Goodread Interviews Veronica Roth

Goodreads posted a great interview with Veronica Roth. They asked some questions we’ve never seen before and even asked her for an Insurgent spoiler.

Here’s a little bit of the interview.

GR: Tris’s mother, Natalie, is a particularly poignant character. What was your inspiration for her? Will we get to learn more about her story in future books?

 

VR: Thanks! Divergent‘s dedication says, “To my mother, who gave me the moment when [Tris] realizes how strong her mother is and wonders how she missed it for so long.” So, definitely, my mother was my inspiration for Tris’s mother. They are both selfless, but even more than that, Tris realizes more and more that her mother’s selflessness comes from bravery, and I have realized the same thing throughout my life about my mother. It’s a powerful revelation to have about one of your parents. And I hope that you will find out more about Natalie in future books, but I’m not sure how much, yet.

 

GR: Goodreads member Mary asks, “What was the most inspiring writing class you took in college, and what did you learn from it?”

 

VR: I was in my school’s writing program, which had 45 people, 15 in each section (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry), enrolled in three separate yearlong classes. The yearlong fiction class was incredible, especially the second half. We had to critique each other’s work, and there is nothing quite like hearing 15 smart, thoughtful reactions to your work at once. It hurt a lot, actually. But it made me and my writing so much stronger. It taught me how to see flaws in my work but not to be too discouraged—to just pick up the pen, or the keyboard, or whatever, and keep writing, keep working. And it started to teach me to learn from reviews, but not to be crippled by them, something I’m still working on.

To read the rest of the interview, (and to see the spoiler!) click here.

Tags: Divergent, Goodreads, Insurgent, Veronica Roth, Veronica Roth Interview