Suzanne’s Comments (group member since Feb 10, 2014)

Suzanne’s comments from the Ask Suzanne Rindell - Thursday, March 6th! group.

Anita wrote: "Hi Suzanne, I read The Other Typist last summer with a twitter book club group. We all loved the book and were blown away by it's ending! I'm curious what you're working on now. I'm excited I'll be..."

Dear Anita,

I just wanted to write and say I was so disappointed I didn't make it to Vero Beach! I cannot not tell you how bummed I was. They had me scheduled to take four planes in one day... and at 1:30am in the morning US Airways announced my last flight -- the one that was supposed to take me to Melbourne, FL -- was not going to happen due to mechanical issues, and promptly bused us to an airport hotel in Charlotte, NC. The next flight didn't get into Melbourne until well past noon, and it was full. I was very devastated (not to mention exhausted and grouchy). In any case, I was very very sorry to have missed out on meeting with your literary society.

Regretfully,
Suzanne

Anita wrote: "Suzanne, I've loved your answers and I believe I appreciate more the ending to The Other Typist! I'm going to re-read it and try to re-live that feeling I had when I was sitting here saying to myse..."

Hi Anita -- I'm not sure about the screen adaptation. Right now the status is "in development," and it depends on how things come together. Thanks again for your questions!

Monica wrote: "After reading your response to what you are working on now which is focused on the 1950s, I am definitely excited about this! I love works of fiction set in the 20th century. Is there a particular ..."

Good question. I'm not really sure! I know I wrote The Other Typist in part because I'd repeatedly fallen in love with The Great Gatsby during different intervals in my life, first as a teenager and then again as an adult while teaching it to undergrads. And I know I started this second book because I'd been in a phase where I was re-reading and re-loving certain authors of the 1950s, including Salinger, Baldwin, Didion, Capote, etc. Sometimes writing a book is an act of writing a prolonged love letter to your favorite novels. At least, that's how it is for me.

Debbie wrote: "Could you PLEASE tell us what actually happened in the end? Or what you think happened? I LOVE strange and eerie endings, but not ambiguous ones. I know I'll get slammed for this but I think that i..."

Hi again, hmm, that troublesome issue of ambiguity. Here's what I wrote to a previous question in this thread:

I think the ambiguity is actually part of the point. I was playing around with ideas of "truth." Rose was interesting to me because she works as a typist in a police precinct and is responsible for transcribing reports with accuracy, yet she has a very distorted perspective in how she sees life. She latches onto Odalie, who is an obvious liar, but the more we hear Rose talk, the more we realize *she* may be the biggest liar of all. Her obsessive nature was intended to make the reader question exactly how well she knew Odalie, and how much she had simply gotten lost in her own fantasies/delusions. Spelling out where that line is drawn kind of defeats the point.
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So... I hope this defense of ambiguity is not dissatisfying to you! I really do think it's part of the book I was trying to write. Keep in mind I was in graduate school when I wrote this book, and in a lot of ways, was using creative writing to explore my thoughts about the subjective relativity of "truth." So maybe there's a little bit of meta discussion in there, which would interest some readers but understandably other readers not all.

If it helps, I get the vague sense that the people I spoke to at Fox Searchlight were leaning towards a more clear version of the ending you mention, so... it'll be interesting to see!

Either way, as a writer I appreciate your reaction to the ending, and the book in general.

Samantha wrote: "Hi Suzanne! I loved The Other Typist, and it's definitely one of the most thought provoking novels I've ever read. I was just wondering, I know you won't tell the readers exactly what the ambiguous..."

Hi Samantha, I talked to the people at Fox Searchlight and told them what I was thinking when I wrote the book, but they have license to play up whichever angle interests them most. So Odalie may turn out to be a diabolical con artist in their version, or it may turn out that Rose made her up entirely and is the true perpetrator of all the chaos in the narrative. I'm actually in the odd position of being curious about it myself! I'm happy with whatever they decide; I think when a book becomes a movie it sort of needs to be reborn, in that needs to be treated as a fresh story instead of trying to remain slavish to the book. We'll see!

Anita wrote: "Hi Suzanne, I read The Other Typist last summer with a twitter book club group. We all loved the book and were blown away by it's ending! I'm curious what you're working on now. I'm excited I'll be..."

I need to get on twitter -- I didn't even know you could have a twitter book club group! How fun.

Currently I'm working on a second book. It's set in the 1950's and revolves around the publishing industry and the beatnik scene.

Looking forward to meeting you in Vero Beach, Anita!

Elizabeth wrote: "Hello, Suzannne! My name is Elizabeth, and I found The Other Typist to be an absorbing story.
In your Q&A with Redbook you spoke of the writing process of The Other Typist as a passive process, ..."

Hi Elizabeth, it's definitely scarier writing your second book, versus writing your first. More critics, more to lose, etc... But if you love writing, you just kind of know it's something you're going to do regardless. Re your other question, yes, I think it still feels like "channeling" a voice. As a writer, I just get into the zone and listen, and hope something good or interesting will come out. Currently, my second book is also written in a first person voice, so the process has been the same. Although, I will say, Rose was a very fussy narrator and my new narrators cut to the chase a little more directly, and that's been nice.

Catherine wrote: "I loved this book! I felt immersed in the time period in which it was set, and I so enjoyed being there. Of course, I, too, was not sure what happened at the end. I would love for Suzanne to te..."

Hi Catherine! Goodness... I've had so many requests to clear up the ambiguity of the ending! But yes, to answer your question, I think the ambiguity is actually part of the point. I was playing around with ideas of "truth." Rose was interesting to me because she works as a typist in a police precinct and is responsible for transcribing reports with accuracy, yet she has a very distorted perspective in how she sees life. She latches onto Odalie, who is an obvious liar, but the more we hear Rose talk, the more we realize *she* may be the biggest liar of all. Her obsessive nature was intended to make the reader question exactly how well she knew Odalie, and how much she had simply gotten lost in her own fantasies/delusions. Spelling out where that line is drawn kind of defeats the point.

At the same time, I hope I haven't let any readers down by letting the ambiguity stand!

Karen wrote: "I loved this book. My question would be whether Rose chose Odalie or Odalie chose Rose (whether or not they are in fact the same person). Which of the background information was true, if any? Ke..."

That's a great question! I guess some of the answer depends a bit on what you think happened at the end of the book. I will say that, in my mind, Odalie was the kind of character who had an instinctive sense of people's weaknesses, and she understands Rose's weakness is her profound loneliness. On the other hand, Rose definitely picks Odalie to be her object of obsession. As I wrote the book, I realized that even I -- Rose's "creator" -- didn't believe the things Rose was saying, and that there were times when she was projecting onto Odalie, and "inventing" Odalie in a sense.

Re their backstories, I felt that Odalie was very clearly always making her backstory up, but that Rose's backstory is equally questionable. What interested me about Rose was how she convinced herself of her own lies.

Irene wrote: "The Other Typist was one of my top favorite books I read last fall. I have recommended it to all my friends and will be read this spring by my book club! When is your next book? Can't wait to see w..."

Hi Irene! I'm so happy you liked The Other Typist -- thank you! Re your other question, I just wrote this response to another reader:

I'm currently working on a second novel. It's set in the 1950's and the characters run around the beatnik scene and the publishing world in NYC. I just turned a draft of it into my editor but it probably won't come out until next year at the earliest. Thanks so much for your interest!

Monica wrote: "I'm always interested in the process of a favorite writer's book… how did the idea for "The Other Typist" come about? Was it something that unfolded or did you have a set idea in your head from the..."

Hi Monica! I just answered this for another reader. I wrote:

I got the idea for the book while working on my dissertation, which was supposed to be an academic project focusing on literature & culture of the 1920’s. While doing research, I came upon an obituary of a woman who had worked as a typist in a police precinct during Prohibition, and my imagination took off from there! I started hearing Rose’s narration in my head and decided to write it down. I got a bit derailed from the academic project and found myself working on a creative one instead.

Stacey wrote: "I work in a bookstore, and your book was recommended to me by one of my regular customers. Loved it! Just hoping that all the hoopla generated by your book will allow the ambiguity of the ending to..."

Thanks, Stacey! It's very heartening that you feel that way about the ambiguity of the ending.

I'm actually very interested in what Hollywood will do with the ending, as obviously the screenwriter and director are free to make different choices, so who knows what could happen. I wouldn't mind if they spelled some things out (or not), but I hope whatever they do, they make the ending surprising to the viewer!

Megan wrote: "I absolutely loved your book, I thought it was a very strong debut. I have two questions, what are you working on now, and will it be out soon (please say yes!)? Also, as many have stated, the endi..."

Hi Megan, I'm currently working on a second novel. It's set in the 1950's and the characters run around the beatnik scene and the publishing world in NYC. I just turned a draft of it into my editor but it probably won't come out until next year at the earliest. Thanks so much for your interest!

Re your question about the ending -- this one keeps popping up on this thread! Answering it is tricky... I've posted a few answers though that will hopefully help.

Lili wrote: "Loved the book but what I wonder made you choose an ending that has confused everyone including me?"

Hi Lili, I definitely didn't mean to confuse everyone! As I wrote the book, I got to know my narrator better and better, and I realized how unreliable Rose was. The ending seemed a logical conclusion to me as her obsession with Odalie played out. As for the details of who perpetrated which crime, I know how I imagined that when I wrote it, but I've heard plenty of readers explain their own interpretations that I feel are totally legit, too, and I tend to refrain from disclosing too much so as not to rob anyone of their own version of what happened. I believe reading is a collaborative experience between the writer and the reader.

Kristy wrote: "I loved loved loved this book and I tell everyone to read it however I cannot process the ending. Frankly I debate it with everyone. What really happened in the end?"

Hi Kristy, I've been trying to answer some of the other readers' questions on this very topic. Here's what I posted as one of the answers:

It's tricky -- I know what I was thinking when I wrote it but I'm reluctant to spell it out and ruin other readers' interpretations. In my mind, there was an "other typist" named Odalie, but our ability to know exactly who she is and the nature of her actions is distorted by Rose's obsessive mind. And yes, I do think Rose is starting to suffer from a dissociative disorder, but to what extent I won't say. Rose spends a lot of time and energy claiming a higher moral ground and repeatedly outlining the differences between the two of them, but the more I wrote the more I realized she was lying to herself. I won't say who committed what, but I will say it was important to me that Rose was faced with a moment of realizing her idea of herself has completely eroded away and she's no different than Odalie.

I don't know if this'll do it for you, but I'm very reluctant to get more specific, in part because I've had readers come up to me and explain their own interpretations... and there have been some really great ones! I don't want to rob anyone of that, and I firmly believe any given book is only really 50% the writer's baby. The other half belongs to the reader.

Laona wrote: "Hi Suzanne,
I am a librarian and happen to be leading a book discussion group tonight on your book. I know everyone is confused about the ending. I am sure we will have a lively debate, but the mai..."

Hi Laona, I hope I can answer this one to your satisfaction! It's tricky -- I know what I was thinking when I wrote it but I'm reluctant to spell it out and ruin other readers' interpretations. In my mind, there was an "other typist" named Odalie, but our ability to know exactly who she is and the nature of her actions is distorted by Rose's obsessive mind. And yes, I do think Rose is starting to suffer from a dissociative disorder, but to what extent I won't say. Rose spends a lot of time and energy claiming a higher moral ground and repeatedly outlining the differences between the two of them, but the more I wrote the more I realized she was lying to herself. I won't say who committed what, but I will say it was important to me that Rose was faced with a moment of realizing her idea of herself has completely eroded away and she's no different than Odalie.

Lisa wrote: "Hi Suzanne! I really and truly enjoyed reading The Other Typist, it was not something I would have normally read but I am glad I took a chance. I'm also so happy to hear there is going to be a movi..."

Hi Lisa! I responded to a similar question earlier, and wrote the following:

I got the idea for the book while working on my dissertation, which was supposed to be an academic project focusing on literature & culture of the 1920’s. While doing research, I came upon an obituary of a woman who had worked as a typist in a police precinct during Prohibition, and my imagination took off from there! I started hearing Rose’s narration in my head and decided to write it down. I got a bit derailed from the academic project and found myself working on a creative one instead.

Elise wrote: "Hi Suzanne, really enjoyed The Other Typist and am looking forward to seeing the screen adaptation - I was wondering how much of a role you will have in its writing/production?"

Fox Searchlight shared the names of some of the screenwriters and casting choices they're considering, but other than that, the ball is pretty much all in their court going forward. I'm fascinated how these things come together -- so different from print publishing -- and am simply happy to be a fly on the wall at this point.

Marilyn wrote: "I enjoyed this book on CD. Did you listen to the reading of the book before it was marketed to make certain the reader conveyed "your" ending or do you believe people read/listen with their own vo..."

Hi Marilyn, Penguin put together the audio version, and they told me Gretchen Mol would be reading, which I was happy about and thought was a good fit. The funny thing about audio books is that it can be a bit mind-boggling to hear someone so professional read your words. It can be flattering but at the same time make you very shy to get up and speak at your own reading! As far as how it determines various interpretations, I like to think a story is always a collaborative experience between the writer and the reader -- and in this case, listener, too -- so I'm happy to embrace multiple interpretations.

Lorraine wrote: "I also enjoyed the book very much - until I got to the ending. I appreciate an ambiguous or twist ending, but couldn't figure out any scenario that made sense. Will we have to wait for the screen a..."

Hi Lorraine! Hopefully some of what I wrote in response to the questions about who's-who between Rose and Odalie will help. Odalie was a real person to some extent, but the way it worked out in my mind had a lot to do with how much Rose was lying, both to herself as well as to the reader.

But I'm super intrigued to find out what choices the screenwriter and director will make, and whether they'll have imagined the ending to mean something different than I did!