Laura Dave talks about her sparkling new novel Eight Hundred Grapes, chocolate in lasagna, post-its, writing, and so much more

Glamour Magazine“Best Books of the Summer”*

*Cosmopolitan“30 Things to Do This Month”*

*Us Weekly“Hot Summer Reads”*

*MarieClaire.com “The 7 Books You Have to Read This Summer”*

*Popsugar.com “Best 2015 Summer Reads”*... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Eight-Hundred-Grapes/Laura-Dave/9781476789255#sthash.cEwOwua4.dpuf

*Glamour Magazine“Best Books of the Summer”*

*Cosmopolitan“30 Things to Do This Month”*

*Us Weekly“Hot Summer Reads”*

*MarieClaire.com “The 7 Books You Have to Read This Summer”*

*Popsugar.com “Best 2015 Summer Reads”*... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Eight-Hundred-Grapes/Laura-Dave/9781476789255#sthash.cEwOwua4.dpuf

Who doesn't want to read a novel about wine making? Laura Dave's Eight Hundred Grapes is as sparkling as Prosecco and as satisfying as Pinot Noir.  She also writes great, warm, funny emails, just so you know. She is the author of London Is The Best City In America, The Divorce Party and The First Husband, and I'm delighted to host her here. Thanks much, Laura!

Glamour Magazine“Best Books of the Summer”*

*Cosmopolitan“30 Things to Do This Month”*

*Us Weekly“Hot Summer Reads”*

*MarieClaire.com “The 7 Books You Have to Read This Summer”*

*Popsugar.com “Best 2015 Summer Reads”*... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Eight-Hundred-Grapes/Laura-Dave/9781476789255#sthash.cEwOwua4.dpuf

 I always want to know what sparks a book--what was the idea that haunted or grabbed you that wouldn't let go?

Great question.  For Eight Hundred Grapes, I was playing with an image for a long time of a woman showing up at her hometown bar on what should have been her wedding day. I didn’t know who she was talking to, and I didn’t know why she had come home, but that woman stayed with me. During a trip to Napa Valley and Sonoma County, I started thinking about Wine Country.  I thought it was potentially a lush backdrop for a novel.  And when I started imagining that Wine Country was where the woman in the dress was going (where she had always been going), I thought I might be getting closer to the heart of a great story.

Glamour Magazine“Best Books of the Summer”*

*Cosmopolitan“30 Things to Do This Month”*

*Us Weekly“Hot Summer Reads”*

*MarieClaire.com “The 7 Books You Have to Read This Summer”*

*Popsugar.com “Best 2015 Summer Reads”*... - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Eight-Hundred-Grapes/Laura-Dave/9781476789255#sthash.cEwOwua4.dpuf

Tell me about your research! I felt that I learned so much about wine. Did anything change the storyline as you were researching?

I'm thrilled to hear you feel that way!  I spent a lot of time up in Sonoma County bending the ear of every winemaker that would talk to me and really immersing myself in the Sebastopol community.  The more I learned about wine making - the patience and perseverance and faith it takes - the more it felt to me like a metaphor for trying to build a life with someone, trying to build a family.   Wine making became a character in the storytelling and influenced how I thought of every other character - what they were struggling with, how they were going to find their way through it.

So much about the book is about the secrets we keep and how they impact our lives, but it's also about the families we are born into and the families we choose to make, too. Can you talk a bit about that please?

I like your distinction because I think it's an important one, especially in storytelling.  Usually, in fiction and in movies, we see the families that we choose later in our lives depicted as the idealized version of family  - almost like they are the reward for the tricky families we grew up with.  I understand the reasons why.  But I wanted to write about a family we are born into loving that deeply as well.   And, with the Ford family, I was drawn to the fact that despite their poor decisions, their love for each other defined them - maybe more than any other characteristic.

Let's talk about craft. I loved the structure of the book, the shifting points of views and the rich inner life of all of your characters. What kind of writer are you? Do you outline, use post-its (my personal fave), or write in chunks?

I love a good post-it!  And I've been known to hang a few - though usually I know very little about where a novel is going.  I don't outline, I don't write toward a specific ending.  I start with a question that is driving the narrative.  A question like: how do we commit to someone over the course of a lifetime?  In the case of Eight Hundred Grapes, the question started off simple and got slightly more complicated.  Essentially though I wanted to figure out: how do we fight for what matters to us?  How do we figure out what that thing is?  I loved figuring out the different ways the Fords answered that question.

And I have to ask--chocolate in lasagna? Really? Did you try this? And should I?

It's delicious!  I even have a video recipe for those interested in trying for themselves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78hrb3TouK4
If you try it, you'll have to tell me what you think!

What's obsessing you now and why?

Big Sur, California.  After every novel, I start a novel that takes place in Big Sur - a place I absolutely love.  Every time, I end up throwing out the novel (perhaps it's a place too close to my heart?), but it gives me a reason to go back there and sit at the Big Sur Bakery and eat ginger scones.  I pretty much always want to be at the Big Sur Bakery eating ginger scones.

What question didn't I ask that I should have?

I loved your questions! Especially because you didn't ask me what I'm working on next.  I'm supposed to be knee-deep in a new novel, though it's slow going.  I'm still setting this next thing in Big Sur and history has shown me where that goes.   Though, who knows?  Maybe this time, Big Sur will stay off the cutting room floor.  I'm simultaneously working on the screenplay for Eight Hundred Grapes.  I'm writing it for Fox 2000, which has been a fun experience - and it would be a dream come true to see a novel as a movie. Though I have to finish the script first!