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Interview with Carol Mason
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Carol Mason

Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Sometimes I’ll read an article that will trigger a concept for a book – as is the case with the book I am now working on. Other times it’s just something someone says, or I overhear, and I build on it, and ask myself “what if….”
Q: On your website, you talk a lot about your early failed attempts at writing. What kept you pushing through to achieve your goal of publishing a novel?
I think it was the realization that many ordinary people – people just like myself who have no connections in the publishing world, haven’t worked on glossy magazines etc – can make it as novelists. So I thought if they can, I can! But admittedly, when my bottom drawer started filling up with unpublished manuscripts (3 of them, if you don’t count the 2 I wrote 10 years earlier!), it became a matter of sheer determination – I had come this far, I had made some progress with each book I had written, so I had to push through a little harder to make it happen.
Q: What is your favorite part about writing?
My favorite part is when I have a manuscript drafted from start to finish, and it’s all essentially there but it needs more layers. And then I add them, and then I read the final thing, and think, Gosh it feels like a real book now! And I really love it! Another great moment for me is when something I have written moves me to either laugh or well up with tears. It’s an odd feeling having your own work do that to you, but is a sure sign for me that something I have done is really working!
Q: If you weren’t a writer, what do you think you would be doing for a profession?
I would have liked to be in the movie business. A director would be my ideal job, if I wasn’t a novelist. But then again, it’s another tough choice — one of those dream jobs that don’t seem to happen to ordinary people. But I like to aim high and go for the almost-impossible, so I’d have probably tried to work my way up into that.
Q: You have two books out right now, The Secrets of Married Women and Send me a Lover. Are you currently working on a third novel?
My third novel, The Love Market, hits stores in February, around Valentine’s Day actually, which is totally appropriate. It’s about a divorce that maybe should not have happened, and the return of a first love, to complicate matters. On another level, it’s about the dating/matchmaking world, and how a woman can be successful in helping others find love but be incapable of getting it right in her own life! The Love Market is actually a real place in Vietnam – a market square where young lovers used to go to find each other and old flames would come to reunite. The concept of it intrigued me and I thought it would be a good kick-off point for a novel.
Q: What are your favorite authors/books?
I like Rosie Thomas – especially her earlier books, Anita Shreve, Louise Candlish, Jonathan Tropper, Tony Parsons — anyone who explores characters really well, and can move me to tears or laughter. I’m not massively excited by plot driven books, and would rather have a slower-moving read that took me 100% into the heart and mind of the characters.
Q: What is the worst job you have ever held?
Oh, I’ve had loads! Trying to sell boxes for the Toronto Skydome wasn’t the best. I don’t think I sold any. Waitressing in a restaurant that was such a safety hazard that it should have been condemned — it’s a wonder I got out of there alive. Hotel receptionist working until midnight then having to be back on the desk at 7am – somehow getting home which was half way across London, showering then sleeping in between all that. Working in a small advertising agency for an extremely temperamental boss.
Q: Do you have a favorite TV show that you just can’t miss?
I am not massively into television, but I am quite addicted to Brothers and Sisters.
Q: What is or do you think would be your favorite place to travel?
Last April my husband and I went to Buenos Aires and I fell in love with it. I adore vibrant cities that never sleep, and BA was that! And more. Plus the food was fantastic – especially if you like beef. And the wine was wonderful and so cheap! I think the Greek Islands are spectacular and last year I spent a month on Paros trying to finish my novel. I had the time of my life! I’d love to go to Brazil, and, indeed, see a lot more of South America. But, hey, send me anywhere and I’ll get excited. Traveling is the best!

Q: Your website has great information and advice on how to get published. What do you think is the most important piece of advice you can give aspiring writers?
Don’t just focus on being a good writer. You have to understand how the publishing business works. You have to be a business person in a way — because publishers expect writers to be highly knowledgeable about the industry they are trying to get into. So research it like mad — find out what agents and publishers want to see, be professional, be realistic about your dreams. That doesn’t mean you can’t have them, it just means you can’t just have your head stuck in the clouds and expect to succeed! I am happy to answer any questions I can – so long as it’s not basic stuff you can find on the Internet – but if you have something that you’re having a hard time getting an answer to, email me through my website and I’ll do my best to tell you what I know.

January 23, 2010
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Interview with Beth Kendrick
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Beth Kendrick

Q: I absolutely love the story about how you met writers at a wedding and
how they encouraged you and gave you some great advice. If you hadn’t gone
to that wedding and gotten that encouragement, do you think you still would
have been a writer?

Definitely, but it would have taken me a lot longer to figure out the nuts and bolts of story/plot and the publication process. When I first got started, I had heard vague murmurings about literary agents and editors, but I had no clue what they really did and why an author might need them. I was very lucky to find a few mentors to guide me and help me form realistic expectations and patiently explain how to format a manuscript for submission, etc.

Q: What is your favorite part about the writing process?

Turning in the finished manuscript!

No, actually I love the spark of excitement that comes with the inspiration for a brand new story, the “what if…?” question that first gets the ball rolling and my initial meet-and-greet with fresh characters. (Yes, I host imaginary cocktail parties in my mind in order to mix it up with imaginary people, and then I embroil all these imaginary people in the juiciest scandals my depraved sensibilities can come up with. I love being a writer.)

I also love chatting up my writer friends. Most of my author buddies live in other states, but we regularly spend hours on the phone, bouncing plot ideas off each other. Just talking through plot problems with someone else can lead me to surprising solutions, and hearing about their work makes me feel less isolated; writers spend a lot of time sequestered alone in their offices, which can be very bad for one’s head state.

Finally, I love those hours when I’m so caught up in a scene, when the characters and the dialogue and the action are all clicking together and I can’t wait to get the next sentence typed out, that I forget where I am and what I’m doing and am transported, temporarily, out of the “real world” and into the story.

Q: Is there one character you have written about (or multiple!) that you
feel you really relate to, or where do you get your character inspirations?

You know, I’ve written a lot of characters who are similar to me in terms of background, but the characters I most identify with are probably Stella, the young “trophy wife” from Nearlyweds and Brooke, the former Sourthern belle in Second Time Around (coming April 2010)…even though I’m not at all like either of them on the surface! Stella and Brooke embody that feeling we all sometimes have that we don’t really fit in with our peer group and we can’t meet the expectations that the world has of us. They refuse to fit neatly into the stereotypes society has created for them. I think everyone can relate to that.

Q: How did you celebrate after your first novel was published?

A very wise author once advised me to buy myself a little present with every advance check because “you need to recognize and reward your own accomplishments and not expect constant validation from your publisher or your reviewers because that’s a one-way ticket to crazy town.” I still remind myself of this whenever I hit a new milestone in my career. Of course it’s important to plan for the future, but we need to live in the moment, too; celebrate what we’ve already accomplished and not immediately switch focus to the next goal.

So, when I sold my first book, I bought a bottle of good champagne, a million-calorie chocolate cake, and a classic black pearl and diamond pendant that makes me smile every time I wear it.

Q: How long does it take you to complete writing a book, from beginning to
end?

About 9 months. I can whip out a first draft pretty quickly, but I’m a very revision-intensive writer, so my first draft is just a jumping-off point. Then I roll up my sleeves, wade back in, and do lots of elaboration on character and theme and conflict. I spend about half my writing time revising. Everyone’s “process” is different, and my process is to be the Revision Queen.

Q: What is a “typical day” in the life of Beth Kendrick?

Well, I can tell you what my schedule was today:
-Drag self out of bed. Vow not to stay up too late again tonight.
-Check email.
-Get my toddler dressed, fed, and bundled off to preschool.
-Go to gym, slog through a few miles on treadmill, all the while thinking about the upcoming scene I need to write for my work-in-progress. (I wish I could write off my gym membership as a work expense, because I do a ton of brainstorming and problem solving in the cardio room!)
-Go home, shower, check email.
-Pick up toddler, eat lunch together.
-Naptime for toddler, work time for me.
-Check email and procrastinate for a bit by skimming celebrity gossip blogs.
-Write a few pages .
-Talk to agent about contract details for new book deal.
-Talk to author buddy about her current plotting issues, my current plotting issues, and celebrity gossip we have recently read online.
-Check email.
-Toddler awakens. Emerge from office and realize in dismay that house is trashed. Toys, stacks of paper, and dog hair abound. Swipe at countertop with damp dishcloth. Bust out vacuum cleaner. Vow to come back in next life as the love child of Martha Stewart and Cesar Millan the Dog Whisperer.
-Commence making dinner (white chili). Cease preparations upon realizing that one of the dogs has “counter-surfed” the bag of Great Northern Beans and distributed the contents all over the family room.
-“Hey, we’re having breakfast for dinner! Here’s your cereal and scrambled eggs! Isn’t Mommy madcap and fun?”
-Bath and bedtime for the toddler (insert choir of angels singing).
-Write a few more pages.
-Read a few chapters of book on nightstand. (Tonight = Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs by Michael J. Collins. Hilarious and incredibly well-written.) Stay up too late. Will curse self tomorrow morning. But, as long as I’m up, I might as well read a few more chapters.
-Lights out.

The epitome of glamour. I know you all are jealous.

Q: Do you have any guilty pleasures (TV shows, foods, etc…)?

Other than my shameful addiction to celebrity gossip blogs, you mean?
Food: Homemade mac and cheese made with extra sharp cheddar and gruyere, See’s candies.
TV: Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Orange County”, MTV’s “Teen Mom”
I also have a thing for browsing online for ridiculously overpriced handbags. I almost never buy them, and then only on clearance, but for whatever reason, browsing through designer handbag is a balm for my soul. Perhaps I have an undiscovered Italian leather fetish?

Q: Do you have a favorite book or author?

Too many to list, but among my “desert island” library would be the complete works of Carol Shields, Jane Austen, Sandra Tsing Loh, and Michael J. Collins.

Q: What would be or is your favorite place to travel?
I hope to someday make it to what I refer to as “The Three A’s”: Australia, Alaska, and Antarctica.

January 18, 2010
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Chick Lit Author: J.L. Penn
Chick Lit Authors

Chick Lit Author: J.L. Penn

J.L. Penn lives in the suburbs of Maryland with her husband and daughter. She has been an avid reader and writer all her life. Although writing a book is something she always wanted to do, it was not until a stroke of inspiration hit that she decided to seriously sit down and write. To her surprise, with a tiny kernel of truth and a lot of imagination, the words just flowed out and became Reunion. She is now actively working on an unrelated novel, and a sequel to Reunion is also in the works. J.L. (Jenn) enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, romantic comedies, and music when she’s not reading or writing.

January 18, 2010
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Chick Lit Author: Eva Pasco
Chick Lit Authors

Chick Lit Author: Eva Pasco

Under Mother’s tutelage, Eva Pasco became a proficient typist by the age of nine and soon pounded chapter stories replete with dialogue on her girly-pink Tom Thumb typewriter. In high school she composed her first novella earning its own reserve shelf in the library. On the fast track of college, Ms. Pasco’s penchant for writing deferred to churning out term papers. Throughout a rewarding teaching career she dedicated her craft to drafting curriculum, developing student proficiency in creative writing, and penning poignant notes to her charges. Undergoing a mid-life renaissance, Ms. Pasco rekindled her passion for storytelling by composing fiction that taps into significant issues affecting the lives of women.

Eva Pasco resides in Rhode Island by the East Bay. She enjoys the splendor of sunset from a double-hung window in the office where her fingers dance over the keyboard whenever a notion pops into her head. Sometimes the cats allow her to work undisturbed. Life is good!

January 17, 2010
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Chick Lit Author: Jennifer Weiner
Chick Lit Authors

Chick Lit Author: Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner was born in Louisiana on an army base, but grew up mostly in Simsbury, Connecticut. She attended Princeton University and graduated with a degree in English literature. She published her first novel, Good in Bed, in 2001, and has since published 7 more. Weiner has made many appearances on the popular TV programs The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, and The Martha Stewart Show. She has also been published in Seventeen, Salon, Redbook, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, and Elle.
Jennifer Weiner’s titles include: Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, Little Earthquakes, Goodnight Nobody, The Guy Not Taken, Certain Girls, Best Friends Forever, and her latest novel, Fly Away Home, is set to be published in July of 2010. In Her Shoes was turned into a motion picture in 2002, starring Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine.
Weiner currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband Adam, two daughters, Lucy and Phoebe, and their rat terrier, Wendell.

January 16, 2010
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Chick Lit Author: Mia King
Chick Lit Authors

Chick Lit Author: Mia King

Mia King is not only a national best-selling author, but also a sought after speaker and workshop leader on midlife transitions as well as work and parenting. Her bursting career portfolio includes titles such as a tax manager with a Big Six accounting firm, website content copy chief for a major LVMH luxury-branded website, brand manager, life coach, cross-cultural trainer, director for a 2,000 acre retreat center, business owner, and now, author and homeschooling parent.
Mia has three published novels, with a fourth in the works. The titles are: Good Things, Sweet Life, and Table Manners. Each of her books brings a heartwarming story about strong women and family, with delicious recipes included: a little bonus for all readers.
Mia was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and has lived in Texas, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, Hong Kong, and Beijing, China. She attended Miss Porter’s School and Wellesley College, graduating from Rice University with a degree in Political Science. Mia currently lives in Hawaii with husband (author and mental golf expert Darrin Gee) and their three children, Maya, Eric, and Luke.

January 9, 2010
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Interview with Claire Matturro
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Claire Matturro

Q: Is there a certain area where you do all your writing?

A.. When I told my husband that I was going to quit my teaching job and write a book, he built me a den on the side of our house. It is a very quiet room, with a window right over my ancient computer, and the window looks out into the woods. I’ve done all my writing in this room.

Q: What do you find most difficult about writing?

A.. For me, the creative process is fun. The hard part is the mechanical part, or maybe one would call it the physical side of writing: the typing, the spell-checking, and the sitting down in a chair in front of a keyboard aspect of writing.

Q: And what is your favorite part about writing?

A.. Making stuff up based upon little snippets of real life. That is, overhearing a conversation between two people and spinning out a whole imagined life for them and adding action to their talk. Just making up stories is a lot of fun too, regardless of the inspiration.

Q: You have four novels out, all based on the character Lilly. She is lawyer and you were a lawyer. Was she based off you in any way?
A. Not really, though we do share a vegetarian diet and a wry humor and a somewhat cynical outlook.. Lilly is more of a composite of other lawyers I have known. Some of Lilly’s better character traits are based upon a couple of my former law partners too.
Q: Is there going to be a 5th novel about Lilly?
A.. It’s really hard to say at this point, but if there is, it will not be anytime soon.

Q: On the other hand, would you want to write a novel with a new character as the heroine?
A.. I’m actually doing some nonfiction writing of late, and re-doing a pre-Lilly manuscript with a strong female lead who is a librarian. Librarians always seem to know how to figure things out and find information that it seems a natural profession for an amateur sleuth.
Q: I read that you graduated from law school, and then worked as a lawyer for a decade. When did you decide you wanted to start writing?

A. Actually, I decided I wanted to write when I was still in grade school, but it took me a long time to make the leap. Pesky thing about earning my living held me back for decades.

Q: Do you have a favorite book or author of your own?
A. My answer on that tends to change with the seasons except for a few really basic books, which I consider fundamental: Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and To Kill a Mockingbird, each of which I reread every decade. As for a favorite author, it’d be a tie between Barbara Kingsolver, Wendell Berry, and Anne Lamont. But, you know, ask me in a month and I might have discovered or rediscovered somebody new.
Q: What do you like to do with your down time?
A. Garden and photography. Especially, taking photographs of what I find in and around my garden.
Q: Where would be or is your favorite place to travel?
I hope to go to Italy someday, but I have not gotten there yet. I love the Pacific Northwest as a place to visit, and hope to see many more of the National Parks in this country.

January 8, 2010
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Interview with Poonam Sharma
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Poonam Sharma

Q: You are an MBA and a real estate developer. You have written books on being an entrepreneur and starting you own business. What made you decide to write novels?

I’ve always had a dichotomy in my passions (as much as in my life choices), between the practical and the sentimental. On some level, I think that through my writing I was able to begin to strike a balance by giving myself permission to pursue both. I had always hoped for the day when I’d find myself ready to tackle a novel. But for a long time, I suspect that I was building up the nerve. Even as I was writing business books, the idea of a novel was always in the back of my mind. But there is an audacity required of a novelist which (for me) wasn’t required for business books. It’s the confidence to believe that how you perceive the world is both intricate and insightful enough to justify an entire novel. For me, it wasn’t the decision to write novels; it was the sense that I was finally ready. Or more accurately, the realization that I had done enough living to finally understand that I had something of value to say.

Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from?

My inspiration comes from my life. I would be lying if I said my work was autobiographical, because there’s always a huge departure from my actual experience/self to the character and the story that will ultimately make its way to the bookshelf. But I cannot fathom writing a novel with a protagonist to whom I did not relate deeply. Essentially, I take a personal experience, or a core of some deep emotional experience I have had, and it becomes the kernel around which the character’s dilemma/trauma/odyssey is born. The good news is that writing from the heart keeps me engrossed and glued to my laptop. The bad news is that — even though the final character is not actually ever me — I take readers’ reactions very personally as a result. It’s an emotional roller coaster, for sure.

Q: How do handle all the different titles you have? Do you ever get any free time?

The truth is that I write in bursts, so in between there are months at a time where I don’t write much of anything, and feel quite intellectually frustrated as a result! But writing, when I’m passionate about a story, doesn’t feel like work; it feels like an intellectual and emotional self-indulgence. Kind of like a runner’s high. And the way I see it is that I’m very blessed to have not one but two careers which fulfill me: real estate development and writing.

Q: What is your favorite part of writing?

When I solidify my first sentence of the novel. It can take millions of iterations. But when it’s right, it’s like music to my heart.

Q: Do you have a third novel in the works?

Yes, I’m working on something very different from the previous two. It won’t fall into the chick lit genre. It is a more serious novel, full of philosophical questions, personal demons, centuries old legend, and of course a romantic back-story. It has been exhausting so far, but also very rewarding to try another genre. It is definitely my most ambitious project yet!

Q: Do you have a favorite book or author?

Not just one. There are novels where the prose is magnificent (Bel Canto), novels where the imagery is staggering (The Ground Beneath Her Feet), novels where the universality of message is astounding (The Alchemist), and books which remind a writer how lucky he/she is, to do what they love (On Writing). There are so many authors whose work I admire, that I could never choose just one. They feed my brain, fuel my neuroses, and remind me that I can always always do better.

Q: What do you think is the most difficult part of writing a novel?

The most difficult part for me is what Anne Lamot (in her book Bird By Bird) refers to as ‘killing your babies’. Basically its the aspect of revision which requires you to remove all the flowery language which (besides being music to your ears) does nothing to actually move the book forward. When you sit with a story, a character, a chapter for so long…you can become so attached that this feel like actual pain. You just have to remind yourself that if the true beauty of the novel can really be excised with the slice of a sentence, then perhaps the complete product isn’t what you thought it was.

Q: Your first novel, Girl Most Likely To, touches on interracial romances and cultural conservatism. How important were those subjects for you to write about?

I have always felt that there were few representations out there of both the richness received and the work involved in having to translate for every relationship of your life (from family, to boyfriends, to friends of various ethnicities…). But I don’t write those relationships make a point. I write them because they are what I know.

Q: Is there one goal you have for yourself that you haven’t achieved yet?

One? How about one hundred? I’m not as laser-focused as I was perhaps in my twenties about crossing items off of a bucket list, but there are always goals on my mind. A bestseller and a movie deal wouldn’t hurt. Neither would taking my company public. Of course, finding an anti-wrinkle cream that actually halts the aging process wouldn’t hurt either.

Q: I read that you spent a year traveling the world to find inspiring entrepreneurs. What was your favorite place you visited?

That was one of the best years of my life, and the whole experience fundamentally changed the way I have seen things ever since. Since I was travelling alone, I had my fair share of adventure, but my fair share of danger as well. That was also the year when I learned to appreciate solitude, and to enjoy my own company. Off the top of my head I would say that one of my favorite places was Cape Tribulation in Australia. I rented a hut in a backpackers resort in the middle of a rainforest, won the title Limbo Queen Of The Jungle, snorkeled the reef alongside baby sharks, and rode a horse bareback into the ocean and swam around with him. And I’ve always felt that Australians represent the best of American independent spirit and European joie de vivre rolled up into one delightful package.

January 6, 2010
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Chick Lit Author: Poonam Sharma
Chick Lit Authors

Chick Lit Author: Poonam Sharma

Poonam Sharma is not only an author, but also an MBA and real estate developer. Her first two books focused on entrepreneurship and business, with the titles The Harvard Entrepreneurs’ Club Guide to Starting Your Own Business and Chasing Success. Sharma is a graduate from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and earned her bachelors degree in economics from Harvard college. After Harvard, she worked at a start-up, a nonprofit venture catalyst and a private equity firm, as well as in investment research and institutional sales in New York. She has also traveled extensively for Chasing Success, traveling around the world in search of entrepreneurs with inspiring stories. She has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Inc. magazine and NBC.

Sharma wrote her first novel, Girl Most Likely To, after her influences of dealing with cultural conservatism, interracial romance and high finance in Manhattan. The main character in the novel is in investment banking and is dealing with a SEC-scandal while juggling the struggles of life and love. Her second novel, All Eyes on Her, has the main character dealing with the Hollywood lifestyle as a celebrity divorce attorney, all while trying to make her relationship work with the perfect fiancé.

Poonam Sharma completed her MBA in May of 2007 at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was also chosen as the student speaker at commencement.

January 1, 2010
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