Dan's Papers - July 25, 2008

Dan's Papers talks to Lizabeth Zindel, Hamptons regular and author of the popular young adult novels, Girl of the Moment (Viking 2007) and The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies (Viking, 2008).

Your dad, Paul Zindel, wrote many books for young adults. Did his writing career influence your own? How did you get started?

My dad was always talking about plot and structure at the dinner table and on road trips. I certainly learned about the craft from him. He saw the world in stories, and the people he met on the street became potential characters for his books. I feel closest to him when I'm writing. After graduating from Wesleyan University, I moved to Los Angeles for a few years where I worked as an agent assistant at Creative Artists Agency and as an executive assistant at Maverick Entertainment. It was during these years that I came up with the idea for my first book, Girl of the Moment. (Think Devil Wears Prada meets Mean Girls.) I never consciously went looking to write a book for the teen market, but when the idea came to me, I knew that it would be best written in the voice of a 16-year-old girl.

Your second book, The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies follows the challenges and escapades of four girls at an exclusive Manhattan prep school. You attended The Dalton School, also in Manhattan. Did your time there inspire Butterflies?

I drew on the uniqueness of going to a high school in Manhattan - the freedom to go wherever you want in the city during your free classes and the NYC lifestyle. I also wanted to capture themes that are prevalent in many schools around the country now more than ever - the competitiveness to succeed and the pressures to fit in. I also wanted to explore the conflict of privacy vs. public; today's teenagers live in a world where secrets and gossip can spread in a matter of seconds through text messaging and the Internet. I wanted to get more conversations going with teens about the potential harmful effects of becoming too involved in other people's private lives, and have them question the fine line between truth and gossip.

Do you have a regular writing routine? Any special tricks or practices that get the creative juices flowing?

In the Hamptons, I enjoy writing in the living room of my family's house because the vaulted ceilings make it feel so expansive, and I love the view through the French windows. I'm a pretty social person so I like to find the right balance between spending time in "the cave" and at cafes where there's nice flow of coffee and background buzz. People watching can be a great tool, too.

There are some great Hamptons scenes in Butterflies. Do you spend a lot of time on the East End? What are some of your favorite spots to visit and things to do when here?

I have been coming out to East Hampton since I was 12 years old, and it was a thrill to set some of the scenes in one of my favorite places in the world. I got to draw on experiences that I had when I was the same age as the characters in the book (16), like shopping in East Hampton, enjoying lobster rolls and homemade ice cream, and meeting friends on Main Beach. When I'm in the Hamptons now, some of my favorite things to do are go to the beach, bike ride through Wainscott, catch a Bridgehampton Polo match, wine taste at Wölffer Estate, eat a lobster roll from Claws on Wheels and then a chocolate chip cookie from Levain Bakery, barbeque with friends, and walk around the great stores on Main Street.

Do you have other projects in the works? What can young readers look forward to next?

My first novel, Girl of the Moment, was recently optioned by Fox Atomic, a division of Twentieth Century Fox that produces films targeting young adults. Film Colony's Richard Gladstein (Finding Neverland, The Bourne Identity) will produce. I'm also currently writing my third novel for Viking, though I'm not allowed to talk about the story yet (one part superstition, one part paranoia). It's funny how writers fall into two categories: the ones that will openly tell you all their ideas, and the ones that protect their stories. I definitely fall into the second category. Maybe I got that from my dad, too.