Sarah Mlynowski

Featured Book Interview - April 2005

This month Sarah Mlynowski tells us about the challenges of writing chick lit for both teens and adults. Plus, two things she wants as much as world peace.

DC: What is your new book about?

SM: Bras & Broomsticks is about Rachel, a fourteen year old girl who discovers that her mom is a witch and that the ability to perform witchcraft, a trait normally passed from mother to daughter, has skipped over her to her twelve-year old sister.

DC: Where’d you get the idea for Bras & Broomsticks?

SM: It was Inspired by my little sister, Aviva. No, not the witchcraft part, unfortunately. Ever since she was born and took over my role as the center of my family, I’ve been writing stories about her. There was “Life with The Squirt,” “The Squirt Ate My Homework,” and the “Adventures of Supersquirt.” That one was about a little sister who could fly. Basically Bras & Broomsticks is its updated version.

DC: How did you start writing chick lit?

SM: I was single and working at Harlequin, marketing novels such as The Virgin Bride Said Wow and The Texas Sheik’s Runaway Princess. I found the ironic juxtaposition between the books I marketed and my single-in-the-big-city life the perfect experience to explore in fiction. Milkrun is about a romance copyeditor who decides to become Crazy Dating Girl after she gets dumped by her boyfriend via e-mail.

DC: Why did you transition to teen fiction?

SM: I wanted to be part of the experience when a teenager first falls in love with reading. Judy Blume’s books did it for me, and I’m hoping to be a part of that initial exhilarating lose-yourself-in-a-book feeling.

DC: How do you relate to teens these days?

SM: I watch a lot of teen TV shows, read teen books, magazines, talk to teens. And while obviously there are cultural differences between the nineties and today, I try to capture emotion when I write, and those stay constant. Love is love. Angst is angst.

DC: Are there any differences when writing for teens?

SM: There’s definitely more pressure in terms of my own responsibility as a writer. A fourteen year old is far more impressionable than a twenty-four year old, and finding the balance of reflecting reality versus forming reality is trickier. For example, I sprinkle labels liberally into my adult fiction for realism, but I’m far more careful with my teen books. I don’t want them to be advertisements.

DC: If you had magical powers and could what would you wish for?

SM: World peace. A cure for cancer. Naturally straight hair.

DC: What author most inspires you?

SM: Judy Blume is my inspiration. I grew up reading her novels. They were the first books I read that made me laugh out loud and want to become both a reader, and a writer. It was a compete revelation for me to see my experiences and pre-pubescent angst affectionately reflected in print.

People always call Helen Fielding the mother of chick lit, but I think it’s Judy Blume. She’s who we all (chick lit writers) grew up reading, and she’s the one who helped shaped our consciousness.

DC: What’s your advice to aspiring writers?

SM: First: write what you love to read. You'll be guaranteed to know your target market—you. Second: finish the book. I meet at least one person a week who tells me she/he wants to be a novelist. Maybe 2% of these people complete a book. Writing is work. It's hard. It doesn't get easier with each novel. Sometimes it's boring. You have to stick to it since the hardest part is seeing it through. If you really want it, force yourself to sit down and write every day. Make it a priority. And finish the book before you start worrying about getting it published. You can’t sell a blank page, right?

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