Yahoo Lifestyle 5 Minutes With... Jessica Knoll
Reese Witherspoon has already scooped up the rights to Jessica Knoll's Luckiest Girl Alive, released in Australia next week. Photo: Getty Images
MC: What is the story of Luckiest Girl Alive?
JK: It’s the story of a 28-year old woman, Ani who seemingly has the perfect life. She has a glamorous job, she lives in NYC, she’s engaged to a very handsome blue blood who comes from a very distinguished family. You soon find out, though, that all is not as it seems. What is her big deep dark secret? Something has happened to her in her past that she hasn’t talked about and, when it is revealed will throw everything into disarray.
MC: You were working in magazines in New York when you wrote the book. How did you do it?
JK: I would write every morning before work. I would just get up and make a really strong pot of coffee and then I would sit down at my kitchen table and I would write for a few hours and then I would shower and get ready and go into work for the day. On the weekends it would be the same thing. It really is just about making it a routine.
MC: How long did it take?
JK: I had the idea for two or three years. I sat down and tried to write it a few times but it was just cringeworthy. I threw them straight out. And then I sat down one more time and something just clicked. I started with a scene in William Sonoma when Ani is thinking about stabbing her fiancé and I thought, this is it, I’ve found her voice. It just poured out of me.
MC: Were you one of those people who always thought they had a book in them?
JK: I always had the dream to write a book even before I knew I wanted to work in magazines. When I first moved to New York after college I felt lucky that the magazine industry even existed. There are so many creative pursuits where it is really hard to get a pay cheque doing what you love. But if you’re a wordsmith or a creative person you can work in this very glamorous, fun industry [of magazines] and get to exercise those muscles. I love magazines! And I love writing. I’ve toggled between the two my whole life.
"Have y'all read #LUCKIESTGIRLALIVE?! My description? It was the most non-stop nail-biting crazy train of a book with one of the most intriguing characters I have read in a long time! (So it makes sense I feel pretty LUCKY that @pacificstandardfilms is going to produce it!!)" Photo: @reesewitherspoon
MC: What were some of your influences when writing Luckiest Girl Alive?
JK: I’ve always been captivated by True Crime, and that was a big influence on the book. Big media events in the States, like [the] Columbine [shooting] captivated me and were things that I researched a lot in the writing of the book. Whenever I would get writer’s block I would also open [Sylvia Plath’s] The Bell Jar to a random passage and it would just really remove whatever was keeping me from writing that day. It’s a book that is very near and dear to my heart and there’s something about that voice that really speaks to me.
MC: A lot of people have compared your book to Gillian Flynn. How does that feel?
JK: It’s hugely flattering to even have my name in the same sentence as Gillian Flynn! Before I even started writing I did a lot of reading, because I wanted to find the genre I wanted to write in and my voice. I responded so strongly to those Gillian Flynn books. About 6 or 7 years ago I read her book Dark Places and I thought I had never read a book like this before. I’m very inspired by her.
MC: How did you feel when you found out Reese Witherspoon had picked up the film rights for your book?
JK: It’s always less exciting because it’s so drawn out in real life. Right after I got my book deal my agent told me she thought Reese Witherspoon was doing very exciting things with her company Pacific Standard and that [Luckiest Girl Alive] was the type of female-driven storyline that Reese is looking to develop. My agent got the book to her and her producing partner Bruna [Papandrea] and it all went from there. My agent did say to me that you don’t want to dive headfirst into the very first offer you get, but for me there was no doubt in my mind. To work with these two women who feel so strongly about portraying these real, raw, honest women on screen - this was a perfect marriage between the three of us.
MC: What are you working on now?
JK: I am working on a second book. It’s coming along slowly but steadily. It’s a standalone, not a sequel. And then I’ll be writing the screenplay for the movie.
MC: Do you have any dream ideas for casting?
JK: I do, but I don’t think I can say just yet!
MC: How has the buzz and excitement around your book made you feel?
JK: It reminds me of my impending wedding. [Laughs] But I can’t wait for the book to be out there. I can’t wait for it to be available and for people to read it. I can’t wait to see what the public’s reaction to it is, and hopefully it sparks some important conversations. I’m ready.
Luckiest Girl Alive (Pan Macmillan, $29.99) will be released on June 1.
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