SL: I wasn’t conscious of them at all! I know that must sound odd since I pretty much followed every rule but it just happened that way. My only intention, and I’m glad that it came through, was to write a book about how women interact with one another. The romance sort of slipped itself in.
AC: You have enjoyed a successful career in the magazine world, and I understand that She's Got Issues arose from a series of essays. Did you always know that you wanted to write fiction, or did fiction suggest itself with the essays?
SL: I had no idea nor did I ever intend to write a novel. Someone suggested that I turn the essays into a novel and I thought, “How am I supposed to do that? “ It would be like someone coming up to me now and saying, “I think you should turn your novel into a house.” No clue. I just did it. I have no idea how. Like I said, there was no outline, no plan, no nothing. Just Chloe.
AC: How carefully do you plan out your novels before writing them? For instance, I noted that you are working on a new book from Zoe's perspective. How much do you know about the new novel at this point and how much will evolve as you work on it?
SL: I don’t plan a thing. I literally sit there and write down whatever pops into my head. That must sound ridiculous but it’s true. I’m always shocked to find out what my characters are up to. Miss Understanding, the new novel, is completed. And in some ways it’s the book I originally intended to write until Chloe took over. This book takes the message of how women get along to an entirely different level. That’s why I haven’t figured out what to do with it. It’s a very different book.
AC: Can you talk about what it's been like promoting the book? Did your background in the magazine world help with this process?
SL: Yes, my training at places like Vogue and Mademoiselle definitely came into play. One of the big things we did at Conde Nast was try to come up with ways for our readers to sample our advertisers’ products. I tend to think of She’s Got Issues as something that needs to be sampled to get you hooked. A lot of what I did promotionally was based on this idea that if you get a taste of the writing and the humor, you’ll want to read the book. Once you’ve read a few pages and laughed out loud, hopefully you won’t be able to resist coming back for more.
