Rufi Thorpe: Talent Is Not Real
Rufi Thorpe is the author of The Knockout Queen, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award; Dear Fang, with Love; and The Girls from Corona del Mar, which was long-listed for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. A native of California, she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Rufi Thorpe
Photo by Leyna Ambron
In this interview, Rufi discusses radically empowering readers with her new novel, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, her advice for other writers, and more!
Name: Rufi Thorpe
Literary agent: Michelle Brower at Trellis
Book title: Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Publisher: William Morrow at HarperCollins
Release date: June 11, 2024
Genre/category: Fiction
Previous titles: The Knockout Queen, Dear Fang, With Love, The Girls from Corona del Mar
Elevator pitch: Margo Millet is a community college student who has an affair with her English professor, decides to keep the baby, and winds up supporting herself with an OnlyFans account. Her dad, an ex-pro-wrestler fresh out of rehab, moves in to help with childcare, and his advice from the world of wrestling helps her account take off, which is of course when all the real trouble begins.
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What prompted you to write this book?
For a long time, I had this idea that I wanted to take the Madonna/Whore complex and kind of cross our cultural wires by making a heroine who was both a mom and a sex worker, but really make her someone the reader could root for absolutely. I could never figure out how it would work because the pedestal we place mothers on and the unexamined disdain with which we treat sex workers just seemed too entrenched. When OnlyFans started taking off during the pandemic, it seemed to fit into this really interesting morally gray area where people were just a little bit less quick to judge, and I saw my chance.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
From initial idea to publication was probably six years, but with only three of those being active writing time. And of course, the idea changed over and over again. I think that’s just the nature of building an imaginary thing.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
It was really nothing but surprises! There were several key moments where I needed to believe in the book and shake things up, and I took the risk of switching agents and switching publishers. But I don’t think any of us were expecting it when there was a very intense auction for the TV rights before the book had even come out. I mean, it was the best surprise in the world, but it was certainly a surprise! I didn’t even really know that could happen.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
In my first idea of the book, Margo’s father, Jinx, wasn’t really part of it at all. But the more obsessed I became with wrestling, the more I wanted to find a way of working it into the book. For me, the parallels between sex work and wrestling were just too interesting. So, I decided to make her father a wrestler from a really abstract place, which sometimes really doesn’t work! But the first scene I wrote with him, he was so alive, I knew he was going to play a major role in the book.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope readers will feel radically empowered by Margo. I hope they feel like their life is theirs and theirs alone, and that every single second of it is a wild gift that no one can take from them.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Talent is not real. I was never the most talented of any cohort that I was in, and I feel like that really helped me succeed because when I faced adversity, I was never surprised or put off. You know, I didn’t sign up to be a novelist hoping I would be some literary luminary, I just loved books so much I was willing to be the worst one. Just do the work and be unafraid. The page is the only part of it that’s real and anyone is allowed to go there. That is literature’s great virtue. You don’t have to audition, you don’t have to get hired, you don’t need thirty other people, you don’t need special expensive equipment, it’s just you and the page, and you show up and try.
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