Stephanie Gangi's new novel is The Next. From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:Q: How did you come up with the idea for The Next and for your character Joanna?Visit Stephanie Gangi's website.
A: The Next was conceived after a convergence of my own upheavals. I’d had some health issues and I’d had a heartbreak – and in my vulnerable state, I realized that my thoughts were more consumed with the details of the lost love, and the narrative I was building in my head, than with my health! Luckily I got my priorities straight, but I was intrigued with the idea of a woman who becomes obsessed with a foolish love on her deathbed.
The universal soundtrack the year I began the novel was Adele’s 21, which played everywhere, and was filled with so much bittersweet lust and loss and need for vengeance. I felt Adele was speaking to – and for – so many women who lose themselves in relationships.
As far as Joanna, I loved the idea of an angry woman hell bent on revenge against an unworthy man, and ranting and wreaking havoc all over contemporary Manhattan. Because I’m not so comfortable with anger and violence myself, I used the ghost concept to add some other-worldly distance to Joanna’s fury.
Also, importantly, I was a woman in my late 50s, suddenly single. My visibility factor in the world had changed, noticeably. I thought having my protagonist be...[read on]
Coffee with a Canine: Stephanie Gangi & Enzo.
My Book, The Movie: The Next.
--Marshal Zeringue