Q: Questioner
A: Answerer ; Ann Brashares 


Q: The Siterhood of the Traveling Pants, your 
     debut novel, received many awards, much 
     critical praise, and adoration from readers 
     of all ages. What are your thoughts on its 
     success and why do you think it resonated
     so strongly with readers?
 A: Its success has been a wonderful surprise each
     step of the way. From the outset I tried to keep my
     expectations very low. I know how hard it is to
     get a book published, let alone have it succeed. I´ve
     read many excellent books that did not succeed
    commercially. Here I give credit to the publisher,
     Random House, and to the booksellers.
     They supported the book wholeheartedly. To
     the extent that it has resonated with readers,
     I am grateful for it. I sense that they have
     responded, more than anything else, to the
    unconditional love and loyalty that the Sisterhood
    represents.

Q: A list of main characters in The Sisterhood 
     of the Traveling Pants could include the Pants. 
     They´re not just a symbol of the strong bond 
     between the four girls, but they also take on a 
     life of their own, becoming a caretaker in 
     some scene or even a benevolent higher power.
     What inspired you to write about such a 
      magical pair of jeans? Was ist based 
     on a real-life experience?
 A: I love the idea of taking a bunch of big, abstract
     concepts-love, honesty, power, magic-and stuffing
     them all into a mundane, concrete everyday object.
     The Pants are the object. I´ve always loved the idea
     of enchanted clothing. I like to imagine that clothes
     can hold transformational power, and that
     somehow they can hold memories and emotions
     in their fibers. The Pants were, in part, inspired
     by a real story-that of a friend and colleague
     named Jodi Anderson, who did actually share
     a pair of jeans with her close friends.

Q: How did you become a writer? What do you 
     love most about writing? What advice do you 
     have for aspiring writers?
 A: I still feel self-conscious when I call myself a
     writer-I haven`t been one for very long. I came
     to it very slowly and with utmost caution. My career
     has been spent around books, but for ten years I
     was to frightened to actually try to write one.
     I edited them, I wrote outlines for them, I worke
     closely with authors, I even rewrote big sections
     of other people`s books occasion. I always long to
     master a thing before I feel safe enough to try it.
     Which is totally illogical, of course. The part of
     writing I love most is when I achieve a feeling of deep
     involvement with a character. It never happens right away.
     I have to spend a lot of time with a character before I
     feel that union. I know it has happened when  stop
     telling my character what to do and she starts telling
     me. It´s kind of like the Velveteen Rabbit moment when a
    beloved fiction becomes real. I also feel seld-conscious
    about giving advice, being rather new to this. But
    here goes. First, don´t think you can´t be a writer
    because you haven´t known you were destined to be a
    writer from the beginning of your life. Writers can
    become writers at different stages. And yes, some do
    start early. Second, write about characters you know
    how to love. That doesn´t mean they shouldn´t have
    flaws; they absolutely must. It´s their struggle that
    makes us truly love them. But be sympathetic. Your
    readers won´t connect if you don´t.

Q: Your novel is both humorous and poigant. You 
     deal honestly with death, divorce, sex-what of 
      issues  would you like to write about in the future?
 A: I don´t really think of myself as writing about issues.
     The stories naturally include issues, but they don´t
     usually start with them. I like to after big emotions,
     and tragedies are often the way get them. Only I´m
     not so much interested in racy, headline-grabbing
     tragedies. I´m more interested in the kinds that happen
     to people every day.

Q: Which girl would you have identified the
     most with in high school? Which character 
     do you identify with the most now?
 A: In high school I think I would have identified most
     with a combination of Tibby and Lena-the cautions
     ones. Now...hmmm... I think I still identify with the
     Tibby/Lena combo. I guess I haven´t made all that
     much progress.

Q: Before the girls set off on their seperate 
     adventures, Carmen says "magic comes in many 
     forms" (p.20). Do you believe in magic? If 
     you could own a piece of magical clothing, what
     would it be and why?
A: I believe in a subtle kind of magic, I guess. I tend
    to imbue objects with intentions and abilities-not
    earthshaking, but modest ones. My son had this
    pair of pajamas that kept him safe and snug for hundreds
    of nights. With all the washingand folding and
    putting them on and taking them off, I spent a lot of time
    with those pajamas. When at last they were reduced
    to rags and I had to throw them out, I took a few
    minutes to thank them and kiss them goodbye.
    That´s a bit strange, I guess. Which brings me to the
    magical piece of clothing I would wish to own. I
    think it would be a garmen I could trust to keep the
    people I love safe. Kind of like fire-retardant fabrik,
    only more powerful and less itchy. But I confess
    that´s the mother in me talking. As a writer, I´ve
    designed a fabric that challendes as often as it projects.

Q: One of the prevailing themes of The Sisterhood 
     of the Traveling Pants is the importance of
     friendship. Did you realize when you were 
     writing the book that it was going to be about
     friendship, or did this theme develop as 
     you explored the characters during the writing
     process?
A: The book started with the Pants, and as such it
     was always about what was communal and transitional.
     Which I guess is to say that the book started out
      being about friendship. What surprised me, in writing it,
     was how much the individual stories took over. An
     abstract idea like friendship, inspiring though it may
     be, is not as compelling as characters coming to
     life-not to me, at least.

Q: If you could meet only one of the Sisterhood 
     for coffee, who would it be and why? What would 
     you talk about?
 A: I think I would choose to meet Bridget. Not
     because I love her the most (I do love her, but it
     feels wrong to play favorites) but because she is
     the one I worry about the most. She has enormous
     gifts, but she also has some pretty big deficits.
     Because she hasn`t got a mother, I think I feel more
     maternal toward her. That´s not to say that coffe
     with her would be all serious. Bee´s got buzz even
     without any caffeine.

Q: An important part of the book is the characters´ 
     seld-discovery, but just as important is the
     characters´discovery that there is more to other 
     people than what you see on the outside.
     Carmen realizes there´s more to her dad´s new
     family than "being blond together." Tibby
     realizes there´s much more to those starring 
     in her "suckumentary" than she could ever hope
     to understand. Lena discovers that Kostos is 
     far from being a stalker. Bridget is the only one
     of the four who doesn´t make an important
     discovery about another person. Her experience 
     with Eric only accentuates how little she knows 
     about him as well ah how little she understands
     the mental and emotional consequences of their 
     intimacy. Her journey seems to be the most 
     introspektive, and although at the end she´s 
     comforted by the Pants and her friends, she is left 
     very confused. Why did you choose to make 
     Bridget´s story more introperpektive that the 
     others?
 A: Bridget is the character who knows herself least.
     While the other three characters often look inward,
     Bee looks out. So, being the taskmaster I am, I sent
     the other three out, out, out of their (sometimes) selfish
     and insular worlds, and I sent Bridget in. Her
     journey toward knowledge had to start with
     self-knowledge. I wanted to give her an experience
     that would shake her up. Bee thinks she can be blithe
     about her intimacy with Eric, but she simply can´t She
     is forced to suffer the wounds in the center of
     herself. And those don´t heal quickly or easily.

Q: Do you have a sisterhood of your own?
 A: Not quite like the one I write about. I have
     very close friends from different times ins my life.
     I have close friends from childhood and high
     school. I have two close friends from college. I have
     a play group with other mothers whom I love
     including my sister-in-law and my cousin). I would say
     I have overlapping sisterhoods.

Q: The four friends learn about themselves 
      as individuals by being on their own. They´re 
      forced to be stronger than when they were 
      together. What do you think this means in 
      regard to friendship?
 A: Carmen notes that the four girls of the Sisterhood
      sometimes feel like four parts of one person. Being on
      her own forces each of the girls to become a whole
      person, to develop the parts of herself that get less
      use. Friends are the ultimate support, but they can
      also insulate you from the world and even stunt your
      growth. The friendship in this novel proves its power
      by giving support while spurring the girls toward
      independence.

Q: Was it difficult to structure the novel by alternating 
      among four unique points of view?
 A: It wasn´t really difficult, because I wrote the main part
     of each girl´s story seperately. Toward the end I
     felt like a movie editor splicing all of my scenes together.
     When I was done I honestly couldn´t tell if it was
     a book or a big pile of nonsense. I had one clear
     operating rule: When in doubt, don´t reorient, don´t
     recap, don´t rehash. Just throw the reader right into
     the middle. Chances are she´ll stay with you. My faith
     in the reader has probably been my best gramble.

Q: Readers certainly will approach the companion 
      books to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
      with their own hopes and expectations. How does 
      that affect your writing?
 A: I can´t help being affected by that. It´s a great honor
     to have people care about your book and your
     characters. You don´t want to disappiont them. It
     affected me to the point of total paralysis at the outset
     of writing both the second and third books, But after a
     while I have to figure it´s my job to write books.
     It´s my job to figure out what happends to these girls,
     and if I do my honest best...well, what elde can I
     do? Readers so far have been pretty forgiving. And, anyway,
     once I get started writing, I stop questioning
     myself and pay attention to the important
     people-my characters.