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Picoult Tells Story Behind Her Words

Author Jodi Picoult tells Yalies about her work.

By Kristie Borges

| Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 | Updated 11:45 AM EST

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Author Jodi Picoult was at Yale for a Master's Tea and got real with readers.

Best-selling author Jodi Picoult revealed the story behind her stories during a recent Q&A at Yale.

The author of 15 books talked for about an hour and half during a Master’s Tea and shared what inspires to to write what she does, and she shared her experiences as a young writer, the Yale Daily News reports.

“I don’t feel that I create characters, I listen to them. They come to me fully formed,” Picoult told the audience.

Jodi Picoult wrote her first novel, “Songs of the Humpback Whale,” in 1992 and her book “My Sister’s Keeper” was adapted to the big screen this year.

During the tea, Picoult slammed a handful of popular fiction writers.

“I could crank out a James Patterson or a Danielle Steele novel easily, she said, later adding, “Nicholas Sparks is the bane of modern fiction,” the Daily News reports.

If you missed Picoult this week, she’ll be back in New Haven on Oct. 10 for a signing at the Yale Bookstore.

Fans, you have a few more months to wait for her newest novel. Her next book, "House Rules," will be on store shelves March 2010.