Julie Klam

Julie Klam's latest book is Friendkeeping: A Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can't Live Without.

From her Q & A with Caroline Leavitt:

I have to say, from your book, you sound like the kind of friend everyone on the planet would be thrilled to have. What can others learn at your feet?

I don’t know about everyone on the planet, there’s a huge group of shepherds in Ulan Bator that do not want anything to do with me! I hope others can avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made by reading about what would’ve been a better way to handle a situation.

What sparked the idea to write about friends for you? And what are you teaching your daughter about friendships--and what is she teaching you?

My brilliant editor Megan Lynch first suggested to me that I should write about friends and the book was put on hold for a year while I wrote another book. When I came back to it, it was at a time when I felt more appreciative of my friendships than ever before and then I was really thrilled to write the book. Writing it was like spending the day with my friends. My daughter is a million miles ahead of me in friendships. She is like the champion defender of all of her friends. If anyone gets picked on or bullied, Violet jumps in there. She has so much more confidence than I do. She’s like a little super hero to me.

I loved how honest you were in the book about your bad times and your occasional failings. What was the writing like? Anything surprise you?

Writing it was a little harder than I anticipated, mainly because...[read on]

Visit Julie Klam's website.

My Book, The Movie: Julie Klam's Please Excuse My Daughter.

--Marshal Zeringue