Chat to author and journalist LIONEL SHRIVER during our webchat on Thursday 19 April at 9pm

[RachelMumsnet]

Book club special: We’re really thrilled to announce that Lionel Shriver will be joining us on this thread for a webchat on Thursday 19 April between 9 and 10pm to answer your questions and tell us about her newly published collection of short stories Property: A Collection.

A widely published journalist, Lionel Shriver is the author of twelve novels, including her controversial book about motherhood, We Need to Talk About Kevin which was the Orange Prize winner (2005) and adapted into a film starring Tilda Swinton. Her last novel, The Mandibles was Mumsnet book of the month last year. Set in the US in 2029 and is a fascinating, believable and entertaining glimpse into the decline of the world’s most powerful nation.

Property is Lionel's first ever collection of short stories and explores the idea of "property" in both senses of the word: real estate, and stuff. Join us to find out more on Thursday at 9pm or post a question for Lionel in advance on this thread.

Everyone who joins the discussion will be entered into a draw to win one of three copies and winners will be announced at the end of the webchat.

@Tessi

Lionel what will your next book be about? Have you got one on the go?

Yes. The new one's about EXERCISE.

@SpringNowPlease2018

Hi Lionel I'd just like to say that the last two lines of "So Much For That" made me really happy. I love your books, but the joy I get from that ending is still a stand out. Thank you.

Yup. Writing that ending made me feel, HA! Take that, you bastards! Incredibly satisfying. Some of my readers underappreciate the fact that I have written more than one genuinely happy ending. That's one of them.

Thanks so much for answering, go for it. Anyone who tackles the subject and isn't an immigrant tends to be published in pamphlets handed out at burger vans in East London, so you're in a perfect position.

Exercise? Oh, please, please say there are two sides to that story. I am fat and do not walk enough.

@TheCunkOfPhilomena - if only someone would write a book about that...

Lionel, I agree that The Mandibles would make a good film but I think Big Brother would make a great movie too. I was one of those readers who felt really saddened by the twist at the end - I so wanted the tale of transformation to be real - the Hollywood ending, I suppose. At the time, I hadn't known about your own real life brother which would perhaps explain why I hadn't expected that at all.

Did you worry at all about how readers would react to the twist?

@ClashCityRocker

Hello. Really enjoyed all of your books I've read so far, in particular the New Republic - sadly, I can rather identify with Edgar. Oh well.

Which of your characters do you most identify with?

Huh. TNR is, I would say, under-read. Though I like it! A departure for me, and I like departures. And I like Edgar.

I'm not sure I identify with him exactly, but I feel a profound sense of solidarity with Willing in THE MANDIBLES. The marginalized, initially ignored 13 year old kid who it turns out understands what's going on better than anyone, and ends up leading his family to the promised land. Maybe all that Bible study in my childhood has got under my skin after all.

[quote bellabelly]@TheCunkOfPhilomena - if only someone would write a book about that...

Lionel, I agree that The Mandibles would make a good film but I think Big Brother would make a great movie too. I was one of those readers who felt really saddened by the twist at the end - I so wanted the tale of transformation to be real - the Hollywood ending, I suppose. At the time, I hadn't known about your own real life brother which would perhaps explain why I hadn't expected that at all.

Did you worry at all about how readers would react to the twist?[/quote]

Oh, I knew there was a risk that some readers would feel cheated by the ending. But the risk was worth it. The "twist" brings the whole book down into a much deeper emotional level. It packs a punch. You wouldn't get that w the Hollywood ending. As is, that novel moves me. A simpler, more linear conclusion would have left me a little cold.

Thank you for your reply Lionel. Good to hear you felt that way writing it too!

If you have time for another question, I'm wondering how much planning goes into your novels? The structure and flow of your writing is superb. Apologies for the fangirling.

@bellabelly

Ah! I wasn't expecting that! I read 'So Much For That' ages ago but bits of it have really stayed with me - I found it very disturbing in places! Do you deliberately try to shock your readers and if so, is it fun thinking up ways to do so?

I thought you'd say We Need To Talk About Kevin.

I don't think it's necessary to shock readers, but it is necessary to surprise them in some way. Nobody wants to be able to anticipate too clearly the way a book resolves. So I'm often apt to curve a story in a direction that you don't expect, although the book still has to read as if this ending is in some way inexorable and it's been prepared for.

"I knew there was a risk that some readers would feel cheated by the ending. But the risk was worth it. The "twist" brings the whole book down into a much deeper emotional level. It packs a punch. You wouldn't get that w the Hollywood ending. As is, that novel moves me. A simpler, more linear conclusion would have left me a little cold."

Totally agree. BUT I still wanted the happy ending - and felt a bit stupid that I hadn't seen the twist coming! But that's why you're one of my absolute favourite writers - nothing's ever too cosy and predictable!

@SpringNowPlease2018

Thank you for your reply Lionel. Good to hear you felt that way writing it too!

If you have time for another question, I'm wondering how much planning goes into your novels? The structure and flow of your writing is superb. Apologies for the fangirling.

You may fangirl away. I do a lot of planning before I start a book, though it's always crushing to discover how little help that is. A blank page is still a blank page ... Plans are not execution, and execution is everything.

@LanaorAna2

Thanks so much for answering, go for it. Anyone who tackles the subject and isn't an immigrant tends to be published in pamphlets handed out at burger vans in East London, so you're in a perfect position.

Exercise? Oh, please, please say there are two sides to that story. I am fat and do not walk enough.

I couldn't leave this unanswered. Honey, of course there are two sides. The cult worship of exercise, as if working up a sweat represents the most godly and virtuous thing you can do in your life, makes me ILL.

The Mandibles is one of the books that has most stayed in my mind from a lifetime of reading. Thank you for writing it.

Do you have a set routine for writing? I think I'd get too easily distracted (possibly by mumsnet ) to ever make it past the first chapter!

@Itscurtainsforyou

Following in from We Need To Talk About Kevin, what's your view on the Florida students fighting to improve gun laws in the US and the media backlash against them?

I wish those students luck, but I don't think the second amendment is going away. Changing the constitution would require approval by two-thirds of the states. I do hold out some hope for the banning of the sale of assault weapons, however. They serve no purpose but to kill people.

Thank you! Yayay! And all the victim-blaming for common diseases too... Keep going, you do our expression for us all - we need you. We really do. Thank you forever.

Thanks for your replies Lionel, that point on planning and execution is something I must keep in mind.
All good wishes
Spring

My two favourites of your novels are Double Fault and The Post-Birthday World. However, I did find that when I was reading them I was less nice to my nearest and dearest. Even when not in a situation similar to the characters, I find the clarity of the way you write their thoughts so relatable that it influences my mood quite profoundly. Do many of your readers complain about - or celebrate - that your novels can creep beyond the pages and bleed into the real world in this way? I've had to give up reading your books on holidays because they make me such a mardyarse. I still love them though.

it's almost time to wrap up. There's a couple of questions left if you have time:

Danigrace asks: What's your writing "routine" if you have one?

Also any chance you can answer our Mumsnet author Qs:

What was your favourite childhood book?

What was the last book you bought someone as a gift?

And the last book you received?

And finally - can you describe to us the room where you wrote Property?

@Quantumblue

The Mandibles is one of the books that has most stayed in my mind from a lifetime of reading. Thank you for writing it.

And thank you for telling me. I have a strong feeling for that book. It makes me nervous how quickly 2029 is rushing towards us!

@ElizabethinherGermanGarden Haha!

@ElizabethinherGermanGarden

My two favourites of your novels are Double Fault and The Post-Birthday World. However, I did find that when I was reading them I was less nice to my nearest and dearest. Even when not in a situation similar to the characters, I find the clarity of the way you write their thoughts so relatable that it influences my mood quite profoundly. Do many of your readers complain about - or celebrate - that your novels can creep beyond the pages and bleed into the real world in this way? I've had to give up reading your books on holidays because they make me such a mardyarse. I still love them though.

This comment made me laugh out loud. I'm turning my readers into arseholes!

It's sad but true

love your post ElizabethinherGermanGarden

I've only just found this web chat! Will read it all - and thank you.

@RachelMumsnet

it's almost time to wrap up. There's a couple of questions left if you have time:

Danigrace asks: What's your writing "routine" if you have one?

I write when I have time. I have a host of other dumb commitments (not that Mumsnet is dumb!), and working on the novel always comes last. Ridiculous.

Also any chance you can answer our Mumsnet author Qs:

What was your favourite childhood book?

CURIOUS GEORGE GOES TO SCHOOL became THE BLACK STALLION became THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS (I got into sci-fi-fi as a teenager).

What was the last book you bought someone as a gift?
This is terrible, but the only books I tend to give away are my own. I have to shift the author's copies out of the house.

And the last book you received?

I get sent books by the ton. The last one was Madeliene ALlbright's ON FACISM. I'm going to throw it away.

And finally - can you describe to us the room where you wrote Property?

I have studies in the US and the UK. They are unassuming rooms with windows. If I am paying any attention to the room, I am doing something wrong.