Host Marlene: Hi, everybody. It's time to get the chat started. Welcome to everyone! I just wanted to remind you all that since we have all ages here, we try to keep it pg. Our guests tonight are July 5 - ON THE VERGE with Jennifer Jacobson, author of STAINED, and Mary E. Pearson, author of A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET and I'm the guest host tonight. Marlene Perez. I'll ask a few questions and then we'll open it up for everyone. Just type a ? if you have a question. GA means go ahead.

Ed: Jennifer, I am sorry that my Catholic teen did not comment at BBYA on how much she (and her friends) loved Stained.

Jennifer: I understand, Ed. I had to leave the room -- not brave enough!

Host Marlene: Mary and Jennifer, can you talk about how the idea(s) of STAINED and AROLS came to you?

Mary Pearson: I actually talked a bit about this when Cyn interviewed me. The first thing that came to me . . .

Mary Pearson: were the opening lines, and then after that I "listened". Other inspirations popped in during the course of the book. Lorelei street is a real street of my childhood, but of course not the same as Zoe's Lorelei. GA

Jennifer: I had a dream in which a childhood friend told me that a marriage of thirty years was ending. The next day I discovered that he had died. We were both thirty years old.

Jennifer: I tried to write that story -- of childhood friends and the unique ties, but it was too difficult.

Host Marlene: Your books deal with difficult relationships, to put it mildly. How did you put yourselves in that emotional frame of mind to write those tough scenes?

Jennifer: ACK! I'm not sure. I do remember having a massage and my therapist asking, "What's going on with you? You've got all this thirteen year old energy around you!"

Jennifer: I suspect I couldn't write this book until I was a good distance away from my own teen years. GA

Mary Pearson: It wasn't easy to write some of the emotional scenes. There were some I avoided for days and weeks. But then I always came back to the same thing--some teens actually have to live this--the least I can do is write it. That forced me to dig as deeply as I could into some tough emotions. GA

Ed: Mary, I've told you that when I was 15, I had my own apartment, which really was just a single room. Like Zo-eeeee I did not tell anyone about it for fear it would disappear. I KNOW this story is real; I lived it.

Catherine Atkins: Mary, my heart sank when Zoe left the note saying where to find her. I wanted her to just take the room and not be *that* responsible.

Jennifer: I think so many teens dream of having a room of their own.

Mary Pearson: Thanks, Ed. Zoe was real for me, and I am glad it resonated with you, but sorry it was so similar too.

Host Marlene: Since we have a crowd tonight, I'm going to turn it over for questions. Just type GA when you have a question and we'll take them in order. GA

Mary Pearson: ah, yes, Cathy, there were times I wanted her to just go for it too.

Debby Garfinkle: What are you two working on now?

Jennifer: I'm currently writing another YA. Girl stalks another girl. It's about boundaries, girl crushes and the loss (or perceived loss) of identity.

Mary Pearson: I am working on another YA of course, this one very different from Lorelei--a story about a girl who has lost her memory.

CynandGreg: What kind of research did you two do for your latest--any travel, reading, interviews, etc.?

Jennifer: Believe it or not, I joined the Catholic Church!

Jennifer: Like Jocelyn, I left the church at the age of seven. I longed for the rituals, the mysteries. While writing this story, I took the necessary classes to join.

Mary Pearson: I had to bone up on some of my Texas geography--it had been a while since I had been there--and of course another local leads to an infinite amount of details you have to get right.

Jennifer: Friends were a little incredulous. I joined the year the priest scandal broke. But it all made sense to me.

NancyWerlin: What did each of you think was the hardest and easiest part of working on Lorelei and Stained?

Mary Pearson: I loved STAINED and related to so much of what Joceyn felt about being an outsider Catholic. Same here.

Host Marlene: Did you both see Nancy's question? What did each of you think was the hardest and easiest part of working on Lorelei & Stained?

Mary Pearson: Hardest--writing without a plan. It was a step of faith to just listen each day to Zoe. And oddly, once I gave myself over to that, it was also the easiest. Her voice was real for me.

Jennifer: The hardest part, logistically, was alternating between the past and present chapters. It was also hard to create a character that had experienced so much shame -- shame that prevented her from reacting when she needed to stand up for herself.

Melissa W.: Mary and Jennifer, we often hear that authors want to protect their characters and have trouble letting bad things happen to their characters. Both of your stories are so emotionally raw and painful. Was it hard for you to "let the bad things happen"?

Jennifer: The easiest part (or maybe the most fun) was recalling the 70's. GA

Mary Pearson: ohhh, yes, Melissa! The mother bear in me wanted to protect her. I know that sounds crazy, but that is why I avoided certain scenes for quite some time. GA

thingschange: How different was the final ms from your first draft - did you cut, add, transform, etc? Related, how different is the book on paper from how it was "inside your head" at the start of the project??

Jennifer: Yes. But Jocelyn's actions could only be understood when the pain of her past was revealed. That kept me going after the truth of the story.

Mary Pearson: Cathy, you read a first draft. What do you think? Did it change much? To me, it seemed close to the same, but with a bit of fleshing out and a lot of polishing.GA

Catherine Atkins: I think the drafts stayed within the same scenes, just kept deepening and getting richer(I'm envious)

Jennifer: The working title of my first drafts was Flying Dreams. The story moved far from the original idea. It took me a long time to find Joss's voice. Early drafts were very tinny.

Lisa Yee: Do either of you use writing as a form of therapy, or do you have everything figured out, and then write about it? (Or neither!)

Jennifer: I don't set out to use writing as therapy, but therapy finds me!

Jennifer: I don't think I can avoid the topics that continue to plague me even now.

Mary Pearson: hahahaha (insert hysterical laughing here) No, Lisa, I do NOT have it figured out by a long shot. Sometimes I think I need therapy because of writing ; ) but in hindsight, yes, I guess maybe it does help me understand my world. GA

kelcrocker: Related to thingschange's question: How long did it take you to write the novels, and do you know how many drafts you had?

Jennifer: Ten years plus and a million bazillion!

Mary Pearson: Lorelei took me two years to write and there were probably about 8 drafts altogether. GA

kimmar: Jennifer, Kim Marcus here... if that ten year comment was truthful you've made me feel much better :)

Jennifer: No really, I have tried to write this book off and on since 1988. So it's ironic that some have called this the first YA that deals with the headline topic of priest abuse.

Melissa W.: (Me, too, Jennifer, with that million bazillion! Ha ha!)

Jennifer: I almost shelved the project when the scandal broke.

Mary Pearson: Of course, I revise every day as I write so a lot of those "drafts" are invisible.

kelcrocker: Jennifer, so glad you didn't shelve it!

Mary Pearson: Me too, Jennifer.

Jennifer: Thank you.

Mary Pearson: Maybe the timing was meant to be.

Jennifer: I think so. I didn't have the writing ability when I started.

WriterRoss: (Were you nervous others were going to publish a novel in a similar vein in the interim?)

Jennifer: No. But I was nervous that Richard Jackson (who had expressed interest in the book) was going to retire.

Catherine Atkins: How do each of you work to create real teens? (Mary, I loved the details of the importance of tennis in Zoe's life)

Catherine Atkins: (Jennifer, I haven't read Stained yet, but I'm looking forward to it)

Mary Pearson: hmm, that's a tough one. I think I dig deep into my memories of being a teen. Soemtimes I think all YA writers have "teen" issues ; ) and of course I had my own bonafide teens, but mostly I think a lot of what I try to explore are universal feelings that we all have. GA

Jennifer: I have two at home which helps. But most of my characters are algamations. I was having difficulty with the Benny and Dick Jackson asked, "If an actor were going to play this role, who would it be?"

Catherine Atkins: Ooh, which actor did you come up with?

Jennifer: I couldn't name one and DJ said that was my problem. He had me watch John Cusack movies (isn't that a great assignment?) Benny isn't John, but John reminded me of how funny boys can be.

CynandGreg: What was the dynamic(s) between you and your editor; what did he/she bring to the fold? GA

Jennifer: Dick will call and without wasting any time chit chatting, ask the perfect question. He even had me role play once. He has a strong background in theater and I think this helps alot. My new favorite writing book is the Chubbuck Technique by Ivanna Chubbuck (spelling?) It's a guide to acting.

Mary Pearson: My editor had a very gentle and sensitive hand and helped me flesh out some motivations that had previously felt a little fuzzy. She helped me pinpoint where I needed to clarify and it helped make it all come together. She was wonderful. GA

Debby Garfinkle: When you started writing the books, did you have an idea of how they would end? Did the ending turn out the way you thought it would?

Jennifer: Ah! That's "a lot." My kids will be after me if they read this transcript!

Jennifer: My ending changed drastically. My inability to write the ending was one of the reasons I held onto this manuscript for so long. I have a hard time ending anything well.

Mary Pearson: oh, Debby! I always think I know, but it never happens that way. And especially so with Lorelei. It was a day to day thing. Somedays I thought Zoe wasn't going to make it, and then others I knew she would. I know it sounds odd, but I really didn't plan the ending.

Debby Garfinkle: Mary, do you think she made it?

Host Marlene: and to piggyback on that, Jennifer, what about the last paragraph with the stained glass imagery? I thought that ending was so strong and emotionally satisfying.

Debby Garfinkle: (I do. Just wanted to make sure.)

Mary Pearson: SPOILER . . . . (yes, Debby, I think she did, in a way that was right for her.)

Lisa Yee: If you didn't have a deadline, would you both still be working on your novels today?

Jennifer: Thank you, Marlene. When I finally knew what happened to these characters, the imagery came. But, like Mary, I didn't know which of my characters would make it and if they did, how.

Mary Pearson: I agree, that the ending of STAINED was so strong. Being a visual person, I loved the imagery.

Jennifer: I think not. Eventually the new stories scream to be told.

Mary Pearson: Maybe off and on, Lisa. I love to revise and am daunted by first drafts--which is what I am working on now.

Host Marlene: Mary, your ending was visual. In fact, AROLS is completely visual, so did you "see" it from the beginning?

Jennifer: And I'm so glad to hear that Zoe made it in your mind, too, Mary!

Dorian: First I want to say how much I loved Stained and look forward to Lorelei. Congrats to both! I'm wondering what decisions went into choice of point of view and tense. And let me add too how brilliant I thought that ending passage of Stained was.

Mary Pearson: no, not from the beginning. The apricot scene took me by surprise actually and made me quite sad. I lost my own mother in the course of writing this book so maybe the goodbye is why it hit me so hard. GA

Jennifer: I had begun writing in the first person, but decided to try present tense after reading Joann Beard's the boys of my youth. It was the childhood scenes is this memoir that rocked me. I experimented with some childhood scenes of Joss', written in present tense, and that's when her voice truly emerged.

Dorian: Thanks. That's interesting I've read parts of that book -- I'll take another look.

Mary Pearson: Dorian, I heard the first few lines in my head, and they were third person present. I kind of resisted this for a while, since first person seemed to be more the norm, but finally I went with it because it seemed to be working. I liked the "atmosphere" it seemed to add to the story. GA

waltergiant: Let me ask about faith in both books--faith in self in AROLS and religious faith in STAINED. How hard was it to grapple with these issues? Or was it easy?

waltergiant: these are both deeply moving books about a subject we don't spend nearly enough time on in YA fic. Didn't Dylan say "You've got to serve somebody?"

Jennifer: It was important to me that I not write an "anti-Catholic" book. And I also wanted to show that although Joss did not attend church, she was in fact a spiritual kid.

waltergiant: Your protagonists do, and beautifully.

thingschange: <it may be the devil or it may be the lord, but you gotta serve somebody>

Mary Pearson: hmm, faith in self . . . I think of AROLS as a survival story in many ways, and for Zoe it meant she had to believe in herself but at the same time, family is an incredible bond, so she had to find that balance between self and the bonds of family. I think we all walk that narrow line at some point in our life.

Jennifer: I think that's one of the things that impressed me most about your story, Mary. Zoe does seek this balance and it's very believable.

Mary Pearson: finding a place in the world, wasn't that what both of our stories were about?

Jennifer:: And claiming themselves.

Mary Pearson: (yes, claiming is the perfect word)

Catherine Atkins: A drafting question--I'm finding my story starts to kick in and make sense around draft 4-5. Do you two keep track of drafts? How many for your books?

Jennifer: Like Mary, I tend to revise as i go along so the "count" isn't accurate. I'd say at least five drafts. The moment I was most proud: when i had deleted more words than I had remaining.

Catherine Atkins: Heh, Jennifer. Scary and true.

Mary Pearson: For me, it's not drafts, but pages. Around 50-75 pages the voice kicks in and I start feeling more comfortable. Up until that point it is an exercise in total doubt.

waltergiant: or faith...

Catherine Atkins: Yes, the first fifty--hard stuff!

Mary Pearson: yes, faith.

Melissa W.: Mary, I just wanted to say don't feel bad about touching a sometimes painful chord in your readers. There are things that need to be touched on. You know I told you how I related to Zoe (your comment about the bond of family rings so true to me). Even thirty-five years down the road, it's good to recognize your experiences and acknowledge them in book form.

Jennifer: I need to be reminded of this right now!

Host Marlene: Thanks so much for being here tonight, Mary and Jennifer. Some of us may have to go, but everyone is welcome to stay and chat.

Mary Pearson: thanks, Melissa.

Catherine Atkins: Thanks for a great chat, all.