Interview with Nora Zelevansky

Thank you again!

Can you tell us 3 things about yourself, that we can’t find on the internet?

I’m lactose intolerant, but can eat goat cheese.  I’m often late (why am I admitting that?).  I went to sleep away camp for two months for the first time when I was six-years-old; hated the soccer and tennis, loved the arts and crafts.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Yes and no.  My father just found a few books I made as a little kid, maybe five or six years old and in the “About The Author” section I created, I did describe myself as a “Ritter and Artist.”  (You get the gist, right?  I guess I wasn’t the best speller.)  But, as an adult, I always thought I was a nonfiction person until I tried to write this.  I have loved every moment of it.  And it means the world to me when people call me an “author” or “novelist.”  It’s new, so it’s still exciting.

Can you tell us a little about SEMI- CHARMED LIFE?

Sure!  It’s a comedic coming of age story and social satire with a quirky tone about a college senior named Beatrice Bernstein, who doesn’t quite feel she fits in with her arty intellectual family.  She isn’t sure what she wants to do with her life and through a series of mishaps, ends up “ghost blogging” for a famous-for-nothing starlet type named Veruca Pfeffernoose.  There’s a love interest and also a mystery of sorts and it’s jam-packed with pop culture references.  It sort of pokes fun at and celebrates hipster culture and the fashion and art worlds in which I move.

Do you base any of your characters after anyone you know?

Well, some might say yes, but not in any real way.  Like the main character, I grew up with an artist father, curator mother and dramatic and brilliant sister, BUT their actual personalities are not like my actual family.  But you write what you know, right?

Can you read books over?

Yes.  I can read my favorite books over, but only my very favorites.  And I do!

If you could write with any author, who would you pick? Dead or alive!

Oh, gosh.  I mean, Joan Didion, Nora Ephron, maybe JD Salinger.  (I’m assuming we’re accounting more for writing type than for personality because I don’t think JD Salinger would want anyone near him.)  But I’m not sure what it would be like to write “with” anyone.  I’ve never done that before.  Oh, wait.  I want to switch to Jane Austen.  Hands down.

Do you write to music?

I do not.  I’ve thought about trying, but I get distracted by lyrics and I’m not really a classical kind of gal.

What are you working on now?

I just wrote the summary for my second novel!  Hopefully, I’ll get started on the actual writing soon.

Is there anything else you would like to add??

Just thank you for taking an interest. I’m honored to be included and would urge all aspiring writers out there to take a shot and write the story that they have in mind.  You never know what might happen!

Thank you again Nora!