From He to She: Jennifer Finney Boylan's 'How I Write' Interview
Jun 20, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
Jennifer Finney Boylan started her writing career as James Boylan, and then became the first bestselling transgender author. She talks to her former student Noah Charney.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/20/from-he-to-she-jennifer-finney-boylan-s-how-i-write-interview.html (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/20/from-he-to-she-jennifer-finney-boylan-s-how-i-write-interview.html)
James Finney Boylan was my creative-writing professor at Colby College just before undergoing an operation in 2002 (what she called "the switcheroo") to become Jennifer Finney Boylan. She's the author of the novels The Constellations (1994), The Planets (1991), and Getting In (1998), but she is perhaps best known for being the first transgender bestselling author after her memoir She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders came out in 2003.
What's your most recent book?
2013 will see the publication of two books of mine: Stuck in the Middle With You: Parenting in Three Genders, as well as the 10th-anniversary edition of my memoir, She's Not There. Stuck in the Middle With You is a memoir of parenting, and specifically explores the differences between motherhood and fatherhood. As one of the few people I know who has been both a mother and a father, I find that there are plenty of tales to tell. I guess I also feel that having a father who became a woman has helped my sons become better men.
The 10th-anniversary edition of She's Not There will have a new introduction and a new final chapter by me, bringing the story up to date. It will also have a new epilogue written by my spouse, Deirdre, who is the one person readers are most curious about. I think some people think I've been holding her hostage. I haven't.