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QUESTIONS FROM READERS

Andrea Portes answers readers' questions about HICK's unexpected ending, the autobiographical elements in her writing, favorite authors, and future projects currently in the works.


Ben from Birmingham, AL: Not a question exactly, just a point --- my only disappointment with the book is that Luli never made it to Las Vegas. I would have enjoyed her perspective on Vegas, and even though we are to assume Luli and Mrs. Kluck will have a good life in Los Angeles, I still can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Luli’s combination of innocence and street toughness could have survived in Sin City.

Andrea Portes: I didn't know Luli wasn't going to get to Vegas, either. Believe me. What happened was: she told Beau she was headed to Las Vegas and he didn't think it was a good idea. It was Beau's fault, blame him. But I do believe he made the right decision. I think there may actually be plenty of teenage girls who do make it to Vegas, and I shudder to think what might happen to them.


Judy from West Carrollton, OH: Will you be writing about Luli's further growth?

Andrea Portes: Not in a "HICK II" or "LULI GOES TO BOMBAY" sort of manner. However, the novel I'm currently working on is the story of what happens to a girl from the sticks who gets a scholarship to Bryn Mawr the summer after she graduates from college. It's an East Coast novel, about the blue bloods of the East, but told from an outsider. It is, like HICK, semi-autobiographical, so in a vague sense, it's a continuation.

It is not, however, a sequel by any means. I think the future of Luli is best left to the imagination of the reader.


Julie from Mechanicsburg, PA: I just finished reading your interview on Bookreporter.com, so it's kind of hard for me to come up with new questions. Did you know how the novel would end when you started writing it? Were any of Luli's experiences based on your own childhood or someone you knew? What happens to Luli when she goes to Los Angeles --- is it a happy (or less depressing) beginning? Is is difficult to infuse humor into such a depressing story about a young girl?

Andrea Portes: I didn't know how the novel would end, or what would really happen in it at all, when I began writing it. The book, the voice of Luli, just sort of told me. I know that sounds weird, but that's the most honest way I know how to explain it. There were times when I TRIED to make things happen and most of those things I ended up taking out, as they seemed a bit forced. You sort of make up the characters and then they start doing things on their own, willy nilly. They rebel all the time, especially if you try to force them to do something for the convenience of the plot. They know when you're lying about them.

As I mentioned above, the book is semi-autobiographical. Yet again, I think it's best to leave what is real and what is fiction to the imagination of the reader. I think once you start putting things in the true or false box, they kind of lose their spark.

As I mentioned above, I truly believe what happens to Luli is best left to the imagination of the reader. There are hints, though...

Regarding the depressing story/humor question, I don't think it's one thing or the other. I think my thoughts on the matter could best be described by the words of Horace Walpone: "Life is a comedy to those who think...and a tragedy for those who feel."

I don't really see HICK as one or the other...


Tommi from Keysville, VA: Was writing this book with Luli's life being as sad as it was painful for you? Who are your favorite authors? Who or what inspired you to write?

Andrea Portes: Again, I don't see this story as sad or painful. Also, I love writing and don't find it to be a painful process. Writing is easy. Editing is hard.

Edith Wharton, Kurt Vonnegut and Joyce Carol Oates come to mind...

I think a writer just kind of writes...before they know that's what they are or that there's a name for it. I've always been writing, ever since I was a five-year-old --- those were mostly poems about how the Russians were going to kill us...not very good. Then, journals and journals filled with chicken-scratches while I was growing up. I just kind of did it but never really talked about it. It was kind of a dirty little secret, I suppose.

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