Author Interview + GIVEAWAY: When Angels Sing (book) and Angels Sing (movie), ends 12/19

Just in time for the holidays, you can win a copy of the film Angels Sing from me, as well as a copy of the book (When Angels Sing) as well! The movie has some great actors in it too, such as Harry Connick Jr., Connie Britton, Kris Krisotofferson, Willie Nelson, and more.

About the movie:
Harry Connick, Jr. stars as Michael Walker, who, as a child, wished every day was Christmas. That is, until a tragic accident crushed his holiday spirit. Thirty years later, Michael still can’t muster any joy for Christmas, despite encouragement from his playful wife (Connie Britton) and well intentioned parents (Kris Kristofferson and Fionnula Flanagan). But when his young son (Chandler Canterbury) faces a tragedy, Michael needs to make amends with his past. A mysterious man named Nick (Willie Nelson) gives Michael a gift that instills in him the courage to find the Christmas joy that he lost.

Website: www.angelssingmovie.com

About the book author, Turk Pipkin:
Writer and actor Turk Pipkin has had a career like no other. A former stand-up comedian who gave up performing after a long run on the road with Rodney Dangerfield and many others, he's since published eight books, including two well-received novels, and written a hundred hours of primetime television. He's also traveled around the world for thirty years, writing as he journeyed for a dozen national magazines. In his latest incarnation, Turk can be seen as a recurring character in the third season of HBO's hit series, "The Sopranos."

Interview with Turk Pipkin:

1. How did you get the idea to write this Christmas story for your daughter?

I wrote When Angels Sing as a Christmas present for my both my daughters and for the rest of my family. I had thought a lot about the connections between family and Christmas traditions, and thought it would be great to use some of our own family traditions as background in the book.


2. Did you have any say/influence over the movie (ie, who they casted, the script, etc)?

Other than writing the novel, my main contribution to the film was to lend a hand on casting. I'd always thought Willie Nelson would be perfect to play the role of Nick, a mysterious man who may or may not be St. Nick. Likewise for Kris Kristofferson, a former army pilot, to play the grandfather. Other friends like Connie Britton, Lyle Lovett, Eloise Dejoria and a great host of wonderful Texas musicians also ended up in the film. Director Tim McCanlies deserves a lot of credit for realizing the musicians like Bruce Robison, Marcia Ball and Charlie Sexton would be great on camera.

3. You yourself are an actor as well - are you in the movie at all?

Most people know me as an actor from my role as that idiot narcoleptic guy in HBO's The Sopranos. In general, I get cast for a little comic relief - no surprise since I used to be a juggler and a comedian (and because I'm 6'7" tall). In Angels Sing, the great Texas singer songwriter Bruce Robison plays Harry Connick, Jr.'s brother, and I played the part of Uncle Theo, who is one of those close family members we all have at Christmas that no one seems to know who or how he fits in. It's a small part but I had a lot of scenes with Kris Kristofferson and the rest of the family. I'd made a couple of movies in the past with Kris and Willie Nelson, and any time you're working with those guys, life is treating you good.

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Review and Q&A: Entwined with You

Entwined with You, by Sylvia Day.

... for once, I didn't need any distractions. I was sticky with sweat from an intense Krav Maga class, and my mind was spinning with thoughts of what the man I loved had done.

Gideon Cross. Just thinking of his name sent a heated flare of longing through my tightly strung body. From the moment I first saw him - saw through his stunning and impossibly gorgeous exterior to the dark and dangerous man inside - I'd felt the pull that came from finding the other half of myself. I needed him like I needed my heart to beat, and he'd put himself in great jeopardy, risking everything - for me.

I reviewed the first and second books in the Crossfire series, Bared to You and Reflected in You, back in November 2012, when I was recruited by the BlogHer Book Club for one of their reads. When I heard that the third book, Entwined with You, was coming to stores, I of course knew I had to get my hands on it, and Sylvia Day's publicists were generous enough to send me a copy to review.

Official synopsis (although rather vague):
The worldwide phenomenon continues as Eva and Gideon face the demons of their pasts, and accept the consequences of their obsessive desires...

From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn't resist. I saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside--so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat.

No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I'd been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become.

Entwined by our secrets, we tried to defy the odds. We made our own rules and surrendered completely to the exquisite power of possession...
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To catch you up or refresh your memory: in the first two books, Eva Tramell meets Gideon Cross, a 28-year-old millionaire mogul who is also extremely gorgeous. In the first two books, they have hot sex - like ALL OF THE TIME - which doesn't change in this installment of the series, but their problems do intensify a bit. Eva's stepbrother, Nathan, used to rape her when she was young, and when Nathan comes to New York to seek out Eva, Gideon finds and kills him (which is what the quoted paragraph above refers to). Eva doesn't know how to feel about this - on one hand, she feels relief that Nathan can no longer harm her, but on the other, she is scared that Gideon will be prosecuted for the murder.

But of course, he's not found out, since he's Gideon Cross. He's also starting to pressure Eva into marrying her, but at the same time, they're supposed to be broken up, because of other events that happened in the 2nd book, so they are seeing each other secretly.

There were a lot of pros and a few cons with this book. The story was still great, and what I appreciate about the Crossfire series is that even though the sex is hot and frequent, there's still a decent story going on as well (with a plotline, and characters, and everything! Take note, 50 Shades). Eva is 24 and works full-time, in the Crossfire building (that Gideon owns) but not under Gideon (pun intended), even though he's been wanting her to join his office in the marketing department. She wants to be independent, yet she lives with her roommate and best friend, Cary, a male model, in a huge apartment that her stepfather pays for - it's got a doorman and is a lot safer than a walk-up apartment that she could afford, most likely.

The few cons I noticed was that Gideon calls Eva "Angel," a lot, and it started to become really repetitive - it reminded me a bit of the main character in 50 Shades calling herself "my inner goddess" constantly. My other minor peeve was that Eva wants to be independent, yet she lets Gideon take care of EVERYTHING for her - he's a bit controlling but also wants her to be safe, so he has his car driver take her to/from work and her Krav Maga classes in Brooklyn. She also gets a lot of perks but I suppose that's to be expected when you're dating a multi-millionaire ... they take a weekend trip to the Caribbean on his private plane (or, I should say, one of his private planes), he rents the apartment next to hers so she can be with him constantly, etcetera.

Overall, though, the Crossfire series is a good read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the genre. I've heard that there will be five books total in the series (Sylvia Day actually talks about this a bit more in the video below) and I'm looking forward to reading the next two.

3.5 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

BIG thanks to Sylvia Day and her publicists for letting me ask her a few questions! Check out her answers in the video below:

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Q&A and Giveaway: Beautiful Bastard authors Lauren Billings and Christina Hobbs

left: Lauren Billings; right: Christina Hobbs

Last week I reviewed Beautiful Bastard, the new Fifty Shades-esque novel from author Christina Lauren. The pen name Christina Lauren is actually a combination of two writers: Lauren Billings and Christina Hobbs. I was able to interview them over email regarding Beautiful Bastard, some of their favorite authors, and their plans for future books.

Beautiful Bastard started out as Twilight fan fiction. The published version, however, only has about 20% of the original story, titled The Office. What parts of The Office did you change, and why?

The ending is mostly new, and the rest of the book has been extensively edited for both content and flow. We knew there was interest in getting the book out there, but we didn’t want to simply put out the same version that had been available for free for nine months. So, we cleaned it up, changed some of the details and context, and gave them an entirely new ending. Much of what is different is that the second half of The Office has been cut for this new ending.

Christina Lauren is your pen name, but there are actually two of you. Do you each write 50% of the novel, or how does it work? Was there ever an idea that one of you wanted to include in the book but the other didn't, and if so, how did you resolve it?

It worked slightly differently for BEAUTIFUL BASTARD because we were starting with a story that Christina had written. Initially, Lo cut, edited, and reworked the story. Then Christina revised from there. But our usual “process” is that we outline together and then split up who will write which scenes. The scenes may correspond to chapters, or they may not, but we usually alternate. Once we’ve drafted a little, we swap, edit, smooth for voice, and then continue drafting. The most fun aspect of it is feeling like we’re writing a book just for each other, so it gives us a little freedom to indulge what we love most, which is romance.

What are your thoughts on the whole Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon, and do you anticipate it being a trend long-term?

We think every trend has its time. Right now, people are having fun reading smut. Maybe eventually they’ll look to something else. For now, everyone wants to be the next EL James, but it’s unlikely that anyone will be, because what she has done is a true phenomenon. And even though it’s hard to imagine that anyone will soon see that magnitude of success, we’ll all do better because of the market her books have created. The honest truth is that every erotica author out there now, including us, has benefitted from the mainstream obsession with Fifty Shades.

What are some of your favorite books and authors that you've read recently? (or, some of your all-time favorites?)

Lo: All time favorites would be Jane Eyre, Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True, and Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere. Recently: Tiffany Reisz’s Original Sinners, Melina Marchetta’s Jellicoe Road, and Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma.

Christina: Favorite book of all time is probably The Sky is Everywhere. Also Little Women, Warm Bodies (Isaac Marion), Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi), Forbidden (Tabitha Suzuma), Angelfall (Susan Ee), and Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan).

The sequel to Beautiful Bastard, titled Beautiful Stranger, will be released in May, but focuses on a different couple - Chloe's friend Sara and a new character, Max - with Chloe and Bennett making only short appearances. What made you decide to do that rather than write another book focused mostly on Chloe/Bennett, and do you have any plans to do another Chloe/Bennett novel in the future?

We felt like Chloe and Bennett’s story of falling in love had been completed at the end of BEAUTIFUL BASTARD, though in no way do we think their happily-ever-after is a smooth road (haha), and would love to write more of them if we had (1) interest from readers and (2) a story that could stand alone and pull the readers back in. We’ve toyed recently with the idea of writing a novella.

And honestly, we think readers may love Sara/Max just as much (GASP! Crazy, I know, but everyone who has read STRANGER is smitten).

-

Thanks to Lauren and Christina, as well as Gallery Books, for the interview!

I also have two copies of Beautiful Bastard to give away to my readers, courtesy of Gallery Books!

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway will end on Saturday, March 2nd at 11:59pm EST. Winners will be contacted on Sunday, March 3rd, and have 24 hours to respond to my email; if one or both do not respond, alternate winner(s) will be chosen.

Good luck!



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Author Interview: Melissa de la Cruz

I have been a huge fan for a while now of Melissa de la Cruz's books. Lately she has been focusing on supernatural themes, but she's also the author of The Au Pairs series as well as a few non-series books, like Girl Stays in the Picture. She's the author of the highly acclaimed Blue Bloods series, two of which I have reviewed, and her newest two novels are Serpent's Kiss, the second book in the Witches of East End series, and the Wolf Pact series, which will be released in four parts in e-book format only. I was recently lucky enough to have the chance to interview her about her books via email; here's what she had to say.

Melissa de la Cruz
photo credit: Denise Bovee

What is the significance of the title Serpent's Kiss? I may have missed something, but I couldn't figure it out.

I just liked the title, and for me it meant there was a serpent in their midst and they had to find out who it was. The Serpent's Kiss is the Kiss of Death after all! :)

Why did you choose to publish Wolf Pact as an e-book in four parts, and when do parts 2, 3, and 4 come out?

My publisher and I thought it was integral to readers having a richer experience of Gates of Paradise, the Blue Bloods finale, and the speed of publishing it was very convenient. The parts come out every two or three weeks or so leading up to the publication of Gates of Paradise.

Why do characters from some of your series (i.e., Blue Bloods) pop up in other book series of yours? I love this - always fun to see Blue Bloods cameos in other books, like Witches of East End.

For me, to write about a paranormal world, it just made sense that they all inhabited the same world. They're all connected somehow. I always liked the Marvel Team-Ups (see The Avengers) so for me it's a little like that.

What authors have or currently influence you and your writing?

I would say very early on I loved Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and really wanted to write books that were about society and relationships in the way that he did, and I also wanted to write paranormal, so definitely Stephen King and Anne Rice, and I love the scope of epic fantasy and I loved Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Right now I would say I'm really interested in structuring a book like Gone Girl, I thought Gillian Flynn did such a great job craft-wise and I want to try that out.

If you could pick any of your books or book series to be made into a movie, which would you choose?

Witches of East End IS becoming a TV series. We're shooting the pilot next week! :)

I would love for Blue Bloods to get made one day, and my new series co-written with my husband, FROZEN, a post-apocalyptic fantasy, is perfect for cinema. We would love to see that on the big screen.

What are you currently working on?

Right now, Witches 3: Winds of Salem.
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Keep an eye out for Wolf Pact part II, which will be released on October 23rd, and Melissa's newest Blue Bloods and Witches of East End books, to be released in 2013. And if you've never read any of Melissa's books, make sure to check out her other series' as well - they're all great reads!

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Interview with Attica Locke, author of The Cutting Season

photo credit: Jenny Walters

Attica Locke is the author of The Cutting Season, which hits stores on September 18th, as well as Black Water Rising. I recently reviewed her novel and then got a chance to ask her some questions via email about her new book and a novels she is currently working on.

I see that you're a native of Houston, and your first novel was set there. How familiar were you with New Orleans before writing the novel, and what inspired you to set it there?

I set the novel in Louisiana because I had been to a wedding at the Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie in 2004. It was an experience that never left me. I had never been on a real plantation before. And I didn’t know what to make of the fact that I was visiting one for the first time for a wedding! I thought it was so strange and macabre to turn a piece of history into an events venue.

In a broad strokes way, East Texas and Louisiana are not all that different from each other. I think this book would have been a lot more difficult to write if the majority of it took place in New Orleans proper because that city has a culture all its own. And I don’t think an outsider like me could get it just right.

What authors influence you and/or your writing?

Jane Smiley, Pete Dexter, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Larry Brown, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes.

Before writing The Cutting Season, how familiar were you with plantation/slave history and the history from that time period? Did you have to do a lot of research for the book?

I did do a lot of research about plantations and about the sugar industry in that particular region of the country. I knew the basics. The arc of slavery and the civil war, but again, Louisiana and New Orleans have their own very specific history, and I wanted to read as much as I could before writing about the area.

I could definitely see The Cutting Season as a movie. If it was, would it be you who wrote the screenplay? (I see that you are a former screenwriter)

Also, who would you cast as Caren, Morgan, Eric, and the other main characters in it?

I don’t know that I would write the screenplay; mostly it has to do with time management. I’m starting my third book now, and I have a five-year-old. I don’t know that I could balance all that while writing a screenplay. But I want very much to be involved in any production that comes from this book – if not as a writer, then as a producer. As for casting, I actually haven’t given it any thought! Which is very different from my first book when I could actually picture Jeffrey Wright as Jay Porter as I was writing. He was almost exactly who I had in mind.

Do you have another book in the works, or a topic in mind for your next book?

I’m finding my way back to Houston and Jay Porter. And that’s all I’m going to say. ;)


Check out The Cutting Season on September 18th - it's a great novel and definitely worth a read.

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Q&A with Elizabeth Haynes, Into The Darkest Corner

I recently read Elizabeth Haynes' book Into the Darkest Corner, and it was a great read. I got to do a Q&A with Elizabeth via email recently, and she had some interesting questions to some of my answers.

author Elizabeth Haynes

You wrote the first draft of this novel in 2008 for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) – do you still participate in  NaNoWriMo now you’re a published author?

Definitely! I’m more into NaNoWriMo than ever before, at least partly because I’m the Municipal Liaison for Kent, U.K. so I organise write ins and events for the Kent participants. More importantly though, writing has to be fun for me. If I’m bored writing it, how can I expect people to enjoy reading it? So I write my novels in November and pretend that nobody is ever going to read my efforts, that way it stands a chance of being fresh and exciting.

Of course, the main difference now is in the editing process, which takes up the rest of the year. Previously once November was done I could relax and put the novel aside; now I rework it, research the bits that I’m unsure of, edit, check facts, and develop characters who didn’t seem important in the first draft but have turned out to be pivotal.

Will all of your novels be mysteries/suspense novels, since you are an intelligence analyst for the police, or would you be open to trying other genres too?

I only started writing in this genre when I began working for the police, as I felt that I could write with some degree of accuracy. Previously I wrote romance and it’s definitely something I might write in the future. There are a lot of fantastic romance writers out there, though, right? And there’s a danger I will go from being a good mystery writer to being a laughably bad romance writer. So I should stick to writing romance for fun.

Do you ever get ideas for books based on things that happened to you at work (or cases that you helped solve)?

Not really – mainly because real crime is often so grim and horrible and pointless that it would make a truly depressing read, or because it’s so weird that people would think it was utterly unrealistic. Mostly I get ideas for stories based on articles I read in the papers, or things I overhear. Something will spark off an idea – a kind of ‘what if…?’ question that usually transforms into something else. Or else I’m inspired by a location, or a character that’s desperate to get their story told. At that point my job does help and inspire me, because I know how a police investigation works, so I can put the story into a realistic framework. And I’m really lucky, too, that I have so many good friends in the police who can help me out when I get stuck on a technical point.

The film rights to this novel have already been sold to Revolution Films. Which actors can you see playing Catherine, Lee and Catherine’s friends (Sylvia, etc.), and would you be open to them setting it in the US or do you believe it should stay in England, like the book?

I’m going to be a bit evasive with my answer to this one because if I name an actor who doesn’t turn out to be cast as that character in the film it would feel very rude of me to have preferred someone else. Also, I think as a reader I have strong ideas about what characters look like and I would hate to have those images shattered by the author telling me that actually they should look like someone else. I have complete trust in Revolution Films to cast the right people, because they completely understand what I was trying to do with the story. It’s interesting, though, that having had some quite strong ideas about who would be perfect in the role of Lee, my opinion has changed completely having read the first draft of the screenplay – which is absolutely brilliant.

As for the setting: I think it’s a universal story, isn’t it? Obsession and trauma happens all over the world, so I believe it would work wherever it was set.

Who are some of your favourite authors, and why?

I read a lot of crime fiction and I could give you a huge list of authors I admire as a reader, and am now insanely jealous of, as a writer. I’ve also recently met authors who I’ve previously enjoyed reading, and that’s very odd. You know how when you get to meet a lot of people in a short space of time, there’s usually someone who’s a bit annoying? Well, let me tell you that I have yet to meet a mystery writer who isn’t completely lovely.

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Thanks to Elizabeth Haynes for the Q&A! And if you haven't read Into the Darkest Corner, check it out when you can - I highly recommend it.

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Interview and GIVEAWAY: Richard Mason, author of History of a Pleasure Seeker

Richard Mason is the author of History of a Pleasure Seeker, which I reviewed last month. I got the chance to interview Richard via email about the book, and I also have two copies of the novel to give away to my lucky readers.

Richard Mason
credit: Michael Lionstar

Is it true that there will be a sequel to this book, and maybe even two? That's what I've been hearing on the internet.

Absolutely true. In fact, I’m making a constellation of six interrelated novels. They’re not a series – they can be read in any order. But they fit together to tell a huge story. It’s my way of saying something about the complex interconnectedness of human life: the way a decision taken a century ago affects people in the present.

The book I’m currently writing finds Piet Barol in Johannesburg in 1913. What will happen to him during the First World War?

Did you draw inspiration from turn of the century book like Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth for this novel? Pleasure Seeker reminded me a little bit of House of Mirth.

I love The House of Mirth. I remember where I was when I read it; what music I was listening to. It wasn’t a direct inspiration for History of a Pleasure Seeker, but I am honored by the comparison.

Did you have Piet choose to go to South Africa instead of New York because you yourself are from South Africa? How did your experiences / memories from there influence this book?

I knew when I began History of a Pleasure Seeker that Piet Barol would end up in South Africa. I am fascinated by the band of enterprising Europeans who came to Africa from the seventeenth century onwards, stole so much (land, diamonds, gold) and felt so little remorse over what they had done. The psychology of colonialism – how people who thought of themselves as good people were able to perpetrate such monstrous acts – is a key interest of mine. In order to understand what happens to Piet later in South Africa, I wanted the reader to learn who he was in the land of his birth – hence the setting in Amsterdam.

Are the Vermeulen-Sickerts based on anyone you know in real life?

No. I had the great pleasure of creating an entire family from scratch. Of course all the characters have elements of people I have observed, but no one has a real life model.

If Pleasure Seeker was to be made into a movie, who would you want to play the Vermuelen-Sickers, their staff, and Piet? What about the people he meets on the boat going to South Africa, too?

History of a Pleasure Seeker is currently in development as an eight-part TV series. I think it would work brilliantly on television. I can’t comment on cast until it’s finalized, but the lineup is excellent. I’ll let you know as soon as I can!

What are some of your favorite authors, or authors from which you draw inspiration for your novels?

The book that most inspired  History of a Pleasure Seeker  is a book on quite a different subject: Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Francaise. That is a superb novel that charts the experiences of twelve characters fleeing Paris just before the Germans arrived in 1942. I had an experience while reading it that I hoped to give the readers of History. I was swept up in the story. I loved the author’s confidence, her style, her rich humanity – and her sympathy for her characters, whatever their flaws. I also admired her briskness and quickness. When I finished it, I knew I wanted to write a book that gave this same kind of pleasure to others – and that’s how History of a Pleasure Seeker began. It’s also why I wrote it by hand. Nemirovsky wrote by hand, her writing small and dense as she filled every inch of the paper. It was she who liberated me from Microsoft Word!

Be sure to check out barol.com for more information about the music, locations, and other places used in the book.

Two readers will win a copy of History of a Pleasure Seeker - fill out the form below to enter to win. Giveaway ends next Saturday, February 25 at 12:01 AM EST. U.S. addresses only, please.


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Interview with Susan McBride, author of "Little Black Dress"

Susan McBride is the author of Little Black Dress (click here for my review) and I was able to interview her via email recently.

How did you start writing, and who are some of your favorite authors?

Susan McBride
(from the author's site)

I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and I still have three books I wrote in fifth grade (I even illustrated the covers!). But I didn’t know until I was 19 and between transferring from the University of Texas to the University of Kansas that I truly wanted to be a novelist. That’s when I took some time from school and sat down to write a 600-page historical romance called THE THORN OF THE ROSE. My fate was sealed! Some of the authors I love reading right now (although I’m always discovering new ones!) include Kate Morton, Sarah Addison Allen, Susan Vreeland, Santa Montefiore…oh, gosh, so many! I particularly love novels that blend history with a little mystery or magic.

Do you have your own “little black dress,” though it might not be a dress? (some clothing or talisman that makes you feel lucky?)

I do have a pair of lucky earrings. They’re sterling silver Celtic crosses that I bought about a decade ago. Now I can’t travel without them on. I feel like they keep my planes in the air!

When I first started reading this novel, the dress reminded me of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in the way that it fit all three woman (Evie, Anna, and Toni). Did you find inspiration in that novel for this one?

Yes, I did get some inspiration from TRAVELING PANTS. When I started conjuring up the idea of a magical black dress, I knew it had to fit sisters Anna and Evie as well as Evie’s daughter, Toni. They are three very different women, not only in personality, but in shape and size. I kind of thought, “Well, if Ann Brashares can do it, why can’t I?” It worked out beautifully!

from the author's site

I read in the press handout that you base some characteristics of the male characters in your novel on your husband, Ed. Were any of the male characters in this novel based on (or made up of parts of) him?

Ed inspires me to write about men who are good and loyal and loving, which is how I see Jonathan Ashton and Hunter Cummings from LITTLE BLACK DRESS. Neither of those men looks much like Ed, but they do have his decency and his steadfastness.

Which is your favorite genre to write, women’s fiction or mysteries?

I really think I’ve found a home in women’s fiction. Writing THE COUGAR CLUB and then LITTLE BLACK DRESS suited me so very well. I just love being able to explore the lives of women and delve into their friendships and families. It’s pretty much what I’ve always wanted to do. I did enjoy writing mysteries immensely, and I’ve got a young adult mystery in the works right now. What’s fun about writing women’s fiction is that you can always incorporate elements of mystery, as I did in LBD. So I feel like it’s the best of both worlds!

Your bio says “[You] were 40 years old and had spent most of [your] adult life working [your] tush off trying to get published.” When did you start writing, and when did you realize you wanted to be a published author one day?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been writing since I was a kid (and reading like a maniac, too). Once I wrote a full-length manuscript at 19, I realized, “I am a writer.” That’s all I ever wanted to do with my life. After I graduated from college, I wrote a manuscript a year for at least a decade before I signed a traditional publishing contract with a small press. I was 34 when AND THEN SHE WAS GONE finally came out. I learned a lot about the business with my first published book, and I kept learning with each book after. I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to work so steadily these past 12 years—and for two wonderful publishing houses, HarperCollins and Random House. I hope I can continue working steadily for years and years to come!

Will you write more women’s literature after this book? Is there anything you are working on now?

Yes, I just finished DEAD ADDRESS, the young adult mystery, for Random House, although it needs a revision before I turn it in. And I’ve got another women’s fiction book that delves into magical realism (like LBD) due this year to HarperCollins. It’s called LITTLE WHITE LIES, about a woman whose lies catch up with her when a tornado dumps a man from her past smack into her lap (well, into her walnut grove anyway). I’m excited about that!

If Little Black Dress was to be made into a movie, who would be perfect to play Evie, Anna, and Toni, in your opinion? What about Hunter and maybe Greg?

Oh, gosh, I’m really bad at this kind of thing. We’d have to cast young Evie and Anna as well as their older selves. Hmm, I don’t know! Any suggestions???

*Interviewer's note: I would suggest the following for a movie adaptation!
Young Evie: Emma Stone 
Young Anna: Evan Rachel Wood (but may have to change hair color)
Older Evie: Maggie Smith
Older Anna: Patricia Clarkson, maybe? This is a hard one to cast.
Toni: Rachel Weisz, though she's about 10 years younger than Toni.

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Interview with Georgia Bockoven, author of "The Year Everything Changed"

Georgia Bockoven's newest book is The Year Everything Changed (click here for my review) and I was able to interview her via email.

How did you decide to start writing novels, and how long have you been writing? I saw on Amazon that you mostly write romance novels and “women’s lit.”

I was in my thirties and frustrated by the women’s fiction I was reading when it hit me that I could create the stories I’d like to read myself. Until then, even though I’d always been a reader and writer, I’d thought only “special” people could be published writers, not common folk, like me. The transition wasn’t easy, I was so naïve about the process that when I signed up for a class on writing it turned out to be one for non-fiction writers. This set up a seven-year detour into freelance journalism before I found my way back to fiction. I think the “women’s lit” tag comes from the fact that, while every book I write has a love story, they also deal with broader issues that face women like adoption and loss and infidelity.

Georgia Bockoven
(image from freshfiction.com)

I read in an interview online from 2001 that said that you moved around a lot while you were young, as did Rachel in this book. Is Rachel based on you, or parts of you? Did you base the characters on people you know in real life?

Nice observation! Yes, she is based a little on me. Many of my own experiences are woven into the characters I create. But I’m also a people watcher. And I love talking to people about their life experiences. When I visited my aunt in North Dakota she took me into the basement of the house my grandfather built and told me that she and her seven brothers and sisters lived in this tiny basement for four years before the rest of the house was finished. I can’t conceive how hard that must have been on my grandmother. Many of the thoughts and reactions I’ve had thinking about what her life must have been like seeped into what it must have been like for Jessie’s mother on the farm in Oklahoma. (Jessie is one of the main characters in the new book, The Year Everything Changed.)

Out of the books you have written, which is your favorite? (either your favorite overall or your favorite to write)

That’s a hard one to answer. I spend so much time with the characters that while I’m working on the book, and sometimes for a long time after, they are almost a part of my family. So it’s a little like asking which child you like better. Now, that said, I have a real fondness for the people in The Year Everything Changed because they still join me for an occasional meal or on a long car ride, but because the child in A Marriage of Convenience was based on my first grandson who was born at two pounds, two ounces, there will always be a special place in my heart for that book.

Of course there’s Joe and Maggie from The Beach House and then there’s . . . See what I mean?

If this book was to be made into a movie – and I definitely think it’d be an interesting movie – who would you pick to be cast for Jessie, Elizabeth, Ginger, Rachel, and Christina? While I was reading the book I was kind of picturing Tom Selleck as Jessie, even though I don’t think he’s quite as old as Jessie.

Oh, good choice! He would be perfect. I think Tommy Lee Jones would be another good one. And remember, Jessie didn’t look as old as he was. And I really like Patricia Clarkson for Lucy. Ginnifer Goodwin would be perfect for Christine and definitely Juliana Marguelis for Elizabeth. Ginger is a tough one. I’m going to have to think awhile for her, but Ann Hathaway is a shoe in for Rachel.

Where do you draw inspiration for your writing? For example, how did you get the main idea for The Year Everything Changed?

I like to work with “what ifs” when I’m plotting a book and really love to take the opposite side of accepted ideas. While I passionately believe it is always wrong for a parent to abandon a child, I do recognize there was a time when the popular belief was that a child would be better off if a missing parent just disappeared from that child’s life - that the child would suffer less confusion and be able to get on with his/her life without feeling “torn.” I wanted to show the consequences of this kind of abandonment and yet try to find a way to show that Jessie did what he did out of a sincere belief it was the right thing to do. However, it’s far easier to accept the logic of something like this in the abstract. Jessie’s daughters must learn to forgive and then mourn their loss before they can find peace.

I see that your novel The Beach House first came out in the late ‘90s, and then its sequel, Another Summer, was just recently released. Why is there such a big gap between the two? (did readers demand a sequel?)

Another Summer originally came out in 2001, December, 2001. Which, of course, is why it was missed. I’m delighted Harper decided to reissue it, along with The Beach House, so readers could revisit some of the characters they fell in love with and get to meet new ones. I’ve been asked by readers to do a third book ... I’m mulling it over now.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and why?

There are so many it’s hard to pick among them. I love Catherine Coulter’s FBI series and Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight series. And speaking of series, I don’t think anyone does series books better than Susan Crosby. Stephen King is a master with mood and characterization. And J. K. Rowling’s books could, and probably are, used as teaching tools for writers looking to improve their craft. I could go pages and pages listing the writers I read and love.

Would you ever consider a sequel to The Year Everything Changed, maybe following one of the four households? (Ginger and Logan’s, for example)
Though in my opinion, the ending was perfect.

I think the epilogue answered the questions most readers would ask. It was particularly satisfying for me to end the book the way I did.

One of the questions in the “Questions for Discussion” at the back of the books says “Which daughter do you feel was most like her father? Which was the least?” Who do you think was most like Jessie, or who were you trying to make the most similar to him?

Elizabeth has a lot of Jessie’s personality. She was with him the longest and suffered the most at his loss. Ginger, growing up never knowing her biological mother or father, is the least like her father.

Are you working on any new projects as of the moment?

I am. It’s a book I’ve worked on off and on for several years that was sparked by a photograph I saw that was taken during the depression. The young girl in the picture had the most incredible, haunted eyes. Behind those eyes was a story begging to be told. I’ve moved the time frame to the fifties and given her a name—Katie Ann.

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