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Julie BuxBaum
Julie Buxbaum writes with an honest and compelling voice. Her range spans from a child’s perspective to that of a flighty bohemian Granny with ease. Buxbaum’s prose is so tight it hums, as her characters are born into a reader’s mind while the story wraps its arms around them like an old quilt blanket – offering refuge and comfort.
Buxbaum’s latest novel, After You, is a story of redemption and love, set in London and with the shadow of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden watching over. Buxbaum fell in love with The Secret Garden when she was a child.
"I must have been around six or seven [the first time I read it]. I sat down with the same copy I have today. I remember reading it with my mom and falling in love with the little girl in the garden. I don’t really know if I knew then what exactly was so great about it.” Buxbaum just knew that she loved the lost little girl and the world that she stumbles upon.
“I love the idea that she starts out so damaged. There is nothing attractive about her, but throughout the course of the novel she heals and redeems herself. She does so all on her own, and there is something really beautiful about it."
Is it hard for Julia to tap into her inner child? "What I found was most difficult was not to veer into the cliché. I wanted Sophie to be precocious but not annoyingly so – not Jerry Maguire where the kid quotes the eight pound brain,” she says with a laugh. “I spent a lot of time showing that Sophie was smart, but not perfect."
What does Buxbaum consider one of the hardest parts about creating Sophie? "There is definitely something about writing a kid experiencing grief, and it tortured me to torture Sophie." For Buxbaum, the characters are more than one dimensional entities that she puts on paper.
“They [the characters] are 100 percent real to me. I believe they exist in an alternate universe, and I’m the master puppeteer. When I'm not writing them, they go off and do something and have a life of their own.
“I have to translate for them in this world. But, I know them fully and as soon as I don’t understand them I know the story is not going to work. When I was writing Ellie, I would sit down and put on my 'Ellie hat.' I channel them, and it’s how they show me how they would react to situations, and I have to separate that." There is symmetry in what the characters do and how they allow Buxbaum to create their universe.
Every author has a style to how they write. "I outline a little bit before [I sit down and write] so I have a sense of the beginning. With the second book, I wasn’t exact on where it would end. It was only that I had the experience of the first book and knew that I could trust my characters that allowed me to let go."
Buxbaum’s faith in her characters allowed her to relinquish the need to control. "It’s very scary. There are times when I'm writing and I get the moment of utter and sheer panic." But having confidence in your characters is just as important as having belief in yourself and your ability to help them tell their story.
"I think all people have stories and if you really understand your character you will be able to tell the story and somehow it will come together so that the novel flows." Buxbaum says on a laugh, "of course there is a ton of editing." As the master of their world, she has to clean up any hiccups or stumbles that stall their tale, but it's "the characters that really do drive the story."
Buxbaum wrote After You from the first person POV. “The action is important because I wanted Lucy to only be shown from a reader perspective. I want the reader to figure out who she is and there are big holes there. A huge part of the novel is exploring the holes and what we believe about other people and how our perspectives are skewed.
“A lot of the book was very difficult for me to write. The first book was a little easier [to write]. To step into the mind of a grieving woman…I found very difficult.” Buxbaum also had to understand the pain, and anguish, many women face after a miscarriage. “I did my research. I read quite a bit, talked with friends who had experienced [a pregnancy loss] and at a certain point I trusted my instinct. It is a very distinct kind of grief.
“I think about how brutal I am to my character. I had to give her that story but sometimes I do feel like this cruel puppeteer. I personally am a sucker for a happy ending and redemption and hope.”
What message does Buxbaum hope readers take away from her book?
“To look at how well you really know the people you love. During my engagement it occurred to me that no matter how well I knew my husband, I would never actually know him. There are some parts of his day that are not accessible to me, certain thoughts he has that I will never be privy to. I wanted to create a world where one person got to step into the world and see how wrong our perceptions can be.”
What elements does Buxbaum feel are important to writing a story? “I think you can’t write a novel without knowing your character, so I believe you must fully understand your characters.
I start with a theme and from there I create the plot and then I begin flushing out who these people are. Once I fully imagined Lucy, Ellie and their friendship the story and plot took off. The situation building led me to the characters.”
Buxbaum loves what she does. “I spend my days making worlds and putting them into a book. I am a huge reader, so to have two books on a bookshelf is nothing short of a dream come true. That people read my books and that they are available all over the world… I don’t have words to express how that feels. My dream is to keep doing this every day. To sit down and call myself a writer, I want for this reality to continue.”
For other aspiring writers, Buxbaum advises: “Read everything you can get your hands on. I read a few nonfiction books to learn the rules. Once you decide to break them it’s ok as long as it is a conscious choice and you know the formulas first. Read widely and critically. I think every single book I read has helped me become a better writer. Now I read, and if something is working in a story, I step back and ask why or why not.
“You have to undergo the process of reading where you have the second voice. First you are reading and admiring the words. The second go around you are reading and criticizing what doesn’t work. There is nothing more important than sitting down and doing that. There is no better teacher than reading a great work of art.
“Write! Being a writer is writing. I was a writer the day I sat down and wrote. When I made writing an essential part of my life, not the day when I got a contract from Random House. Once you bring a book in the world, it’s out of your control. You have to love being in a room and writing the book. That is where it’s magical, when it all comes together and you feel the work flowing.
“There are some days that are torture and some where I am completely lost in my work. There are many moments I sit at my desk and pull my hair out. That is a huge part of being a writer – that horrible crippling self doubt. But the moments it works is why you keep doing it. I really love it.”
For more about Julie Bauxbum and her novels visit her website at: http://www.juliebuxbaum.com/
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Photos courtesy of Julie Buxbaum's website
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