In The Accidental Bestseller, Wendy Wax explores the depth of women’s friendships and the emotional bonds that tie people to their families, their friends, and their work. The writing itself proved somewhat cathartic for Wendy, mostly because, like her protagonist, she at one time contended with the emotions and stress involved with switching publishers. She also ended up sharing other attributes with her character. Each lives in the Atlanta area, has written numerous novels, maintains strong friendships with other women novelists, is married, has two children, and enjoys spending time in the mountains of northern Georgia.
Wendy was on virtual book tour in June 2009 to promote her latest women’s fiction novel, The Accidental Bestseller. We interviewed her to find out more about her wonderful new book that is perfect for beach reading!
Q: Thank you for this interview, Wendy. Can we begin by having you tell us why you chose to write women’s fiction?
Wendy: It wasn’t really a conscious decision. I just found myself drawn to writing stories about women who are put to the test and in the process discover who they are and what they’re made of. I’m very interested in the depth of female friendships. That’s at the core of The Accidental Bestseller, which is about four women writers who’ve been friends for a decade and find out just how far they’re prepared to go for each other.
Q: Did you outline before you wrote your book or did you just go with the flow?
Wendy: I know writers who outline everything including each scene and whose point of view it will be written from. I am not one of those writers. (I tried once, but I spent weeks on it and in the end found it limiting.) I do write a synopsis first so I know where the story’s going and what story points need to be included. I also do in-depth character sketches before I begin. I usually make notes on what I want to accomplish in each scene for two to three chapters at a time and move forward this way.
Q: Who was your favorite character in The Accidental Bestseller and why?
Wendy: I probably relate most to Kendall Aims, the writer whose career and personal life begin to unravel and whom the others rally around. Although it’s an ensemble piece, she’s definitely the primary point of view character and its her problems that galvanize the others into action.
Part of the reason I relate to her most is that she has the most page time, which means I was in her head the most. But I also gave her my Atlanta neighborhood and a mountain house in a place where my sister has one. It’s not unusual for a writer to give bits of herself to characters. The career issues she faces are not the same ones I’ve faced, but I used things I and writers I know have dealt with and then upped the stakes so that her career is completely catering and her marriage is falling apart.
I like all of the female protagonists in the story, though, and really enjoyed writing them.
Q: Who was your least favorite character?
Wendy: Definitely the ‘evil editor’ Jane Jensen, who is assigned to Kendall after Kendall’s editor leaves to have a baby. By the way, it’s not at all unusual for a writer to be “orphaned” when the editor who bought her leaves the publishing house. Your editor is generally your in-house champion; the person who’s the most excited about your work. Sometimes the person who inherits you doesn’t feel the same way about you and your career can be impacted.
Q: Can you tell us about the setting and why you chose it?
Wendy: The whole book is set within the publishing industry, but Kendall, Faye, Tanya and Mallory all live in different cities so there are scenes in Atlanta, St. Petersburg, Chicago and New York. The characters met at a writers’ conference ten years before the book begins and have been friends and critique partners ever since, but they also have their own lives and stories, which are woven into the book.
