Ask Gillian Flynn and Megan Abbott discussion

Welcome to the group! Gillian and Megan will be answering questions on Tuesday, August 14, 2012. In the meantime if you have a question for Gillian or Megan or just want to introduce yourself feel free to do so in this thread.

HI! My name is Onikah. Gone girl was my first read by gillian flynn and it was wonderful. I enjoyed the last sentence in most chapters that made me positive that everything i thought was true was false.

My question: I understand the purpose I think behind ending the story as you did. However I felt it was not as down in flames perhaps? As it could have been. Why did you choose a more suttle ending?

Hello! Dawn from MN. :)

I just finished "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, and am excited to start reading "Dare Me" by Megan Abbott.

My question regards a character in "Gone Girl" but I would love to hear a response from both authors.

I have been extremely fascinated by people with "anti-social personality disorder" or "sociopathy", "Psychopathy" , or perhaps extreme "Narcissistic Personality Disorder" (depending on the context, and the people discussing it) ever since I realized that I had extremely close experiences with two different individuals that would very likely fit the definition of someone "without a conscience" or "lack of empathy", and would fit into one of the multiple forms of antisocial personalties.

One of the characters in "Gone Girl" strikes me as having anti-social personality disorder.

My question: Have you studied abnormal psychology and written characters to fit the pre-defined set of diagnostic characteristics that certain personalities contain, or did you just write "from the heart" and "imagination", with resulting characters that could potentially be diagnosed with a personality disorder by a professional? Or maybe a process that was a combination of both techniques?

Either way, I was very interested in the multiple clues that could be identified in "Gone Girl" as fitting a person on the spectrum of anti-social personality disorders, and was curious as to how intentional that may have been.

Thank you both so much for sharing your gift of story telling with the public. ;)

Hi, I'm Bob from Spokane,WA.

I read "Gone Girl" a few weeks ago and thought it was great! It was dark, twisted, and clever, like nothing I've read before, a very good read. I'm currently reading "Sharp Objects", I will follow up soon after with "Dark Places"

My question for Gillian concerns her time writing for "Entertainment Weekly", I'm an avid reader and subscriber of EW, which is actually where I first learned about "Gone Girl". Did you enjoy your time there, and how long did you work there? Also, was the reason you left EW to start writing novels, and did working in the magazine industry help you as a writer of novels?

Gone girl is one of my favorite books- and Gillian is one of my favorite authors. I was blessed with the opportunity to meet her when she visited the Seattle Mystery Bookstore a few years ago. I am reading Dare me right now.

My question for both authors: Do you know the ending before you write your books? Do the endings change as you write the book? I'm just curious how much is pre-planned and how much is created as you write.

I loved this book. Kept me on the edge of my seat. But I too was disappointed in the ending. I will try another one of Gillian Flynn's books though. She's an awesome writer!!

I had to slow down to read this Gone Girl because I could not digest it all quickly. I have to admit I felt duped. I can't remember reading another book in which the main character lies in the first person to the reader! My question would be about character development and the "slow reveal", which is another way of asking how you do what you do!

I loved Gone Girl. Gillian, I felt like the ending was saying that they stayed married in a highly disfunctional way, each pretending to be happy. I'm wondering - is this a comment on marriage in general? To stay married it seems like people do have to do a lot for the other person and compromise a ton, and to some that might seem fake. I finished the book a few days ago, as these questions have just begun to occur to me. I'm still thinking about the book! I didn't want it to end. :)

Gone Girl was great. I've been recommending it to everyone. Especially those poor souls still reading "Shades of Grey" (awful book)

Wondering, with Reese Witherspoon buying the movie rights, how do you feel about her playing Amy? Or would you select someone else? Who do you want to play Nick?

Dare we hope for the sequel - GONE BOY - in which Nick escapes with their child? ;)

First off, I so enjoyed Gone Girl. Jezebel (the website) chose it as its first book club reading, so that is how I was introduced to it, and I'm so glad I was. It was a thrill from the get-go.

I loved the noir style of narration- I felt it was at its strongest in the first half of the book, for Nick's character. Was that purposeful or did it arise more organically as you wrote for his character?

I also enjoyed Amy's exploration of the Cool Girl personification (and the various other forms of 'Girl' that she adopted to become what others wanted her to be, or what she thought they wanted). With the title of the book being "Gone Girl", then, was that a nod to Amy's pathological tendency to go to extremes to redefine herself? Was becoming the Gone Girl the ultimate in self-reinvention for Amy; becoming the girl that everyone in the country adored, rooted for, deified?

I have just finished Gone Girl and Dare Me is definitely on my list. To the group moderator, will questions and conversations be split by book? I don't want to read something about Dare Me before I get a chance to read it.

My question is for Gillian - when writing, did you always know that Amy & Nick would stay together? Do you plan to bring the characters back into a future novel? It feels like so much of the story is still unwritten.

After Gone Girl I had to read Dark Places and Sharp Objects. My question for Gillian is actually about Sharp Objects. Do you know of a person that is like Camille in the way she treated her body (trying not to give anything away for people that have not read it)? Is there one person out there that you know has gone to that extreme? Can't wait for your fourth!

Wow, what a ride! Those dark, manipulative, rather sinister characters are, much like snakes, attractive and repulsive at the same time. I liked the ending! Left me imagining so much more poor Nick is bound to endure. Will we find out? Is there maybe a sequel? We know this woman cannot be allowed to raise a child...and Nick knows that too!

Sara wrote: "Dare we hope for the sequel - GONE BOY - in which Nick escapes with their child? ;)"

LOL, love it!

Hi, I'm Zuzana, and I have praise and a question for Gillian Flynn.

I really liked Gone Girl too. The characters are fascinating and the story enthralling - could not put it down! The mystery aspect is intricate and satisfying (Amy is a true criminal genius) and the emotional roller coaster is intense.

My RL book club read it last month and had very mixed reviews. Mainly people said they "didn't like" the ending. When I pressed about why and what they meant, I found that, in fact, they had a similar reaction to mine: anger at Nick for not finding a way out and a sense of wanting to see what happens next. (Now that's reader engagement!)

How do you reconcile for yourself this dichotomy of writing a superb non-happy ending and having people say "It can't end like that!"?

(I just had someone say that to me after reading a short story I wrote, and I felt a strange mixture of guilt, glee, and schadenfreud, hee hee!)

After reading Sharp Objects and Dark Places (I actually had a bad dream one night when that book was on my night stand!) I had high hopes for Gone Girl, and I wasn't disappointed!

My question: the setting of the book is obviously important, as it was in Sharp Objects and Dark Places. All three books seem to show the more sinister side of small town life. I'd like to know what comes first, the idea for the story or the location?

For Gillian: Do you write your first draft on Scrivener? Gone Girl had such a complicated timeline--to write, not to follow/read--that I couldn't help but wonder if you wrote it out on Scrivener first to keep it all in order.

Hi, my name is Scott. I first read Sharp Objects and Dark Places which I completely enjoyed. Gone Girl (WOW!!) was absolutely fabulous! It was so twisted and it kept me pondering long after I finished it. I couldn't put the book down. My question is who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to them?

Hello, I'm Andrew from Georgia.
Thriller/mystery type books are not my typical read, but a friend loaned me the book and told me that I would like it anyway. He was right, I could hardly put it down! This will not be the only Gillian Flynn book I read.
My question is one that I feel sure you have fielded a million times, but does this story draw from any of your personal relationships? The revenge exacted in this story was done so at a depth I think few could imagine, and while I have to admit I have dreamed up some elaborate "pay back schemes", I now feel like an novice!

I read Gone Girl and loved it so much, I immediately read Dark Places. I loved that one even more & can't wait to start Sharp Objects!

I was curious if the murder of Libby's family borrowed anything from other murders (obviously transformed by your art)?

Also, are you generally fascinated by crime and/or broken people or do you save that primarily for your writing.

Your depiction of a sociopath (or narcissist or whatever personality disorder Amy has) is one of the "truest" I've ever read. She feels (interesting since she herself lacks true feelings) "real." Have you met people like that or do you draw from other texts or neither?

And (I know, too many questions) is Nick supposed to be "normal" or himself warped-or perhaps warped by his relationship with Amy?

I think you should write another story about how their kid turns out!

I just finished Dark Places and loved it! Of course, Gone Girl is waiting for me on my Kindle. I loved the pacing of Dark Places and how I was still surprised by the ending. Having the story unfold from different viewpoints was fantastic. What process do you use when having different narrators tell the story and keep each voice unique and genuine?

I absolutely loved Gone Girl and am a huge fan of your other books, Ms. Flynn. What I would like to know is...do you scare yourself when you are writing?

And, as some of the other people in this discussion have asked - I am curious to know what you think your book says about marriage at the end of the book.

Having read all three of your books, I stand in awe, Gillian. This book has been declared your "breakout." Did you feel as you wrote this book that it was "bigger" or more broadly appealing than the first two? How did you cope with the pressure to meet/exceed the success of the first two (brilliant) books?
Best,
Daphne

Hello both of you amazing authors. I am Dan from Buffalo Grove, IL (bookseller at Barnes & Noble). I know Gillian from Tuscan Market and Barnes & Noble book clubs - LUV her talent and she is an amazing person too. I have become a fan of Megan - reading her backlist as quickly as I can. This is more a congratulatory comment than question - You both have the ability to create such believable characters and situations and make us fall into each story, no matter how uncomfortable, and we HAVE to finish reading (often in one sitting). BRAVA!

Hi! My name is Shana, and after reading Gone Girl I quickly grouped it into "All time favorites" I have recommeded it to every reader I know. It pushed me out of my usual "chic lit" genre, and has me craving more thriller/suspense type.

My questions for you...When you write and develop your charecters how much research goes into it before you actual write. Or do you develope as you go on? Did you know how you wanted the book to end? Lastly...how did you come to the conclusion to end it the way you did?

BTW an alternet ending story would be super fun. Amy chance?

I am a freakin' huge fan of both Sharp Objects and Dark Places!! Each book has shocked--SHOCKED!!!--me. No easy task. I do, however, have one question that I've been itching to ask Gillian: Did you base the fictional town of Wind Gap based on small real-life town called Sikeston, MO? It shares many similarities with Wind Gap. I lived there for about three months...and then I moved far, far away.

This was my first Flynn novel, and I am excited to read her other two! I absolutely loved how dark Amy was and the twist of her diary. I understand that she was dark, but Nick did not seem that way up until the very end. I was wondering why you chose to end the novel the way you did, and why you chose to lead the reader on with the extra meetings with Boney when they didn't lead anywhere. Did you mean for Nick to come off as crazy in the novel and I just missed it or did you want the ending to be something that nobody expected? Was it setting up for a sequel?

For Gillian-- your protagonists are often in a very dark place, mentally. Often, their actions make them unlikable. What do you do to prepare writing these troubled characters?

I have not had a chance to read "Gone Girl" but I am hoping to purchase it soon. I have read both "Sharp Objects" and "Dark Places." My questions is more about process. Dark Places was so intense and convuluted at times that I imagine that you would have to outline a book like this. Could you briefly describe the process you go through to plot a book like this?

Gillian Flynn - you stole my heart with the incredible, extremely well-crafted stories of Dark Places and Sharp Objects. Gone Girl did not disappoint. (But Dark Place is still my favorite!) I'm am a young woman who is both a writer and a grad student studying psychology with a main academic focus on psychopathy. The spot-on accuracy of psychopathy depicted in Gone Girl blew my mind - my question is, how much research did you do into psychopathy for this novel, and what research materials did you make use of? Did you read anything by Robert Hare, etc.? Also, any advice for a writer obsessed with the psychology of the criminal-minded? How do you craft such deliciously twisted, detailed tales of the macabre? Any advice would be much appreciated - and please keep the books coming!

I loved Gone Girl and have just suggested it as our next book club read. I'm now halfway through Dark Places and will then begin Sharp Objects. Gillian Flynn is a great find! My question is this: as a writer, how do you craft the slow-reveal of facts from the characters in Gone Girl? It was mesmerizing and I applaud your deft handling of truth/fiction. Loved the skewering of the media, having been a longtime member of that group.

This is nitpicky but there was one part I couldn't get past- surely in their mini-mansion there was more than one bathroom. How did Amy get the pregnant urine by claiming the one toilet was broken and drained? There must have been another in the house to use. Everything else was so well planned and explained that for some reason this one point bugged me. But the book itself was amazing and I am a huge Gillian Flynn fan.

Hi everyone, my name is Michael, the first book I read by Flynn was Dark Places. It was very creepy, I grossed out by some of the scenes but the writing was good.

My question for her is How does she manage to write characters so revolting but each has redemptive traits?

I liked how the book was written from both Nick and Amy's point of view. I understand the ending, but I don't like it, I was hoping for something a little more.

My question to Gillian Flynn is, when you started writing the book and the events started rolling out, did you already know, in the depth of your mind, how the ending would come to be or was it just "let the events write the ending"?

I also thought Gone Girl was terrific and a real find. Thank you Gillian! My question concerns the ending. As a prior psychotherapist, I applaud most of your choices, which, to me, remain in character, but I was confused about your choice to have the husband accept the wife back indefinitely, even though he was obviously disturbed by her and fearful of her. I realize he was a passive dependent character, but it still stopped me. Once she became pregnant, his choice to remain for the child made sense and sat easier with me. I'm sure you had a reason for this choice, but I'd like to know more about what you were thinking.

I have only read The Song is You by Abbott, and loved it. Or, maybe love is the wrong word. The sleaze of the "industry" was so well written. Thank you. My question to M. Abbott is: How much research goes into each book?

Hi Gillian! Gone Girl was astounding. Not only was the prose beautiful, but the format, pace, plotting, and characterization were brilliant and original. My question is how you manage the flaws and seemingly unredemptive qualities in your characters and still give the reader a reason to root for them? When the real Amy reveals herself and talks about why it's expected that girls should play the "cool girl" role and boys are not expected to play the "cool boy" role to please women, I found myself identifying with her insight and understanding how used she'd felt and robbed of any real identity by her parents' rape of her childhood, despite the fact that she framed her husband and killed a former boyfriend! Nick is a cheater, liar, and selfish- as Amy points out- yet we come to feel for him when he fights back and dupes Amy into coming back to him through his TV interviews. I love the flip flop of admiring Amy/hating Nick for the first half of the book to feeling sorry for Nick/betrayed by Amy during the last half of the book. How do you layer so many components into your characterizations?

Hello, I read Gone Girl and I thought it was phenomenal. What a great twisted story. Question: Are you currently working on writing a sequel to Gone Girl?

Hi Gillian, my name is Kelly and I read Dark Places a few years ago, then Sharp Objects, followed by Gone Girl as soon as it was published. I'm a huge fan of all three, could not put this last one down! I (like many others here) was frustrated with the ending at FIRST, however I think it makes a lot of sense now... After all, you spent much of the novel describing how ineffectual Nick was (not to mention the level of Amy's deviousness) - why should we expect anything different at the end?

I have a simple question... what are you working on next, and when can we expect it?

Ever since I stumbled upon Die A Little I've been a huge Megan Abbott fan, devouring all of her noir novels like a ravenous dog. But my question is, what sort of research did you do to evoke the early 20th century so beautifully? Or did you simply pick it up from the noir you read getting your PhD?

Hello, Gillian Flynn, and thank you for the enjoyable book. Like others, I'm interested in knowing how you came to put this story together. Did you have a storyline in mind in which Nick was ultimately the "bad guy" and Amy was still sweetness and light by the end of the novel? Conversely, did you always plan to have Amy revealed as the villain in the end? Did you toy around with wildly different endings as you wrote the book, or was the plot fairly static in your mind from the beginning?

Thanks!

I really enjoyed listening to Gone Girl. Most of the questions I would love to have answered have already been brought up here. I kept thinking that the book would make a great movie. I thought that one thing that wasn't addressed was that the cops didn't look into where Desi was the day of the abduction and maybe he was out of the country? I am hoping for a sequel too, like someone mentioned where Nick and the baby escape . But if not I will think of Amy as dying in childbirth! Gosh that sounds terrible of me huh?

Hi Gillian. I had read your other two books when they came out and liked them, but I loved this one! Congrats on selling the movie rights. There is a group on amazon.com speculating about who should appear in the main roles. (My suggestions are Ryan Gosling as Nick and someone unconventional like Zoe Deschanel or Emly Blunt as Amy). Which actors would you like to see in these roles?

Hi! I'm Jess from Massachusetts, first off Gillian Flynn is a literary artist. The complicated plots and the what ifs that keep a reader like myself guessing it a truly commendable feat.

I have a question about Gone Girl, well many questions but many of them have been asked by previous posters.

When writing Gone Girl did you have the ending written before the beginning? Or did the book simply flow from beginning to end? Was it a hard ending to decide on? I know that many other readers were upset that Nick didn't get away, but I also know that many of us totally get it. He was a villian too.

Thank you for writing a book that I will and do recommend to everyone.

ETA: I am also curious because I listened to the audiobook- do you as an author get any say in the narrators? I love the way "Amy" paused at all the right moments. Wonderful narrating on both accounts.

Hi Gillian ! I read Gone Girl as part of a book club and am so happy to have been introduced to your writing....excited to read your other books which I'm hearing are just as good. Most of the questions I have have already been asked, particularly about a sequel and how and when you decide on your ending....a less intense question I have, though, is when you are crafting your characters at any time, do you visualize anyone in particular? I think the way that you showed Amy's parents in the book (not at all talking about physical appearances), I had a strong visual of Dharma's parents from the t.v. show Dharma and Greg....hahaha

Hi Gillian. Thanks for your highly entertaining novel, Gone Girl. I will be reading more of your books. I am always in awe of how full and detailed a writer's imagination must be to allow them to craft hundreds of pages of words into cohesive, meaningful stories that come alive and totally consume us. How do you even begin to create such a thing? Do you have "the end in sight" when you begin, and just flesh out details as you write? How well do you know your characters from the outset? Do you take copious notes of random ideas, observations, do novels take shape from those? I guess what I am actually asking is, where do you get your ideas from? I am totally clueless, I would love to write, but I can't seem to come up with enough material.

Gillian Flynn, you made my life miserable while I read Gone Girl (my review can be found here). The deeper I got into the book, the more curious I became about how you conceived Nick and Amy, two of the most loathsome characters I've encountered since Mrs. Danvers. When you started thinking about them, how did you decide to sketch them out? Was it always your intention that neither of them really be the "hero" of the story?

When you think about Nick and Amy, do you like one more than the other? If so, why?

I loved the book so much. Thank you for participating in this discussion!

Hi Gillian, I'm so sorry that I missed your recent visit to the Berwyn Public Library. Gone Girl had made me reconsider the entire "Thriller" genre. I did want to ask what inspired you to write about such a morally complex relationship. While I didn't hate Nick and Amy as much as some people, I wonder where they come from. Do you follow the old adage of "write what you know"?
Thank you for sharing your time.

Hello, my name is Buzz. I enjoyed the characters,
plot & style of "Gone Girl," my first G. Flynn novel.

My question to Gillian Flynn: when you created the
character, Amy Elliott, did you envision her scary,
dangerous proclivities from the beginning, or did those aspects of her personality evolve as the story developed?