{"id":151621,"date":"2021-09-21T11:05:04","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T00:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=151621"},"modified":"2021-09-22T11:37:10","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T00:37:10","slug":"ten-terrifying-questions-with-miranda-cowley-heller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2021\/09\/21\/ten-terrifying-questions-with-miranda-cowley-heller\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Terrifying Questions with Miranda Cowley Heller!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Miranda Cowley Heller was raised in New York. After graduating from Harvard she became a books editor, before working for a decade as Head of Drama Series at HBO. She divides her time between Los Angeles, London and Cape Cod. A recent selection for Reese’s Book Club, The Paper Palace<\/a><\/strong> is her first novel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Miranda Cowley Heller is on the blog to take on our Ten Terrifying Questions! Read on …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\"Miranda<\/a>

Miranda Cowley Heller<\/p><\/div>\n

1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself \u2013 where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was born and raised in New York City in a bohemian family of writers editors and artists. We spent every summer at a camp similar to the Paper Palace, and that place became of tantamount importance in my life. After graduating from Harvard I worked as an editor at Cosmopolitan Magazine. Later, I lived in Italy and wrote for travel magazines. I moved my family to Los Angeles to work in the Drama Series department of HBO. I now divide my time between Los Angeles, London and Cape Cod.<\/p>\n\n\n

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was eleven, my teacher assigned us Mary Renault’s The King Must Die<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. I was obsessed with that book and the idea that a huge part of Crete was now under water. I decided that when I grew up I would to become an underwater archaeologist and find the lost artefacts off Crete. But two things happened that radically changed my course: First, I saw JAWS<\/em>, and developed a rather severe shark phobia. I nevertheless entered University as an archaeology major. But after falling asleep on my desk next to a dusty sieve during a lecture, I realized that the business of brushing specks off shards wasn’t my great passion. So, I switched my major to History and Literature. And that changed the course of everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That life is black and white. That there are “right” answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. What are three works of art \u2013 this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc \u2013 that influenced your development as a writer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Salter, Light Years<\/a><\/em><\/strong>; Leaves of Grass<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Walt Whitman; Bach, Goldberg Variations<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wrote poetry before I moved to the novel. I love telling big stories, and this was a form that could hold both poetry and sweep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘I am not ambitious. But my goal is always to do good work and to write honestly.’<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6. Please tell us about your latest novel!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Paper Palace <\/em>is about Elle Bishop, a happily married mother of three, who has to make a life-changing decision in a single summer day. To stay with her beloved husband or leave him for her best friend, the man she always thought she would marry had not something terrible happened when they were children. The novel is told in two time frames: 24 hours and the 50 years that have resulted in her having to make this impossible decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope people walk away feeling that they have been on a journey. But also that asking questions is sometimes more important than answering them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Who do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jane Austen. To me Pride and Prejudice<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>is a perfect novel. All the Light We Cannot See<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Anthony Doerr is another favourite, as is Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not ambitious. But my goal is always to do good work and to write honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no such thing as a “real” writer, and there is no “right” way to get there, and there is no rush. Each of us takes a different path. You just need to get to your destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for playing!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014The Paper Palace<\/a><\/em> by Miranda Cowley Heller (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reese's<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hear from the author of The Paper Palace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":151632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[6676],"tags":[7163,13633,4212,12086,5184,13632],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/MirandaCowleyHeller-Social.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151621"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151796,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151621\/revisions\/151796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}