Andromeda Romano-Lax

Born in Chicago and now a resident of Vancouver Island, Canada, Andromeda Romano-Lax worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow, was translated into eleven languages and chosen as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, BookSense pick, and one of Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year. Her next four novels, The Detour, Behave (an Amazon Book of the Month), Plum Rains (winner of the Sunburst Award), and Annie and the Wolves (a Booklist Top 10 Historical Fiction Book of the Year) reflect her diverse interest in the arts, history, science, and technology, as well as her love of travel and her time spent living abroad. Starting with The Deepest Lake (a Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick and Amazon Book of the Month) and continuing with her new novel, What Boys Learn, Romano-Lax has swerved into the world of suspense fiction, although she continues to write historical and speculative fiction as well.

My Q&A with the author:

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

This thriller asks what boys learn from the world around them in terms of what manhood means, what counts as acceptable behavior, and what a man can expect to get away with (possibly even rape or murder)—so I think What Boys Learn is spot on!

What's in a name?

My main character, a struggling single mom living on Chicago’s affluent North Shore, is named Abby Rosso. I wanted a common first name and an Italian last name that says “Chicago,” as my own maiden name does. You might also note her initials—A.R.—and compare them to my own.

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

My teen self would have been thrilled beyond belief! First, to read a book about the real pressures teens face, with no pulling back from creepy content. And second, to read a book set in the world (Illinois and Wisconsin) in which I grew up: Waukegan, Lake Forest, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Sheridan Road. In the 1980s, John Hughes movies portrayed aspects of my teen world, and Scott Turow (Presumed Innocent) also came close, but not as close as this book.

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

Endings are hard because I tend to rush them. With this book, I took more time, not only to write the climactic action scene but to allow for a more leisurely denouement, showing where my characters end up, logistically and emotionally speaking.

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

To pick only one thing: class issues. Abby is educated (a counselor with a new Master’s degree) but she is middle class at best, and financially unstable, while living in an upscale suburban community that doesn’t welcome her or her son. I was that person: lower middle class, from a distant working-class town, able to attend a posh private high school on partial scholarship. My classmates were very good people but the lifestyle differences and financial expectations were vast.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Swimming! My troubled teen protag, Benjamin, works off his frustrations and is trying to improve himself via swimming. Me, too, as a late-onset triathlete. If there are any swim or endurance-sport readers out there, I hope they like the final scenes in the book!

Visit Andromeda Romano-Lax's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Spanish Bow.

The Page 69 Test: The Detour.

Writers Read: Andromeda Romano-Lax (February 2012).

The Page 69 Test: What Boys Learn.

Writers Read: Andromeda Romano-Lax.

My Book, The Movie: What Boys Learn.

--Marshal Zeringue