I first talked with Janet Fitch in 1999, the year I chose her debut novel, White Oleander , for my book club. Page after page, I fell in love with a story that deeply moved me, and vivid passages that described the sky as the color of peaches and compared sorrow to the taste of a copper penny. So last summer, when I heard someone in my office say, "I was reading the advance copy of Janet Fitch's new novel...," I practically leaped on the phone to request my own copy from the publisher. Paint It Black, set in 1980 in punk-rock Los Angeles, comes out this month. Before I dug in, I gave Janet a call.

Start reading Oprah's interview with Janet Fitch

Note: This interview appeared in the September 2006 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.