Hi BookBrowsers! Let’s give a warm welcome to our guest Renee Rosen, author of Let’s Call Her Barbie and several other historical fiction works. She’ll be checking in through Wednesday 5/7 to take your questions.
If you’d like to refresh your memory about the novel and/or the discussion we had earlier this year, please click here.
Please use the black Reply arrow/text at the bottom-right of a post to reply to or comment on that post specifically, or the big blue Reply button to ask a new question.
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Thanks for joining us here for a few days, @Renee_R! Please tell the group a little bit about yourself and your books.
Thanks Kim and hello to all the Book Browers. I’m coming to you from Chicago where I live downtown in a loft (built in 1909) with my partner and “book sherpa”, John.
To date I’ve written 9 historical novels and am working on number 10. I tend to write about strong, trailblazing women like Helen Gurley Brown (PARK AVENUE SUMMER), Estee Lauder (FIFTH AVENUE GLAMOUR GIRL), Alva Vanderbilt (THE SOCIAL GRACES) and Ruth Handler (LET’S CALL HER BARBIE). But I’ve also written a few books that feature mostly fictional characters (DOLLFACE and WHITE COLLAR GIRL). I also jump around in time periods and have two book set in the Gilded Age, one in the Roaring Twenties, and several in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. I guess you could say I write all across the board.
My most recent novel, LET’S CALL HER BARBIE has been out since the end of January and I’ve been on the road ever since, promoting from the West Coast to the East, so it feels great to be at home, sitting at my desk and having this time with all of you.
I truly appreciate this opportunity and please feel free to ask me anything. Nothing’s off the table. Thanks again!!!
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Hi Renee! Thank you so much for taking the time to connect with BookBrowsers. For Let’s Call Her Barbie - what was your process for researching the history of the creation of Barbie. And then from there, how did you decide which pieces to fictionalize?
Hi HannahT! Thanks for your question. The research for Let’s Call Her Barbie was pure joy. Truly it was a trip down memory lane for me. As with most of my books, I usually start the research process by reading as much non-fiction, memoirs and biographies that I can get my hands on. I also watched some documentaries that were really helpful. But then I hit the jackpot when I attended the Barbie Collector’s Annual Convention, which happened to be in Chicago that year. Usually they sell out on the day of registration with wait lists for the wait lists, but somehow, I got a ticket. While there I met a lot of Barbie experts and major collectors and influencers (several whom are mentioned in the back of Let’s Call Her Barbie). Everyone was so helpful and while I was there, I was able to meet and interview Carol Spencer, one of the original Barbie designers. She was 90 years old when we met and is considered Mattel Royalty. They even put her on a pink throne. She started at Mattel in 1963 and worked closely with Ruth, Jack, Charlotte and Elliot. She was a wealth of information and truly a gift from the writing gods.
As for piecing it all together and deciding what and where to bring in fictional characters and elements…well, it’s not a conscious decision. I don’t outline my books. I’ve tried and it never works and only stymies me. Instead, I just start writing and let my characters take over and tell me their stories. As I’m writing I have no idea what is going to happen on the next line let alone the next page or chapter. I’m constantly surprised by who shows up on the page and what they do. I’ve found that when I try to control a character and impose my will upon them, I end up in a 20,000 word corner. It’s taken years but I’m learning that my characters know what’s best for them and they’ll guide me a long the way.
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It sounds like you’d already decided on Ruth Handler/Barbie’s creation as the subject of your novel before you went to the convention. Is that correct? If so, what led you in that direction in the first place?
Also, what led to the creation of Stevie, the only fictional character among the principals?
That convention was in 2022 but I actually got the idea to write a novel based on Barbie’s creation long before that and long befor the Barbie movie hype swept the country (and the world). It was back in 2019 and I was on a panel about feminism with a woman who was very high up in the doll division at Mattel. She’s the one who told me the story about Ruth Handler and why she created Barbie. I got goosebumps and knew I wanted to do a novel about this. The only problem was that I had two other books already in the pipeline. I remember I was about halfway through a first draft when the Barbie mania started taking hold. I had a lot of FOMO while writing away! LOL.
In terms of Stevie, she just kind of appeared on the page and refused to leave. I really mean it when I say that I let the characters lead the way. But as it turned out, I think Stevie served a really important purpose in the book. Actually, a number of important purposes. Through Stevie I could explore what Mattel was like for the young designers that worked there. Her perspective would have been much different than Ruth’s or someone else in management. She also served as a portal into the women’s movement and lastly, she was there to show how Jack could cast a magical spell over women. Luckily for Stevie, she didn’t stick around too long for that. 
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How fascinating! Did you have similar “goosebump” experiences with any of your other subjects? I’d love to hear where the inspiration came from for some of the other women you’ve written about. Did one of them end up being your favorite, or was one easier to write about than the others?
Of your nine novels, which was your favorite to write? Which one are you most proud of? Which was the most challenging?
Can you tell us a little about Novel #10 (subject, era…)?
Hi Renee:
LOVE your books.
I have read and reviewed every one of your books but haven’t gotten to LET’S CALL HER BARBIE yet.
Thanks for joining us.
Elizabeth
I have to say that the “goosebump” factor has been rare. I think the only other time I felt it was when I was working on Windy City Blues. That’s a novel about an interracial love story, wrapped around the birth of the Chicago Blues and the Civil Rights Movement. We were doing research at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and I was so overwhelmed by the time we finished that I had to sit down. That was when I realized how intertwined the music was with the times and the pain and struggle of the era. That was a big and important moment for me. Very different from the goosebumps I got with Barbie, but a significant realization just the same.
I don’t think I had that same WOW factor with Estee Lauder or Helen Gurley Brown because I already knew a little something about them. I had never heard of Ruth Handler before and honestly, never tought about who was behind Barbie simply because she’d just always been a part of my life for as far back as I can remember. So Ruth’s story really took me by surprise and I suppose that’s why Let’s Call Her Barbie is my favorite, followed closely by Windy City Blues
My favorite book to write by far was Barbie. Everything about that book was pure joy and nostalgia. I was reliving my childhood every day when I sat down to write. Even during the editing when I had to cut about 100 pages, it was still fun. I loved every minute and have loved being able to share this story with readers.
The most challenging book was definitely The Social Graces. It was so hard to find the humanity in these people who seemed to only care about balls and social etiquette. I had to dig really deep and ended up rewriting that book top to bottom three times before it was in good enough shape to start the editing process. Thankfully I have a very patient editor who never lost faith that we’d get there.
It funny but each book requires it’s own approach and presents it’s own challenges. Each time I start a new book, I’m convinced that I’ve forgotten how to write a novel!
Thanks for asking about novel #10!!! I’m still in the early stages and am reluctant to say too much, but what I can tell you is that it takes place in August of 1969 during the Woodstock Music Festival.
Ooooh, can’t wait! I’m of an age where that’ll likely be a trip down memory lane for me.
Thanks SO much for all your support of my work. I really appreciate it. When you do get to Let’s Call Her Barbie, I hope enjoy it and that it brings back lots of great childhood memories!
Was it your decision to cut 100 pages or did an editor encourage that? If it’s not too difficult to describe, I’d be interested to know what you cut - was it a bit here or there, or an entire plot thread, or…?
How many iterations do your novels go through before they’re “done”?
The research so far has been really fun. It’s been great talking to people who were there! And of course the music–ah!! SO GREAT!!!
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The decision to cut 100 pages came from my editor, but she was right. For the most part, I cut any and every unnecessary word, every redundant point where I was hitting the reader over the head with something say, “See? Get it? Did you get it?” In the end, I did pull back on some of the business dealings at Mattel. I found them fascinating but that could have been a separate book. I think cutting those 100 pages really helped the pacing and made the book stronger and the themes more poignant. Turns out I didn’t need to hit the reader over the head, after all. 
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You might need to include a playlist in the back of the book once it gets close to being published.