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January 2008
LIZA PALMER
Liza Palmer's debut novel, Conversations with the Fat Girl, launched Warner's 5Spot line in 2005. Her latest book Seeing Me Naked is out this month. She lives in Pasadena, California.
Tell us about Seeing Me Naked.
Seeing Me Naked is about Elisabeth Page - a pastry chef in a five-star French restaurant here in LA. The book captures that moment where we all have to make the decision to go backward to go forward - meaning, slog through the past, really look at our parental influences - and then make a choice to live differently. Grow up but on our terms.
Did you always intend to have the family dynamics such a major part of the plot?
I just think it's impossible to write about relationships without exploring how you got to be the person who's standing in front of the Daniels and Wills of this world, you know? We can all relate to family drama - and I find that so much more interesting to mine than just the relationship that results from finally sorting your stuff out. I want to see the process - that's what inspires me.
Why did you make Elisabeth a chef?
The idea about a making Elisabeth a chef first came to me when I was thinking about any other career that I might have done OK in - that I could have been happy doing. I immediately thought of a chef. After doing research, I quickly found out that usually the only woman in a French kitchen was the pastry chef. I also thought the demeanour of a pastry chef - usually a perfectionist - worked with what I was trying to do with Elisabeth.
What's the worst job you've had?
I temped for a while and was shuffled off to this job at a convention center - but I worked during the week, so we would have to count all the money that came in over the weekend. They showed me my new “office”, which was a tiny cubicle where someone had taped butcher paper over the windows so I wouldn't get “distracted”. And the hours were from 6am to 2pm. 6am - counting pennies in a windowless cubicle. Awesome.
How did you get into writing?
It got into me.
What inspired your first book, Conversations with the Fat Girl?
I was looking at female friendships first and foremost - why women hold on too long to people in their lives . . . even after it starts to get to be a negative force in one's life. We make so many excuses for why people treat us poorly. Combine that with the alarming comfort we have with hating our bodies/ourselves and apologizing for the space we take up - I just thought it was time to really examine all of those factors and how they lead us away from authenticity. And I think that's the commonality between both Conversations with the Fat Girl and Seeing Me Naked - women who must figure out who they really are and then live accordingly.
Could you have written that book without having been on your own weight loss journey?
Unfortunately, I think most women these days are on some weight loss journey or another and it's never about numbers on a scale - it's about feeling like we're not good enough. Weight is never purely about diet and exercise - it's about putting a buffer between you and the world. Literally wearing a suit of armour. And I can certainly relate to that.
How much of you went into the characters of Maggie and Olivia?
They really are two sides of the same coin - that's what fascinated me about them. Olivia thinks that becoming beautiful on the outside will lead to her happiness (it never does) and Maggie finally figures out that happiness leads to being able to finally take off the suit of armour.
What's your next book, Chasing Grace, about?
Family - surprise, surprise, right?!?! Chasing Grace tells the story of the Hawkes family (Huston, Abigail, Grace and Nicole) as they deal with their estranged father's illness. Grace is the main character and I think this book is the book that I had to write as opposed to wanted to write, if that makes any sense. There's a necessity to this book . . . an urgency. Another book about a character having to go backward to go forward. Finding her true self.
Do you ever daydream about what happens to your characters after you've finished the story?
ALL THE TIME!!! It still freaks me out that I'm never going to run into Rascal on the street - that I can't walk into Beverly and have Elisabeth make me something. These characters are so real to me - they have to be, you know? I think it helps with creating the world - really making them believable.
What does chick lit mean to you?
It's a designation for stories about women that use humor and the first-person point of view.
How have other authors inspired you?
They inspire all the time - I can never get enough, actually. I still go to readings at the local independent bookstore here in Pasadena - Vroman's - and just listen to them talk about writing. I can't get enough. It's so inspiring to listen to someone talk about their passion. I highly recommend it to any aspiring writers out there.
What's the best piece of feedback you've had from a reader?
In the beginning of Conversations with the Fat Girl I wrote Olivia a little more negligent - her biggest flaw as a friend was that she was neglectful. Neglect is really not a pro-active character trait for a villain, by the way. One reader of the first draft said: “I knew I was supposed to hate Olivia, but I never really got the chance.” Best.Note.Ever.
What's your favourite:
- Food
bean and cheese burritos - Song
(my head just exploded…so many…so many…) - how about favorite song this morning? Cannonball by Damien Rice - Book
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak - Movie
Princess Bride with Goodfellas coming in a close second - Celebrity
Diane Keaton
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