Publishing Company Blog | Jandy Nelson: I felt like every work I’ve ever fallen in love with spoke to me all at once

Jandy Nelson: I felt like every work I’ve ever fallen in love with spoke to me all at once

Written By Unknown on Friday, May 1, 2015 | 3:13 AM

The YA author of I’ll Give You the Sun speaks to site member justonemorepage about channelling the spirit of Picasso, writing in a pitch black room with earplugs in and how she was tricked into writing novels…

Read Jandy’s top 10 superstitions – have you ever worn a wasp nest in your hair?

The title of I’ll Give You the Sun is taken from something Jude says to Noah. Was it always called that, and how did you eventually decide on that title?

While I was writing, the working title of the novel was The History of Luck/The Invisible Museum based on the names of Jude’s and Noah’s alternating sections throughout. I thought this double title would be the final title, but when I finished the novel, I wanted something else, something that would speak to the story as a whole, to both Jude’s and Noah’s narratives at once, to their braided lives. Also, the double title was cumbersome and no one could remember it! So, we – me, my editor, agent, family and friends – all went crazy for a few weeks trying to come up with something and nothing really clicked until I’ll Give You the Sun came along. I loved how over-the-top romantic it seems, but once you understand its origin in the story, you see how emblematic it is of the very fierce and treacherous rivalry between the twins.

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“Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me.”