About the Author: Aurelie Sheehan’s novel History Lesson for Girls tells the story of the awkward protagonist, Alison, who suffers from scoliosis which isolates her from her peers. When her family moves to a new town Alison meets Kate the popular and feisty girl whose hidden anguish is similar to her own. Yet as their friendship grows, the issues that brought them together threaten to tear them apart. The story has authentic characters with subtle humor that will keep you reading till the last page as the girls confront heartbreak and betrayals.
Find Aurelie Sheehan on the following platforms:
Aurelie Sheehan: I’d spent a lot of time thinking about the importance of friendship for me growing up, and I wanted to write a novel that explored that.
AS: I live in Tucson now, but I grew up in Connecticut. Being so far away from home adds urgency to remembering and imagining a place. It made sense to me to write about a place that I knew and cared about in a visceral, and even mysterious, way. As for the era, the seventies had its own flavor- it was a unique historical time that I wanted to explore. The story would have been very different if it was set in the 2000s.
AS: The book is narrated from the perspective of an adult looking back, though most of the story is told in an immersive way, so that the reader is ideally “in the moment” with the narrator as she experiences life during the year the events of the book take place. When I write from a character’s perspective, I get totally into it and don’t feel that much distance between myself and the character.
AS: Writing a novel is like living a dream for a little while. You have to fully believe it, and you have to do the work to make your dream real. Whenever I step away from a project after it is all done, I am kind of amazed by the dream and how real it was for me. You can’t manufacture that except for when you’re obsessed and in the middle of the writing process.
AS: I am a serial monogamist- I love and relate to the protagonist I am writing at the moment the very most.
AS: I loved the Nancy Drew books, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Alice in Wonderland.
AS: I read books with my daughter as she grew up. It was fantastic to explore some old classics and be introduced to new ones. Reading the Harry Potter series was probably the most pivotal and memorable of our reading experiences together.
AS: The most important and exciting part of writing is the actual writing itself–all the stuff that happens before you send your manuscript out. That’s when it is really alive. But then, if you are lucky, you also keep that creative spark during the publishing process. I had a wonderful working relationship with my editor, and she helped me carve the book closer to its ideal form. The part where you publicize and promote the book can make you a little frazzled. The best part is when you connect one-on-one with a single appreciative reader.
AS: I can only sustain interest in a project if it comes from my heart.
AS: Read a lot of books and enjoy the company of the authors. They have a lot to share. Develop a writing community of your own, even if it is just one or two people with whom you can swap manuscripts. It helps to have deadlines and company in this process. Give yourself a little time to let a manuscript “cool down” before you send it out to be published. Time is an excellent editor.
PRR Writer, Veronica Jauregui