Welcome to Roundtable Reviews.  Your books are packed with emotion and fascinating characters.  Is there anyone in particular that you would attribute to having played a role in your success?

Thank you. People touch my life in many ways. Some are strangers, some are friends, but the ones who have had the greatest impact on my life are, of course, those I love. I can't really say that an individual impacted the emotion in my books as much as circumstances that existed both in my childhood and continue into my adulthood. It is the juxtaposition of the two, the relentless way in which I analyze and look at all angles (much to my own detriment sometimes, as well as the exhaustion of others!) that propels me to both purge my soul and examine the souls of those around me. I am on a constant quest for answers and explanations...fiction is a great vehicle for this: I can explain through metaphor, and offer answers without either reprisal or repercussion, and arrive at endings without the one thing I always wish I had: a crystal ball. 

 
What type of writing do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy first-person style the most, and writing fiction (based, of course, on truths). Although editors have cautioned me that writing in the third-person is more liberating insofar as character description, I feel I have transcended that "trap" and am now able to write with as much abandon (more, for me) in first-person. I believe that in both writing and real life, the art of being able to express oneself honestly and objectively is a key to happiness. I also like writing in two voices employing first-person (especially writing from both the male and female points of view as I did in both Jimmy's Girl and The Windmill).  I enjoy the first-person "he said, she said" since I have a firm belief that men and women are trained and expected to be different based upon societal standards and mores, but I dare say their emotional make-up is not as dissimilar as we [women] often think and men care to admit!
 

Where do you get your writing ideas and inspirations?

As trite as it sounds, from real life. From childhood memories, childhood and adult experiences --  from marriage above anything else, as well as the intense feelings I have when it comes to mothering. As I said above, I am always thinking and observing and analyzing, and writing helps me to put things in order as I create a story. Writing helps me to find order in confusion. I believe that the "human condition" is truly universal. I like stories about ordinary people because despite what appears to be mundane, we all live extraordinary lives that in every way are most unique. 

 

 Your upcoming release, THE WINDMILL, will be out in November.  What is that story about?

The Windmill is the story of a marriage. It is about the secrets we must share, those we are entitled to keep, and what can happen (or not happen) when we are dishonest by omission as well as commission.  It is about loving without caution. There is a quote above my desk that says "Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness." This is something I continue to learn the hard way. In The Windmill, there is both redemption and resolution when it comes to this tenet. of all the books I have written thus far, The Windmill is my favorite. It is, although purely fictional, filled with an honesty and an eerie prescience that gives me hope. It addresses the possibility and necessity of reinventing ourselves for the better...and the beauty of forgiveness and power behind confession.

 

What do you find to be the most difficult part of writing? For instance, character development, scene setting, plot etc.

Getting started is the hardest part for me. Once I turn on the switch and begin to write, I find nothing difficult about writing. For me, it's like breathing. I love to write the characters, to describe the scenery, and the plot is something that I develop in my head before I put fingers to the keyboard. I guess it's the plot that comes with the most difficulty - it takes me months to work out that part - but once it's there, the writing itself is a release...a luxury.
 
 

The September 2004 issue of Writer’s Digest has an article titled “Crossing Over.”  The article states it is a good idea for fiction writers to try writing non-fiction and vice versa.  Have you ever given thought to switching genres?

I'm not really sure what genre I'm in! People ask me, and I say that my books are "contemporary fiction." Although I know they are read mostly by women, I don't feel they are necessarily women's books. I also know the books straddle the romance genre, but they're not romances in that they don't have happy, perfect endings. The endings all have resolution, yes, but they're often bittersweet - just like real life. I just completed a nonfiction book called To Love Honor and Betray: The Secret Life of Suburban Wives (co-authored with Adrienne Lopez) - now that's a whole new genre! As for my fiction, it is what it is...and you all can tell me exactly what that genre is:)   

 

How much of your book deals with realistic events --events from your life, your friends’ lives, etc.?

Well, it's that 'realistic' event part that throws me a bit here. They all deal with events from my life, and to a lesser extent, the lives of my friends. I often write about sisters, and that is based strongly on the relationship I have with my best friend, Ellen who is truly a sister to me. I also write about relationships between mothers and children, and that's based on the relationship I have with my own kids -- the love, the battles, the sense of both sadness and joy as they become independent, the openness I have with my kids (sometimes they really do give me WAY too much information!). As far as the dynamics between the male and female characters, it is largely based on my life -- both past and present -- and it's a constant process of learning. 
 

If you could pick any author alive or dead to act as your mentor, who would you choose?  Why?

I have no idea! There are so many authors whom I admire. They all have much to put on the literary table....Louisa May Alcott, Anita Shreve, Harper Lee (she fascinates me: why only one book?), Jodi Picoult, Sue Miller, Kent Haruf, Alice McDermott...I could go on and on...

Thanks to Ms. Gertler for taking time out to answer these questions.  Be sure to watch for the upcoming review of THE WINDMILL this November.