What kind of research did you do for the novel?
I did some reading, and contacted Susan G. Komen for the Cure, but the best research of all came from interviewing local doctors. A prominent oncologist told me that women of Mira’s age often discover a lump in their breasts while holding their grandbabies. I found that detail so poignant that I worked it into the book. Another doctor walked me through a “diagnosis talk” just as she would give a real patient. She also told me how patient reactions to breast-cancer diagnosis have ranged all over the map and didn’t always follow what seemed logical or reasonable. This bolstered my faith in Mira as a genuine character, even if her reactions might not be “correct” or “expected.”
Your novel’s epigraph is the famous first line from Anna Karenina, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” How do you think that quote applies to your book?
I’m sure happy families are alike—all two of them! I’m being glib here, but my point is that every family has its problems, the Zielinskis included. It’s funny, some people who have read the manuscript seem amazed at how screwed up these characters are, when to me they don’t seem that far out of bounds. Maybe people are reacting to how all these problems seem to be coming to a head all on one weekend. That’s the way novels work, though. More drama that way.
Is the story autobiographical?
No. Mira is diagnosed with cancer before the story even begins, and that diagnosis drives much of the plot, but that’s not a reaction to anything that’s happened in my life. Everyone has someone in their circle of family and friends touched by cancer, but that’s not why I wrote about it. I needed a crisis to drive the story, and breast cancer is singularly terrifying to women. As for the other plot elements, I can relate to each of my characters on some level, but no one character represents me in the book.
There’s one male voice in the book: the middle child, Ivan. Was it hard to write from a male point of view?
Not especially. I can relate to Ivan quite a lot, in fact. He’s a struggling songwriter and at the time I wrote the book, I was an aspiring novelist. It wasn’t hard to convey his feelings of frustration over trying to break into a creative profession. Also, he and I share a love of Monty Python.
Why did you set the book in Charlevoix, Michigan?
This little town in northern lower Michigan is known as “Charlevoix the Beautiful” and it fits. I spent many summer weekends there visiting my grandparents, and some of my happiest memories come from walks on the dune at Mt. McSauba, or taking in a sunset from the pier. Mira and Max’s house is loosely based on the home on Dixon Avenue where my grandmother grew up. Charlevoix (pronounced SHAR-le-voy) is one of my favorite places in all the world, and I figured if I had to spend a year or more writing a book, I should at least dedicate the hours in my imagination to someplace beautiful.
Acknowledgments
CONTRARY TO THE STEREOTYPE OF WRITER-AS-LONER, I’M A PACK animal, and thus have many people to thank for their assistance in the creation of this book.
Thank you to my agent, Kristin Nelson, and my editor at Avon, Lucia Macro, plus the rest of the team at HarperCollins, for loving Mira as much as I do and giving me a chance to share her with the world.
The following people helped me with research. A huge “thankyou” to Kristine Nelson for meteorological expertise, Ann Kuipers and Tim Jenks for information on natural health, and Keith Cronin for insight into the music-publishing business. Several people helped me research breast cancer, including Susan Sorensen, Executive Director of Spectrum Health Regional Cancer Program Dr. Mark Campbell, Sharon Roberts with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Dr. Cheryl Perkins, Spectrum Health Director of Radiation Oncology Mary Mencarelli, R.N., and Dr. Jane Pettinga, whose fictional diagnosis talk was invaluable. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
I consulted these books in my research: Just Get Me Through This: The Practical Guide to Breast Cancer by Deborah A. Cohen with Robert M. Gelfand, M.D., and Straight Talk about Breast Cancer, From Diagnosis to Recovery, by Suzanne W. Braddock, M.D., Jane M. Kercher, M.D., John J. Edney, M.D., and Melanie Morrissey Clark.
Thank you so much to my first readers, Eliza Graham and Barbara Sidorowicz, for their wise critiques and for making sure the Escalade didn’t magically move from one place to another (or mysteriously change into a Hummer.) Thanks to Jill Morrow for service as sounding board and amateur therapist. I’m grateful to Becky Motew, and Mark Vender, for his consistent support, no matter the continent or time zone.
I couldn’t have accomplished this without the support of my writer friends, those I’ve befriended online and in living color. Their commiseration and expertise are beyond price. I’m also terribly grateful for the support and cheerleading from Denise Taylor and the crew at Schuler Books and Music.
Thank you to Mrs. Dykema, though I knew her as Miss Zagers at Townline Elementary. She was the first one to teach me the “show, don’t tell” rule, and about the joy and necessity of revision. It was in her class that I first felt like a writer.
To my family and friends, I can’t tell you how much your support has meant to me. Thank you to my sister, Kimberly, my parents, John and Jan Riggle (my first editors and my first typist), and all those who cheered me on and took me seriously as a writer, long before I was an “author.” I love you.
About the Author
KRISTINA RIGGLE lives and writes in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, two kids, and dog. She’s a freelance journalist, published short story writer, and co-editor for fiction at the e-zine Literary Mama. Though she doesn’t live at the shore, Lake Michigan makes her heart happy whenever she can get there.
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Praise for Real Life & Liars
“With ease and grace, Riggle walks the fine line between sentimentality and comedy, and she has a sure hand in creating fun, quirky characters.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This book has heart…Kristina Riggle gets it exactly right in this wonderful and heartwarming debut.”
—Becky Motew, author of Coupon Girl
“She made me care about her characters—and what a wide-ranging cast of characters they are! A must-read for summer 2009.”
—Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes
“Kristina Riggle’s moving and well-executed novel also embraces human fraility and serves up family complexities like a celebration buffet.”
—Eliza Graham, author of Restitution and Playing with the Moon
“A beautiful exploration of the intricacies that draw families together even while pulling them apart…. (The) eloquent prose will have readers demanding more, and quickly, from this confident new author. Real Life & Liars is a must read.”
—Kristy Kiernan, author of Catching Genius and Matters of Faith
“Real Life & Liars is a deeply felt novel that draws a vivid portrait of a family in transition, and examines the very real fear of leaving behind all you hold dear.”
—Maggie Dana, author of Beachcombing
“A poignant tale of a family made up of real and flawed characters, which reveals the tangled ties that connect generations and siblings. A deeply moving novel, written with sensitivity.”
—Carrie Kabak, author of Cover the Butter and For Keeps
“These characters live and breathe, making you feel as wicked as if you’d reached through Mirabelle’s window, peeled back the dusty curtain, and had a good spy.”
—Tish Cohen, author of Inside Out Girl
REAL LIFE & LIARS
Credits
Cover design by Mary McAdam Keane
Cover photograph by Richard Drury / Getty Images
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construe
d as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
REAL LIFE & LIARS. Copyright © 2009 by Kristina Ringstrom. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition May 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-188679-9
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Contents
Part 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Part 2
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Part 3
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Praise
Other Books by Kristina Riggle
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher