ReadWonder: An Inside Look #134 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Gae Polisner

(Author of Jack Kerouac Is Dead To Me)

*The first season of interviews ran from June of 2016 to March of 2017.

*Season #two ran during the summer of 2017.

*Season #three ran during the school year of 2017-2018.

*The fourth season ran during the summer/fall of 2018.

*Season #five ran during the 2018/2019 school year.

*During summer 2019, the sixth season ran.

*The seventh season of interviews ran during the fall of 2019.

*I'm excited to be back for season #EIGHT with brand new interviews/authors.

*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.

*This is the Fourteenth interview in which I'm calling Season #EIGHT.

*Thank you to Gae for being the One-Hundred Thirty-Fourth author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.

*Here is my review of the Novel...

Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me Review

Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me

by Gae Polisner

(April 7, 2020)

How did you come to know JL?

Oh, wow. . . truth is, so much of JL is young me (sans the effed up home life… ). I was (mis)judged and bullied by “mean” girls throughout high school, and was badly betrayed by my former best friend (though I had almost instantly forgiven her in my heart, we didn’t speak for years after it happened. . . we are still best friends today. . . ). It took me well into my early forties to trust women and to treasure and believe in my female friendships. Luckily, I have found those now. But I’m on a quiet mission to get girls to support and stand up for one another.

What do you think is JL’s most admirable quality?

While she does worry what people think of her (we see that so much in the scene where she visits Aubrey and Aubrey tells her people are talking about her mother), she still manages to make decisions that are ultimately true to herself. To examine what she wants and needs, and to stand up for herself in the end. I love that she does that, and am proud of her.

Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story?

Oh, so much!!! I mean, like all my characters, JL is flawed and makes some very questionable decisions. It’s not the mistakes she makes on the way, but what she chooses to do in the end.

What do you think JL can offer to other young people that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?

I want girls to think about how we treat one another. I want girls to imagine how much stronger we would be if we didn’t judge one another or worse. How much stronger we would be if we lifted each other up, and our friendships were way less fragile.

How did you research JL and the circumstances she found herself in?
I mean, the butterflies took research and many panicked moments: “omg, should that be a swallowtail rather than a monarch?!” Timing the stories timeline to the lifespan of a butterfly I’ve never even seen: not always easy. I did research for the Kerouac stuff, too of course. But JL and her circumstances? She is me. I have lived them, if the facts vary a little. . .

Do you and JL share any similarities?

I was luckier than JL to have a supportive family with a very present mom and dad. Having said that, even the best, most skilled parents can be oblivious to a teen’s pain, especially since teens are excellent at hiding what is going on in their lives. Other than that, we share many similarities. . . and -- food for thought -- she was my hardest character to date to write, hands down.

What was the hardest scene to write about JL?

The scene near the end in Aubrey’s room, with Meghan and Niccole, and the scene with Max in the field of wildflowers. . . for very different reasons.

Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?

Ah, herein lies the rub. JL is basically all alone. Her biggest supporter is Max, actually, except that he’s so deeply flawed and way too old for her . . . and so damaged himself. Ultimately, JL is her own biggest supporter. Nearly impossible at that age.

Why do you think so many young people and/or children seem to drift away from their younger year friends, taking their own paths, when deep down they still truly care for each other?

It’s interesting, Patrick. My older son was like me -- left high school and was happy to never speak to a soul from that period again. To the contrary, my younger son has a close-knit group of great friends from high school and I believe they will remain friends -- at least a few of them -- for their whole lives. I think at that age, we’re all basically struggling (really, true for any age), and there’s sort of an issue of basic self-preservation, which makes us not quite our best selves yet. I’ve reconnected with women who were pretty awful to me in high school, and they are warm, funny, lovely people (who don’t really remember how awful they were to me… so maybe I was awful to some people too. We’re just struggling to get by, at that age. What I wish girls, especially, would see is how much stronger we would all be if we were simply kind to one another. Each would be made stronger by the whole). That was a long parenthetical!

What do you think JL is doing as the present time?

That’s a tough one. I leave her off in a moment of realistic hope. She sees the world for what it is but, while not quite through rose colored glasses, maybe, at least through a sunshine-filled pinprick hole. ;) I think she has a hard time ahead of her, but I believe in the end she will find those people who love and support her, and find happiness. I doubt she ever ends up liking Kerouac, though!