Books

WASHINGTON – Who wants to spend priceless fiction-reading time delving into topics such as child abuse, incest, adultery and teen suicide, sometimes all in the same book? Millions, apparently, based on the best-selling success of New Hampshire-based author Jodi Picoult, who couples in-depth characters with hot-button issues. She spoke recently with The Washington Post:

How do you separate yourself from the intense subjects you write about?

I lead a very charmed life because I have a terrific husband, three wonderful, healthy kids, and luckily the things I write about are not things that have happened to me. ... It's easy to have my real life be a safety net. If I was living these stories, I don't think I would be writing about them.

Are characters and stories on your mind all the time?

When you're a novelist, you carry your office between your ears. You have their voices with you, they talk to you all the time. I end up writing on my hands if I'm in the car. ... I used to write on my children, but not anymore, because now they're older, and bigger than I am. I would lose paper, but I never lost them.

Are characters based on people you know?

They're not. ... What I do tend to do is take situations and donate them to my characters, and that's very fun. In one book there is an argument between a husband and wife, and it is an argument I had with my husband. But now every time [someone] reads the book, I win.

Do you intentionally come up with plot lines based on modern topics, or do you feel the subjects you write about will always be around?

I think these subjects will always be around. There are so many controversial topics, and the subjects pick me. I really need to wait until a subject lands in my lap, some kind of personal question or moral debate that gets me interested. It's the thing that's keeping me up at night.

The Washington Post

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