October discussion: She, Myself & I

[SusanH]

Here is the place to discuss our very own Whitney Gaskell's She, Myself & I. Whitney (Scout) will be reading the thread and has offered to answer any questions you may have for her. Remember, there could be spoilers in the following thread.

[ajpr2]

I just finished this in a day. I really enjoyed the book. I can find myself relating most to Sophie, but bits and pieces of Paige and Mickey as well. I think the character's all grew, not only in their own "sections" but in the following sister's stories as well.

I however do not think that Mickey's character was developed as much as Paige's and Sophie's. I think it may have to do with her's being the last story to tell and being off at school during most of Paige's and Sophie's stories. We still got to see Paige and Sophie grow and lives develop while we learned about Mickey. So Whit, make a story up for me. Does Mickey and the dr wind up together? Does she get a cooking apprenticeship? Was the dr telling his story of taking a year off then going to med school a hint of what she will do as well?

This book, as Whit's others, had me laughing so hard. I just love the whitty writing style. As a writer, how much research goes into your books?

[Scout]

Thanks, Alexis, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

It's funny . . . by the time a book goes to print, I've read it through 20+ times, and so I'm usually sick to death of dealing with the characters. But Mickey's the exception. I'd love to revisit her again at some point in the future, maybe with a short story. I don't know exactly where she'll end up, but I have high hopes for that girl. I think she'll land on her feet.

Research really depends. I didn’t do a lot of research for She, Myself & I (other than being pregnant and having a baby, which helped me out with Sophie’s story). But my upcoming fourth book, Legalese, is about a woman going through her One-L year at Tulane Law (my alma mater). I spent a weekend in New Orleans, and took a ton of pictures of the city and the law school, which I hung up around my desk while I worked.

[Maribeth]

Whitney - this was really a fun read. One of my favorite parts is when Sophie goes to the moms' group. I had a very similar experience and practically felt suicidal when I left.

I just finished Can You Keep a Secret yesterday and She, Myself & I was SO much better. There's a big difference between stupid women doing idiotic things and intelligent or even average women doing idiotic things that are funny. Did that make sense? So many books of this genre portray women as idiots doing the same dumb things over and over until I want to scream. Your books are about everyday women who might do some dumb things but they learn from them by the end of the book - my kind of stories! I enjoyed all 3 women in this book, and would LOVE to hear what Mickey does with her life.

[Sharn]

Originally Posted by ajpr2

Does Mickey and the dr wind up together? Does she get a cooking apprenticeship? Was the dr telling his story of taking a year off then going to med school a hint of what she will do as well?

All very good questions Alexis - especially the one about the dr taking a year off and then going to med school...but the fact that Mickey doesn't like blood, kind of clears that up for me.

Like I told you before Whitney, I couldn't help thinking of all the information you gathered from SN alone.

I also enjoyed the book very much. *I* read it pretty quick which says a lot. Can't wait to see what's next. And I would love for you to revisit Mickey... to me, this story is far from over (for all the girls). I want to see if the parents live happily ever after, if Paige has a boy or a girl, if Sophie has anymore children (and I'd like a little more about how Sophie and Aiden worked things out after their split) and there's a lot left to Mickey's story.

Good Job!

[TraceyM]

I finished the book this weekend and loved it! I was wondering what made you decide to write it as, basically, 3 interconnected short stories? Either of the sisters' stories would have made an excellent book on its own, IMHO, especially Paige, so I'm curious what made you decide to go with that format, instead of focusing on one sister and having the other 2 be sideline characters.
And I was lol at some parts, especially in Sophie's story. Did you get any of that from SN? When is your next one coming out?

[Scout]

Originally Posted by Maribeth

Whitney - this was really a fun read. One of my favorite parts is when Sophie goes to the moms' group. I had a very similar experience and practically felt suicidal when I left.

I just finished Can You Keep a Secret yesterday and She, Myself & I was SO much better. There's a big difference between stupid women doing idiotic things and intelligent or even average women doing idiotic things that are funny. Did that make sense? So many books of this genre portray women as idiots doing the same dumb things over and over until I want to scream. Your books are about everyday women who might do some dumb things but they learn from them by the end of the book - my kind of stories! I enjoyed all 3 women in this book, and would LOVE to hear what Mickey does with her life.

Thanks Maribeth! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

[Scout]

Originally Posted by Sharon3960

All very good questions Alexis - especially the one about the dr taking a year off and then going to med school...but the fact that Mickey doesn't like blood, kind of clears that up for me.

Like I told you before Whitney, I couldn't help thinking of all the information you gathered from SN alone.

I also enjoyed the book very much. *I* read it pretty quick which says a lot. Can't wait to see what's next. And I would love for you to revisit Mickey... to me, this story is far from over (for all the girls). I want to see if the parents live happily ever after, if Paige has a boy or a girl, if Sophie has anymore children (and I'd like a little more about how Sophie and Aiden worked things out after their split) and there's a lot left to Mickey's story.

Good Job!

Thanks, Sharon!

I gave Mickey my blood-aversion. When we were in law school, George cut his hand badly -- he was trying to cut off the small section of the enormous Uniform Commerical Code that we were using in class, so that he didn't have to haul around the big book -- and ended up putting the knife through his hand. When he showed me the injury, I fainted (the only time in my life I've ever done that).

Whenever I muse that I should have gone to medical school, George always reminds me about that.

[Scout]

Originally Posted by TraceyM

I finished the book this weekend and loved it! I was wondering what made you decide to write it as, basically, 3 interconnected short stories? Either of the sisters' stories would have made an excellent book on its own, IMHO, especially Paige, so I'm curious what made you decide to go with that format, instead of focusing on one sister and having the other 2 be sideline characters.
And I was lol at some parts, especially in Sophie's story. Did you get any of that from SN? When is your next one coming out?

Thanks Tracy!

I originally planned a book about two sisters -- Paige and Sophie -- and how each envied the other for what she had. But then I started to get a sour feeling about it . . . I didn't like having Paige, who was so strong and yet so shut off from her feelings, mooning around because she wanted to get married. It just didn't seem like a Paige thing to do. So then I thought that the two of them needed someone to balance them out . . . which is how Mickey was concieved.

I originally started to write the book where each chapter was told from the point of view of a different sister, and quickly decided that it was too compicated to follow. So I then decided to break the book into three sections, and basically write the book as three novellas. It was actually a really fun challenge.

My fourth book, Legalese, is about a woman in her late twenties who is a first year law student at Tulane in New Orleans. It's complete and in my editor's hands, but I don't know what the release date will be. Probably August - September 2006.

[Sharn]

Originally Posted by Scout

It's complete and in my editor's hands, but I don't know what the release date will be. Probably August - September 2006.

I don't know the process so please excuse my ignorance but why does it take so long to get released?