Joy Fielding (née Tepperman; born March 18, 1945) is a Canadian novelist and actress. She lives in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Biography

Born in

, she graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1966, with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. As Joy Tepperman, she had a brief acting career, appearing in the film '' Winter Kept Us Warm'' (1965) and in an episode of ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

''. She later changed her last name to Fielding (after

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...

) and began writing novels. Fielding is also the screenwriter of the television film '' Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story''. In the 1980s, she was also a regular contributor of book reviews to

Jack Farr Colonel Jack Farr is a former Army officer specializing in military intelligence, who was deployed to camp Camp Delta at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. ''USA Today'' reported that Farr was in charge of all interrogations, at Guanta ...

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

program ''

The Radio Show ''The Radio Show'' was a Canadian radio show, which aired on CBC Radio One, CBC Radio from 1983 to 1992. The show incorporated some aspects of a conventional radio talk show, filtered through the warped comedic sensibilities of host Jack Farr.John ...

''.

Personal

At the age of 8, Tepperman wrote her first story and sent it into a local magazine, and at age 12 sent in her first TV script, however both were rejected. She had a brief acting career, eventually giving it up to write full-time in 1972.Wagner, Vit. "Okay With Being 'Popular'; Author Not In The Same League as Joan Didion, But She's Writing the Books She Wants to Write." Toronto Star 28 Mar 2008: E.9. Print. She has published 30 novels and 1 Novella (as of September 2022), two of which were converted into film. Fielding's process of having an idea to the point the novel is finished generally takes a year, the writing itself taking four to eight months. Fielding sets most of her novels in American cities such as

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She has said that she prefers to set her novels in "big American cities, s thelandscape seems best for erthemes of urban alienation and loss of identity." Fielding is a Canadian citizen. Her husband is noted Toronto attorney, Warren Seyffert. They have two daughters, Annie and Shannon,Wong, Jan. "Home is where the sales aren't for this Canadian novelist." ''The Globe and Mail'' 12 Mr. 1998, Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies, ProQuest. Web. 26 Oct. 2010 and own property in

, as well as Palm Beach,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Interview

Fielding had an interview with the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'' in 2007, just after her publication of ''Heartstopper''. She enjoys catching readers off guard with the endings of her stories, but insists that it "isn't what her fiction is about",Wigod, Rebecca. "Plot-Meister Says That For Her, It's Mostly About Character." The Vancouver Sun 28 Apr 2007, final ed: C.9. Print. but rather more about the development of her characters. Discussing her novels with the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' in 2008, she said "I might not write fiction in the literary sense. But I write very well. My characters are good. My dialog is good. And my stories are really involving. I'm writing exactly the kind of books I like to write. And they're the kind of books I like to read. They're popular commercial fiction. That's what they are."

Audience

Fielding has been noted as a novelist who is more popular in the United States and foreign countries, rather than in her native Canada. For example, the novel ''

Kiss Mommy Goodbye ''Kiss Mommy Goodbye'' is a 1981 psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with p ...

'' was more popular in the States, and '' See Jane Run'' in Germany. In addition, she had an American agent and publisher, although she has now switched to a Canadian publisher.

Bibliography

*''The Best of Friends'' (1972) – Novel *''The Transformation'' (1976) – Novel *''Trance'' (1979) – Novel *''

'' (1981) – Novel *''The Other Woman'' (1983) – Novel *''Life Penalty'' (1984) – Novel *''The Deep End'' (1986) – Novel *''Good Intentions'' (1989) – Novel *'' See Jane Run'' (1991) – Novel *''Tell Me No Secrets'' (1993) – Novel *''Don't Cry Now'' (1995) – Novel *''Missing Pieces'' (1997) – Novel *''The First Time'' (2000) – Novel *''Grand Avenue'' (2001) – Novel *''Whispers and Lies'' (2002) – Novel *''Lost'' (2003) – Novel *''Puppet'' (2005) – Novel *''Mad River Road'' (2006) – Novel *''Heartstopper'' (2007) – Novel *''Charley's Web'' (2008) – Novel *''Still Life'' (2009) – Novel *''The Wild Zone'' (2010) – Novel *''Home Invasion'' (2011) – Novella *''Now You See Her'' (2011) – Novel *''Shadow Creek'' (2012) – Novel *''Someone Is Watching'' (2015) – Novel *''She's Not There'' (2016) – Novel *''The Bad Daughter'' (2018) – Novel (a.k.a. ''Bleeding Hearts'') *''All The Wrong Places'' (2019) – Novel *''Cul-de-sac'' (2021) – Novel *''The Housekeeper'' (2022) – Novel

References

External links

Official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, Joy 1945 births Living people 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women screenwriters University of Toronto alumni Canadian women novelists Canadian film actresses Actresses from Toronto Novelists from Toronto 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian thriller writers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters