Ordinary World
Amazon Exclusive: Elisa Lorello onOrdinary   World Question:When, and how, did you know that Andi Cutrone's story wasn't finished?   Was it before or afterFaking Itcame out? Did you always have the rest of thestory in mind or did it develop while you wrote it?Elisa Lorello:Once I knew howFaking Itwas going to end, I pretty much   knew that Andi’s story wasn’t going to be over. It was more a gut feeling than anything   else. However, I had no idea at that time where the story was going to go or what was   going to happen to her. It wasn’t until several years later, after I had relocated, that   I knew what the story was going to be. And I was resistant at first because by then I   had gotten so close to these characters and didn’t want them to be hurt. But when a   story or a truth needs to be told, as a writer you have to honor that and get out of its   way. But I definitely grieved with Andi and rooted for her all the way.Question:You manage to turn the concept of an "ordinary" life into an   extraordinary novel. And yet, being ordinary isn't something people are prone to want.   How did you keep Andi's seemingly "everyday" goals compelling for the reader?Elisa Lorello:That’s an interesting question. For much of the book, Andi’s   everyday goals were nothing more than to get through the day, and I think a lot of   readers got frustrated with her because for every step forward she took three steps   back. I think that, in many ways, is an ordinary response to extraordinary   circumstances. But the idea of finding solace in ordinary things--a cup of coffee, a   book, a walk in the park, etc.--was ultimately the healing point for Andi and made life   extraordinary. And I think that’s something we can all apply to our lives. We don’t need   a traumatic experience to do so.Question:The rhetoric elements in the novel are quirky and fun and really give   the reader a bird's eye view into the world of academia. As a Rhetoric teacher, how much   of your own college and teaching experience did you include and how much is simply your   imagination?Elisa Lorello:The rhetorical elements are all from what I learned and   practiced, and pretty much parodied my own teaching philosophies at the time. I was   fresh out of grad school when I wrote Faking It, so it’s kind of funny now to see how I   sort of threw in everything I knew and loved, and how green and idealistic it is. I also   watched a lot of The West Wing at the time and couldn’t help but absorb the style of   dialogue--that’s not to say that I was trying to write like Aaron Sorkin, but it was   definitely influential and something that I think worked really well in both novels. I   still love how wonderfully rhetorical both novels are.I so feel for Andi when she has that meltdown in front of her students inOrdinary   World. In terms of my own emotional connection to the character, it was one of the   hardest scenes to write.Question:You're currently working on your next book. Anything you can share with   us before it comes out?Elisa Lorello:I’m one of those people who are really superstitious about   revealing any detail about a work in progress. All I’ll say is that I’m taking a new   approach by writing it from the point of view of two different characters, one of which   is written in third person and is male. I’m also back to writing solo after   collaborating onWhy I Love Singlehood.