Turning The Tables At Women’s Fiction Writers: Author Eleanor Brown Interviews Amy Sue Nathan

Can you believe it? I’m here on my own blog being interviewed by New York Times best selling author, Eleanor Brown, in celebration of publication of THE GLASS WIVES (available everywhere books are sold)!

I met Eleanor in 2011 at the Printer’s Row Lit Fest in Chicago. Since that day—when I was a fan-girl extraordinaire (just ask my dear friend and critique partner, Pamela Toler)—Eleanor has been a cheerleader of mine. I’m so honored she took the time out of her crazy-busy schedule to ask me amazing, thoughtful questions. And of course, if you haven’t read her NYT bestselling novel, The Weird Sisters, you should.

NowI have to welcome myself to Women’s Fiction Writers, don’t I? And I thought this week couldn’t get any more spectacular!

I know there are many, many lurkers out there (hundreds and hundreds of you). I hope you’ll step out of the cyber shadows today and say hello!

Amy xo

Turning The Tables At Women’s Fiction Writers: Author Eleanor Brown Interviews Amy Sue Nathan (Me!)

Available everywhere books are sold! (FINALLY!)

Eleanor: The premise of The Glass Wives caught me right away – bringing together an ex-wife and a current wife. Where did the idea come from?

Amy: From realizing—with much relief and satisfaction—that things in my life were not as bad as they could be. I had divorced, my ex-husband had died, and there was this nagging sensation that as a family, things just couldn’t get much worse. My kids didn’t have a dad, our sense of family and place and normal were turned upside down, we were dealing with grief and the everyday lives of kids, because they do intertwine. And then at some point I just wanted to feel like IT COULD BE WORSE. I guess I was just trying to make myself feel better. The idea of having a woman in the same basic situation as me—a suburban divorced mom, but giving her a slew of things I didn’t have to deal with, like—a trophy-wife/widow and needing her to move in in order to pay the bills, not to mention some not-very-well-meaning neighbors, and a know-it-all sister. I ended up relieved I was not Evie Glass—and with the idea for my novel.

Eleanor: I am fascinated by names and the way they help form who we are. The last name of both women in your novel is ‘Glass’ – what is the importance of that name in the context of the story? Do their first names have equal importance?

Amy: I wanted a Jewish name for the family since Jewish culture plays an important part in the story. But, I didn’t want anything too “-This-stein” or “-That-gold” or “Generic-ishkiwitz,” so I settled on Glass. The fact that Glass also connect transparency and fragility, well, I’d like to say it was intentional but it was more like besert (meant to be).

Eleanor: Even if I’m not aware of it at the time, I find I am writing to answer unanswerable questions in my own life, and those become the themes of the novel. What are the questions you wrote The Glass Wives to answer?

Amy: That’s easy. I wrote The Glass Wives to figure out what makes a family, and why some kinds of family are frowned upon or treated differently than others. While suburban single-mom family might not make headline news, as a single-mom who’s steeped in a white picket community, I know that I’ve been treated differently than married moms. Everything here revolved around moms AND dads, or couples. I was always grateful my daughter’s school didn’t have a daddy-daughter dance, but my daughter’s Sunday School class did start a father-daughter project. In a class where there were only a handful of students, in a small Jewish community, I found it disrespectful and disheartening and totally not kosher. It’s hard to convince yourself and your kids that your family isn’t one with a missing part when something like that happens. I’m sure it won’t surprise you that I spoke up. Writing the book reminded me to always view families without qualifiers or quantifiers and to be as inclusive as possible. Nobody’s perfect but we have to start somewhere.

Eleanor: I absolutely love the cover of The Glass Wives – it’s so eye-catching and evocative. How did you and your publisher come to that design?

Amy: When I met my editor last summer, I was fortunate to also meet my cover designer. The only thing I was stuck on was that the cover be reflective of the content. I didn’t want the cover to mislead the reader. And, though I never mentioned having a window on the cover, it’s what I always imagined. And the cups are perfect—literally because there’s a lot of coffee drinking going on, and metaphorically because there are many similarities between the women, but they’re also different.

Eleanor: Your work on the Women’s Fiction Writers blog and your freelance career make you seem enviably organized – is that true? Does it extend to your fiction writing?

Amy: I’m a list maker. I have weekly lists, daily lists, morning lists, grocery lists. Lists of calls to make, interviews to write, emails to send, bills to pay, friends to make plan with. And when it comes to fiction writing, that’s on the list too. When I get into the writing, now that I have an outline to guide me, I guess it makes me comfortable because guess what? It looks like a list! I do list characters and things I want to accomplish in a scene. I figure the more I write my lists, the less I have to actually remember. As long as I remember where my lists are!

Eleanor: I spent the month leading up to my publication date waking up every night with terrible stomachaches from the anxiety. You’ve interviewed so many writers here on the Women’s Fiction Writers blog – does that mean you’re feeling confident about stepping into author-hood? What have you learned from the people you’ve interviewed?

Amy: I’m comfortable in the author community. How could I not be? I have found authors to be welcoming and generous and inclusive (and not care if I’m a single mom). But confident? Not really. The publishing world is so noisy today, that it takes a lot for a book to rise above that noise, and especially for a brand new author voice to be heard. I know that, and it worries me. The way I allay my own fears is to do everything I can possibly do to get the word out. And to do that, you guessed it, I make lists.

The authors I’ve interviewed have taught me many things—mostly that generosity is common among authors and that there is no one way to write a novel. Whether someone writes a book in three months, or ten years, uses an outline or dictates or writes everything long hand, we all have one thing in common. We are storytellers using written words. It connects us to each other and to our readers.

And authors have taught me another important lesson—to give back with gusto.

Eleanor: Are you part of a community of writers, formal or informal? What has that done for you?

Amy: Being part of writer groups has taught me more than I could have learned on my own. Ever. I’ve been a member of Backspace since 2007, and I was always taking online workshops which become temporary communities of their own. As a debut author I’m part of The Debutante Ball. The support of the other four “Debs” is fabulous. I’m part of a group of debut authors called Book Pregnant. More than anything it’s online author therapy without the couch or a bill. Some of those authors have become dear friends. I’m also active on Writer Unboxed Facebook Group and the new Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Add to all that the fact that this blog has taken on a life of its own and created a community as well.

Eleanor: Your editor, Brenda Copeland, is so lovely on Twitter, and has such incredible authors on her list. What’s it been like working with her?

Amy: Working with Brenda has taught me more about my own writing than anyone else. Making me the best writer I can be is what makes her a great editor. She makes me get under my own skin, if that makes sense. Brenda is also very funny (as I’m sure you’ve surmised) so amidst the formalities and editorial notes and deadlines, there have been a lot of laughs. Her confidence in me has been both humbling and motivating.

As has this interview, Eleanor. Thank you! xo

Now WFW readers, it’s your turn! Ask away!

The Glass Wives Is Published!

It’s Pub Day, Launch Day, Release Day, and the Book Birthday for THE GLASS WIVES, which you know if you’re here, is my debut novel! 

For the next few weeks here on Women’s Fiction Writers I’ll be sharing my experiences (and photos) as a debut author. I can’t think of a better place to share!

Please join me at The Virtual Launch party! There’s food (of the virtual kind) and prizes (of the real kind). Just get your party hat and click here.

If you want to sign up for my Infrequent Yet Delightful Newsletter, you can do that here. OR–you can just read today’s edition by clicking here. It’s different from the getting WFW in your email or reader! 

Meandering around the web today? You can find me at author Jane Porter’s blog, author Lori Nelson Spielman’s blog, Heroes and Heartbreakers, and there’s a video (oh my) of me chatting with Luke Abaffy at Author Feast.  Some of those links aren’t live yet, but youknowwhattodo to find them! 

Thanks for hanging in there with me through it all and for purchasing and reading THE GLASS WIVES! 

HERE WE GO!

Amy xo 

If you want to check out THE GLASS WIVES you can do so at IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target and a zillion other places books are sold (it’s even been spotted at Costco)! How cool is THAT??

Writing Words and Book Banter With Author Erika Robuck

I think this is one of the most fun interviews I’ve done for Women’s Fiction Writers.  Why? Because not only is author Erika Robuck a friend of mine, but she bounced right back at me with questions of her own. We were discussing how authors who write historical fiction are sometimes just perplexed at how authors who write contemporary fiction come up with their stories and how the reverse is equally true. How do writers of historical fiction intertwine fact and fiction. And all the research?  And that’s what we’re discussing in today’s volley. I mean, interview. 

Erika’s latest novel, CALL ME ZELDA, was released on May 7th. It’s  a big part of the Zelda Fitzgerald craze—so you’re going to want to jump on this bandwagon and read about Zelda after her days in the limelight. 

Please welcome Erika Robuck to Women’s Fiction Writers!

Amy xo

Amy: Writing historical fiction, the way you do (with such skill) means taking a real person from the past, real places, events, and times, and fictionalizing them. Meaning, you take creative license, tweaking the truth for the sake of the story you want to tell.  I find that fascinating!

Who was the first person (historical or otherwise) who sparked your imagination enough to make you decide to write a story about him or her?

Erika: My first historical inspiration came when my husband and I were thinking of planning a trip to Nevis in the Caribbean.  A friend told me it was paradise, and as I read about the history of the island, I was fascinated to learn that this tiny place of which I’d never heard was known as the ‘Queen of the Caribees’ for its sugar cane production, and that Alexander Hamilton was born there. Observing the way the slaves were treated on the island led Hamilton to become an abolitionist. Then I read about a haunted plantation there called Eden Rock. This rich and intriguing history inspired my first self-published novel, RECEIVE ME FALLING.

As one who writes historical fiction, I’m in awe of writers of contemporary fiction. Where do you find your plot and inspiration?

Amy: It’s usually a question I want to answer that leads me to the idea for a novel. For THE GLASS WIVES the question is “what makes a family?”  I also sometimes note interesting people or situations and think they’d make great stories.  So that saying, “Be careful or you’ll end up in my novel” is totally true in my case.

To me, research seems daunting. What’s your favorite part of the research process?

Erika: I’m a research junkie. It feels like amateur detective work, and I’m always pleased when the story that wants to be known asserts itself in my searches. My favorite part of the process is visiting sites where my characters lived years ago. From the Hemingway House in Key West, to Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald’s haunts in Baltimore, there is nothing like walking the streets and paths in the present to transport me to the past.

I write about real and imagined people from the past. Do you ever use real people to inform your characters?

Amy: I do, but not in the way most people think. For example, one day when my daughter was in junior high, I was waiting in the carpool line and the woman in front of me got out of her car. She had on a long skirt, boots, and a either a leather or wool coat (I forget). But she had the kind of vibe I imagined that my character Laney would have, so I thought of that woman whenever I wrote about Laney.  I do have a friend who is sprinkled into both Beth and Laney in the book. We’ve been friends for over twenty years, she was one of my early readers, and I’m sure she doesn’t realize. And that’s the way I like it, even though it was all good things sprinkled in.  I’ve decided that if people I know want to see themselves in THE GLASS WIVES, I hope they’re flattered by what they see. If they’re not flattered, then they probably have some soul searching to do!

I look around me for characters. You look into the past through research for yours. How do you organize your research? Or do you not?

Erika: I do organize my research. I take copious notes from site and archive visits and my readings, and once I know the exact time period I’ll represent, I make timelines. Though I write fiction, it is important to me to stay as true to the history of my known characters as possible.

Do you use any story structure models or outlines? Do you know how your book will end once you get started?

Amy: I always know the beginning and the end. It’s that darn middle that gets tough, isn’t it?  But that’s the fun of writing fiction, you can take your characters on whatever journey you want to take them on to get them to the end!  Right now I’m working off an outline for book two, but I already have gone “off track” so to speak.

Do you have criteria for people you write about, or is it just however it, or whomever, strikes your fancy?

Erika: Place was my initial inspiration: the Caribbean, a visit to the Hemingway House in Key West. From Hemingway, I’ve been led to Zelda Fitzgerald. From Zelda and Scott to Edna St. Vincent Millay… All research roads seem to lead naturally to others.

Amy: Are there ever readers who don’t realize you’re writing fiction?

Erika: I’m clear on jacket copy and in Reader’s Notes/Guides that I insert a fictional character into the history. I haven’t yet come across any confused readers, though I’ve been flattered to hear people say how real characters become to them.

I sometimes think it is a prerequisite for writers to feel misunderstood. What is the biggest misconception the non-writers in your life have about your job?

Amy: I think “regular people” think it’s easy to write a book. I know people don’t understand the amount of time that goes into it, and that’s okay, I don’t understand medicine, law, or how to be a chef.

Who have you not yet written about that you’d like to (unless that’s a secret)?

Erika: I have to admit that I have a little post-traumatic stress about discovering that there were so many novelizations of Zelda Fitzgerald coming out around the same time, so in the name of superstition, I will respectfully punt the question back to you. What is the subject of your next novel?

Amy: Oh, aren’t you tricky! The novel I’m working on now is about a blogger who gets all caught up in the lies she tells online, making it hard for her to distinguish between her real life and her online life. She takes a job based on those lies, which only digs her in deeper.  When I look at the bigger question posed by the novel, it’s really about those “life lies” some people tell—or even lifelong secrets people hold close . What makes that happen, and what has to occur to make someone come clean and deal with the repercussions of their actions. 

Erika Robuck self-published her first novel, RECEIVE ME FALLING. Her novel, HEMINGWAY’S GIRL (NAL/Penguin), was a Target Emerging Author Pick, a Vero Beach Bestseller, and has been sold in two foreign markets to date. Her next novel, CALL ME ZELDA (NAL/Penguin), publishes on May 7, 2013, and begins in the years “after the party” for Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Erika writes about and reviews historical fiction at her blog, Muse, and is a contributor to popular fiction blog, Writer Unboxed. She is also a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Hemingway Society.

Three Good Things (Okay, Many More) From Author Wendy Francis

Contrary to the advice of many, I thinking writing what we don’t know is the best part of writing fiction, and it seems author Wendy Francis agrees! In THREE GOOD THINGS her main character, Ellen, bakes kringle (you’ll have to read the book to find out more—or head to the Midwest!), but Wendy is not a baker. She writes about the relationship between sisters but Wendy doesn’t have a sister. (Sounds similar to my novel writing experiences!) But what Wendy does know is how to take her own experiences to inform, populate, and create fine fiction. 

Please welcome Wendy Francis to Women’s Fiction Writers!

Amy xo

Amy: Congratulations on the publication of THREE GOOD THINGS! The story is about two sisters. Did you base THREE GOOD THINGS on your own relationship with your sister? Do you even have a sister?

Wendy: Thank you, Amy! I don’t have a sister, but I’m very close to my mom. She became a mother in her early twenties, and she always says that we grew up together. She gave me all the love and support that a mom could give, but she also was like a cool, funny big sister. Though I was too young to realize it as a child, I got the best of both worlds.  I also have a close-knit group of girlfriends from college, whom I think of as my extended family or my surrogate sisters. All of these things played into my depiction of the relationship between Ellen and Lanie in the book.

Amy:  Your main character, Ellen, opens a bake shop in her small town.  How did you decide on this element for your character and your book? 

Wendy: I always knew that I wanted to share the story of kringle, a delicate Danish pastry that’s popular in the Midwest, with a wider audience. I was raised in a small town in Wisconsin and fell in love with kringle when I was a young girl. Racine, Wisconsin, is the American home to kringle, and it’s where you can find the pastry in all its mouth-watering varieties, from almond to blueberry to chocolate turtle. But the pastry is surprisingly hard to find out east, and when I came this way for school I started to crave it. I told my husband that one day I wanted to open a kringle shop in Boston. Of course, that was the dream. When I realized that running a bakery would actually require some talent, I settled for writing a novel about it instead.

Amy: I think for some writers there’s a moment when a story comes to light and we know (or hope) that we’re going to write it. Did that happen to you with THREE GOOD THINGS?

Wendy: I wish a light bulb had gone off for me! In truth, crafting THREE GOOD THINGS was more of a process of writing, re-writing, and more re-writing. I was at home with my baby son and was itching to try my hand at a novel. Ellen’s character, a recent divorcée who runs a bakery, popped into my mind first. I knew she had a sister, though Lanie wasn’t as fully formed in my mind. And I could feel the setting – for whatever reason, I knew the book had to be set in the Midwest. There’s a patience, a certain respect for the land and its people that imbues the Midwest, and I wanted to pay tribute to that. But beyond the characters and the setting, I would say the novel was never a sure thing until I had a signed contract.

Amy: Are you more of a plotter, or a pantser (write by the seat of your pants)?

Wendy: I love the term “pantser.” I’ve never heard it before, but that definitely describes my approach. I wish I could sit down and map out a storyline with precise beginning and end points, but I find that the story grows and takes shape as I write. I usually have a vague notion of where it’s headed, but the characters often end up surprising me as they did in Three Good Things. I was remembering this as I was working on my second novel. Writing for me is akin to learning to play a song by ear: you have to feel your way around the keys (or the characters) until you strike the right melody.

Amy: How do you feel about the women’s fiction label?  What does “women’s fiction” mean to you?

Wendy: I think it’s a little silly to try to label something as “women’s fiction” or “men’s fiction.” Most authors, whatever literary camp they’re in, hope to create characters that any reader with empathize with or, at the very least, will want to better understand. That said, I’ve worked in the publishing business long enough (as an editor) to know how eager people are to assign labels and categories to works of fiction and nonfiction. Frankly, it’s difficult enough to find a wide audience for any book these days – sometimes having a particular angle can help a book capture its audience; other times it can be limiting. I really think it depends on the book. Where the confusion comes, at least to my mind, is when people start to equate “women’s fiction” with writing that isn’t literary.  So much of “women’s fiction” is gorgeously crafted. When people tell me that Three Good Things is great women’s fiction, I take it as a wonderful compliment. To me, it means I’ve written a book with strong female characters and relationships.

Amy: What is your best advice for authors and aspiring authors of women’s fiction?

I think it’s easy to get caught up on how a novel is “supposed” to come about. There is no one timeline for how long it should take, no one way of doing it, whether you’re a plotter or a pantser. Sometimes the easiest way for me to approach a new chapter is through a scene that has been percolating in my head. The scene may end up at the beginning, the middle, or the end of a chapter, but it’s the impetus to get me writing that particular day. At some point, the characters in the story begin to feel like real people in my life.  I find myself thinking about them throughout the course of the day, when I’m doing laundry, cooking dinner, coloring pictures with my four-year-old. It can be a bit strange and chaotic having all those people running around in your head, but it’s also a wonderful feeling: you know the story has taken hold of you. My advice? Don’t let the story go; trust your instincts and get it down on paper when time allows.

A Wisconsin native, Wendy Francis came out east for school, attending Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard. After a brief stint in law school (where it became apparent she had no aptitude for the law), she took the Radcliffe Publishing Course and went on to work as a book editor for nearly fifteen years, dividing her time between Houghton Mifflin Company and Da Capo Press. Her writing has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Wisconsin State Journal, The Racine Journal Times, and in magazines such as The Improper Bostonian. Her most recent essay, “A Letter to the Author You’re About to Become,” ran in The Huffington Post (http://huff.to/10ZEATC). Three Good Things is her debut novel; she is currently at work on her second. Wendy lives with her family outside of Boston.

Visit Wendy online at her website or on Twitter: @wendyfrancis4.

Author Natalia Sylvester Says The Way To Support Women’s Fiction Is To Keep Writing It

If you’re a reader or a writer online, chances are you know Natalia Sylvester, whose debut novel will be published in 2014 by New Harvest/Amazon Publishing. Natalia’s got the right idea (I think) when it comes to women’s fiction. It’s true we need a label for our work. The women’s fiction label enables us to not only find agents and editors and readers but like-minded writers, groups, critique partners. But the perception of women’s fiction in the press, in the marketplace, online, is something we can’t really control, unless as a group, we just continue to write good books. 

Take Natalia’s challenge. Keep writing! And please welcome her to Women’s Fiction Writers!

Amy xo

I have a complex relationship with labels, names, and the things we call ourselves. When you’re in publishing, when you’re in the business of marketing books, labels are very important. Categorizing our novels helps give us direction about how to market them, how to make sure the right readers find them.

This is all great in theory, but the truth is that books are a lot like people: they’re complex, three-dimensional things, kind of like the characters we write. The labels we give them don’t define them; they define only a part of them, and hopefully once you get to know them you’ll find they’re so much more.

But there’s something special about calling a book women’s fiction, because like the characters in our novels and the people who often inspire them, women’s fiction is a multi-faceted, ever-changing thing. What defines women’s fiction, to me, is that it’s not easily defined. It’s not as simple as saying it’s fiction written by a woman (which it can be) or fiction told from a woman’s point of view (which it often, but not always, is) or fiction that’ll appeal to women (yes, but not exclusively).

This is a label that challenges each and every one of us, both as writers and readers. It’s not so much defined by what a story’s about as it is by a story’s approach. To me, women’s fiction can be about anything and anyone, but it’s written with a sensitivity for how change in our outward lives can create change in our inner lives.

I love what the term represents, but am often disappointed by how it’s interpreted and treated. The idea of a man not picking up a book they’d probably love, just for the simple reason that it seems marketed to women, implies that a woman’s experience is not as universal as a man’s. And what about readers (both male and female) who pass up women’s fiction because they’re looking for “bigger, more serious” books? Since when has the word “women” been synonymous with small and frivolous?

The answers are not as simple as pointing out biases in publishing or in labels; they’re seeped somewhere deep in our culture and how much value we place on women’s stories as a whole. Sometimes I wonder if women’s fiction had a different name, one completely unattached to gender, would it appeal to more readers? And if it did, if it needed that kind of makeover, why would the original name not be good enough?

The conversation is constantly unraveling and evolving. Thankfully, the voices are getting louder lately, discussing not just women’s fiction as a genre, but women authors, regardless of what they write. There are those who keep an eye on how women in literature are represented, and call it out when we’re not getting the equality we deserve. Others tell their shocking, but brave stories about experiences as a woman in publishing. Some remind us it’s okay to not take it all too seriously, and explore these truths open-mindedly through comedy. And of course, there are blogs like this one, which bring women’s fiction writers together as a community.

When I get overwhelmed thinking of what I can do for women’s fiction, I always come back to the same answer: keep writing. Encourage other writers to do the same. Support one another’s voices and embrace the diversity that exists among them. Mentor other writers without judgment over what they choose to write about. Start a writer’s group or book club. Invite both men and women. Challenge others to read outside of their comfort zone and discuss what women’s fiction means to them.

While we’re at it, I say we redefine our idea of a serious writer. A serious writer is one who takes their craft seriously (there’s no other prerequisite).

Natalia Sylvester is a Peruvian-born Miamian now living in Austin, Texas. Her debut novel, Chasing the Sun, about a frail marriage tested to the extreme by the wife’s kidnapping in 1990s Peru, is forthcoming from New Harvest/Amazon Publishing in Spring 2014. Visit her online at nataliasylvester.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter: @NataliaSylv.

Debut Author Andrea Lochen’s Good Advice: Read Good Books, Find Good Friends, Be Good To Yourself

Sometimes I’m not sure how or where or when I met a particular author, but I am sure that it was meant to be. That’s how it is with debut author Andrea Lochen. Not only are our launch dates one week apart, but we live only about two hours apart. And Andrea lives right near where my daughter will be going to college in August. Can you say “mandatory new author get-together?” 

But until that happens, I’m fortunate that Andrea agreed to answer my questions and join us here on WFW today to talk about books, writing, and what she would change if she could REPEAT this past year!

Please welcome Andrea Lochen to WFW!

Amy xo

Amy: It’s almost here! You’re just a week away from the launch of your debut novel THE REPEAT YEAR. (Hey, I can relate!) Now that your work is about to hit the bookshelves and e-readers, tell us when and how (and maybe why) the idea for THE REPEAT YEAR hit you!

Andrea: I’m a firm believer in keeping a notebook of ideas and images that strike my fancy.  You may think you’re going to remember that fascinating idea you had, but chances are, life will intervene with more pressing demands, and you’ll forget it, so write it down!  The premise of a character reliving a year of her life came to me while I was a college student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (where my novel is set), so I dutifully jotted it down in my little notebook—thank goodness!  It took me several years to come back to the idea because I needed to find the right character for the premise.  I wanted an everyday heroine who readers could relate to, and someone whose experiences and career would really resonate with the concept of the repeat year.  Finally, intensive care nurse, Olive Watson, was born!

As for the why, I find that most readers and writers are fascinated by the possibility of what might have been.  What might have happened if I hadn’t turned down that job offer?  What might have happened if my ex and I had met now instead of several years ago?  I think readers love reading because it allows them to vicariously choose multiple paths, and writers especially appreciate the idea of rewriting history because it’s one of the perks we enjoy by writing.

Amy: Start to finish, how long did it take you to write THE REPEAT YEAR?  And after you wrote it, what was your path to publication? 

Andrea: I’m a fast drafter and a slow reviser.  I wrote the draft in about six months while earning my MFA at the University of Michigan.  I was lucky to be in a workshop environment with other writers who were super helpful and encouraging.  After graduation, it took me about five years to revise the novel to the point where it felt “ready.”  (It probably took me longer, too, because I teach full-time at a university for nine months of the year.)  I queried several agents before I found The One, and the rejection was downright devastating at times.  That being said, there were some kind, helpful agents along the way who may have ultimately passed on the book, but gave me suggestions that helped make it stronger.  Once I signed with Stephany Evans, we made very few alterations to the book before selling it to Berkley, an imprint of Penguin.  Huzzah!

Amy: When you’re writing a novel, what’s your game plan? Or, do you not have one? I’m working with a real outline for the first time. Do you use an outline, wing it, or is it a combo? And has the way you write changed since you started writing THE REPEAT YEAR?

Andrea:  Oh, how I wish I’d had a game plan when I started THE REPEAT YEAR!  I literally just dove in with very little thought about where my characters were going but intent on the joy of discovering their journeys as I went.  It was a lot of fun, but when I finished the first (very) rough draft, I had some gentle suggestions from friends (bless them) that I wasn’t really using the magical premise to its full potential.  And lo and behold—I realized that I wasn’t!  So I embarked on a major overhaul in the second draft.  (To see how truly different the first draft was, you can read the original, which will forever be enshrined in the Hopwood Room at the University of Michigan for winning a Hopwood Award for the Novel in 2008.)  Several drafts later, it was finally ready to be published.

So with my second book, I feel like I’ve learned more about the novel writing process.  Though I didn’t have a hard-and-fast outline when I started writing it, I did have a Word document full of character details, plot points, and other random ideas.  I’m hoping that by doing more planning upfront, maybe I can reduce my number of drafts.  I’ll let you know how that goes!

Amy: Since your novel is about “repeats”—if you could repeat this past year leading up to your launch, what would you change or do differently?

Andrea:  Like my protagonist, Olive, I’m not sure what I would change right away.  When you’re so close to your decisions and actions, it’s hard to take a step back and see the big picture and how certain choices will affect later events down the line.  But I do know for certain that I wish I would’ve stumbled upon writer blogs like yours, Book Pregnant, Chick Lit is Not Dead, Writer Unboxed, and others much earlier than I did.  They give such useful advice, recommend excellent books, allow you to network with other writers, and make you feel like a part of a much bigger writing community.  So if I were to go back and do things differently, I would definitely start engaging with the blogosphere and social media outlets much sooner!  I also have a sneaking suspicion that I should be trying to bask in the glow of my debut novel being published and enjoy every moment instead of stressing out and trying to micromanage things behind my control.  Now that we’re T-minus one week to THE REPEAT YEAR’s launch, I feel like it’s high time for me to finally kick back and enjoy the fruits of my labor!

Amy: The term “women’s fiction” comes up against some harsh criticism.  How do you feel about the genre or label of women’s fiction?

Andrea:  I find it a problematic label only because there is no equivalent for “men’s fiction,” and as Gloria Steinem put it, “Just as there are ‘novelists’ and then ‘women novelists,’ there are ‘movies’ and then ‘chick flicks.’  Whoever is in power takes over the noun—and the norm—while the less powerful gets an adjective.”  But I also understand that it’s a useful (though imperfect) categorizing tool for publishers, booksellers, and readers alike.  And the more I read women’s fiction and meet women’s fiction authors and readers, the more I realize in what good company I am!

Amy: What’s your best advice for aspiring authors of women’s fiction (or whatever you choose to call it)?

Andrea:  Read good books, the kind that remind you of the power that fiction can have, and that inspire you to write your absolute best.  Surround yourself with good friends, the priceless kind that will read several incarnations of the same chapter, over and over again and believe in you and your book, but will tell it to you straight when you need that kick in the pants as well.  And lastly, be good to yourself.  Don’t define your self-worth just by your success as a writer, because your idea of success might keep changing, and there’s always bound to be someone more successful than you.  Try not to compare yourself to others too much, but instead celebrate the unique writer that you are!

Andrea Lochen earned her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan.  While there, she won a Hopwood Novel Award for a draft of The Repeat Year.  She currently lives in suburban Milwaukee with her husband and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha.  For more information, visit www.andrealochen.com.

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Author Website: www.andrealochen.com

Debut Author Tiffany Hawk Talks About Writing What You Know And Making It Work For Fiction

Debut author Tiffany Hawk turns the cliche, “write what you know,” upside down in her novel, LOVE ME ANYWAY. Tiffany worked as a flight attendant, and her book is about, you guessed it, flight attendants (and much more).  In her interview you can read about how Tiffany writes her book so as NOT to implicate anyone she knows (too much), what she thinks of the Women’s Fiction label (hint: she’s torn), and you can view her awesome book trailer at the end of the interview, and learn more about LOVE ME ANYWAY! 

Please welcome debut author Tiffany Hawk to Women’s Fiction Writers!

Amy xo

Amy: Congratulations on your forthcoming debut novel LOVE ME ANYWAY! I’m a debut author too (as you know). What’s your favorite part of the time leading up to your novel being available “everywhere books are sold?”

Tiffany: Thank you, Amy. I can’t wait to read The Glass Wives! I’m glad you asked me that question because it reminded me to take a step back and enjoy this moment. Launching a book is a bit like planning a wedding – it’s a life-long dream, but then you start obsessing about making everything perfect, and that can kind of take over. It really is exciting to be talking about publicity and events and to be working so closely with my agent, whom I adore. Writing can be incredibly solitary, so working as a team now is just such great fun. And nothing beats the occasional trip up to New York to meet with her and the publishing staff. As a military wife, I move around a lot and never know where we’ll end up, so I feel tremendously lucky to have spent the last couple of years near New York.

Amy: Tell us a little about the story—but no spoilers!

Tiffany: It’s a book about two young flight attendants who take to the skies to escape their troubled pasts. Most of us have dreamed of running away to a far off land, but these two actually did it. Of course, they get more than they bargained for, and along with exotic destinations, they get tangled up in some unhealthy situations and disastrous relationships. One of the things I wanted to explore was what happens when good people give in to passion and do things they’re not proud of. Can you see yourself as a good person again? What if you can’t let go of the things you shouldn’t want?

Amy: When it comes to writing a novel, are you a plotter or do you write by the seat of your pants (making you a pantser)?

Tiffany: Oh, I’m a big time seat-of-my-pantser.  I’ve drawn up all kinds of outlines and I’ll get super excited about a plot I’ve got cooking only to find that when I actually start writing the big scenes, none of those ideas feel right. I like having an idea of where I’m going, and sometimes the end is the one thing I do know, but plotting out the whole course is something I do better after I have wrangled the first draft into something somewhat resembling a storyline. Obviously, I spend a ton of time revising and will never be called efficient.

Amy: In LOVE ME ANYWAY, you took what you knew—your area of expertise being travel—and turned it into fiction.  Any worries that people will think this is in some way about you or people you know? Have you fielded any questions or concerns about this?

Tiffany: Yes and yes. In fact, that’s usually the first question I get. When it comes to all the little details about the job and the planes and the passengers, more than 99% is true. I had to fabricate maybe two or three things for logistical purposes, such as a route that didn’t exist at that time, but any craziness that seems hard to believe, it’s entirely real.

When it comes to the larger storylines, it’s much murkier. A lot of what I wrote about actually happened, at least in part, to me or someone I know. But I’ve taken things so much further that I do sometimes fear hurting someone. For example, Emily and KC’s relationship is quite similar to my relationship with my best friend. Like Emily and KC, we met on the first day of flight attendant training and were opposites in many ways. She definitely brought me out of my shell, but she’s nowhere near as wild as KC and thankfully, her “ending” isn’t complicated like KC’s. Fortunately, she is one of my biggest supporters and one of the bravest people I know. She happily reads a scene we both recognize and then rolls with it when it turns into something more scandalous. Even when the story makes “her” look bad or crazy or desperate or whatever, she gets a kick out of it. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but if you were her, you would probably be like, “you made me do WHAT?!” She’s amazing.

Amy:  What does the term/label/genre “women’s fiction” mean to you?  

Tiffany: That’s a tough one. I love women’s fiction and yet at times, I have found myself dodging the label, which is so often used as an insult. That really is confounding, though, especially when you consider that female readers account for 80% of the fiction market. I mean, how can such a simple word -  “women” – be used to devalue something? How sexist is that!? I’m getting worked into a lather now. Part of me thinks I should start proudly announcing that I write women’s fiction. But I immediately fear being dismissed. We, I, all of us, have a long way to go.

Amy: What’s your best advice for aspiring authors of women’s fiction?

Tiffany: Write from the heart. Not what the market wants, not what you think sells, not what a plot formula tells you to, not what rejection letters suggest. Take all of those things seriously, let them inform you and make you think critically about your work, but don’t write to them. Find your own vision. At one point when my manuscript was being rejected by publishers and it was abundantly clear that the draft wasn’t working, my agent and I had very different ideas on how to revise. I didn’t like her suggestion AT ALL. In fact, it made me cry, and that forced me to rethink the book entirely. There was a heated phone call, well, heated on my end anyway. I was so incensed that I didn’t care if I pissed her off. To my surprise, she was absolutely thrilled that I’d had such an emotional reaction and had found my true vision. For the first time in a long time, I wrote what I wanted, not what my grad school instructors would want, not what publishers would want, not what my agent would want, but what I really wanted. Not only did my agent love the revision, she sold it.

TIFFANY HAWK is a former flight attendant and a graduate of the MFA program at UC Riverside. Her essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, National Geographic Traveler, The Potomac Review, StoryQuarterly, and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” A few years ago, she did the one thing flight attendants aren’t supposed to do and married a pilot. Together with their son, she and her husband now live wherever the Air Force sends them. At the moment, that’s Washington, D.C.

Visit Tiffany at tiffanyhawk.com, or for a comical two-minute sneak preview, watch Love Me Anyway the Short Film on Youtube.

Website http://www.tiffanyhawk.com

Twitter Wisdom For Writers From Author Lisette Brodey

This is the part where the internet gets crazy-cool. Cue the Twilight Zone music!

On Twitter one day I noticed Lisette Brodey. She was tweeting about writing, writers, She was tweeting to people I knew. And her name rang that proverbial bell. Brodey. I had a college professor, my Journalism/PR advisor named Brodey. But no, Lisette Brodey lived in LA.  I went to college at Temple University in Philadelphia and knew, by memory, that Dr. Brodey—my Dr. Brodey— had been from Philadelphia. 

I asked anyway and guess what? Lisette Brodey is indeed the daughter of my college professor and advisor, Dr. Jean Brodey.  I found out news about her mother (who she says remembers me!), Tweeted back and forth with Lisette, and of course, followed her on Twitter. 

Please welcome Lisette Brodey to Women’s Fiction Writers! 

Amy xo

Twitter Wisdom For Writers

By Author Lisette Brodey (@LisetteBrodey) http://www.lisettebrodey.com

I’ve been on Twitter for about three and a half years. I’ve met some of the most amazing, wonderful people there. As a writer, Twitter gives me superb access to interesting people all over the world.

A lot of people I know find Twitter very daunting, mostly because they’ve never really tried to use it. It can be intimidating to some to have only 140 characters to make a statement. But it works, and it works well. The more you do it, the more you’ll probably appreciate the way this micro-blogging site works.

Twitter can both be great or not-so-great depending on what you hope to get from it. I’m going to share with you the reasons I follow/follow back, don’t follow back, or unfollow.

WHY I WILL OR WON’T FOLLOW/FOLLOW BACK

1. I consider several things when deciding to follow or follow back. Does this person engage with others? If she is actively having conversations with other tweeters, I’m more inclined to like this person. For one, it shows that she realizes that there are other people on Twitter. And I’m much more inclined to like people who have a photo of themselves for an avatar.

2. There’s nothing wrong with promoting your own work in moderation, but I am a strong believer in cross-promotion. Does this person take a moment to recognize the works of others from time to time? To tweet content of interest?

3. Does the person’s follower/following ratio make any kind of sense? If someone follows me and I see that he is following well over 1,000 people, but only 132 people are following back, there is always a reason. A quick look will tell me that every tweet is virtually the same: they’re all about that person’s book, for example, or the tweets make little to no sense. If the person has 40,000 followers and is following only 2,000 back, I’m not going to assume that he’s found me to be a part of the scintillating minority. Rather, I’m going to think that he’s followed me to get the follow and will unfollow me soon after.

4. Did this person actually follow me or did a bot follow me? For example, I have a novel called Squalor, New Mexico that has nothing whatsoever to do with New Mexico, but often I’ll be followed by businesses such as a real estate company or an auto repair facility in Santa Fe. Nothing against these fine businesses, of course, but it’s clear how they found me and we likely are not tweeting about any common interests.

5. Does the person tweet original content or does she just quote? There are people on Twitter who do nothing but tweet the quotes of others. Once in a blue moon, if I see a great quote, I’m happy to pass it on, but in most cases I have little interest in following someone who merely tweets quotes.

WHY I UNFOLLOW

6. I know that I am not alone in my loathing of people who send DMs (direct messages) to strangers upon following with links to their products or services. Just don’t do it. Really, do NOT do this! If there’s one way to guarantee that I will never check out your book or product, just send me a link about it. To quote my friend author Stuart Ross McCallum, @writer99 on Twitter: “e-converse before e-commerce.”

Some people may ask: If I don’t send you a link, how will you ever know about my new novel, The Vampire and the Hound Dog Get Married? My answer: Engage with people on Twitter as you would in person. Join conversations, start conversations, pay attention to others, retweet what others have to say, be polite, and follow the golden rule. Once you do that, you’ll find that people will click on your bio because they like you. They’ll want to learn more about you. And what do you know, they may even download a copy of your book to their e-reader.

One woman, upon following, sent me a DM that said, “Enjoy the ABC series.” Hello? I only agreed to follow her on Twitter, but now she’s assuming I’m going to read all three books in her series? On what planet?

Then, there are those who send a message saying, “Don’t forget to ‘like’ my FB page?” Hey, I have no idea who you are. We’ve just met. Do NOT assume I’m going to support you at hello. Okay, so how can you ask people to ‘like’ your FB page without being obnoxious? Try a general tweet like this: “Would appreciate ‘likes’ on my FB page. Happy to reciprocate. Just DM or tweet me the link.” Isn’t that better? You’re asking for something but simultaneously offering to help others.

Upon following, I often get a DM saying, “Let’s keep in touch on Facebook, too.” But this person doesn’t want a mutual friendship; she wants you to “like” her page. I am not a fan of this deceitful practice.

7. I’ve just spoken about sending inappropriate direct messages to people. The same goes for tweeting links at people. Not only do people do this, but they do it to people who are not even following them. When I have a new blog, I tweet it to the general public. I do NOT tweet links AT people unless someone specifically asks me to do so. Tweeting links at people is, in a word, spam. There are exceptions when good friends tweet links to me; I have no issue in these cases.

8. I’m much more interested in interesting people than I am in numbers. Some fantastic people who have been on Twitter for a while, just happen to have high numbers of followers, very high, and they actually engage with as many as possible. It’s easy to figure out who cares and who doesn’t. Then there are those who merely want the numbers. They think that if they spend all day and night amassing 30K followers, they’ll be more likely to sell their product. As I see it, the number of followers has nothing to do with sales. YOU are the product first, and if people don’t care about you, they won’t care what you are selling. And, please, don’t boast about how many followers you have. It just tells me that you couldn’t care less about anything but a number.

9. Many people use certain sites to find out who is following back and who is not. I use these sites, too. I won’t necessarily unfollow people who aren’t following me back, but these sites do help me to clean up my lists. These sites often offer people the option to tweet out the IDs of those who have unfollowed them. Maybe it’s just me, but I find this to be very childish, like calling someone out on the playground. If people unfollow me, that’s okay. But I do not tweet about it. That’s just silly. And when I see people who do this, it’s just a turnoff to me.

10. Politics and religion: For many, these are two subjects to simply avoid. While I do choose not to tweet about either, I am very interested in and most appreciative of the political tweets of others. But tweeting politics is always risky. Many people who do not agree with you will unfollow you. And I am one of them. So, while it’s fine to tweet politics or religion, just understand that you will alienate some people. If you’re okay with that, go for it.

To sum it up, our experiences, good or bad, are what we make of them. Behind the avatars are real people who, like ourselves, deserve to be treated with respect. Enjoy your time tweeting, and I look forward to seeing you in my stream.

And please, tell me about your experiences with Twitter. What are the reasons that you follow, don’t follow, or unfollow?

Lisette Brodey was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. After high school, she moved to New York City where she attended Pace University and studied drama. After 10 years in New York, several of them spent working in the radio industry, she moved to Los Angeles, where she held various positions at Paramount Studios in Hollywood and CBS Studio Center in Studio City.

She returned to the East Coast and worked for several years as a freelance writer specializing in the entertainment industry. In May 2010 she relocated permanently back to Los Angeles.

In 2008 Lisette published Crooked Moon, a story about childhood best friends whose lives come crashing back together after 23 years apart. In 2009 she published Squalor, New Mexico, a coming-of-age story shrouded in family mystery. (And just for the record, the book has nothing to do with New Mexico. It takes place in East Coast suburbia in the 1970s.)

Lisette’s third novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!, was published in December 2011. In this romantic comedy, picky Molly Hacker sets out to find Mr. Right, juggling four “men of interest” and fighting off matchmaking efforts by the town’s most visible (and manipulative) socialite. Lisette has both blogged as Molly Hacker and interviewed her creative peers as Molly at www.mollyhacker.com.

She is currently working on a YA paranormal novel and other projects.

For detailed information on all of Lisette’s books, click on the BOOKS tab on her website or go directly to Amazon.com.

Author Jennie Shortridge says: Writing For Women Is One Of The Most Powerful Ways To Change The World

There’s much ado about women’s fiction, women authors, and women in general these days. On one hand, reports that confirm how many fewer books by women get reviewed in major publications and some women writers putting down other women writers is horrible. Okay, on two hands it’s horrible. But on that imaginary third hand, it’s bringing a lot of amazing women writers together. A band of brothers has nothing on a band of women writers. 

Author Jennie Shortridge shares her thoughts today, in a show of camaraderie with other women writers, and in celebration of her new novel, LOVE WATER MEMORY.

Please welcome Jennie to Women’s Fiction Writers!

Amy xo

In the year 2013, “women’s fiction” is still believed by some to be a pejorative term. The “chick lit” craze certainly didn’t help. Some early books in that category were as deeply revelatory as Catcher in the Rye, but got bedazzled in the marketing machine to scream: “Only buy me if you are female!” And begat a generation of pastel-covered books meant to categorize the stories of women’s lives as fluff, even when the messages inside might be strong as steel.

The novels I write are categorized as women’s fiction, even though my latest, Love Water Memory, has both a male protagonist and a female protagonist, and is the story of a harrowing brain disorder and its aftermath. You could imagine John Irving or Nick Hornby or Garth Stein writing about such a thing (in fact they’ve written about very similar things).

And yet, I’ve decided to come down on this issue exactly where novelist Elizabeth Berg does. To paraphrase Ms. Berg, when asked if she minded her work being categorized as women’s fiction, she said something like, “I love women! I love writing for women. Why would I mind?” (Why indeed, when women buy the vast majority of books?)

But here’s the real reason why I love writing books for women (and men, because plenty of men read my books): Writing for women is one of the most powerful ways to change the world.

Scientific studies show that college students who read fiction develop more empathy toward others than their counterparts. Those of us who’ve always read fiction know this innately. Our sensibilities, values, and core beliefs are formed and informed by the novels we read as teens, young adults, and even now.

In this new society of hardwired, head-phoned technoids tuned in electronically alone at their devices, actual human connection is eerily on the decline. We may tweet or text characters on a screen, but we can’t feel the impact of what we say or don’t say unless we can look into the other person’s eyes.

Women are biologically engineered for empathy, and yet we often get subtle (or not so subtle) messages that empathy and compassion are not as important as power and might. Don’t believe it. If more leaders of corporations, governments and religious institutions were women, integrating compassion into decision and policy making, our people and our planet would be far better off.

When women write women’s stories, we share ideas and experiences and revelations about solving problems, about surviving and thriving through difficulties, about love and the power of compassion and understanding.

And that changes the world, one reader—female or male—at a time.

Love Water Memory and four other acclaimed novels, as well as a writing teacher and avid volunteer. She is co-founder of Seattle7Writers, a nonprofit collective of over sixty published authors in the Northwest who work to give back to their community. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, her blog JennieSez, and at www.jennieshortridge.com.

Sarah Pekkanen’s Fourth Novel, THE BEST OF US, Hit Stores This Week!

I’m honored to have Sarah Pekkanen here today sharing the story surrounding her fourth novel, THE BEST OF US.  Because of a dispute between Barnes & Noble and S&S, many authors’ books aren’t being featured in their stores, if they’re even being sold at all. 

This is where the writer and reader community must come together. Sure, publishing is a business, but for the next few minutes, as you read about Sarah and her book, remember that she’s just like you. Someone whose words and stories are meant to be read; someone who just wants to share her book with you. Please give her a shout-out, buy the book if you can, talk about it, and keep talking! 

Please welcome Sarah Pekkanen to Women’s Fiction Writers! 

Amy xo

Before I gave birth, I imagined how things would go: An effective epidural, a gently encouraging doctor (obviously he’d look a little like George Clooney), me panting heroically while my husband watched in awe….. Suffice to say things didn’t exactly go according to plan: My water broke at 2 a.m., my epidural failed, my doctor was grumpy – and female! – and my husband was so nervous he kept shoveling ice chips I didn’t want into my mouth.

It’s been kind of the same way with my latest book launch. THE BEST OF US, my fourth novel, hit stores yesterday. I envisioned strolling through the front doors of Barnes & Noble in Bethesda, where I actually wrote part of the book, and hovering around the new releases table at the front of the store, bursting with all the pride and anxiety of a new mother. I figured I’d hold a launch event at B&N, and sign a gloriously tall stack of books for friends and family members.

Unfortunately, my book isn’t at the front of B&N along with all the other new releases, because I’m one of a number of authors caught in a dispute between my publisher, Simon & Schuster, and the nation’s largest retail chain.

There’s much I don’t understand about this corporate stand-off, and I don’t blame either side. Publishing is a tough business. Everyone is struggling – big publishers, agents, booksellers, bookstores, authors….B&N and S&S are both trying to stay afloat in a constantly changing, volatile industry.

While I hold no ill will, it is tough to accept that I’m not able to do any readings or signings at B&N stores. I admit that I cried a little when I learned B&N had cut its order for my book by 75 percent. And I’m saddened to think my novel will be back in the stacks, with my older books, if it is in stores at all. It’ll be impossible for people to give my book a chance if they can’t even find it.

Still, I’m trying to think of the positives. This book has gotten the best reviews of anything I’ve ever written. Publisher’s Weekly gave it a starred and boxed review. People magazine awarded it three and a half out of four stars. Marie Claire and Glamour magazine both recommended it.

I wrote The Best of Us in a little coffeeshop around the corner from my son’s nursery school. I loved those quiet, dreamy hours, when fueled by a latte and a croissant, I delved into the complicated worlds of my main characters. I interviewed experts in both severe weather patterns and genetic diseases so I could develop story lines. I jotted notes on scraps of paper, on my iPhone, and even on my hand when inspiration struck. I wrote and rewrote, cut and pasted, trimmed and shaped, and then I read through my manuscript and did it all over again.

After a painful, agonizing birth, I finally got to hold my son. And though this process has also been painful, I can pick up a copy of The Best of Us, and remember all the care and hard work I poured into it. And I can feel proud.

Sarah Pekkanen is the internationally-bestselling author of the novels THE BEST OF US, THESE GIRLS, SKIPPING A BEAT and THE OPPOSITE OF ME. Please find her on Facebook and twitter @sarahpekkanen!

Sarah is the mother of three young boys, which explains why she wrote part of her novel at Chuck E. Cheese. Seriously. Sarah penned her first book, Miscellaneous Tales and Poems, at the age of 10. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece (hey, all the poems rhymed!) Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. Sarah still has that letter, and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true. At least some dreams – Brad Pitt has yet to show up on her doorstep wearing nothing but a toolbelt and asking if she needs anything fixed. So maybe it’s only G-rated dreams that come true. Please visit http://www.sarahpekkanen.com