This Little Mommy Stayed Home - by Samantha Wilde

Today's guest author on the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit Lit blog tour is Samantha Wilde, author of the new novel, This Little Mommy Stayed Home, published by Bantam Dell.

This debut novel is a fresh and funny book about a new mother who discovers the wonders and terrors of motherhood—one hilarious crisis at a time. Protagonist Joy McGuire has gone from being skinny and able to speak in complete sentences to someone who hasn’t changed her sweatpants in weeks. But now with a new baby to care for, she feels like a woman on the brink and as she scrambles to recapture the person she used to be she takes another look at the woman she is: a stay-at-home mom in love with her son, if a bit addled about everything else.

Wilde, a new mom herself, wrote the novel after the birth of her son when she was experiencing the ups and downs of new motherhood. “I wrote the book because I couldn’t not write it," she says. "I took my lap top to my bed during my son’s naps and wrote and wrote. I wrote the book I wanted to read. The book takes a hard look at the effects of new motherhood on a woman and on a marriage through the eyes of one stressed but insightful woman. It’s a story that will keep mothers going when they think they can’t go any further.”

Wilde is the mother of two born in under two years. A graduate of Concord Academy, Smith College, Yale Divinity School and The New Seminary, she lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and children. She is the daughter of novelist Nancy Thayer. When she’s not mothering her toddler and baby, she writes, teaches yoga, and moonlights as a minister. Although she never sleeps, she’s never once been tempted to give her children away to the highest bidder (well, almost never). She’s currently using nap times to write her second novel for Bantam Dell.

Believe it or not, this busy lady did have some time to answer a few questions!

Name three songs that would be perfect for the soundtrack of your 
book.

How about “The Eensy Weensy Spider,” “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” and “Twinkle, Twinkle.” Oh, wait. You mean there’s other music out there? I haven’t heard any in a LONG time.



What was the inspiration behind the writing of This Little Mommy Stayed Home?

I started writing it when my son was about nine months out of some desperate creative drive. I wrote during his nap times. Twice a day, one hour each time.



What is one thing you’ve learned about the publishing industry since 
getting your first book deal?

It’s an industry. Not a cozy writing club.



What are you reading now?

The Year of Living Biblically. It’s hilarious. Since I moonlight as a minister and spent some years in divinity school, I lap up religious stuff when it’s true, witty and liberal.

What is your writing schedule like?

The only things that get scheduled around my house are naps and nighttimes. I write when I’m not nursing, cleaning, cooking, playing, or sleeping. After I got my contract, I had a babysitter for about six hours a week. Then I would write with the inevitable interruptions—screams for attention, hugs, nursing.



What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I love to spend time with my family. I love to walk, to hike, to swim, to read, to practice yoga, to teach yoga, to be with friends, and to travel short distances to interesting places.



What is your advice for those who looking to get their novel 
published?

Ask yourself WHY. Do you want to write? Or do you want all that comes with being published? They are not necessarily the same. And some things (many things) can be got without publishing. Like a sense of personal satisfaction and joy.



Oh! I think I hear a baby crying. Time for Samantha to go, but you can visit her and learn more at her blog.