[In the interview below, French discusses his writings, experiences that shaped his writing, and the writing process.]

[Vedder]: Racism is central to Billy; what kind of personal experience have you had with that issue?

[French]: Well, the racism in Billy, quite honestly, is a backdrop. It's been written that it lights up the face of American racism; Billy was not meant to be that. My feeling about writing Billy was to get the feelings of Billy himself, Cinder, his mother, her feelings, Lori Pasko, Ginger Pasko, these people involved. It wasn't to light up the face of racism.

So it was character that was really interesting to you.

Right. Without racism the book would not have occurred, so it was a vital part of the book, but not my main focus when I started writing. I wasn't thinking "let's go attack racism." If I wanted to attack racism...