Ask Deborah Moggach - September 18th, 2012 discussion

Welcome to the group! Deborah will be answering questions on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. In the meantime if you have a question for Deborah or just want to introduce yourself feel free to do so in this thread.

Re "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel": there are some well known actors in the movie - did you picture the characters as they are in the film? Did you have any input into the casting?

The gay high court judge is a character who does not appear in the book and other quite important figures from the book do not feature in the film at all. Do you see the book and film as essentially different animals?

Which is your favorite character in the book? I saw Evelyn as the character who drew together most of the residents of the hotel....

dear Deborah. I've read about eight of your novels and will read the others in time.Do you get annoyed at women authors being perceived as writing for women? Some of my favourite writers are women! (bernice Rubens fo example). Hope there is much more output to come from you. Best wishes, Patrick

Hello Deborah
I was delighted to receive the invitation to this (thank you Margo). I read and re-read your books so much - my favourites are Final Demand and The Stand In. I loved Tulip Fever and These Foolish Things as well, and Seesaw, and..and...! I first 'discovered' you when Final Demand was on the telly - I thought, I must read this book as it's SUCH a good story. I am always recommending it, and The Stand In, to people on here. I found Final Demand on an old video tape a couple of weeks ago and watched it all again - it was so perfectly cast. I also loved Marigold Hotel, of course.

Can I ask more than one question? Can they be about things other than Marigold Hotel? If so:

Do you have a favourite out of your books? Did you particularly enjoy writing any of them more than the others? Are there any that you would love to see made into films/dramas (probably a silly question - answer, yes, all of them!)? The Stand In would make a marvellous BBC drama, I think! Who are your favourite authors?

I'm so much looking forward to the 18th - I leapt on this invitation! We are most honoured :)

Best regards,

Terry Tyler

Hello, I as a 15 year old reading "these foolish things" it gave me an insight to the thoughts and feelings of the older generation in Britain, which i really liked, as it is something you don't usually read, or see in a film these days!

So to my question, what gave you the idea to write about a bunch of old people? And what where the reactions when you told them that this was what you book was going to be about? :)

Thank you very much for doing this, and Thank you Margo for the invitation.

Emma, :)

Hello Deborah,
I was wondering if you ever find yourself losing faith in a new novel you are writing? If so, do you plough on and finish it to rework later, or do you stop and move onto something new?

Thank you for your time.

Kind Regards

Hemmie

Hi Deborah,

I was excited about the group. I loved the novel as well as the movie. My question also concerned the change of characters between the two. Was that something that you had to approve or did the producers or screenwriters do it? I thought it was interesting that the wife was reading "Tulip Fever" because I was reading it at the very same time!

Please continue writing, you are one of my favorites!

All my best,
Susan

Am so happy to be included here (thanks Margo), I became a great fan of yours after reading These Foolish Things and shall certainly read your other novels next (haven't seen the film yet but plan to!)

Not to repeat the questions that have been already put to you (and I fully support them!) could I ask how you feel about the extraordinary success of TFT that has led to the Marigold film (equally successful!). Did the success surprise you?

It is often thought that focusing a novel on old people is a non-starter yet you've shown (brilliantly!) that this is not so. A few other writers are into this thing about retirees and the angst and travails of "coming-of-old-age", like (among others) Louis Begley. And Hollywood is increasingly into making films catering to a senior audience, for example RED.

Would you agree that the publishing world has been slow in catching on that there's a whole new audience out there of retiring Baby Boomers (more than 80 million in the US alone over the next few years - not to mention Europe, Japan and China, all rapidly aging...)

I would like to suggest that novels that cater to this audience should be called BB novels (just like YA novels are for young adults). What do you think of the idea? It would be a new genre and one that your book has started with a bang!

PS. To be honest, I won't hide from you that I've just published a BB novel...

Thank you for the invite Margo.

Thank you for sharing your creativity Ms. Moggach!
I saw the movie first and enjoyed it immensely. I had to track down the book and was very happy I did!

My question(s) are similar to Jennifer, Susan and Emma's.

I assume that changes made from a book to movie are made so that the essence of a story will fit in a visual format. I think this transition was done well with "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel". I always find these changes fascinating and wonder how you, as the author, are able to do this after 'the baby is born'?...so to speak.

Sincerely,
Maureen

I bought the Marigold book on impulse when I saw some of my favourite actors on the cover. After enjoying the read, I plan to see the movie. I also enjoyed reading Tulip Fever. It is however rather difficult to find any of your other novels in the States. Will more of them be released here in the near future?

Jennifer wrote: "Re "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel": there are some well known actors in the movie - did you picture the characters as they are in the film? Did you have any input into the casting?"

Jennifer wrote: "Re "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel": there are some well known actors in the movie - did you picture the characters as they are in the film? Did you have any input into the casting?"Hi Jennifer, I did rather hope Judi Dench would be in it - who wouldn't? but I didn't picture the others. However I was thrilled, needless to say, when I saw the calibre of the cast!

Margo wrote: "Welcome to the group! Deborah will be answering questions on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. In the meantime if you have a question for Deborah or just want to introduce yourself feel free to do so in..."

Gillian wrote: "The gay high court judge is a character who does not appear in the book and other quite important figures from the book do not feature in the film at all. Do you see the book and film as essentiall..."
Hi Gillian, I know - Dorothy, in the book, has disappeared completely and the other characters are hugely changed, and new ones introduced. I'm afraid that's just what happens, frequently, when books are turned into films. at least they're both so different people can have a different experience reading each of them,..

Jackie wrote: "Which is your favorite character in the book? I saw Evelyn as the character who drew together most of the residents of the hotel...."
Hi Jackie, actually I DO feel very fond of Evelyn. But I also have a soft spot, hard though it's to believe, for Norman. He's so ghastly! And actually I'm fond of everybody I write...

Patrick wrote: "dear Deborah. I've read about eight of your novels and will read the others in time.Do you get annoyed at women authors being perceived as writing for women? Some of my favourite writers are women!..."
Thanks for that, Patrick! so glad. Yes I do get annoyed at the "women writers" label, I hope that men read my books as much a women do. After all , many of them have male heroes. I really don't see any difference in what sort of books each sex writes, many men write "domestic" novels and visa versa.

Terry wrote: "Hello Deborah
I was delighted to receive the invitation to this (thank you Margo). I read and re-read your books so much - my favourites are Final Demand and The Stand In. I loved Tulip Fever and ..."
What a lovely email, Terry, I'm so glad you've enjoyed so many of my books. Actually I'm fond of them all, in different ways, though I'm particularly fond of "These Foolish Things" so was pretty thrilled when it was made into the Best Exotic film. Agree about The Stand-In. it was once going to be made into a big hollywood movie and I went out there to write the script but it all came to nothing, I'm afraid. And, thinking about it, I've hugely enjoyed writing my latest, Heartbreak Hotel, because it's funny and made me laugh when I was writing it...just correcting the proofs now.

Margo wrote: "Welcome to the group! Deborah will be answering questions on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. In the meantime if you have a question for Deborah or just want to introduce yourself feel free to do so in..."
Thanks Margo for doing this - I'm having a lot of fun replying to them, sitting at the window with a gorgeous sunset (it's early evening here of course...) all best wishes Deborah

Emma wrote: "Hello, I as a 15 year old reading "these foolish things" it gave me an insight to the thoughts and feelings of the older generation in Britain, which i really liked, as it is something you don't us..."
Dear Emma, thanks so much for your question. I really wanted to write about older people because I'm now 64 (don't feel it, needless to say) and feel a touch of mortality. Also I wanted to write a book where all the characters happen to be old, but are very different people and not just defined by their age. I also wanted to show that you're as young as you feel - if you're up for life and new experiences they will happen, and your life can change dramatically, and for the better. I'm an optimist!

Hemmie wrote: "Hello Deborah,
I was wondering if you ever find yourself losing faith in a new novel you are writing? If so, do you plough on and finish it to rework later, or do you stop and move onto something n..."
Dear Hemmie, that's a good question. I've never actually given up, though of course had a crisis of confidence or felt I've lost the characters' voices. What I HAVE given up on are stage plays, I've started several and they've all collapsed. I don't seem to be able to manoevre people on and off a stage. But I would advise a break, and then coming back to a novel, if you've got jammed. You're in good company - Richard Ford started his latest novel 20 years ago, apparently, and gave it up for decades.

Susie wrote: "Hi Deborah,

I was excited about the group. I loved the novel as well as the movie. My question also concerned the change of characters between the two. Was that something that you had to approv..."
Dear Susan, thank you so much for your email - glad you spotted the joke of the wife reading Tulip Fever, they apparently put it in for me. And no, I didn't really have much influence over the movie. I did write a script but they got somebody else to re-write it and from then on I didn't have much to do with the production, though I did go to India for a week to watch the filming which was heaven.

Claude wrote: "Am so happy to be included here (thanks Margo), I became a great fan of yours after reading These Foolish Things and shall certainly read your other novels next (haven't seen the film yet but plan ..."
Dear Claude, I do agree - there's not nearly enough stuff out there for us BBs, and the film has certainly helped that - much to everybody's surprise (We could have told them of the vast appetite for it couldn't we?). After all, we have time to read/go to the movies (even during the week and in the afternoons which makes cinemas love us), but more importantly I do feel that BBs' experience of ageing is rather different, in a changing world, than that of past generations. For a start, we're fitter - sixty being the new forty and so on. And we've grown up in the hippy era which had profoundly influenced us. At 64, I certainly DON'T feel old, though it does draw me up short when I catch sight of myself in the mirror. There's going to be lots and lots more books and films for us lot, and I hope yours will be one of them, good luck!

Maureen wrote: "Thank you for the invite Margo.

Thank you for sharing your creativity Ms. Moggach!
I saw the movie first and enjoyed it immensely. I had to track down the book and was very happy I did!

My ques..."
Hi Maureen, I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. It is a huge leap from book to film and all sorts of things seem to get changed - for better or worse. Having adapted my own books in the past I've "dismembered my own baby" just because the interior life of a novel can't always be translated into the conflict/narrative-driven world of a screenplay. Having said that, I suspect that sometimes these changes are simply driven by a screenwriter's ego or various producers' desire to put their pawprint on a project. This has happened to me in the past, with a couple of novels, though in the case of the Best Exotic the result has pleased so many people I'm quite happy - and with that cast what could go wrong?

Max wrote: "I bought the Marigold book on impulse when I saw some of my favourite actors on the cover. After enjoying the read, I plan to see the movie. I also enjoyed reading Tulip Fever. It is however rat..."
Hi Max, I'm afraid that few of my books have crossed the Atlantic. Hopefully, after the success of this one, some earlier ones might be reprinted in the USA, and there's a bit of interest in my forthcming one Heartbreak Hotel (out in UK next spring). Thanks for your email!

Hi there :)
I was wondering a couple of things, which character in There Foolish Things did you enjoy/find it easiest to write for? And what was the inspiration behind the book; did you think of the setting or people first?

Hello Deborah, technical question this time. When writing one of your novels, roughly how much of your writing time is spent between telling the story, and then the act of refining the draft and teasing out different strands of the plot and polishing off sentences to finish it off?

Lee wrote: "Hi there :)
I was wondering a couple of things, which character in There Foolish Things did you enjoy/find it easiest to write for? And what was the inspiration behind the book; did you think of t..."
Hi Lee , thanks for your email....I think Norman came easiest, just because he was so awful. I had a lot of fun writing him.
And actually I thought of the setting first - not India, but the general situation of what's going to happen to us all when we get older, who's going to pay for our care etc. Then I thought of the characters.

Carl wrote: "Hello Deborah, technical question this time. When writing one of your novels, roughly how much of your writing time is spent between telling the story, and then the act of refining the draft and te..."
Hi Carl, well I usually do two or three drafts. Teasing out the plot really happens in the first draft, that's settled by then, and the next passes are spent polishing and refining - which, to tell the truth, never ends, I could still be doing a novel today because there is always room for improvement. But one has to say enough is enough at some point!

Deborah wrote: " For a start, we're fitter - sixty being the new forty and so on. And we've grown up in the hippy era which had profoundly influenced us. At 64, I certainly DON'T feel old, though it does draw me up short when I catch sight of myself in the mirror. There's going to be lots and lots more books and films for us lot, and I hope yours will be one of them, good luck!"

Demography is on our side, Deborah: in 2012, for the first time there are 100 million Americans over 50 and every year 3.5 million baby boomers reach retirement! So this is a HUGE and fast EXPANDING market and it really should come as no surprise that your book and the film achieved such a resounding success! Are you planning to write more BB novels in future? Or have you got one up your sleeve ready to be published? And a quick PS: I too am shocked when I see myself in the mirror, I still feel just the same inside today as I did 40 years ago!