Books | AMERICA
What could your husband tell us about you that no one knows?
Lots, I’m sure, but then I’d have to kill him. Just kidding. Actually, he’d tell you that I sleep with teddy bears.
What talent do you wish you had?
Oh, singing. I think I sing better than I actually do. Not that this keeps me from rocking out in the car when I’m alone.
What singer’s work are your novels most like?
Aimee Mann. She’s a poet masquerading as a songwriter, who far more people should be listening to.
Speaking of that, what’s on your iPod? Aimee takes up a lot of it. You’ll also see Jack Johnson, Wilco, Queen, the Rolling Stones, my son Kyle’s piano concertos, my son Jake’s a cappella solos, and original music from kids’ plays that I’ve written with a very talented friend of mine who’s a musician.
Say you are dragged to a karaoke bar. What music do you pick?
Interestingly, when I was doing research for Perfect Match, the attorney I was working with and I went to dinner at a karaoke bar. The lady there tried to make us sing “Summer Nights” from Grease, but it wasn’t happening. I actually wrote about this in the book, it was that bizarre a moment. If I had to sing karaoke, I’d pick “It’s So Easy to Fall in Love” by Linda Ronstadt.
Are you jealous of other writers and their success?
Well, I think by nature writers are jealous. There’s only so much shelf space at the front of the bookstore, and if you only have $25 to spend, you have to pick one hardcover. I think certain writers show an extreme lack of grace in the face of success. But others, like J.K. Rowling, I celebrate what she’s done. I think that Jo Rowling and Oprah Winfrey have double-handedly managed to put publishing back on a consumer’s steady diet. Indirectly, the work of those two women has helped my career.
What sort of dog would you be?
I would like to think I’d be something as sleek as a greyhound, but the truth is I’d probably be a lot like Gus, my old Springer spaniel — curly ears, sedentary nature.
What do your kids think about your being a writer?
It’s made for some interesting moments. They all think it’s hilarious when someone refers to me as famous. My oldest, when he was little, used to sit at my feet at the library, yanking out book after book and pointing to the author photo. It could have been Stephen King’s face; he’d still yell out, “Mommy!” But it’s my youngest, my daughter, who got the writing gene passed along to her. She never just played with stuffed animals ... she played, “The cat needs a lung transplant but she’s on top of Mt. Everest, so the Sherpa needs to take his trusty St. Bernard up to the base camp and perform emergency surgery.” Everything, for her, was a story.
Do your kids read your stuff?
The first book of mine that my kids read was My Sister’s Keeper. My oldest decided to read it as an assignment when he was about 12, and he got absorbed in the story and the young narrator very quickly. The day he finished the book, I found him crying on the couch. He shoved me away and went up to his room and told me that he really couldn’t speak to me for a while. He was THAT angry at me. You’ll have to read it yourself to see what upset him!
Eventually, he wrote a book report on it — on the author line, he wrote: Jodi Picoult (Mom). That cracked me up. My middle son was reading one of my books back in sixth grade when an older, pretty high school girl came running up to him and said, “She’s my favorite author! How did you hear about her?” To which he smiled and said, coolly, “She’s my mom.” Anything I can do to help his social life, right?
What’s the hardest part about being successful?
Saying no. I get at least five requests a day to be somewhere — a school, a book club, a literary festival, a workshop or seminar. It’s so flattering that I’m inclined to say yes to everything … but I just can’t, because then I’d never have time to write a book. I try to fit in as much as I can based on my family, work schedule, and general level of exhaustion. But I’ve learned that I just can’t do everything I’d like.
“If Jodi Picoult were a general, she would be Patton; if a sports franchise, the New York Yankees; if a natural phenomenon, the sun- rise. Which is to say, Picoult is not merely relentless - so are allergies and colds - but exquisitely so.” - Tampa Tribune
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