One of the questions I’ve been hearing the most at readings over the last couple of weeks is, “Where did you get the idea for this crazy book?” (The second comment I get a lot is, “But you seem so much nicer than I expected.” If you can’t figure out why anyone would say that, you probably haven’t gotten to the part about Fernley yet.) So here, it is, in black and white: the inspiration for THE MARRIAGE PACT, which is really three inspirations:
Inspiration #1: LOVE
I’ve been married for 16 years (thanks, Kevin!), and I’ve written about marriage (and divorce) before in novels like Golden State. This time, I wanted to write about two people who are deeply in love and trying to make it work. I didn’t want to write a story of husband against wife, but rather a husband and wife together, struggling against a powerful outside force.
Inspiration #2: CULTS
The second inspiration was my longstanding fascination with cults–in particular, organizations that lure people in with the promise of helping them to live fuller, happier lives and be better versions of themselves. Some fashion themselves as religions, while others purport to be self-help movements. I wanted to explore why educated, reasonable individuals get drawn into these organizations and become so enmeshed that they leave behind family members, spend massive amounts of money to take seminars or courses, and even sign extreme contracts committing themselves to the organization for life and beyond.
Inspiration #3: THE FEDERAL CRIMINAL CODE
The third piece of the puzzle was The Federal Criminal Code, a massive tome, comprised of over a thousand pages of tiny print. The book, issued annually, outlines every crime you can think of, along with many you can’t, and the corresponding penalties. I wondered: What would happen if there were strict rules for marriage, and penalties for those who broke the rules? What if there was an organization that took marital “crimes” as seriously as other types of crimes? I wanted to put that concept under the microscope, take it as far as I could, and see what happened.
I talked about inspiration and more with Joe Hartlaub for Bookreporter. Read the author interview.
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P.S. The Marriage Pact is on the Entertainment Weekly Must List this week!