Carla Malden

Raised in Los Angeles, Carla Malden began her career working in motion picture production and development before becoming a screenwriter. Along with her father, Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden, she co-authored his critically acclaimed memoir When Do I Start?

Carla Malden’s feature writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, highlighting the marvels and foibles of Southern California and Hollywood. She sits on the Board of the Geffen Playhouse. Her previous novels include Search Heartache, Shine Until Tomorrow, and My Two and Only.

Malden lives in Brentwood with her husband, ten minutes (depending on traffic) from her daughter.

Her new novel is Playback.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

When I landed on the title, Playback, I knew that was it. That happened relatively early on. Before that, for a brief spell, I toyed with the title Backspace which communicated the idea of going back in time, but had a writerly (typewriterly) connotation that didn’t work. Writing is not at the heart of the book; music is. Playback evokes that music element, as well as the concept of getting a do-over at a lost relationship and at life in general.

Playback also conjures the idea that you might hear something new, something missed when you listen to something second time, much like Mari’s return trip to Haight-Ashbury, 1967 reveals different aspects of that time and place from the ones that impacted her the first time.

As an aside, I also like that the word “play” is embedded in the title. Subconsciously, it provides a sense of whimsy that suits the story of time travel, tie-dye, and tender regrets.

What's in a name?

Coming up with characters’ names is great fun for me, often an inside joke I have with myself. No one may ever know why I chose the name, but I like to think the reason floats along on a subterranean level. In Playback, Mari’s full name is Tamara Caldwell. I chose “Tamara” because it sounds like “tomorrow” and her relationship with time is so significant. And “Caldwell” because she was “called well” – a.k.a.: named well. The song “Tamara Moonlight” lies at the nexus of the time travel. Mari was named for the song which was her parents’ song when they were young and in love and, in one of those head-exploding time travel conundrums, Mari was the inspiration for the song.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

My teenage self would probably be surprised only to discover that I haven’t grown up very much! The romance of the singer/songwriter still holds allure for me. In Playback, that’s Jimmy Westwood. I suppose I wrote him as the guy I would have fallen for when I was young so in that way, I brought that teenage self to the process. The revelation is how easily I could call upon that self. It was on tap the whole time.

If my teenage self were to read Playback and see how much music is a driving force in the story, she would say, “Of course.”

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Apologies for sidestepping the question, but I find middles hardest to write. I usually know the beginning and have some sense of the ending. But Act II? Often a challenge. That’s when all the moving parts have to propel the story forward without the grinding of the gears showing.

With Playback

, I wrote the first four pages late one night and they never changed. It’s a bedtime story scene between mother and daughter. I wasn’t exactly sure how, but I sensed the ending would bookend that scene in some way. And it does. The epilog is one of my favorite scenes in the book. That was nearly a one-draft, straight-off- the-keyboard scene, too.

The middle, however, went through multiple outlines and then multiple drafts. I must confess that I am not a big-time travel reader, so crafting the time travel element was tricky for me. I worked hard to assure it isn’t cumbersome. To me, the time travel is just a means for the character of Mari to grow; it’s not the main attraction though I hope it’s a fun ride.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I carve out parts of myself for different characters, like an actor finding an aspect of her own personality that can provide the key to unlocking a character. Again, as with an actor, even the antagonists or “villains” must harbor some motivation I can relate to. In Playback, Royce plays that role. He’s a sexist jerk, but I understand him. He had to sacrifice his dreams of personal stardom to ride the coattails of someone with actual talent. I think we can all understand how painful it must be to take that route.

As for the main character, Mari, she embodies some of my more idiosyncratic characteristics – and psychology – but on steroids. She has a whole bag of tricks – verbal and emotional – to keep people at a distance. I like to think that’s no longer me, but a version of that behavior might have been me when I was younger.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Music influences many aspects of my writing – not just my rather unabashed tendency to incorporate song lyrics, but also the striving for a certain musicality and rhythm in the language.

With Playback, I tried something new by writing the song that figures in the story. I’d written the lyrics in the body of the book when I had the idea that it might be fun to turn them into an actual song. I found a songwriter/music producer who composed the melody and produced the song. (Thanks to Adam Brodsky and Jeff Peters.) I’m beyond thrilled with the song, “Tamara Moonlight” – precisely the kind of folk-rock ballad I had in my head. And a spectacular music video besides!

Visit Carla Malden's website.

My Book, The Movie: Playback.

Writers Read: Carla Malden.

--Marshal Zeringue