Visit with Julia Hoban

**Today I'm really excited to be visiting with author Julia Hoban, whose novel, WILLOW, was released in April 2009 in hardcover, and in February 2010 in paperback.



"What is WILLOW Really About?"

In the past nine months since my novel, WILLOW, was released in hardcover (and, much to my amazement, gone into six printings) I have had the incredible good fortune to be interviewed a number of times. In each and every interview, whether I am speaking with a teen book blogger or a radio host, I am always asked the same two questions. “What inspired you to write a book about cutting?” And “Are you, or have you ever been a cutter?” And my answers are always the same.

“But I didn’t write a book about cutting!” I protest. And indeed, to my mind WILLOW is far from an “issue” book. It is a book about pain and loss. Most certainly it is a book that deals with self-injury --- Willow is indeed a “cutter” --- but in the end it is about something other than these themes, something more than a book about cutting.

If I had any inspiration it was this: we are all self-destructive in one way or another. I wanted to take my character from a place of self-harm to a place of healing, and in doing so possibly make readers question their own damaging behaviors. There are many hurtful behaviors I could have chosen, but I felt that cutting was the most expedient, most dramatic way of getting to the heart of the matter. Which leads right into the next question... Am I, or have I ever been a cutter?

The simple answer is no. I have never taken to slicing my skin with a razor the way my poor Willow does. But I have certainly felt the same kind of pain that she has, the same loneliness, the same despair. We all have felt those things to one degree or another, and in response to that pain we have all inflicted damage on ourselves, although the damage may be far less visible than the scars a razor leaves behind, it is no less injurious.

So, if WILLOW isn’t a book about cutting, what is it really about? And if we have all been cutters in one form or another, what can we learn from Willow’s story?

WILLOW is a book about recovery. It is about healing and hope. It is most especially about the power of love and how it can help in that healing process. We will all face loss and pain in our lives, we must all learn to rise above these disasters, even perhaps to use them as a way to learn and grow. Not all of us will experience the same devastating loss as Willow does, and not all of us will follow the same path towards recovery, but perhaps Willow’s story will provide some comfort for someone in pain. Because, as one reader noted, “The essential and uplifting message (of WILLOW) is that not every problem can be solved, but there is no bad situation that cannot be improved.”

And that is really what WILLOW is about.



WILLOW will be released in the UK on March 18 with the title, SCARRED, but the story is the same regardless of the title:

Seven months ago on a rainy March night, Willow's parents drank too much wine at dinner and asked her to drive them home. But they never made it - Willow lost control of the car, and both of her parents were killed. Now seventeen, Willow is living with her older brother, who can barely speak to her. She has left behind her old home, friends, and school. But Willow has found a way to survive, to numb the new reality of her life: She is secretly cutting herself.

And then she meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is. When Guy discovers Willow's secret, he pulls her out of the solitary world she's created for herself, and into a difficult, intense, and potentially life-changing relationship.


**I had the chance to ask Julia several questions about her life, her writing, and WILLOW, and I hope you enjoy her answers:

1) If you could bring any character from one of your books to life, who would it be and why?

Guy! But he HAS been brought to life! I modeled him on my husband! The qualities I admire in Guy (and my husband) are their infinite capacity for love and kindness.

2) Your own six-word memoir.

Learned a little. Loved a lot.

3) You have the chance to spend the day with any character from one of your favorite books (not one that you’ve written). Who would you choose and why?

Sherlock Holmes, can you imagine the adventures?

4) What was your favorite book growing up as a teen?

I had way too many favorite books to narrow it down to just one, but here's a few: THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR, THE PERSIAN BOY, STEALING HEAVEN (by Marion Meade, not Elizabeth's Scott's, though I'm sure that's fabulous, too!) ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, all of SHERLOCK HOLMES, DAVID COPPERFIELD, THE PICKWICK PAPERS, SWEET VALLEY (Some of which I went on to write by the way --- THE SWEET VALLEY UNIVERSITIES....)

5) Your favorite subject in high school – and your least favorite.

My favorite subjects were lunch and homeroom. I mean it, I hated school. I LOVED learning but hated school, so much so that I don't even have a high school diploma, although I went on to graduate school in physics and philosophy. I'm telling you this because I'm guessing that some of your readers feel the same way, not everyone has an easy time of it in high school. You know what? It gets a lot better!!

6) The one book everyone in the world should read.

ANNA KARENINA, simply the greatest novel ever written. Ever.

7) The book you wish you had written.

I'm going to go with ANNA KARENINA, BUT, there are a thousand things I'd wish I'd written! The entire SHERLOCK HOLMES canon, TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES, ON EHUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE...... I could go on and on.

8) The 2010 release you’re most looking forward to reading.

INVISIBLE THINGS by Jenny Davidson, the sequel to THE EXPLOSIONIST.

9) Your family has the chance to describe you for an interview. What ten words would they say describe you best?

They wouldn't be printable!!!!

10) Using the letters J L W (my initials!), create the title of your next bestseller. (For example, Jumping Love Walrus.)

That's easy! Jennifer Loves Writers, about a woman who puts a great deal of time, effort, and energy into helping get various writers and their work attention. Sound like anyone we know?

11) You’re going off your diet for one day and only eating food from restaurants. What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? (Include the restaurant each meal comes from.)

Well, breakfast would be a cup of hot chocolate at Cafe Notre Dame en L'ile, in Paris -- we did say this was a fantasy day, right??? I don't like breakfast, so I wouldn't have more than that, especially since I would be saving my calories for the rest of the day! Lunch would be back in New York, at Mary's Fish Camp, one of my favorite places in the world. I would have their famous lobster roll, with french fries, and lemonade. I am sorry to say that after this I would require a large supply of malted milk balls. The one and only brand is English: Maltesers, and is available in New York at Fairway grocery. For dinner..... Well who says you can't have french fries more than once a day? (The scale says, that's who!) But I would head over to Les Halles, in midtown, and have steak fries, with red wine butter sauce. After this I would need to be wheeled home in a barrow.

12) What is your ultimate vacation destination?

I have about a million ideal vacation spots! That's not to say I've been to them all, but how about Paris for starters, then Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Rome, the Greek Islands....Maine.....

13) The world has suffered from a one-day only loss of power. You have no cell phone, computer, lights, or anything else that requires a computer, cell battery, or electricity. What do you spend the day doing?

Now that's the easiest question you've asked so far!! Reading, of course, and then when the candles guttered out, I'd go to sleep!

14) A movie is being made of ONE of your books. Which book is it, and who will star as the main characters?

Well, WILLOW of course. I'll tell you who would be a lovely Willow, Mia Wasikowska, as for Guy ..... Have any of you seen the guy who plays Glen Close's son in DAMAGES? His name is Zachary Booth...

15) Someone tells you that you’ll never publish another book that you write. Do you still keep writing?

Yes. Absolutely. I would write no matter what. I went through a phenomenal amount of rejection on the way to WILLOW being published. It never occurred to me to stop writing.



**Thanks so much to Ms. Hoban for visiting with us today! I had a great time reading her answers, and more about WILLOW, and I hope you did, as well. She has been so kind as to offer two lucky posters a paperback copy of WILLOW - all you need to do is leave a comment in the comments section answering the question: "Why do you think it is good to sometimes read books with sad themes?"

Be sure to leave your questions or comments in the comments section, as she'll be stopping by throughout the day to see what we're discussing!