WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Today I chat with Lydia Netzer, the author of Shine Shine Shine. Reviewers have passionately praised Netzer's debut novel for its sci-fi love story: the book follows the relationship of Sunny, a congenitally bald woman, and Maxon, a robotic space engineer, as they find their own version of normal both at home and up among the stars. The novel's blend of folksy and futuristic is like a bacon muffin: shocking, yet somehow it all makes perfect sense.

One of the things I identified with most in your book was the somewhat mystical/alien nature of pregnancy. What was the weirdest part of being pregnant for you?

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Let the record show that it took only eight full days before my husband, filmmaker Steve Delahoyde, made a film starring our newborn son Paul:

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My mom, Janice, has been helping me out in amazing ways since I had my baby. Here's a sweet little story from her about moms, and about what happened when my brother, Jack, was born. –CZ

A little over 31 years ago our son, Jack, was born. He and I shared a hospital room with a friendly woman named Karen and her son, Tommy, who was born that same day. We all got along quite well and had many things in common: Both newborns had two-year-old sisters, both families were from the north suburbs and it turned out we knew many of the same people. It was quite nice.

As Karen and I were preparing to go home, we began to speculate about what would become of our little boys. I don't know whose idea it was but we decided to keep each other apprised of our sons' progress via Christmas cards. Here's the thing that amazes Claire — we actually did.

The cards crossed in the mail every December, photos enclosed.

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Today I chat with Gillian Flynn, the author of the crime novel sensation Gone Girl. It's a creepy, delightful read (or in my case, listen), wherein a woman goes missing and we hear her point of view about the case in addition to her husband’s, who happens to be the prime suspect in the case. A Chicago resident, Flynn is also the author of Sharp Objects and Dark Places and is a former TV critic for Entertainment Weekly. You can learn much more about her here.

What’s the first book you ever read that truly scared you?

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Soul Surfer

Hackers

Kung-Fu Panda 2

Airheads

30 Minutes Or Less

Hitch

True Lies

 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Mars Needs Moms

Country Strong

Bad Teacher

The Other Guys

Air Force One

Real Steel

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I’m writing this for my friends and family as well as those who might be interested in hearing another one of those stories about how you really can’t make much of a plan when it comes to having a baby. Don’t read on if you are squeamish.

Our baby was due 9/4 and in my head, he or she was going to come that day, or September 1st, or around September 11. Don’t ask me why, but part of it had to do with the fact that my pregnancy had been so run of the mill, so "boring" as my doctor called it, that I figured the date would to according to plan. Everyone told me I looked good, I admit I took a certain measure of smugness in how active I was, so why wouldn’t things go according to plan? I was even proud of the fact that I didn't have a "birth plan." But my lack of a birth plan still failed to entail anything seriously unexpected, uncomfortable or frightening.

Last Monday I went to the doc for a routine 37-week checkup and was told that my blood pressure was a little high, so no big deal, I got some blood drawn. Then Wednesday the offices called to request that I come in to triage at the hospital because the tests were a little concerning.

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1. My husband and I heard a woman screaming “Help me! Help me!” outside on the street. I grabbed my phone, ran down the stairs and out on the street, heading down Berwyn towards some people running away. I never saw what was going on but I called 9-1-1. Husband was mad at me but I figured every woman is obligated to try to help out another woman who is calling for help.
   
   Worst part of this decision: I did not put on my shoes.
    
2. Five minutes later I was sitting on the floor, petting the dog, when a huge bug ran by. Normally I would reach for something to smash it with, but moving around is hard these days so I just smashed it with my hand.
   
   Worst part of this decision: Nothing in particular, just general grossness.
    
3. Three days later my husband called me upstairs in a panic: Apparently our dog was choking on a biscuit and seizing up in terror. I stuck my hand down my dog’s throat to clear his airway.
   
   Worst part of this decision: Our panicking dog weighs 80 pounds and has all his teeth.

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