Ellen Meister is a novelist, book coach, screenwriter, and creative writing instructor who started her career writing advertising copy. Her novels include Divorce Towers, Take My Husband, The Rooftop Party, Love Sold Separately, Dorothy Parker Drank Here, and Farewell, Dorothy Parker, among others. Meister’s essays have been published by the New York Times, Newsday, the Wall Street Journal blog, the Huffington Post (now HuffPost), the Daily Beast, Long Island Woman, Writer’s Digest, and Publishers Weekly. Career highlights include interviews on NPR, being selected for the prestigious Indie Next List by the American Booksellers Association, having her work translated into foreign languages, and receiving a TV series option from HBO.
Meister lives in New York and publicly speaks about her books, fiction writing, and America’s most celebrated literary wit, Dorothy Parker.
In this poignantly quirky ride through Brooklyn, an idealistic young woman shares her earnest joy with her Uber clients, her cranky father, and the Wall Street hotshot who started it all.
Joybird Martin―an Uber driver with cheerfulness to spare―desperately wants to be a life coach.
She’s so sunny about her chances that even her snarky father―a has-been TV writer with a failed third marriage―can’t dim her light. So when he shows up broke on her doorstep, Joybird takes him in with no questions asked, trying to find a balance between her bright optimism and his sarcastic pessimism.
It works, and she continues sharing her earnest wisdom with her Uber riders. After she helps handsome Wall Street exec Devon Cato, he convinces her to become a life coach from the front seat of her Honda.
As Joybird’s dreams take the wheel, she finds direction for her clients…and herself. She’s not sure what to do about her attraction to Devon, but she soon learns exactly what she can do for her father. And a journey into his past might just pave the way for her own bright future. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
Any combination of "funny" and "poignant" makes my heart sing. It's always what I'm going for.
What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing Joyride?
I'll start with the challenges, which sometimes seemed insurmountable. First, there was the issue of POV. I always knew it was Joybird's story, but I didn't think I could trust her to tell it. I had convinced myself a narrator needs a sarcastic edge, and Joybird is so earnest and optimistic I worried that she wouldn't be entertaining enough to carry a whole book. So I wrote the entire novel from her father's point of view. Unfortunately, his sarcastic edge was so sharp it seemed to leave my beta readers bloody. So I tried telling the story through the eyes of a minor character, which is unusual, but has been done effectively by a few writers I admire. I soon discovered it simply didn't work for this novel. Finally, I rose to the challenge of letting Joybird narrate her own story—interspersed with chapters from her crusty father—and finally the book found its voice.
The other big challenge was striking the right balance in the character of Joybird's irascible father. In early drafts, he was simply too mean-spirited for readers to accept. I had to find a way to make his dyspepsia a little easier to digest, and that took a number of drafts.
The rewarding part came after I finally wrangled the manuscript into shape. It got an offer from a publisher faster than any book I had ever written. And the team was so enthusiastic it was rushed into production with breathtaking speed. I'd never seen anything like it!
If Joyride was made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
Bryan Cranston would be great as Sid Marcus, the bitter comedy writer who has fallen from grace. (But of course, Bryan Cranston could play anything.)
Joybird is a little trickier. In terms of appearance, she looks a bit like a young Zooey Deschanel. (At least she does in my head. Readers may see her differently.) But I think Kristen Schaal is the actress who could best embody her spirit.
For Devon Cato, I'm going with the smoking hot and very talented Regé-Jean Page. (And yes, he can do an American accent.)
I think Jamie Lee Curtis would be a gas as the aging hippie, Betty Simon.
What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?
I'm a few years late to the party, but I recently saw Lion starring Dev Patel, and it knocked me out.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
What an interesting question! I'd have to go with Natasha Lyonne. I think she'd put a quirky spin on my pretty mundane life.
If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you would take us to see?
I'm on Long Island, so I'd load you into the car and drive straight to Jones Beach, which has the world's most glorious light. There, we'd stroll to the end of the boardwalk and back, breathing the clean, crisp, briny air. (Wear comfortable shoes!)
After that, we'd be hungry, so I'd take you out for pizza or bagels. (Both are sublime on Long Island.) I'll let you choose!
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8 comments:
The best advice I've ever been given was from my Mom. She told me to never stop reading because books connect us to the world. ❤️
Don't stress about things, it will be okay.
What's meant for you, will never miss you.
Trust your instincts.
Be true to yourself.
Don't settle for anything that makes you unhappy.
Listen and pay attention
have fun
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