Private Lessons: Interview

An interview with Cynthia Salaysay about Private Lessons 

About the book:

1.  How did you come up with the story of Private Lessons?

I was healing from a bad breakup -- I had to find a new job, find new friends, move, and rebuild my life. One day, in my new apartment in a new city, a friend said, "Write a story about a person whose teacher leads them astray." And so the book began.

2.  Who is the main character(s) in Private Lessons?

Claire is an introverted, brainy Filipino American teen who uses music like a life preserver -- it keeps her sane, makes her feel most like herself. Paul is her new, dynamic, and challenging piano teacher, who takes her under his wing. 

3.  What part was the hardest to write? The beginning, middle or the end?

The ending, absolutely. There's something about an ending that makes me feel like -- well? Did I do that right? 

4.  What was the hardest scene to write in Private Lessons?   

The most intimate scene between Paul and Claire was the hardest to write. It took a long time to get just right. I'd take a stab at it, look at it, put it down, wait six months, try again. When I finally figured out how to approach it and wrote what ended up in the book,  I was surprised how affected I was by writing it. 

5.   Where can readers purchase Private Lessons?  

You can find Private Lessons on Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781536209600

About the author:

1.    If a director wanted to make Private Lessons into a movie and wanted you to act in it, who would you be and why?

I think I would want to be in it if it were a musical and I could be one of the women in the chorus.

2.    What are some of your favorite tv shows or movies?

I recently watched The Half of It and loved absolutely everything about it. I loved how rich and lovable the characters were. A lot of cliches are presented and later broken. Also, I really liked seeing an immigrant family in which one of the parents is gone. I grew up this way and it can be very isolating and it was nice to see that experience mirrored in another person's story. Schitt's Creek is pure fizzy fun. I love an old French film called Forbidden Games (Les Jeux Interdits) about a boy who teaches a girl to deal with death by building a pet cemetery. The love between them is so fierce and strange.

3.    If you could have dinner with any 3 people (fictional, real or dead), who would it be? 

Oh I thought sooo much about this. I decided I would like to have dinner with Virginia Woolf, Audre Lorde, and Natalie Diaz. They are all brilliant queer writers and I love it when women get together -- it can be more relaxed. Though I would probably not talk much, and just listen.