Author Profile: Chandra Hoffman

Author Name: Chandra Hoffman

Website: http://www.chandrahoffman.com

Bio: Since graduating from Cornell University, Chandra has been an orphan relief worker in Romania, a horse trainer in the Caribbean, a short order cook in a third world hospital, the director of a US adoption program and an event planner for Philadelphia’s Main Line elite.

She has lived in eleven international cities and this wanderlust shaped her writing – in each novel, the setting is its own character, flavoring the story. She prefers to write about everyday scenarios, shining a light on the complexities of situations through the voices of multiple characters. Her debut novel, Chosen, uses the domestic adoption scene of Portland, Oregon as a backdrop to pose the questions “What happens when you get what you thought you wanted?” and “How far would you go if it might not be what you want anymore?”

Chandra received her MFA from Antioch University in 2007. She is now settled back in her hometown outside of Philadelphia with her husband, three young children and an ever-changing menagerie.

Title: Chosen

See my 4 star review for Chosen and read my interview with Chandra!

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Interview with Chandra Hoffman

Where did the inspiration for Chosen come from?

CHOSEN was influenced and shaped by a trail of experiences and opportunities. It wasn’t as though I chose the adventures so I could write about them, but the stories shaped my life, and subsequently, a novel.

In 1995 I was a senior at Cornell University when I connected with a professor who wanted an aide worker to go into a Romanian orphanage and hospital where her own adoption was stalled. I volunteered, flying to Bucharest alone, not knowing the language or the social complexities that had created a country where most orphans were not without parents, just abandoned to a state-run foster care. I only knew I loved babies and travel, adventure. It was overwhelming, (I was given fifty infants my first day) and heartbreaking, nearly impossible for me to leave Bucharest to finish my degree at last I did. (You can read more about Romania here: http://www.chandrahoffman.com/blog/2010/7/23/digging-up-the-past-part-1-of-2.html)

After college, I couldn’t stop thinking about adoption, about the circumstances surrounding new life that will shape it forever. At the end of several years abroad, I applied for a position at an international adoption agency and ended up as the director of their US program, the sole caseworker juggling birthmothers and waiting families. I fell in love with both the city of Portland and the heady allure of a job so full of promise.

Like Chloe Pinter, I went into it with the intention of creating happy endings. Similar to when I stepped off the plane in Romania, I quickly scrambled to learn a new language and subculture; the business side of adoption. But as the months passed, I got too attached. I cried and raged at some adoptions that fell apart, and just as painfully for some that went through. I left not because I no longer believed in adoption, but because the potential for joy and heartache walking the razor’s edge was no longer something I was able to agent — my skin had become too thin.

Faced with our own pregnancy and an unexpected diagnosis at our first son’s birth, I pondered some of the deeper issues that formed the backbone of this novel. How does parenthood change you? How will the challenges you face shape you as a couple? What happens when your expectations of parenthood are so far from the reality? What makes a good parent? A good person? What happens when you get what you thought you wanted?

All of these courageous people whose lives had touched mine so intimately rattled around with me as I adjusted to that first year of new parenthood. Driving home from a pre-dawn airport run, exhausted from getting up to hang bottles for my newborn’s feeding tube, I stopped to get gas at a filling station not far from the very place where a child was abducted in my hometown twenty years earlier. Knowing this, I still fantasized about not lugging the car seat and its precious cargo out with me just to run in for a bottle of water… But what if I didn’t?

The idea for this novel was born out of that single scene. A mother so exhausted her judgment lapses; a grief-stricken, empty-armed father who takes advantage of this. The story is fiction—characters and settings and scenarios are as though I took a handful of experiences, marinated them in a childhood paranoia of abduction, seasoned them with the salt of my vivid imagination, put the whole thing in a bag and shook it up—but the themes are real, from my own life and from those I have been privileged to witness.

 

Are you currently working on another novel?

Last year on book tour in Santa Monica I was sleeping with the windows open to hear the ocean, and I dreamed the plot of my next novel–a love story set in the steamy Caribbean summer where the tragedies are not what they seem to be, and a hint of mystery. I’m so excited to share it with readers soon!

 

 What are some books that you have read recently and really enjoyed?

When I’m actively writing a novel, I tend to read more nonfiction and memoir so that I can stay consistent in my own narrative voice. As a gardener, I’ve been on a locavore food movement kick. Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle was an inspiration, and Kristin Kimball’s The Dirty Life a fascinating account of following your heart. I love the idea of being more connected to what we eat and creating a more sustainable lifestyle. I’ve been campaigning hard for chickens and recently had a little foray into goats… You can read about that here: http://www.chandrahoffman.com/essays/in-over-my-caprine-head.html

I love gardening beside my kids and creating an appreciation for food and the miracle of life, the return of spring after our icy winters. I know there is more of this in my future.

 

What are some hobbies outside of writing?

There’s a joke that my family of origin bred for brains, so it’s a wonder that sports take up so much of my hobby time, since I’m not a natural athlete. I’ve been running for years, see link: http://www.chandrahoffman.com/essays/running-for-my-life.html

which keeps me sane, and I play field hockey from March to November in a Philly sports league. After moving from the Caribbean where we mostly enjoyed water sports, my husband suggested we had better take up ice hockey in the Pennsylvania winter or we’d go nuts cooped up indoors with three little kids. I didn’t know how to skate but it turned out to be brilliant! We all play–even my littlest is putting on the pads–and I love that our town has an outdoor skating pavilion, so that I’m getting exercise and my critical time outdoors even in the long gray winter months. Ten years ago I never would have thought we’d be a hockey family, with my husband building a backyard rink and the Flyers obsession and our winter weekends having as many as twelve games, but it does keep us occupied, active and sane.

 

Where would be your dream vacation?

I’ve heard that you’re either a mountain person or a beach person. I’ve lived in the Caribbean and that breathtaking point where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet in Tarifa, Spain, and I’ve lived in the mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado. While I can appreciate the beauty of mountains and enjoy hiking and snowboarding, I know for sure I’m an ocean girl. Relaxing and swimming and playing on the beach with my family and a pile of books and an umbrella drink is where it’s at for me.

Connect with Chandra!

www.chandrahoffman.com

Facebook: Chandra Hoffman, Author

Twitter @chandraKhoffman

Chosen by Chandra Hoffman

This is a review for CLP Blog Tours. Chosen is the story of Chloe Pinter, a young social worker at a Portland adoption agency, who gives readers an inside look at a dark (and scary) side of domestic adoption. Chloe works to bring in birth mothers to the agency, connect them with loving families who would love to love a child, and make sure the adoption process goes smoothly. But when it comes to birth parents Penny and Jason, the situation is anything but smooth. Penny and Jason are a young couple that comes from the wrong side of the tracks, hopelessly poor, uneducated…and desperate. Francie and John McAdoo are waiting anxiously for Penny to give birth, and finally bring home the baby that Francie has waited so many years for. But Francie’s own world begins to fall apart as soon as she brings home the baby and finds her husband has a penchant for Singapore “prostitutes.”  And finally there is the Nova’s, who have been through fertility treatments and failed adoptions, and are finally pregnant on their own. But when their baby is kidnapped, their entire world is turned upside. Chloe and all these characters are carefully intertwined and their daily lives, difficult decisions, and surprising outcomes will leave readers thinking and talking about this book much after they have finished reading.

Like I said with my last sentence, this book will get you talking. I can’t tell you how many times I have talked about the book, characters, scenarios, etc. since finishing. The writing is eloquent, the characters and situations gripping, and the plot had me absolutely hooked from the first page. It opened me up to a whole new world of adoption, and to be honest- kind of scared me. I learned a lot from Hoffman, who has worked for adoption agencies herself, and closed this book feeling more educated. I enjoyed getting into so many characters thought processes, and I loved the Anonymous sections. My only issues were that I felt the adoption agency where Chloe worked wasn’t very professional- and that included Chloe herself. So many mistakes were made that led to pivotal moments, and I would hope an agency I chose wouldn’t behave that way! Also, the ending was a little unsettling. If you like happy and tidy endings, this won’t be for you. Chloe’s decisions baffled me a little, but overall, I could understand where she was coming from and still really enjoyed her as a heroine. I’m glad I have been introduced to Hoffman, as Chosen is a solid debut and I look forward for more to come!

www.chandrahoffman.com

Facebook: Chandra Hoffman, Author

Twitter @chandraKhoffman

[Rating: 4]

On Tour: Chosen by Chandra Hoffman

Chandra will be on tour November 28- December 19 with her novel Chosen

In the spirit of Jodi Picoult and Anna Quindlen, CHOSENfeatures a young caseworker increasingly entangled in the lives of the adoptive and birth parents she represents, and who faces life-altering choices when an extortion attempt goes horribly wrong.

It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her “signing paperwork” charcoal suit, paired with beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It’s this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child’s domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of parents on both sides.

But the job that offers Chloe refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland’s winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing-except the baby everyone wants. When a child goes missing, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what they really want and where it all went wrong.

Please visit CLP Blog Tours for all the reviews, interviews, and guest posts! **Everyone who leaves a comment below will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! If you purchase your copy of Chosen  from November 26-December 19  and send your receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, you will get five bonus entries!**

 

Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

I am a big fan of chick lit (no, really!) but every once in awhile I like to dip into another genre. When Denise Grover Swank questioned me about CLP Blog Tours being a good fit for her second novel––the paranormal romance Chosen––I immediately jumped at the chance. Denise impressed me on a whole new level when I read her debut Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes for her first blog tour go-round. Not surprisingly, my other bloggers jumped at the chance to host her again––even those who don’t normally go for paranormal reads. So how did Denise do with Chosen?

Stellar! Another page-turner that had me biting my nails and desperately clicking the ‘next’ page on my Kindle. Emma Thompson and her five-year-old son Jake have been on the run from bad men for years. Though Emma isn’t positive what these men want with her son, she knows it has to do with Jake’s ability to see into the future. While on the run, Emma meets Will, who offers to help her escape. Little does Emma know that Will is actually on the job––he is a mercenary who has been given orders to capture Emma.  Chosen is full of twists and turns and gasping and heart-breaking and blushing moments. The paranormal/fantasy aspect of Jake seeing in the future and the tattoos that mysteriously appear on Emma and Will are well written and flow with precision.  I was on my seat almost the entire time reading this, and the cliff hanger ending will leave you wanting to yell at Denise to hurry up with book number two! Another five star review for a Denise Grover Swank novel, who clearly shows her writing skills and ability to work with multiple genres.

[Rating: 5]

 

**Everyone who leaves a comment on Denise’s tour page will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! If you purchase your copy of Chosen from October 31- November 21 and send your receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, you will get five bonus entries!**

http://www.denisegroverswank.com/

http://www.denisegroverswank.com/blog/blog/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4921525.Denise_Grover_Swank

http://www.facebook.com/deniseswank

http://twitter.com/#!/DeniseMSwank

On Tour: Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

Denise will be on tour October 31-November 21 with her novel Chosen

Everything Emma Thompson owns fits in a suitcase she moves from one roach infested motel to another. She and Jake, her five year old son who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma’s never needed help before. And even though she’s learned to trust her son, it doesn’t mean she trusts Will.

Mercenary Will Davenport lives in the moment. Hauling Emma to South Dakota should have been an easy job, but his employer neglected to tell him about Emma’s freaky son and the gunmen hot on her trail. Instinct tells him this job is trouble, but nothing can prepare him for Jake’s proclamation that Will is The Chosen One, who must protect Emma from the men hunting her power. A power she doesn’t know she has.

Will protects Emma and Jake on a cross-country chase from the men pursuing them, while struggling with memories from his past, his apprehension of Jake, and his growing attraction to Emma. Will’s overwhelming urge to protect Emma surprises him, especially since it has nothing to do with his paycheck and possibly everything to do with the tattoo Jake branded on his arm. Rich and powerful men are desperate to capture Emma, and Will must discover why before it’s too late.

Please visit CLP Blog Tours for all the reviews, guest posts, and interviews! **Everyone who leaves a comment on Denise’s tour page will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! If you purchase your copy of Chosen from October 31- November 21 and send your receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, you will get five bonus entries!**

Future Tour: Chosen by Chandra Hoffman

Chandra will be on tour November 28-December 19 with her novel Chosen.

In the spirit of Jodi Picoult and Anna Quindlen, CHOSENfeatures a young caseworker increasingly entangled in the lives of the adoptive and birth parents she represents, and who faces life-altering choices when an extortion attempt goes horribly wrong.

It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her “signing paperwork” charcoal suit, paired with beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It’s this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child’s domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of parents on both sides.

But the job that offers Chloe refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland’s winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing-except the baby everyone wants. When a child goes missing, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what they really want and where it all went wrong.

Please visit CLP Blog Tours for the full list of tour stops!  **Anyone who purchases their copy of Chosen between October  26- December 19 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five entries in a drawing to win a $10 Amazon gift card!!**

In My Mailbox: Week of October 23

In My Mailbox: Week of October 23

 

Title: A Heart in Sun and Shadow

Author: Annie Bellet

Received: From Annie Bellet via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: In an ancient Wales that never was…

Twin brothers Emyr and Idrys are cursed to live as hounds; Emyr by night, and Idrys by day. The twins believe they will be trapped this way forever until they meet the fierce and curious Áine, a changeling woman born with Fey blood and gifts struggling to fit into a suspicious human world.
Áine unravels the fate of Emyr and his twin as all three of them fall in love. To free her lovers from the curse, she embarks on a journey to the realm of the fey where she confronts her own unique gifts and heritage. Ultimately, she must decide where her heart truly lies and what she’s willing to risk to get what she desires most.

 

Title: The LA Commandments

Author: Gillian Duffy

Received: From Gillian Duffy

Synopsis: Joanne Kavanagh and best friend Suzie pack their bags and swap dreary, depressing Dublin for the cool Californian coast. Both are determined to start a new life in the land of opportunity, leaving behind the recession and their complicated families.
They make a pact at the airport to stick religiously to the ‘LA Commandments’, a list of ten ‘Thou Shalt Nots’ for their new life in LA, including ‘Thou Shall Not Fall in Love,’ but when Jo befriends sexy, shy musician Marc, and Suzie falls for womanizing bar-man Chris, not only are the commandments at risk of being broken, but also the girls’ hearts…
With all California has to offer —sunshine, shopping, killer nightlife, and drop-dead-gorgeous men, will the girls stay faithful to the LA Commandments?

 

 

Title: Chosen

Author: Chandra Hoffman

Received: From Chandra/Harper Collins via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: In the spirit of Jodi Picoult and Anna Quindlen, CHOSEN features a young caseworker increasingly entangled in the lives of the adoptive and birth parents she represents, and who faces life-altering choices when an extortion attempt goes horribly wrong.

It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her “signing paperwork” charcoal suit, paired with beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It’s this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child’s domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of parents on both sides.

But the job that offers Chloe refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland’s winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing-except the baby everyone wants. When a child goes missing, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what they really want and where it all went wrong.

 

Future Tour: Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

Denise Grover Swank will be on tour October 31- November 21 with Chosen.

Everything Emma Thompson owns fits in a suitcase she moves from one roach infested motel to another. She and Jake, her five year old son who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma’s never needed help before. And even though she’s learned to trust her son, it doesn’t mean she trusts Will.

Mercenary Will Davenport lives in the moment. Hauling Emma to South Dakota should have been an easy job, but his employer neglected to tell him about Emma’s freaky son and the gunmen hot on her trail. Instinct tells him this job is trouble, but nothing can prepare him for Jake’s proclamation that Will is The Chosen One, who must protect Emma from the men hunting her power. A power she doesn’t know she has.

Will protects Emma and Jake on a cross-country chase from the men pursuing them, while struggling with memories from his past, his apprehension of Jake, and his growing attraction to Emma. Will’s overwhelming urge to protect Emma surprises him, especially since it has nothing to do with his paycheck and possibly everything to do with the tattoo Jake branded on his arm. Rich and powerful men are desperate to capture Emma, and Will must discover why before it’s too late.

Please visit CLP Blog Tours for the full calendar of tour stops. **Anyone who purchases their copy of Chosen between October 5- November 21 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five entries in a drawing to win a $10 Amazon gift card!!**

Blog Tour Sign Up: Chosen by Chandra Hoffman

Chandra Hoffman will be on tour in late November/early December with her novel Chosen. Please note this book is available only as hard copy, and will be limited to US/Canada only. Please use the form below if you would like to participate, and include your full mailing address. Chandra would also be available for a guest post or interview as well. Thank you!

It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her “signing paperwork” charcoal suit, paired with the beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It’s this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child’s domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of both adoptive and biological parents.

But the job that offers her refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland’s winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing—except the baby everyone wants. But when a child is kidnapped, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what went wrong . . .

**Chandra’s blog tour is now full. Thank you to everyone who signed up!**

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