Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Writing Kennedys

When I came up with the idea to write a novel about the Kennedys--Jackie in particular--I had to figure out: How do you 'write' Kennedys? My main goal was to portray the family as literary characters, but present them as close to their public personas as possible. Of course, some creative liberties are taken when writing about real people that you don't know personally. But one of the qualities that makes O! Jackie work is that readers don't know which parts were based on real events, and which parts were fabricated (well, some scenes are obvious....). And what helps makes those fictional episodes seamless are the people / character themselves. You read about Jackie, JFK, Bobby, etc. talking / acting / behaving in ways you believe were or could be true. And isn't that the point? If you're interested in reading a behind the scenes tale about the Kennedy lifestyle and their scandals, you want to be as submerged in that era and in those people as possible. What also works is that the book isn't salacious just for the sake of being salacious. There's no useless / meaningless sex or nudity--but there is just the right mixture of both throughout the book. But don't take my word for it. Read it for yourself and share your own opinion about O! Jackie.....

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