BooksChatter: ℚ Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan: Diary of a Mad Club Girl

Thursday, 3 September 2015

ℚ Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan: Diary of a Mad Club Girl - Iris Dorbian

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Iris Dorbian to talk about Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan (19 February 2015, Tablo Publishing), her début New Adult historical novel.

Synopsis | Teaser One | Teaser Two | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Hello Iris, welcome to BooksChatter!

What was the inspiration for Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan?

"My wild and wooly college years in New York City in the early 1980s. "

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"About 75 percent. Edie, the main character, is definitely my alter ego but she's a very streamlined version of how I was in college. She's definitely smarter and far more grounded than I was even when she's making the wrong decision. I was terminally distracted and scatterbrained in college. "

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"I found the cover by accident on a site specifically for independent and self-published authors. I was scouring it for days looking for the right cover. Nothing seemed to be right until I saw that photo. The dark lighting hitting the fractured face of a young woman, the slender fingers melting into the eyes as if it were a Salvador Dali painting. The image is as arresting as it's haunting and dramatic. I said to myself, "That’s it!” The image is like an inverted X-ray of Edie's confused identity crisis as she tries so hard to emulate this ideal of sophistication she's picked up from the media and her peers. It's a seriocomic peek into her young soul."

Why should we read Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"I will answer this question by invoking an excerpt from Reader's Favorite five-star review of my book:

"[The book] is a marvelous and compelling tale that reads like a memoir and immerses the reader in New York City during the 1980s. This story is so authentic and real that at times I had to remind myself that I was reading fiction. I fell in love with New York City all over again as I was seeing and experiencing it through Edie's eyes. Dorbian's characters are thoughtfully and carefully crafted, and her plot takes the reader through Edie's four years at NYU with an intuitive feel for how those college years do rush by, and she conveys that dislocated, sad and nostalgic feeling many seniors get as they approach graduation day so well. Love, ‘Loss and Longing in the Age of Reagan’ is a most impressive debut novel that was a sheer delight to read."
Shameless self-promotion I know but it answers your question. "

Can you tell us something quirky about Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan, its story and characters?

"My parents wanted to name me after my father's maternal grandmother whose name was Ita. They were looking for an American equivalent or something comparable to that name. Like Edie's mother in the book, my mother was a fan of Edie Adams, a comedienne/actress who was the wife of early TV pioneer Ernie Kovacs. So she suggested that name but my father demurred, suggesting Iris. He had a co-worker who had a daughter with that name. Dad liked it much more than Edie and my mother agreed with him. So basically, I gave my main character the name I almost got."

Who would you recommend Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"It has a lot of adult content, meaning the characters do take drugs, engage in sexual situations, use profanities and have adult conversations. These characters are in college and it made no sense to me not to be honest and accurate about the goings-on within a college dorm. Maybe things are different now than they were back in the early 1980s, but I think a lot of the struggles that Edie and her friends go through to find themselves and forge an identity apart from their families still resonate with young people today.

And even though the book is considered New Adult/YA because the characters are in college, readers need to bear in mind it's a coming of age story--and NOT a romance, a genre that has become very popular with New Adult books since the "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon."

If you could / wished to turn Love, Loss, and Longing in the Age of Reagan into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"Gosh, I don’t know. A young Emma Stone as Edie and Dakota Fanning as Chloe? I'm not really that well versed in current teen idoldom to say who should play Peter and/or Bobby. But I guess whoever are the current "it" guys. I'm not sure who would be the right director. Of course, it would have to be shot in Greenwich Village and around the NYU dorms and buildings. That's a no brainer."

What do you like to write and read about?

"I like to write creative nonfiction and/or fiction that has a grounding in truth. And because I'm a history buff, I do gravitate toward writing stories set in a specific time period. "

What is your writing process?

"Sometimes I will have a strong sense of what I want to write about and make an outline. But other times, I may have just an idea gestating in my mind. When that happens, I like to go with that idea and see what happens. I think it's important not to censor or edit yourself too much when you're writing the first draft. Later on, when you're done and start reviewing what you've written, you make those edits. But it's important to give full rein to anything that pops up in your head when you're writing—let loose that spark of creativity! It may seem like crap at the time but later on, it might be a stroke of genius. "

What is in store next?

"I just finished writing a draft of a novella. The story is very loosely based on my father’s experiences in a displaced persons’ camp in Germany after World War II. He was a child survivor of the Holocaust who lived in the d.p. camp for four years after being liberated by British troops in May 1945."

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?

"Sure, here's a selfie I took of myself when I was in Paris last year. I had always dreamt of going to Paris and was thrilled I finally made my dream a reality."