Interview: Gossip Girl's Jessica Queller On Her Mother's Cancer and Her Own Double Mastectomy

Nikolai Hamel: You've written for several popular television shows, including Felicity, One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, and now, Gossip Girl. With such a creative background, you easily could have written a fictional account of your story. How did you decide to write a non-fiction account? Or did you just know that you had to tell your story and that of your mother?

Jessica Queller: I felt it was very important to write my story as a non-fiction memoir - to tell the absolute truth as it happened. The main purpose of writing the book was to educate other high risk women. I wanted to explicitly describe the suffering my mother endured from cancer, and lead others through the journey that led me to take bold preventive action. The power in the story is that it is real - the suffering was not imagined, the genetic test was not imagined, and the mastectomy/reconstructive surgery were not imagined. Because I am a creative writer by profession it is easy for me to invent dramatic storylines. The whole point is that this is real life - I wanted to inspire others to take strong measures to preserve life.

NH: You have received significant media coverage for Pretty Is What Changes. Have you met women who have responded in a different way to their knowledge of a BRCA gene mutation? If so, how have those conversations gone?

JQ: I have received email letters from BRCA+ women who have chosen to stick with surveillance rather than prophylactically remove their breasts. This is a very personal decision and I respect an individual's right to choose. As I wrote in the book, I feel the decision to choose surveillance over mastectomy often comes down to a woman's tolerance for fighting cancer. Many people feel that breast cancer is curable and that they will just fight cancer if it strikes - and in many cases breast cancer is treatable and cured. After witnessing my mom's battles with cancer, I personally want to do anything I can to avoid it.

NH: What kind of feedback, if any, did you get in response to your New York Times Op-Ed "Cancer and the Maiden" (published in 2005)? Any surprises? Did the feedback affect how you wrote your book?

JQ: The 2005 Op-Ed piece was very controversial. At that time, not many people were aware that the "breast cancer gene" existed, and even fewer had heard about the genetic test. I was 34 at the time and wrote in the article that I would most likely opt for a double mastectomy because I had tested positive for the BRCA mutation, even though I did not have cancer. Many, many people were shocked by this - it sounded like an extreme measure and was not something they'd heard of before. In 2008, the climate has changed dramatically. The test for the "breast cancer gene" has been written about in almost every woman's magazine. It's been the topic of TV shows - both news shows and scripted shows like ER and GRAY'S ANATOMY. Most people have heard about the gene. Women choosing pre-emptive surgery has become a common occurrence. The topic is now saturated in the media and much less shocking than it was in 2005.