Author Interview: Thorina Rose (The Heartbreak Diet)
An Interview with Thorina Rose
author of The Heartbreak Diet, reviewed 7/8/2008
About a month ago, I reviewed a new graphic novel called The Heartbreak Diet. I have since had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the author and ask her a few questions. Here’s what Thorina Rose had to say about the translations of her experiences into pages in a book:
Q. So The Heartbreak Diet is the autobiographical story of your marriage and divorce after you discovered your husband having an affair. What drove you to share your story with the world?
During the period when my marriage went pear-shaped (love that expression from across the pond) I would routinely share (probably over-share) not just the sad, but the funny details of my drama with my friends. During one of these marathon sessions, my friend Michael laughingly said to me, "You should write a graphic novel". The proverbial light bulb went off, and in every way the project seemed inspired. As for revealing all, in part I hoped to provide some solace and humor for other women going through a similar misadventure. I learned a lot from my experience, and felt that, despite the pain, it had made me grow. Another more personal reason was as a way to combat the humiliation of being left for another woman. My ex. had, in his stated reasons for leaving, made comments such as, "You used to be creative. You're not creative anymore". The book is my response to that: "How's this for creative, buster?"
Q. What inspired you to utilize a graphic novel format instead of the more "traditional" full-text novel?
The answer to this question is a confluence of a couple different factors. First of all, I think that my talents as a writer would be insufficient to carry a traditional prose book. Secondly, I have been an illustrator for many years, and it felt more natural to attempt a graphic novel, as I am essentially a visual person. Also given the vastness of book market (someone recently told me there are 200,000 books published a year!) I felt that my book would be more original, and have a slightly better chance of standing out from the crowd, if it were a graphic novel.
Q. You've illustrated some other books - Lover's Yoga, Animalogies, Office Kama Sutra - but always with another author. How did writing your first novel compare to your previous experiences? Did the lack of collaboration change your approach?
In those earlier projects, I never collaborated with the author directly, as I was in each case, given a finished, edited text to work from. I worked quite closely with the art directors, who were in contact with the editors. I believe quite often, the author relinquishes control of the visuals, and lets the publisher create the "package". Of the aforementioned books, I particularly enjoyed illustrating the hilarious (and saucey) text of the Office Kama Sutra, but it wasn't until after the book was finished that I became friendly with the author Julianne Balmain. As much as I love illustrating other peoples' books, there is nothing quite like putting your own story out in the world! First of all, when you are just doing the visuals, the illustration part is more the icing on the cake. Writing a book means starting from a blank canvas. I had to sort through 2 years (or 20 years in a sense) of my life and decide how to weave various vignettes together into an entertaining narration. Also, the level of dedication that I feel as an author as opposed to just being the illustrator is a completely different experience. I am quite invested in trying to make this book as successful as possible, and that commitment is from start to finish. I was very fortunate to receive a high degree of autonomy and artistic freedom from my wonderful editor, Steve Mockus, at Chronicle Books. He allowed me the space to figure out myself how to craft the work, and he was supportive every step of the way. I don't think people realize how dedicated a good editor is. Steve answered emails at all times of the night, and always had a positive word for me when I was feeling stressed. Most importantly, he never intruded on the creative process. He let me create a work that is completely authentic as my self-expression.
Q. What was your favorite panel or scene in The Heartbreak Diet? What was the hardest or most emotionally difficult scene for you?
For some reason, I really like the panels about poor Henry, our adopted Jack Russell terrier. My kids enjoy seeing themselves in this adventure, so perhaps that's one of the reasons I like this part. I also love all the scenes where "X" provides the comic relief all by himself. In fact, I was really lucky he gave me such great material. I never actually had to dish him per se, because I let him skew himself in his own words. The hardest scene for me to write is the one in which we have to tell the kids that w were no longer going to be a family. It's still a hard place to be for me. I loved family life.
Q. Throughout the book there are quotes from famous women ranging from Coco Chanel to Gloria Steinem. How and why did you choose the women you included?
I orginally wanted to put the quote that goes something like this, "At a certain age, a woman must choose between her face and her ass." It's been attributed to both Coco Chanel, and Catherine Deneuve, Unfortunately, I could never find a verification of who actually said those words. By that point I had decided to pepper the book with the "Wise Women". During various stages of the heartbreak, I had been collecting quotes, and poems and found them really really helpful. I thought other women might find these words comforting as well. It's easy enough to look through quote sites on the internet. My criteria was finding a great line that is paired with a woman who would be fun to draw (Dolly Parton!) and is also a well-known public figure. One quote that I couldn't fit in the book comes from Helen Keller, and goes something like this: "Sometimes you spend so much time staring at the closed door, that you don't realize that another door has opened behind you." That's a good one to remind you to look forward and not dwell on unhappiness.
Q. Any hints about future projects you'd like to share with the readers?
If I am lucky enough to get a grant from the National Science Foundation (they have an artists and writers grant) I will go to Antarctica to do a project about climate change, and about what it's like living in a remote place with a bunch of scientists. I would hope to either publish this work (tentatively called "Letter from Palmer Station") as a slim book, or perhaps serialized: the NY Times Funny Pages would be ideal. I also have an idea to create a work dealing with the disappearance of my father who was a reporter for Time Magazine, and who was killed in Vietnam. This project will be emotionally difficult-- and I don't know if I'll be able to dredge any humor out of this as I did with "The Heartbreak Diet".
Q. Is there anything you've read lately you'd like to recommend, or some all-time favorite books?
I just finished reading "The Gathering" by Anne Enright. She won the Man/Booker for this book in 2007. She's a brilliant writer with an unusual use of syntax. I also just read "Beautiful Boy" by David Sheff. For me, as the mother of an almost 13 year old, it's a scary, cautionary tale of his son's journey into drug addiction. Currently I'm zooming through "The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. I am loving it! Other then that there's always the New Yorker.
Q. Do you feel that your relationship difficulties stifled your creativity in some way? I've had a couple of bad relationships, and with both of them, my creativity suffered. It's been very liberating to get those creative juices back full-force now that I'm single and happy. Kudos to you for the creative payback. - Ruth, Bookishruth.com
That's a great question. Indeed, I now know that I was suffering from a low level depression before my marriage went kaput. It wasn't 100% the relationship to blame. I was sleep deprived for years-- as babies, my boys didn't sleep through the night till each were almost 2, and you can't underestimate how that impacts mood and creativity! That said, it was difficult to be married to a person like "X" who is basically a narcissist. I don't think anyone can "flower" and maintain a sense of self when trying to hold a relationship together with a person who really only can think about himself.
Thank you so much, Thorina!
Be sure to check out The Heartbreak Diet at your favorite book stop. To read the original review, click here.
Thorina's Website: http://www.thorinarose.com/