Bonnie Garmus: I wrote 'Lessons in Chemistry' not to blame men, but to say we need male allies

They adapted the book, and they took the story in a different direction, which I think was a little bit weird because she's not as feminist. She's more of a victim in that story, and so I'm not a big fan of it.

Well, I don't really talk about this series that much, honestly, but I think Brie did a great job with what she was given.

Elizabeth Zott came to me during a bad day at work when a man had taken credit for all of my ideas in a meeting. I was the only woman in the room that day, and there wasn't another man in that room who stood up for me or defended the fact that they knew it was my work. And so that's the day the story started.

The chemistry in it was important to me. And, again, the series got the science wrong. For me, that's a big deal, and for scientists all over the world, that's a big deal. I wanted to make her a chemist because I wanted to put her on television, and I knew a woman back then could only be on television if she was sort of a hostess or if she was doing something related to the home. So she was a cook, and cooking is chemistry, so I had to learn chemistry.

Oh, you're giving stuff away. Well, I think the way they did the series was horrible. You know, Elizabeth was a scientist in her own right. If she had ended up being with Calvin, every single bit of her work would have been attributed to him. So I knew that he could not stay. But I wanted a man in the book who recognised a woman's brilliance and loved her for her mind, was not intimidated by her, did not try to put her down. He was a really important character. And then he has to go because she has to be able to stand on her own two feet.

Elizabeth Zott is my role model. All I had to do was write my role model. It's so nice to have somebody you can look up to, even if they're not real.

I think the rewards are that so many people, including men, are hearing a message of feminism that they can pay attention to. Because I tried to write the book, and it's full of dark things, but it's also full of light things. And I tried to write the book not to blame men but to mention that we need male allies. We're not interested in bullies anymore, and we need to stand up to those bullies together, men and women. And so I think, luckily, the book has attracted a lot of male readers. As for the peril of having a big book like this, I can't complain about anything.

Yes, because it represents society. There are always bullies in society. Women are bullied a lot at work, even today. And they're always bullied by men. Occasionally, they're bullied by women, but it's usually men. We still live in a patriarchy, and that is scientifically ridiculous. It doesn't exist in science. It shouldn't exist in our society.

She's not black in the book, but they made her black in the series, and she's old in the book. She's not young.

Yes, exactly. Thank you. That is exactly the right word. I was really concerned about that. I have black relatives, and they really don't like it, because they felt that it was white people writing black history. And they also felt like it was reducing the very critical and important topic of civil rights to a freeway issue, to a not-in-my-backyard issue. And so that's been a problem.

My two daughters!

Rejection is never easy, and I know it feels very personal when it's your own book. And yet, rejection is completely normal in this business and every writer should expect it. The trick is to keep going; to know that no one else can decide when you're done. Only you determine that. My advice is not to give in; to keep going; to know that others have been in your shoes and understand your difficulty. Keep your head up. Eventually, if you stick with it, you will prove all the naysayers wrong.

Women must speak up, whether at home or in the working world. But it can be very hard to do. That's why women must support other women. If you're having issues at work, tell another woman, support other women in meetings, and be ready to listen.

Same thing at home—talk to other women and ask for help. Culturally we've all been raised to be polite to a degree that it buries our power. Assertiveness is critical. And this is important: a woman must also cultivate male allies. I've had the pleasure of working with men who never saw me as anything but equal.

But many more potential male allies are stopped by their own unconscious bias. They may be surprised to discover you're facing sexism because they can't see it. So that too is your job: educate them, then enlist their help. Remind them, especially if they have sisters or daughters, that their loved ones face discrimination daily. Remind them that unless they're part of the solution, they become part of the problem. We're 50% of the population; we have to act like it.

Write with confidence and craft. Anyone can tell a story—it's how you tell it that matters. Rewrite constantly. Be your own critic. Develop your own voice. Never imitate—it never works. And finally, read, read, read.