Q: Alice is such a tender and important age, leaving home for the first time and trying to find her way in the world. What made you want to write about that time? A: I wanted to write about that time probably because it was long enough ago that I feel a safe distance between what happened and what I made up. Plus, I had a lot of idealism back then and hope. It’s not a time I want to forget because life was fresh and new and I was in a privileged situation, to be able to study and not worry about money too much. Q: Alice is so quiet and demure and, at the same time, loves rock 'n' roll. How do you reconcile these two things? A: Alice is so quiet but she loves rock n’ roll as something wild; she wishes she could express her passion for things but doesn’t know how to at this point. And rock n’ roll is passionate! I love it for that. Alice does want to break out of her shell because she is coming from a pretty sheltered life where she just focused on her studies, never had a boyfriend, and never lived away from home. Q: Every young woman, it seems, goes through a phase of loving 'bad boys' – it makes you want to whisk Alice away and whisper in her ear to leave him NOW. Now that you're older, what do you make of this fondness for bad boys and how Alice deals with it? A: I don’t think Nellcott is all “bad”. And that’s where it gets tricky. How much do you put up with for the good times? I think Alice deals with it like she’s frozen. I think this is a survival technique she has picked up in her youth. Nellcott gets to be a lot more passionate about everything. I have tried to provide a good contrast in these characters to make it interesting. The one thing I’ve personally had to learn is that you are not going to change anyone. When I was younger, I thought that people would compromise a lot more for love. ‘Bad boys’ won’t. And maybe that’s the attraction: that these people can be 100% themselves with no remorse all the time. Alice is more of a people-pleaser. Q: Your writing tends to include many pop culture references, especially from music and movies. Do you think that will date your novel? A: When I was in creative writing workshops at grad school, I was definitely discouraged not to put these kinds of references in because it would perhaps alienate some readers who didn’t get the references. I really wanted to though because they were so much a part of my world and what I got excited about. Watching and enjoying the television show The Gilmore Girls, where they drop pop culture references all the time, has really given me the freedom to do it in this novel. Q: What many people love about your writing is your 'Golda-isms,' little bits of quirky imagery, incongruous similes, metaphors that take great leaps of imagination. Where do these come from? How do you make them work? A: I don’t know where they come from and that makes them hard to produce on demand. But when they do come, I am very grateful. That’s the best part about writing. Q: You lived in Montreal for many years before moving to North Carolina. Do you miss Montreal? What do you miss most? A: I will always miss Montreal. I miss being surrounded by artists. I miss walking on St. Laurent. I miss the food, especially the shish taok pita sandwiches on St. Laurent. I miss the way people dress. I always felt that I was surrounded by a European style and girls who could cook and dress well. Q: Ultimately, do you think Allegra is someone we should envy, as Alice does? A: I think I will always admire people who live and breath creativity and have tremendous talent. And sure you can envy that. In my experience, these friendships don’t last long— as soon as you know too much about their lives, you’re cut off—but the friendships are pretty intoxicating while they are going on and provide free entertainment and much needed inspiration. I wouldn’t envy though how it’s really hard for Allegra to love probably because of trust issues. Q: What's Alice's favourite film? Yours? A: My favourite film is the one Alice chose for The Film Society to show on Valentines Day: Harold and Maude. It came out the year I was born. It gives hope to depressives and has a great Cat Stevens soundtrack. Plus, I’m a sucker for love stories. Website © Golda Fried. / All rights reserved.