Author Confessions: Amy Blumenfeld
Her sophomore novel, her jump to fiction and what she learned listening in her father's courtroom.
You might say that Amy Blumenfeld has good ears. As a longtime journalist and daughter of a judge, she spent many years listening to other people tell their story. When it came time to write her latest novel, Such Good People, much of it was inspired by those very experiences.
Such Good People is the compelling then and now story of two childhood friends Rudy and April whose lives are changed forever when they’re in college. They meet up at a bar, lock eyes knowingly, and hours later, Rudy is arrested, then incarcerated. April is expelled. Years later, on the eve of April’s political husband’s election campaign, Rudy is released on parole—and the campaign is suddenly in jeopardy. A gut wrenching novel about love and loss, this is the perfect book for anyone who loves the work of Jackie Friedland or Jodi Picoult. I can’t wait to dive in!
I asked Amy Blumenfeld to stop by Dear Fiction to tell us about her latest! Welcome, Amy!
Let’s start with the fact that this is your second novel! Congrats! How is Such Good People different/similar to your first book?
Both Such Good People and my debut novel, The Cast, are about the things we do for the people we love and how the people we love impact the things we do. Both raise thought-provoking issues with lots of grey areas but are rooted in the power of life-long friendships and friends who are like family.
The big difference between the two is the lens. The Cast centers on one character’s medical crisis and how her friends are impacted individually and collectively over time by that experience. Such Good People is about the ripple effect of a split-second choice and how a singular moment can change lives and legacies forever.
I like to think of both books as breezy reads that pack a punch.
Where did you get the idea for Such Good People?
I was raised in a home where a painting of the scales of justice and the words “Justice, Justice, Shall You Pursue” were prominently framed on our living room wall. My father began his career as a public defender and when I was young his colleagues would come over to our house and I’d listen as they prepared their cases around our dining room table. Later, when he became a judge, I’d sit beside my dad on the bench and observe arraignments from his vantage point. I learned to appreciate nuance, the complexity of situations, and understand that behind every docket number was a real human being. Most of the time, that human being had relatives and friends sitting on hard pews in the audience section awaiting their loved one’s case. It didn’t matter if they were on the side of the defense or prosecution. Their angst-riddled faces were directly in my line of sight and I couldn’t help but wonder about their lives. Their backstories. How being on the periphery of a criminal case impacted them.
After The Cast was published, I knew I wanted to write another novel with childhood friendship at the heart but somehow related to the criminal justice system. The problem was, I had no idea what that story would be. Then one day, we were invited to a fundraiser for a halfway house where a family friend was involved as an administrator. Although we weren’t able to attend the event, we started receiving their newsletters and I actually read the mail! In one issue, they profiled some teachers working for the organization and I was fascinated by their stories. Some had their own personal experience being incarcerated and were inspired to make a difference after prison by becoming educators and helping those newly released transition back into society. Those teacher profiles helped inspire April’s character. I knew she would be a teacher who was deeply motivated to make a difference for formerly incarcerated individuals…but why? And that’s how I created the backstory. She had a best friend from childhood. He was an incredible person who did something questionable only because he was trying to help her. He paid the price. She paid a price too. What could that be? And it all snowballed from there.
The whole time I was writing I had my dad’s courtroom on my mind – specifically the people in my line of sight in the pews during arraignments. I envisioned April and Rudy’s families and how a single choice by a good person thinking he was doing a good thing could spiral out of control and change all of them forever.
So many people ask me how I name my characters. What did you take into consideration when naming these individuals?
That’s a great question! For me, it varies. The little cameo characters – the ones mentioned only once or twice in passing – I try to give a subtle wink to someone I know. I’ll use my niece’s middle name or name a dog after my friend’s puppy. But there are different rules for my main characters. I do put a lot of thought into it. For instance, I knew immediately that Rudy would be named Rudy. In fact, I knew his name before I conceived of the title for the book. Again, I was inspired by my dad’s background. In exchange for free housing during his first year of law school, my dad accepted a job to live in the officers’ quarters of a local jail and interview inmates. He was part of a criminal law program and felt it would be good training to get to know all angles of the system. It certainly proved to be enlightening. One of the inmates he interviewed was a man who wanted to study “If” – the poem by Rudyard Kipling. I heard this story several times throughout my childhood and was really moved by the fact that of all things to discuss, this man chose to analyze Rudyard Kipling’s words about keeping your head up in tough times. My character “Rudy” is a subtle nod to Rudyard Kipling. And… the poem makes a cameo appearance in Such Good People.
That’s really cool! People don't often realize how tough being a writer is, how thick of a skin you need to have. Even still, we all have moments where it hurts. Can you tell us about a time when you really struggled or even considered giving up? What kept you going?
My first novel, The Cast, took forever. I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming an author. I dreamed of becoming a television news anchorwoman on a local New York network station. That was the brass ring for me! I went to graduate school for journalism and was in the broadcast track but eventually figured out that I was better suited for print instead of broadcast work. When I wrote my masters project (essentially a long magazine article) about adult survivors of childhood cancer, my professor approached me at graduation and insisted that I turn the project into a book. He didn’t say what kind of book, but he planted a seed. At the time, I was 23 and couldn’t afford to just write a book. I needed a job, stability, and health insurance. So, for many years as I worked as a writer or editor in the magazine world, I chipped away at “the book” during my free time never knowing if it would become anything.
Initially, I envisioned non-fiction – like a series of interviews with childhood cancer survivors. Then I thought about writing a memoir about my own experience as a childhood cancer survivor, but that just felt weird and not fun at all. As years went on, I stopped and started. I grew frustrated and set it aside. I’d then get a great idea and plow for weeks only to encounter writers block or get distracted with real world stuff and then skip months to deal with life.
I continued to speak with survivors/doctors and kept up with the headlines regarding long-term pediatric survivorship and I realized there was so much more to tell than my own experience. Additionally, I realized I would never read a “cancer book” so I why would I write one and expect others to want to read it? I asked myself, “What would I want to read?” and the answer was clear – contemporary fiction. That was when it all clicked into place: I would write a novel that was not a cancer book but instead about a close group of friends dealing with love and relationships and life and parenthood and all the things I enjoyed reading but also touched upon the long-term impact of childhood cancer. I envisioned a combination of The Fault in Our Stars and a reunion of old friends like the movie The Big Chill. I had zero experience in fiction, but I always enjoyed creative writing so I figured I would give it a shot.
There were so many times over the course of 20 years that I could have given up but I genuinely felt something inside telling me to keep going. It was like I had to give birth to this thing even though I had no idea what form it was going to take. I’m not sure if it was because I knew I wasn’t going to medical school and this was my way to give back to the pediatric cancer community by raising awareness about survivorship issues, or because I adored my professor and wanted to honor his advice. Either way, I’m glad I stuck with it.
We are too! If you could get one do over in your writing life, what would it be?
I would have given one of the characters in my first novel, The Cast, her own POV chapter. Initially, I gave all the main characters their own POV chapters but at some point in the editing process I started to feel it was getting messy and possibly confusing so I cut Lex’s POV chapters and just wove her perspective into dialogue in the other chapters. If I had a do-over, I’d put her POV chapters back – or at least one chapter in her voice. My characters become my imaginary friends and I feel like I punished her for no good reason! My intention was to make things neater by eliminating her POV, but I think I invited questions as to why her POV didn’t matter and why I didn’t treat every member of The Cast equally.
What do you think you really got right in Such Good People? Please be specific and explain what worked for you. :))
I think I got the dialogue right. There are plenty of things I don’t do well – I work pretty slowly and let the characters and plot marinate in my mind for a long time before I sit down to write – but the upside to allowing those imaginary friends to take up residence in my head is that I feel like I get to know them very well. I get a sense for the way they would speak, their quirks, their likes/dislikes, motivations and all the little details that help build strong characters. I think the long-term rental in my brain enabled me hit the mark with the individual voices and that, in turn, I believe helped to strengthen the dialogue and particularly the connection between Rudy and April.
What do you think makes "good people"? How have you grappled with what that phrase means?
The simple answer is that I think good people are the ones genuinely driven by kindness, compassion and think about others. The complicated answer is that it all comes down to nuance. That’s what this book is about – the grey areas, the circumstance, the nuance.
I love that. Thank you for coming by, Amy! So great to hear about how much your years in your dad’s courtroom impacted you. :) This book sounds fascinating! I can’t wait to read it. xo
Adding this to my TBR :) (I've never seen a judge's child in the courtroom with him/her and I just love picturing that!! So cute )
Great interview -- from both of you! Congrats, Amy. So happy to see all the success for SUCH GOOD PEOPLE.