An audience with Gregory Maguire

Q: You've totally changed how many people view characters like the Wicked Witch of the West. So many people now know her as Elphaba and her story from your point of view. Did you ever dream when writing your stories you would have that affect on so many people?
iheartwicked

Gregory Maguire: No. I did imagine that I might have a very small cult following among college kids and that it might go on for a little while. Even my agent said: 'This book will fly under the radar.'

I think worldwide there are five million copies in print and I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of people have seen the play or how many millions will see the movie when it's made. One doesn't expect that kind of influence.

And what really makes me happy about it is that, as I said earlier, Elphaba is the picture of me as I would like to be if I were more 'me', you know? So, I get this huge ego boost to think that people are able to see this character and like her, connect with her and identify with her - and that's really me!

Q: Do you find writing an easy process? Does it just flow from you or do you have to be regimented about a work routine?
iheartwicked

Gregory Maguire: Yes to both. It does flow from me but it flows from me because I am regimented and I do sit down and work every day. It's like an Olympic gymnast; being a gymnast may be natural but it's natural because they train themselves to stretch their muscles and work on it every single day.

Q: Do you enjoy writing for young children more or adults more?
iheartwicked

Gregory Maguire: Writing for children is harder because children have less patience and they are quicker to dismiss that which isn't working for them at any given moment.

Adults have more patience and they can tolerate things that I really love: the parts of the literary art like description and a little bit of digression. So perhaps I enjoy writing for adults a little more.

Q: Why is Elphaba allergic to water?
iheartwicked

Gregory Maguire: That's partly because L. Frank Baum said she was. Why did he think she was? Because witches were often tested in water, so I think he didn't invent that, he borrowed it from history.

Why is she allergic to water in my mind? I think possibly it's because water is, among other things, a life-giving necessity for someone to grow. She's green, she's like a plant, she needs to grow and she's allergic to water because she's been told that as a green-skinned human being she doesn't deserve to grow. So it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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