What do you create? I write what some call “foodie rom coms” – short for food-themed romantic comedies. Other people have called it chick lit, lighthearted women’s fiction, and foodie lit. I just write the stories inside me and try not to label them. Why do you create? I like making something that can bring a smile to someone’s face, including my own. When I’m in a groove and write a scene that is working, it’s like a drug – I can’t get enough. But what’s even better is when someone else reads that scene and has a similar reaction. I recently received a message from a reader … [Read more...]
3Ws – Allison Winn Scotch
What do you create? Books, five of them, six if you include the one I’m wrestling with right now. (So…five and a half?) I also create lots of tweets, though fewer than I used to (social media burn out is real, yo), and celebrity interviews. Though I’m not sure I really “create” those, so much as get to chat with actors I really admire and write up our conversations. If that’s considered “work,” count me in. Why do you create? Gosh, what a profound question! Hey, I thought this was going to be easy! I don’t know, to be honest, other than I think I’ve always had these…voices … [Read more...]
3Ws – Michael Storrings
What do you create? I create Art that Celebrates. I hope to capture in my work those memories people share when they travel to cities or celebrate special occasions together. In my latest book, New York in Four Seasons, I tried to capture many of the events that happen in a year while also chronicling the life that occurs and joy that people feel at those gatherings. My hope is that people will get lost in the details of my art and relive their own memories. Some of the various images and people depicted in this book are personal to me—family, friends, places, and most of all, pugs. … [Read more...]
3Ws – Greer Macallister
What do you create? Words, words, words. Mostly fiction these days, with a smattering of poetry and playwriting here and there. My first novel, The Magician’s Lie, is coming out in January 2015. Which seems either years away or basically tomorrow, depending on the mood you catch me in. The Magician’s Lie is historical fiction, set in 1905, about a female magician whose most famous illusion involves cutting a man in half – a dangerous notion for the time, and one that gets her in hot water when a dead body is found under the stage after her show. Historical fiction is my focus these … [Read more...]
3Ws – Stacey Ballis
What do you create? I'm primarily a novelist and sometime cookbook author. I write "foodie fiction," novels with foodie heroines and recipes in the back. My current novel, Out to Lunch, is about a woman who loses her best friend and gains custody of her best friend's annoying widower. My next novel, Recipe for Disaster, is about a house flipper whose life implodes leaving her jobless, homeless and fiancé-less in one horrible day, forcing her to fend for herself while living in the half-finished ruin of her current construction project. And my new digital cookbook is Big Delicious Life, … [Read more...]
3Ws – Renee Swindle
What do you create? I create novels. So far I’ve written Please Please Please, Shake Down The Stars, and A Pinch Of Ooh La La, which came out in August. I create quirky and humorous characters--characters with foibles, who usually get in the way of their own best interests. Sometimes my novels lean more on the humorous, like with A Pinch of Ooh La la and other times they’re closer to dramadies. Shake Down The Stars, for instance, dealt with a woman overcoming a major loss and alcoholism, but there was also humor throughout because I can’t seem to help myself. It was nice to hear … [Read more...]
3Ws – Ann Mah
What do you create? I write and I cook—both activities centered around food! I've written a food memoir called Mastering the Art of French Eating and a novel, Kitchen Chinese. Both books use food as a way to explore a new country. I also write food-centric travel articles and create recipes for my blog. Basically, my work is a giant excuse to travel around and eat. Why do you create? My husband is a diplomat and a month after we got married, we moved to Beijing, China. At first I was adrift—unemployed in a new place where I barely spoke the local language. But … [Read more...]
3Ws – Jen Lancaster
What do you create? Professionally, I create what I hope are light, engaging reads. I’ve written eight memoirs (despite having never pulled Chrysler out of bankruptcy) and three novels. Thus far, seven of my books have hit the New York Times Best Seller List, which still feels surreal, particularly given the content. For example, I wrote a weight loss memoir in which I didn’t actually lose any weight. (However, Such a Pretty Fat did teach me to conduct a domain lookup, as I discovered the original title Pretty Fat linked to a big girl fetish site.) Although I can’t imagine anyone … [Read more...]
An Interview with Mindi Scott
FREEFALL is a book I've been dying to read for a very long time now, and IT COMES OUT TODAY, PEOPLE! I'm so excited!I've been reading Mindi Scott's blog for years, and have loved following her path to publication. I got to meet Mindi while I was in Seattle this summer. She's as lovely and sweet and funny in person as she is on her blog. If you have the chance to go to one of her book events, do it! And if you don't, you can still read FREEFALL, so do that, okay? :) Mindi was so kind to answer some of my questions:1. What inspired FREEFALL?I started writing this book because I had an … [Read more...]
An Interview with Author Alicia Bessette
Alicia Bessette and I share the same editor, the same nickname, and similar taste in dog names. I'm also a big fan of Quest for Kindness, the blog Alicia shares with her husband, Matthew Quick. So, of course, I was absolutely thrilled to read Alicia's debut novel, Simply From Scratch. It's the sweet and soulful story of Zell, a young woman who copes with the death of her husband by entering a baking contest. Gladys Knight, goopy cooking messes, a pirate dog, a chainsaw artist, a precocious neighbor, a dessert made with chocolate and goat cheese, and a story about starting life all over … [Read more...]