PORTLAND, Ore. — Years ago, before she was the bestselling author of the memoir "Wild," or the executive producer of the movie based on the book starring Reese Witherspoon, author Cheryl Strayed was Sugar, an anonymous advice columnist for the online literary magazine The Rumpus.
But Sugar isn't your traditional advice columnist. Sugar drew a cult following taking letters from people dealing with everything from the grief of losing a child to the discomfort of hearing aging parents talk about their sex lives, and answering them with a certain grittiness and authenticity.
"The advice is pretty unorthodox," Strayed said, talking to Laural Porter for Straight Talk.
As Sugar, Strayed draws from her own life and experiences, and answers complex questions with complex answers.
"Honest advice isn't somebody saying, Do this. It's saying, let's look at the complexity. Let's look at the questions beneath the questions. To most of our problems, there isn't one answer. The best answer is the one that feels right to you. And what comes from that is beautiful and hard and different than it would've been if you had chosen something else," she said.
Despite the fact that the job offered no pay and no recognition, Strayed said yes to the opportunity right away. It paid off. Now, a new limited television series, "Tiny Beautiful Things," based on the columns has dropped on Hulu. Strayed is an executive producer on the show, along with "Wild" alums Reese Witherspoon, whose production company Hello Sunshine optioned the book, and actress Laura Dern.
"This is something I say as Sugar a lot: When the path reveals itself, follow it. I think we all know those times in our lives where opportunity opens up, and there are all these reasons to say no to it, but the one reason to say is because you feel in your body that deep inner voice saying 'This is interesting to me. I'm curious about this. This makes me feel more alive.' None of us ever know where anything is going to lead. And so go in the direction of that energy," Strayed said.
The eight-episode series follows Clare, a writer played by Kathryn Hahn, who reluctantly becomes an advice columnist amid struggles in her marriage and her relationship with her daughter. It also flashes back to her younger life, when Clare loses her mother in college. Strayed said that while older Clare is living a different life than her own, younger Clare's experiences are hers.
"It's my life experiences that have given me the kind of wisdom that I do share in my work as Sugar," Strayed said. "So I said, 'This character has to have some things in common with me in her past. The things that formed her.' My mother died young of cancer at 45. I was estranged from my father. I had a young marriage that ended in divorce in my twenties. And I grew up in a rural environment — working class and poor. Those four pillars were so formative to me; they've informed the advice that I've given. I said, 'They have to be in this character's past too.'"
In the show, younger Clare's mother tells her she's dying, a scene that Strayed said was pulled directly from her own experience. She says that while she was, at times, overwhelmed with incredible sorrow shooting the scene, she was also overwhelmed with the sense of wonder and gratitude at being able to turn a profound experience of grief into something new.
"The things that are the hardest at the time can turn into something beautiful over time," she said. "One of the things that I've learned through my own grief and the years I've spent talking to other people about their grief, is that it stays with us. It's not that I can't let it go, it's that I carry it with me. That essential loss became a part of who I am essentially."
Strayed has lived in Portland since 1995, when she finished her now-famous hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. She met her husband, documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom, only nine days after finishing the hike, and they've raised their two children in Portland. Strayed said she's always felt loved by Oregonians.
"I've always felt so supported as a writer, and I'm so grateful for this community that values literature, that supports our book stores, that likes to talk about writing," she said.
All eight episodes of the series are available now on Hulu, and Strayed said she's hoping for a second season.
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