Lynn Weingarten, author of The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers

1) How did you come up with the idea for the Sisterhood, and the pay-it-forward heartbreak magic?

A guy friend of mine was reading a non-fiction book about how to pick up women, and I decided to read it too out of curiosity. One of the main people described in the book is a man who gives pick-up classes to dudes and then they all go out together and hit on women. I started thinking about how much fun it would be if a group of girls did something similar and that’s where the original seed of the idea came from. As for the origin of the rest of it – I’m not really sure! Brainstorming is a funny thing.

2) Did you draw on any personal breakup experiences, or on those of your friends?

There are definitely bits and pieces of my own life that influenced the story. For example: One of my high school boyfriends went to Israel for much of the summer while we were dating. When he came back things were weird and not the same. It was as though we were just meeting for the first time and somehow this time around we didn’t click. While he was away he’d told me he was bringing me a present from his trip. But when he got back there was no mention of said present. And while I suppose it’s possible he just forgot to give it to me, not giving it to me sort of felt like that was him telling me something in a not-quite-saying-it-out-loud way. And not too long after we broke up. (I was the one to break up with him actually, but because it obviously needed to be done). A little of that experience is channeled into Lucy’s experience with Alex. Other parts of the story came from random too: I was sitting in a coffee shop writing the first draft and this amazing looking girl walked in and I decided to make Olivia look like her. That’s the fun thing about writing, you can steal people’s faces, and they’ll never even know.

3) I love Lucy’s transformation in this novel—it’s such a nice antidote to so many lovesick heroine’s plot arcs. Did you know you wanted to her to learn certain lessons about love before you began writing the story, or did they just develop naturally in the plot?

Thank you very much! I started the story knowing that I wanted her to change and to change in certain ways, but I wasn’t entirely sure exactly how that was going until I was writing. A couple of the lessons I was sure I wanted to include, but I wanted to make sure they happened naturally. There were a few things that were in the first draft that never made it to the final because the explaining took away from the story.

4) I absolutely love the ending, and I’m thrilled that it seems to leave the door open for future Sisterhood exploits. Can you give us any hints on what’s next with these magical heartbreaking gals?

Oh I am so glad, thank you! Well, let’s just say that there are a lot more surprises in store, some very cute boys, twisty glittery magic and perhaps the realization that some people may be not quite what they seem. . .

5) If you had to choose one band to write the soundtrack to the book, who would it be?

Can I borrow the magic powers I get in the next question for this question too? If so, Adele, Florence from Florence + the Machine, Lady Gaga and Loreena Mckennit would all get together and form a band. Then that is the band who would make the soundtrack. And then when they were done they’d all come over and we’d have special hot chocolate for ladies.

6) I think this could make a really fun movie or TV series. If you could wield some of the Sisterhood’s magic to put together your dream cast, who would play Lucy, Olivia, Gil, and Liza?

Dakota Fanning or the girl from the movie Hannah, Saoirse Ronan, would be Lucy. Olivia could be played by Evan Rachel Wood or Kristen Stewart maybe? Emma Roberts as Gil. And as for Liza. Hummm. Okay, let’s make Evan Rachel Wood play Liza instead.  There. Plingalapling! (<–That is the sound of magic happening).

Very impressive magic-wielding! Thanks for stopping by Lynn!!

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