Bethany Ballis on fire right now. Her debut book, “所索罗斯怎么办,” is set to release from Grove Atlantic on April 4 (basically, right around the corner!), and it’s the book you’ve been dying to read for your entire life.Booklistsaid her book “vividly captures a singular family….This novel from a most promising writer has been compared to the work of Isaac B. Singer and Grace Paley, as well as Nathan Englander and Jennifer Egan. Try Eudora Welty with sex and Jews.”
Bethany, who haswritten for usabout being a mom and all the things in between, talked to me about how the book came together, what TV shows she’s binge-watched, and what surprised her about being a mom.
What prompted you to write this book? How did the story all come together for you?
I wrote the first chapter originally as a short story. Some of the other chapters were stories as well, from my thesis at Sarah Lawrence. I liked the creative challenge of linking unrelated stories. As the book progressed, I realized it was really a straight up novel.
我想在有机途径中写另一种语言Junot Diaz使用西班牙语，使读者可能会沉浸在这种不熟悉的文化中，或者如果你与以色列人或以色列长大的话，或者熟悉。我在以色列做了六个月的Ulpan，并且已经与以色列人和以色列人之间的生活过多年了。我想写下一个大家庭 - 非常不同my own Midwestern three peoplenuclear family existence.
你什么时候开始写作的？你是如何坚持所有拒绝的？
I started writing seriously when I was in college, although I’d been writing stories since I was very little. The way I persevered through rejection was by almost never sending anything out. In fact, my first publication was winning theDetroit MetroTimessummer fiction contest in college. I was in love with a poet and sent in one of his poems.
在最后一分钟，我寄了我的故事。我甚至不知道我赢得直到我的父亲走进我的房子，问这个故事是否真的是我的。我想我在那之后只提交了一些故事。直到我完成之前我真的没有真正致以锻炼“所索罗斯怎么办.” I knew in my gut that it was meant to go out into the world. It took me years and years to learn to write. But really, I was scared, and I should have been sending work out continuously.
What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
成为妈妈的理由，组织我的生命。在我有孩子之前，我被解雇了我的DOTCOM工作。我的计划是六个月，坐在咖啡馆并写一本书。但它并没有这样做。我仍然可以感受到痛苦的无聊，页面上缺乏任何事情。让孩子蒸煮为其更重要的本质。没有乱乱。没有时间对作家的街区。我现在正在写这个，而我的女儿在和朋友在另一间房间吃披萨。在任何时候，我会被打断。 But I like that. I need that structure and also that chaos in order to be creative.
The most surprising thing though, honestly, is how little freedom people give their kids and how fearful they are at all times for them (I highly recommendLenore Skenazy.她的自由游泳池博客！）。它肯定会遏制母亲的自由，有时候我想知道这就是那么重要。喜欢，女人终于有机会在母性和巴姆的外面定义自己 - 突然间你不能让孩子独自留下。甚至有报道母亲被捕，让他们的孩子在自己的后院独自玩耍。这对母亲来说这么难，也很伤心。
What was your favorite children’s book or young adult novel growing up?
我很崇拜，就像大多数女性我的年龄，朱迪布卢姆。我长大的是压抑大多是保守的底特律，没有人谈论他们的感受或任何个人的感受。但朱迪布拉姆这样做。她的角色所做。“Tiger Eyes，“”Deenie，“”Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.” It was unbearably exciting to get hold of one of those books. They were so readable and relatable and you wanted to be best friends with all of Blume’s narrators.
What TV show have you binge watched?
“Transparent” is my all time favorite TV show. It was the only time in my life where I thought it would be really cool to write something like a screenplay, or TV pilot. It’s funny, dark, and true and the settings and actors are so beautiful to look at. I also count the days for the next “Game of Thrones” season. I love the mash up of zombies, history, gorgeous settings and sex. And “Fleabag.”
Who are you, in one sentence?
我现在有一个接近20年的冥想练习，我会说“我是谁？”是我们努力的最重要的问题。
Biggest pet peeve:
I’m one of those people who hates chewing noises. If you sit next to me on an airplane and eat a banana, I’m going to curse you and your whole family. I have ear plugs and noise canceling headphones with me at all times.
If you were a Jewish holiday, which one would you be?
我喜欢逾越节。我喜欢塞特。我喜欢在一张大桌子上挤压所有的朋友和家人。以色列人拥有最美妙的逾越节歌曲，如果你有足够的东西，他们会唱歌。我爱我的母亲在法律的美妙精心味道的Matzah球汤和摩洛哥鱼。我很自豪地说我现在也很好。
什么是最好的瘦g about yourself? What’s the worst?
关于我自己最好的事情是我总是试图渗透到一个主题。也许是因为我是记者的女儿和孙女，以及一位没有废话的母亲，但我从不在面部价值上取任何东西。
这也可能是我最糟糕的质量。
Childhood goal:
我一直想成为一名作家。我的美妙2年级老师绑定了一本我写的小书，并送我去了年轻作家协会。我几乎从这一点上迷上了。有时候，那个同学们在学校的操场上跑到了我上，向我展示了一份一直吹来的报纸。她想向我展示我在当地报纸上的父亲的大行合。我想我也想要我的名字打印。
