Erika Schickel came to Los Angeles 20 years ago from New York City. “I came here as an actress and I wound up a writer,” said Schickel, an essayist, playwright, and author of the momoir You’re Not The Boss Of Me: Adventures Of A Modern Mom
Q. What music have you listened to today?
A. I don’t know that I’ve listened to any music today. Usually I listen to whatever my daughter is playing on her iPod.
Q. What is your favorite word?
A. Lately, I’ve been saying my favorite word is ineluctable, just because I like the sound of it.
Q. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A. Well, I came from a family of writers, so the one thing I didn’t want to be was a writer. Go figure. I wanted to be a performer, an actress.
Q. What is your favorite cocktail?
A. A gin martini.
Q. If you could take only one more journey, where would you go?
A. I’d like to go back to Manhattan the year I was born and see what the world looked like then.
Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?
A. Summers on Cape Cod.
Q. What is your most prized material possession?
A. A turquoise ring my grandmother left me.
Q. What promise do you make to yourself that you break the most often?
A. Stop biting my nails.
Q. What should you throw away but haven’t been able to part with?
A. Low self-esteem.
Q. Who would you choose to write your biography?
A. James Ellroy.
Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most like to meet for dinner?
A. Anne Sexton.
To read about Schickel’s interview with Ellroy, click here.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.