FAQ - The Theory of Everything
What's the story behind The Theory of Everything?
When I was thirteen, a friend of mine was hit by a car and died. I’ve always thought about how the death of a friend can really send your worldview into a tailspin, especially when you are a teenager. A lot of grown-ups really don't understand how devastating it can be, and how long grief can last. So I had been holding that in my heart for a long time.
Then one day I saw a van in the driveway of a house around my corner. The van said "Aftermath Cleaners." There had been a murder in that home. I was gutted. Who had lived in there? What happened? What would a job like that -- cleaning up death or murder scenes -- be like?
Just after that, I turned the corner and came up my own driveway. My dog, Ruby, was wagging her tail. She pointed her muzzle to something she was very proud of: a dead possum. She had killed it and left it for me.
Suddenly everything coalesced in my mind. The threads of the story started to intertwine.
The grief in The Theory of Everything feels real. Did you experience the death of a friend when you were a teenager?
Yes. As I said, a close family friend was hit and killed by a car while she was crossing the street. She was ten, I was thirteen. The experience of grief in The Theory of Everything is real. The characters, relationships, plot, and details are fiction.
I love the chapter openings. Did you think of the charts and graphics yourself? Did you draw them or was it an illustrator?
Thank you! I thought them up and drew them, and then my publisher's illustrator re-drew them for publication. She did a fantastic job. I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.
Thank you! I thought them up and drew them, and then my publisher's illustrator re-drew them for publication. She did a fantastic job. I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.
Do you love Star Wars as much as Sarah does in The Theory of Everything?
Yes. The original trilogy was a huge part of my childhood. I was four when my parents took my brother and me to see A New Hope on opening night. I will never, ever forget watching that opening scene. (I'm still scared of Darth Vader.)
In my twenties, I went through a huge Star Wars books phase. Reading those novels was my favorite guilty pleasure. I recently went back and counted, and I was astonished (and a little embarrassed) to learn that I've read... not one... not ten... but seventy-seven Star Wars novels. Seventy-seven!
To answer your next question: yes. Just like Sarah, the text message alert on my phone is Chewbacca.
Where can I read more of your thoughts about The Theory of Everything?
Here's an interview I did with Hollywood the Write Way.