend them to you?

[Suzanne Maughan]

Hi Jodi.

I would love to be able to write my own novel. When you first started writing, how did you fund your writing so that you could write, research and still afford to eat?! What advice would you give a writer who's just starting out?

We met on your last UK tour in Hexham. I'm so disappointed not to be able to see you in person again, but you're not visiting anywhere near me!

Thanks so much - can't wait to read the new book!

Suzanne x

[Leena]

Hi Jodi,

I just wanted to ask you : where do you get your inspiration from to write such fantastic books?
The genre may be similar but the stories are so incredibly diverse - hence my question.

Thanks, Leena

PS, being a big fan of your work I am really looking forward to the movie of My Sister's Keeper!

[Marie]

Jodi your books always make me sob when I'm reading them. Do you always set out to provoke such an emotional response from people?

[Rhiann Johns]

You have covered a whole range of topics in your books, are there any other topics that you have not yet written about but would love to?

[Miriam]

Hello Jodi,
More often than not I find myself disappointed with film adaptations. I absolutely adore My Sister's Keeper and am wondering what your feelings are towards the upcoming film and how much input you had?

[Janet]

Of all the books you have written, do you have a personal favourite?

[Sarah]

Hi, it's 3:35 ... Where can I watch this?

[Jodi]

Rosie, hi and thanks for reading! I love doing research, and yes, I do it all firsthand. I do have lots of friends on the police force now -- but I often find myself doing research in a new field and just try to network until I can find someone who will help me learn what I need to know. For example, I went through networking to find families of children with brittle bone disease, who volunteered to take me into their homes to learn what their lives are like. It's always incredible to do research, and always makes me want to do more writing!

[Jodi]

Rhiann, I often find that the act of writing for me is like the act of reading for you - I may not change my mind during the writing of the book but I may be hearing the other point of view for the first time, and I certainly have a better sense of why my opinion is what it is. I have not changed my mind about an issue during the course of writing, but I have changed my reasoning behind that opinion!

[Jodi]

Maggie, on book tour in the US I met lots of people who weren't diagnosed with OI until later in life - sometimes it's a mild form, and sometimes it was just that the doctor had never seen OI/Brittle Bone before!

[Jodi]

Now, Emily, I used to be a teacher -- I'm NOT doing your assignment for you!!! You tell ME how someone in the book has changed and I'll tell you if you're right(but here's a clue - I think EVERYONE in that book changes from start to finish!)

[Lucy]

Hi Jodi,

I've read nearly all of your books! I think you are a fantastic, thought-provoking writer.

I would just like to ask which part of the writing process you enjoy the most? Is the research, for example, or starting the first chapter of a new book or making tweaks as you near the finish, etc?

[Jodi]

Jeannette - I am so glad you're hooked, and that you enjoyed CHANGE OF HEART. Hope Handle With Care is just as riveting for you!

[Jodi]

Meg, I often start with a what if question - it may come from a news story (Handle With Care did) or a conversation I've had or something that's happened to my children...and then I wonder what I'd do in that situation. And what if the parameters of the situation were tweaked the tiniest bit? For HWC I'd read about a woman who sued for wrongful birth when her son was born with severe physical and mental disabilities. It means standing up in court and saying that she wished her pregnancy had been terminated (although she loves her son to death, and was only really trying to get $ to take care of him.) I wondered - what if your child didn't have mental disabilities - just severe physical ones - that made him/her able to HEAR you say that in court...and to also hear you say, "But honey, I 'm doing this because I love you!" That's a very mixed message, obviously - and one Willow hears in the novel.

[Karen]

Hello Jodi
It's very kind of you to take the time to come on-line to answer questions, thank you.

I have read two of your books via a friend who I share books with. To say I did not get something from them, would be wrong, but I can't say I loved them either. The two I read are My Sisters Keeper and Salem Falls (I hope I have remembered the titles correctly!) I'm struggling to explain how I felt about them - they made me feel uncomfortable, is probably about right. So getting to a question, do you set out to do this with your writing, to examine contemporary issues that could actually impact any family tomorrow and make the reader think about these potentially uncomfortable issues and choices?

[Jodi]

Suzanne, first off, how great that you want to write a novel! When I was starting out I worked a long day, and made a salary doing something I didn't love, and then I'd come home every night and plug away at my book for a couple of hours. When I got married and had my first son, I used to toss him at my husband when my husband walked through the door - and I'd write till about 10 PM. I think the key is to find time that is YOURS - even if it's only a half hour each day - when you do nothing BUT write. (I do advocate holding down another job by the way, till you get that publishing contract -- as food is critical. Especially chocolate.)

[Jessica Teagarden]

Hi Jodi,

I love your books. Who would you say your biggest influences are in your writing?

[Jodi]

Suzanne - part two of your answer - In addition to writing daily, read a ton. It will inspire you. Find a workshop course at a bookstore, online, a local school so you learn to give and get feedback on writing, and to write on demand. Finally, when you start writing and decide this is the biggest piece of garbage ever created...keep writing. Don't scrap it, because that's what everyone ELSE does. Force yourself to finish, and when you do , you can then decide whether to fix or destroy the piece...but if you don't finish you will never know if you CAN. Good luck!

[Jodi]

Suzanne, part one of your answer...it never came through the first time, sorry. I highly advocate holding down a job while you write - even if it's one you don't love. I used to go to work and then come home and write; or when I had my son, I'd toss him at my husband when my husband came home from work and I'd write till 10 PM. The key is to find a piece of time that's YOURS when you write - doesn't have to be long, as long as you do nothing but write during that time. I do advocate having a job while you're doing this - food is important. Especially if it's chocolate.