Relationships

Back when Gilmore Girls first started airing, we didn’t have a local WB station that we could get on redneck cable around here (if you don’t know, redneck cable is network TV only, no cable or satellite) so I couldn’t watch it. Now we can get the WB on channel 22, which is changing over to the CW network today, so I’ve been watching a few episodes of Gilmore Girls the last few weeks. With GG and Veronica Mars coming on back-to-back on the CW now (or actually, October 3 when the new VM season starts) I may start watching GG.

So I borrowed the season one DVDs of GG from my sixteen-year-old cousin. (If you want to watch a show that has ever appeared on the WB, chances are my cousin has it on DVD! She’s like my personal Netflix.) I meant to just watch a few episodes while knitting a little this weekend since the husband had to work. I ended up watching four of the six disks, which totals to 16 episodes. My couch now has an imprint from the back of my jeans on it.

I really like Gilmore Girls, especially the relationship between Lorelai and Rory. It reminds me of the relationship between my main character Libby and her mom in my book. I did not model Libby and her mom on the Gilmore Girls, their relationship was based on my mom and me. My mom had me at 17, though she wasn’t a single parent (she and my dad got married exactly one year before I was born). In my book Libby’s mom had her at 18 and raised her alone, so they’re very close. Even though my mom wasn’t a single parent and I do have three younger siblings, I have always felt really close to my mom. My friends always told me how cool she was because sometimes she acted like a teenager and not a mom.

I tried to capture those experiences in my book. Even ten years ago, when I first created the character of Libby, her young, single mom was always there with her. I knew I wanted to really develop their relationship and how they deal with the intrusion of new people in their lives while still trying to maintain the bond they have. I knew I wanted to draw on my own experiences of growing up with young parents, as a sort of homage to them. I hope it shows through in the book. I don’t advocate teenagers having babies. I can’t imagine myself at 17 with a baby. It’s hard to imagine myself now at 26 with one. It wasn’t always easy for my parents, I know, but I have some great memories of growing up with them and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.