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Like I mentioned in the 'Author Chat' topic, if you're unable to attend on 5/31 and you'd like to ask Lily a question, please post it here!

My goal is to attend but just in case I can't I wanted to add some of my questions here.

1) I really enjoyed the book. What a great discovery!
When you first found and read the diary what drove you to find the author?

Do you think you were 'meant' to find the diary?

Of all the treasures you found that day, what is one thing you kept that means the most to you?

How has writing this book changed you... if at all?

Any talks of a movie? If so who would you like to see play Florence?

I have more I know but I just put the book down so wanted to get some of my fresh ones out of the way while they were still on my mind.

Thank you so much for being willing to participate in this chat. What a treat.

Shoot! Somehow I missed that the chat will be on a Saturday. :( RATS! (I run a small business on sat mornings, so I can't be online at that time. BUMMER!!! Is anyone going to be attending??? I seriously hope so!!!!!!)

-Anyway, I reiterate Tera's question about whether the book has changed Lily at all.

-Also, I'd like to know what her current relationship is like with Florence. Is she still Lily's new 'grandmother'?

-What are Lily's future plans? Continue to write for the Times? Or is the future unwritten? What is she working on right now?

I thought of another question. Since the release of the book and assuming Lily and Florence have kept in contact how would she say the book being released has changed her (Florence's) life? Or did it?

What do her children think of the book?

Does Lily think there is a lesson to be gained from the book?

Wow, you said it Amanda~ Bummer! :)

is this where we are supposed to be Jo? For the chat??

Yes, this is where we're supposed to be! Sorry I forgot to post that until 2 minutes ago!

That's ok :) Good thing you did!! LOL

First off, I'd Like to thank Lily for taking the time to Chat with us this morning about The Red Leather Diary!

Who ever is here for the chat, can you please post a comment here so we can see how many are attending so we can get to your questions first, then Lily can answers the questions already posted!

I'm here :)

I'm here but I already posted my questions because I thought I might sleep in. Lucky me the baby woke me up right on time;).

Morning Holli & Tera! Sorry your couldn't sleep in Tera!

Good morning Tera!!

Lily, we're over here! Hope I haven't lost you in the other threads! I'm trying to bounce around to get everyone over to this one!

I'm here and ready for questions. I hope my refresh button keeps up with us. Thanks for having me and for the lively discussion, which I have been avidly following.

All right.....let's begin this thing!! LOL Is Lily here yet?

There you are......good morning Lily :)

Okay, we've found each other. I think this is great, and speaks to how books and words connect people today in the information age. In part, that was the significance of finding Florence's diary, of her words as a young woman inspiring me and leading me to want to find her, the real person.

I think you and Florence have that go get'em attitude in common.....do you agree?

Great! I was afraid I'd lost you along the way Lily!

My question was about the details of Florence's life and even NY ~ How much of the specific details came from Florence herself and how much came from all the research you did on that time period in NY and how long did it take you to gather all of it before you even sat down to write?!

Many of the questions in the threads have been about how the book has changed my life. First, I have to say that although The Red Leather Diary is a very specific, the chronicle of a young woman named Florence Wolfson who we have come to know, set against the stage set of 1930s New York. It is a universal story, which I believe all of us can relate to, about finding the private truths and significance in our lives. Florence wasn't a celebrity or famous, but I felt she lived authentically and fearlessly as a young woman. She didn't model herself on others, no Lindsay Lohans or Paris Hilton. She was the star of her own show and "writing" her life as she filled the pages of her journal.

I thought of a something else! Do you think you'll continue with nonfiction novels or is fiction in your furture as well?

OK--I got ahead of the threads, now I am going to answer Holli and Jo's first questions:

-Go get-em attitudes. Florence and I both share this but in different ways. I am the kind of gal who is always up for adventure. When I saw that rusted dumpster with the old steamer trunks - I was TOO curious, I had to climb in and excavate those trunks all day. I had to find Florence...once a story begins, I have to finish. Florence was fearless in a different way, her life was one of theater, art, salons. Her love affairs with men and women made her a nonconformist of the time, even now she is still open-minded and always wants to expand her worldview.

Very good point! Not many individuals are indeed individuals anymore in this day & age! (Oh dear, I'm starting to sound old!) I find that very discouraging and even sad.

I agree with that about her and I think that is something that everyone should try to do with their lives. What bothered me and several others ws her statement about not thinking she had lived a full life......she said "if I had been true to myself would I have ended up living this ordinary life?" I can't see how her life was at all ordinary............

Jo----I don't think people are individuals anymore because society doesn't allow it. I don't think society allowed it in Florence's time either but she sought out people who did allow her to be an individual and i think that helped her to be who she was.

I think Florence is hard on herself. She felt that unlike the young woman who filled the diary's pages, she had given into many of her parents expectations of her, married the dentist, raised a family, given up her career. She appreciates these things - and no one could argue with her that at 92 (she celebrates her 93rd bday in the fall) she has not had a full life. But she has a strain of regret. She is a very intelligent woman who could have made a career as a writer, like many of her friends from the salon who went on the illustrious literary careers.

I think meeting me, it was almost like meeting the young woman of the diary - and she challenged herself.

That statement has bothered me as well. It didn't before I read the book, but as I read and after I was finished, it really did! Florence can't not realize or appreciate that she's done more in her life from a very young age on that many people can only dream of doing! I don't think there's actually enough time in our 1 lifetime do do literally everything we want to do but that doesn't mean we've let ourselves down!

But, what the book did not state, because I did not want to overwrite it, but allow the reader to experience me finding the diary, being shuttled into its world, and then meeting Florence - Florence's words and life have come full circle. Through reconnecting with her younger self, she realizes how extraordinary that young woman was and how she is not so different. Afterall, at 90, this is a woman who was so open that she allowed a stranger into her world. She spoke matter-of-factly about her love affairs, sex and perspective on life.

I didn't think of it that way! Her mother especially wanted her to marry a well off man, etc..! Yes, now I can see how she feels she let herself down by giving in to them ~ We all tend to feel as though we're holding ourselves back when we do something our parents want us to that doesn't feel right to us!

Thisis why i wanted to ask YOU that question Lily because you have met her and built a relationship with her. Everyone has regrets and i can understand how she would regret not pursuing her dream....that makes more sense now. Does she realize how fully she DID live her life though?

Maybe that is exactly why she made that statement though. She did do so much at a young age and then seemed to settle down after that. Perhaps to her she stopped living the life she thought or wanted and began another life she didn't anticipate, which is something I think most of us do. Perhaps she thinks of the expectations of her life at that time and compares to where she is and said that. I do agree she had a full life but maybe compared to what she thought she had is how that statement resulted?

Never mind.....you just answered my question!!

Remember this a 90 year old woman, but she is as spirited as she once was. She wrote the foreword, which was a challenge after not writing for years, but she states so eloquently: "how do you feel when a forgotten chunk of your life is handed back to you full of your adolescent passion and angst." It was a shock, but one that has not only brought her self-understanding, but closer with her two daughters, both in their 60s. Both cried when they finished the book and said there was so much they had learned about their mother--namely, for the first time--THEY SAW HER AS A PERSON, searching for love and meaning in her life.

I'm happy that her daughters were able to experience that understanding with their mother because not alot of people do. That's wonderful that you were brought into their lives to help them with that Lily!!

when they finished the book and said there was so much they had learned about their mother--namely, for the first time--THEY SAW HER AS A PERSON, searching for love and meaning in her life.


What a great gift you gave to them. That about made me cry. All children should be so lucky

I imagine it was quite a shock for Florence! Even a bit painful. How does she feel about the book, about her intimate thoughts & feelings being made so vividly public and on a broader scale than your article for The NY Times?

A page back Jo asked about my writing process, how much historical research went in, what I got from Florence. As you read in the book, I spent every Sunday with Florence for a summer interviewing her. She is both a grandmother and a best friend.

It was so unusual to get to know her as a teenager and meet her for the first time at 90. I still see her as that younger self full of potential. Interviewing was a process of excavating her memory.

Try remembering back to your teenage years, trying to bring it back in full focus. This was hard, but wonderful. Florence reread the diary as did I. Out of the blue, she would recall memories of her changed city, the double-decker buses, Le Gallienne swooping over her in the audience, the tea shop she went to with Pearl. I tried to dig up as much original research to ignite Florence's memory a well, old playbills from the Civic Rep Theater, pictures of Mercury on the lamps.

In many ways, it was like an actress taking on a role, my challenge was to see New York again through Florence's eyes. Of course, the diary, filled with her innermost thoughts was a magical tool, like ruby slippers.

Sorry, I was a little behind. Jo asked how Florence felt about her intimate thoughts on public display.

When I first called Florence with the news of my discovery of her diary, I was unsure how she react. I was nervous. The diary was such a personal statement...

You know what would be fascinating would be to read this and Diary of Anne Frank together. Not to compare the girls necessarily but the influences, money, education, geography, family and so on with each girl. They both began their diary at 14 and weren't written that far apart from each other.

Florence's memory must be like MY 90 year old grandmother's memory. She recalls things about her childhood in such vivid detail....its extraordinary. I have always loved sitting with her and hearing about her life. In alot of ways Florence reminded me of my grandma Franceva but my grandma was not as "wild" as Florence was.

Very creative ways to help her remember! You must have been going nonstop to get all the research and writing done for the book as well as your assignments for the Times! Does your life feel different now that the book is published? Is it a bit of a let down now that that part of the process is over?

...Florence harbored no regrets about her distant past. She was as fascinated with that girl as I was. She spoke about her love affairs with women very casually. I believe it was part of her process to understand herself. This was a culture, where she said "men behaved with arrogance." More than today, there was a culture of courtship and men and women for the most part were no best friends...

Sorry to keep asking Q's! They just keep coming to me!

Are you planning on writing another book? i believe Jo asked this awhile back too........

Florence has never been someone to put labels on herself or others. She is who she is. She was unsure of the orgasm scene, but after asking her daughters and granddaughters, who are very hip, she decided it was the distant past - "je ne regret rien" - it was her life and she had nothing to worry about or apologize about. I think some of her bridge friends were shocked, but she doesn't mind.

If so what kind of book would you like to write next?

How cute!! Her bridge friends being shocked....I'm sure Florence enjoyed shocking them too!! She seems like she would be the type to get a kick out of it.

I think a book like this is an asset to our history overall! You cannot get details like this of a specific time period from history books! It paints such an amazing picture of "Old NY" (and Europe) that I practically inhaled it! (Like "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan did for me for Chicago and Europe, etc..)

I bet they were jealous. Who can remember their first orgasm at 30 let alone 90!