Shari Goldhagen, author of 100 DAYS OF CAKE, on inventing everything about your characters

by Jocelyn Rish

We’re delighted to have Shari Goldhagen join us to share more about her latest novel 100 DAYS OF CAKE.

Shari, what scene was really hard for you to write and why, and is that the one of which you are most proud?

I don’t know that it’s a specific scene, but when I started the book, I found that I was super intimidated to write about Molly’s depression and anxiety. For one thing reading about someone who’s depressed can be a bummer—and it was important to me that the book be fun!

I was also terrified of offending people or having a bunch of psychologists issuing warnings about the book. Mental health issues affect so many people and they can be pretty charged. I knew what my own experiences were like, but I didn’t want to put out the “wrong” message to young adults.

Finally I just took a deep breath and said, well, screw it! This isn’t a treatment manual and I’m not a doctor (if I were, I would definitely advise against crushing on your shrink). It’s a novel, so I’m way more interested in Molly’s character traits than any specifics of various DSM-5 conditions. It was really liberating . . . but I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a little hate mail.

How long did you work on 100 DAYS OF CAKE?

So here’s the crazy thing . . . not that long.

I was young-ish when I sold my first novel, but if you figure I’d been working on it roughly since birth, it still took a good twenty-some years to write Family and Other Accidents. And then it was a solid eight years before I sold my next novel—In Some Other World, Maybe. It wasn’t that I spent those years focused and toiling away; it was just a lot of starts and stops with different projects (one of which I swear I will eventually finish), plus I was essentially working full time at various magazines. And, you know, life stuff.

But a few months before ISOWM came out, my agent got a call from an editor at a children’s division of Simon & Schuster. She’d read my first book (making her one of the few people who did so without being related to me) and thought I’d be a really good fit for YA. We met and talked and developed the idea for 100 Days of Cake really fast. They were hoping for a turnaround of about 18 months, which meant the book would have to be finished in about nine months.

I signed the contract and cashed the check, but I wasn’t a bastion of optimism. After all it had taken eons and empires to write my last two books, and that was before I had a baby and a day job and a bunch of stuff I had to do to promote ISOWM. Still I figured it was a good way to try avoid going another decade before my next book.

And it got done! Maybe it was that I made an outline (I’d always poo pooed those before) maybe it was that I’d spent the advance, maybe it was just that having so much on my plate actually allowed me to focus when I did have time. Around the deadlines, I did still have a few panic attacks and start irrational fights with my husband (industry standard), but overall the book was a great experience and showed me I was capable of completing two books during the Obama administration.

What did this book teach you about writing or about yourself?

That I’m finally old enough to write YA!

When I was in college in my late teens and early twenties, I wrote all these first-person stories about young women in their late teens and early twenties who were, let’s be honest, just me with a different name and hair color. So it was pretty sad when in workshops people would say that they liked the writing, but the main character was just awful.

The problem was that I was just making a lot of assumptions that readers would know my characters like I did, and I didn’t get a lot of the important stuff on the page—I was too close to it. So I tried this thing where I wrote about men in their thirties and forties. Since that wasn’t my personal experience, I really had to invent everything about them, and they became fully developed in a way that my earlier characters weren’t.

When I sat down to start writing 100 Days of Cake, I realized that I would have to invent Molly and her crew from the ground up, because I am freaking ancient.

What are you working on now?

I have a couple projects. I still love reading YA, so it shouldn’t really have come as such a shock how much I enjoyed writing in the genre. I have a couple of ideas I’m working on.

And then it is my sworn life’s goal to finish the adult novel I was working on and abandoned before starting ISOWM. Like my other adult novels, it’s told from multiple points of view, but the time frame is a lot tighter and there are a lot of mystery elements. I think the problem has been that I’ve been hesitant to really go in there and overhaul it, but I think I’m ready now.

ABOUT THE BOOK

100 Days of Cake
by Shari Goldhagen
Hardcover
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Released 5/17/2016

Get well soon isn’t going to cut it in this quirky and poignant debut novel about a girl, her depression, an aggressive amount of baked goods, and the struggle to simply stay afloat in an unpredictable, bittersweet life.

There are only three things that can get seventeen-year-old Molly Byrne out of bed these days: her job at FishTopia, the promise of endless episodes of Golden Girls, and some delicious lo mien. You see, for the past two years, Molly’s been struggling with something more than your usual teenage angst. Her shrink, Dr. Brooks isn’t helping much, and neither is her mom who is convinced that baking the perfect cake will cure Molly of her depression—as if cake can magically make her rejoin the swim team, get along with her promiscuous sister, or care about the SATs.

Um, no. Never going to happen.

But Molly plays along, stomaching her mother’s failed culinary experiments, because, whatever—as long as it makes someone happy, right? Besides, as far as Molly’s concerned, hanging out with Alex at the rundown exotic fish store makes life tolerable enough. Even if he does ask her out every…single…day. But—sarcastic drum roll, please—nothing can stay the same forever. When Molly finds out FishTopia is turning into a bleak country diner, her whole life seems to fall apart at once. Soon she has to figure out what—if anything—is worth fighting for.

Purchase 100 Days of Cake at Amazon
Purchase 100 Days of Cake at IndieBound
View 100 Days of Cake on Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After serious pursuits of literature at Northwestern (BSJ) and Ohio State (MFA), Shari Goldhagen discovered she had a knack for sifting through celebrity trash and worked as a gossip writer for publications including The National Enquirer, Us Weekly, and Life & Style Weekly. And her articles on pop culture, travel and relationships have appeared everywhere from Cosmopolitan to Penthouse. She has received fellowships from Yaddo and MacDowell and currently lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

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Have you had a chance to read 100 DAYS OF CAKE yet? Does writing with a tight deadline help you be more productive? Are your main characters based on you or invented from the ground up? Share your thoughts about the interview in the comments!

Happy reading,

Jocelyn, Shelly, Martina, Anisaa, Sam, Erin, Susan, Michelle, Laura, and Kristin

Jocelyn Rish

Jocelyn Rish is a writer and filmmaker who loves researching weird and wonderful animals and sharing what she learns. Her debut was BATTLE OF THE BUTTS, about ten animals that do weird things with their butts. Her latest book is BATTLE OF THE BRAINS, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection about ten animals with mind-blowing brain abilities. When she’s not writing, she tutors kids to help them discover the magic of reading. Jocelyn has won numerous awards for her short stories, screenplays, films, and novels and lives in South Carolina with her adorable dog. Find out more at www.jocelynrish.com.

Post @ Jocelyn Rish and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: May 22, 2016

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: YA Author Interviews

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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