Mary E. Pearson

BIO

Mary E. Pearson is the author of two other novels for young adults, DAVID V. GOD and SCRIBBLER OF DREAMS. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband and two daughters.

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INTERVIEW

August 2005

Teenreads.com contributing writer Carlie Webber interviewed Mary E. Pearson, author of A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET. Pearson talks about the research she conducted for her latest young adult novel and offers insight into some of the characters who populate her book. She also explains how studying poetry in college helped improve her prose writing and shares a number of interesting tidbits about herself --- including the many professions with which she's been involved.

Teenreads.com: Zoe in A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET is a strong, determined girl. What was your inspiration for this character? Is she based on anyone you know?

Mary E. Pearson: Zoe is probably a slice of a hundred people I have met in my life. And another hundred I have observed or watched. I didn't model her after any one person. My first glimpse of Zoe was in the first lines of the story. I saw her and felt her looking at a small tired house with a mountain of resignation and regret in her voice, but she still had a spark of yearning. Hope. From that point on, I simply wanted to uncover what her story was.

TRC: What kind of research did you do for A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET?

MEP: So many unusual things. For instance, I came up with several names for the town she lived in, but I had to discard them because I wanted one that did not really exist in Texas. Do you know how hard it is to come up with a town that isn't in Texas? I was very happy when I found there wasn't a Ruby, Texas, because it seemed like the perfect name for her town. I spend a lot of time weighing names, and they have to "feel" right. Other researching included: Discussing with school counselors possible consequences for cursing in class, various plants' growing seasons, extravagant kites and their prices, penalties for speeding and delinquent registrations, the various heights of mesquite, and probably a dozen other details that cropped up. And a lot of it simply came from life experiences too.

TRC: Zoe's strongest supporter, Opal, is a senior citizen, and Zoe's grandmother heavily influences the actions of Zoe's family. Can you tell us a little more about your senior citizen characters and how you use them to help your teen characters grow?

MEP: Hm, I don't think I exactly "used" them to help her grow. All of these characters organically --- or subconsciously --- folded into the story. I am not sure I know the precise answer to that except that perhaps Zoe saw how these two very different women used life experiences to mold their futures, one letting go of the past and moving forward, and the other trying to reinvent the past and manipulate the present. Zoe could also see the joy --- or lack of it --- in both of these women's lives and the choices they made in living them. Perhaps neither of these older women had it better or worse than the other, but how they chose to deal with what came their way made all the difference. So the choosing was something that Zoe probably took away from her relationships with these two women.

TRC: All of the feelings expressed by your characters are so real. How do you keep in touch with the ever-changing world of teen emotions?

MEP: I think that teens' emotions are timeless and universal. Yes, the triggers change with time and culture, but the gut level emotions are the same. That's what I try to get down to --- the gut level fears, vulnerabilities, and hopes that we all experience. Yes, it may come in a different cultural wrapper now, but the emotions that connect us are timeless. Fear, wanting to fit in, doubt, needing security, hope, love --- those emotions don't belong to any one generation, culture, or age group, and I have felt all those emotions at some point in my life. For me, as a writer, I simply have to dig and tell it in the truest way I can.

TRC: Describe your professional background before you began writing young adult novels. Did you ever study writing formally?

MEP: I've had a lot of professions --- waitress, sales clerk, artist, baker, stay-at-home mom, and teacher. I didn't study writing formally, but in college I took several writing classes, especially poetry. I think studying poetry intensified my fascination with words and eventually helped me with my prose, helping me to carefully weigh my word choices and say as much as possible with as little as possible. (Ha! My goal is to someday write a full-length novel in one page.)

TRC: Tell us something we may not already know about you.

MEP: Oh, I wish I could come up with something very clever and outrageous, but you want fact, right? Let's see, I don't think anyone knows that secretly I am a long lost heir to the Rovenian throne. Don't tell anyone. Other little unknown tidbits about me: I make awesome guacamole, I can curl my tongue, I once guessed the correct number of jelly beans in a jar (but I got a C in math that year. Go figure), and I can't carry a tune to save my life, but I love wailing along with my ipod, in spite of my family's pleas for me to stop. Are those the kind of secrets you meant?

TRC: What are you working on now, and when can readers expect to see it?

MEP: I am working on another young adult novel, this one about a girl who has mysteriously lost her memory in an accident. I am very excited about it. That's the most I can reveal right now. It might be available next fall --- if I get back to work!

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