YOUNG ADULT: What is your earliest memory involving writing?
Ruta Sepetys: I wrote my first novel in third grade – longhand in a notebook with a jar of scratch n’ sniff pickles on the front. It was called, “The Adventures of Betsy.”
YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest work. What is different about Out of The Easy?
RS: I think the setting is what makes it different. It’s set in 1950, post-war America. Although there’s high nostalgia associated with the 1950’s, when you peel back the layers, you find there was a lot of pain. And boy, there were a lot of secrets!
YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you.
RS: Oh, it would be so lovely to have “a typical writing day.” I can only write in spare moments or on weekends. I’m a binge writer.
YA: Unfortunately, there is not much historical fiction in the young adult market. Can you describe the path to getting this work published? What were the challenges? What was easy about it?
RS: It was quite challenging to get my first novel, Between Shades of Gray published. Many publishers passed because of the subject matter or the fact that historical fiction is a tough sell. I’m so grateful that Michael Green at Philomel appreciates historical literature. He and the team at Penguin put so much passionate effort into the publication. Although Out of the Easy is also historical, it’s a very different book, yet my editor, Tamra Tuller, and Michael Green once again took a chance on me. I’m very fortunate!
| YA: What were your specific influences for this book? Films, literature, other stories? RS: Out of the Easy was inspired by a fantastic non-fiction book called The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld by Christine Wiltz. It chronicles the life of French Quarter madam Norma Wallace. I had the opportunity to meet Christine Wiltz and she assisted with my research. I couldn’t have written the book without her. In addition, works by Truman Capote, Ellen Gilchrist and Anne Rice brought Louisiana to life for me. YA: If you hadn’t become an author, what path would your career have perhaps taken? |
From the Book: |
“It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan to get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.”
– Readers, be sure to check out Ruta Sepetys at her website http://www.rutasepetys.com