THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED by Bridget Asher

Julianna Baggott is the author of seventeen books, most recently The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted under her pen name Bridget Asher, as well as The Pretend Wife and My Husband’s Sweethearts. She’s the bestselling author of Girl Talk and, as N.E. Bode, The Anybodies Triology for younger readers. Her essays have appeared widely in such publications as The New York Times Modern Love column, Washington Post, NPR.org, and Real Simple. 

What the critics have said about The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted:

“Fans of Under the Tuscan Sun will adore this impossibly romantic read.”
-- People

“Readers who enjoy ... Lolly Winston's Good Grief and Jane Green's The Beach House or travel-induced transformation books like Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love will find common themes ... and become quickly invested in the lives of the deftly drawn characters.”
-- Library Journal



“Unabashedly romantic ... a real charmer about a Provencal house that casts spells over the lovelorn.” 
-- Kirkus Reviews

Brokenhearted and still mourning the loss of her husband, Heidi travels with Abbott, her obsessive-compulsive seven-year-old son, and Charlotte, her jaded sixteen-year-old niece, to the small village of Puyloubier in the south of France, where a crumbling stone house may be responsible for mending hearts since before World War II. There, Charlotte confesses a shocking secret, and Heidi learns the truth about her mother’s “lost summer” when Heidi was a child. As three generations collide with one another, with the neighbor who seems to know all of their family skeletons, and with an enigmatic Frenchman, Heidi, Charlotte, and Abbot journey through love, loss, and healing amid the vineyards, warm winds and delicious food of Provence. Can the magic of the house heal Heidi’s heart, too?

I enjoyed reading this book, which unfolds like a long and lovely, delicious, French meal and is just as satisfying! And I was so interested to find out more about Julianna, who wears so many writers’ hats. She is an inspiration to us all!

The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted is one of your novels written under the pen name Bridget Asher. You also write YA books under another pseudonym (N.E. Bode) as well as poetry and other writing under Julianna Baggott. How did you come to take on these "multiple personalities" and how do you keep them separate and manageable? 

It's a little personality-disorder, isn't it? Bode came about as a way to keep being prolific. (I love N.E. Bode, dimpled with innocence, being hunted down by his insanely jealous creative writing professor. He's a peach.) Bridget Asher was an attempt to build an audience. My writing is such buckshot that I wanted readers to be able to find at least one name they could rely on. I hope Bridget delivers that.

You also are an associate professor for Florida State University's Creative Writing Program and received your MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. What are your thoughts on the proliferation of MFA programs in the United States? Do you think MFA programs are preparing their students well for the tough world of publishing?

It's my job, primarily, to teach people how to write stronger in their own unique ways -- to develop empathy, voice, imagination, strategic thought, basically a number of transferable skills, things they'll need whether they become novelists, artists, or go into the art of politics, medicine, law. And so the market and the industry don't come up in workshop, proper. I do give lectures on the nuts and bolts of publishing. I bring in articles on the industry. We haul in agents and editors. We have a literary magazine where students get a feel for the editorial end. So, in the end, it's a mix. But at the fore, it's about craft, not career.  

What was the inspiration for writing The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted? What do you want readers to take away from this book?

I wanted to write something multi-generational—ambitious in that way. I wanted to write about sorrow. The opening line is, “Grief is a love story told backwards.” I wanted to write about Provence. I wanted research I could eat. As for readers, I'm completely greedy. I want to work my way into their souls and I want to stay lodged there. (A little too much to ask for?)

Walk us through the development of The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted. Did you end up changing anything in the structure during revision? Add or delete characters? Rework the backstory?

I knew the first half of the novel and I knew events in the second half—because we'd lived in this little village for a month and I'd stockpiled real life stuff. But I didn't know how these things would play out. And one of the characters had a huge secret that she didn't even let me in on—until someone else spilled it. I love it when my characters have lives of their own.

Who are among your favorites of current female novelists?

If you want funny, Rainbow Rowell's debut novel Attachments is uproarious. Marisa del los Santos just handed her latest into her editor, and I want to read over the editor's shoulder. I just blurbed a brilliant novel by Quinn Dalton, which is on the editor hunt right now. May I mention a poet or two? I will: Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Rachel Zucker. Chantel Acevedo's debut, Love and Ghost Stories? Check it out. And on and on....

What projects are you working on now?

A dystopic post-apocalyptic trilogy called Pure, which will be published in February. Film rights were bought by Fox2000. It's a massive thriller-esque world-building trilogy. A huge undertaking. Wild fun.

I'm also sketching the next Bridget Asher novel—the starry-eyed falling in love early days.

What was your road to publication like? What advice would you give aspiring writers in achieving success in publishing?

It's great if you have some bounce. Expect to fail. Be surprised by successes. It's hard. Be tough. Create a bond with rejection. Get chummy with criticism. 

As a professor, novelist, poet, YA writer, mother wife, literacy activist, blogger, etc., etc. (!) can you enlighten us on how you manage your time?

My husband is a stay-at-home dad. Otherwise, there's no way it could work. I use my freshest brain cells on my own creative work. I sometimes stay up late, playing catch up. My creative process has morphed to rely on near-constant interruption.

Do you work on books simultaneously? If so, what are the challenges of doing this?

I do. I call it cross-training. When one project fights me, I let it sit, but stay busy at work on another. It's a habit that leads to more overall pages.

The publishing and book industry has been undergoing much change. How has this affected you as a writer?

For one thing, being here (on a blog) is part of the new world. I prefer this (VERY MUCH) to touring. I love being at home and turning to blogs as a way of travel without planes. Things are changing very quickly. I'm fascinated. I think that there might be a growing power shift toward writers themselves. I don't understand it or how it will play out, but I'm optimistic about one thing: the endurance of story.

What and where is your favorite restaurant and what do you like about it?

Les Sarments. It's a tiny exquisite restaurant in the tiny village of Puyloubier, where The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted is set. It's tucked away up a tiny narrow set of stone steps. Amazing. Get the cheese -- some of it is downright illegal. 

Visit Julianna at her blog at http://bridgetasher.blogspot.com/ and at her website at www.juliannabaggott.com.

 Bon chance, Julianna, with The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted!

Book Signings: An Endangered Species

There are different kinds of book signings. There are the ones where you go into the bookstore and sign copies of your books that they have in stock. Then there is the author event where you sign books at a table and sometimes give a reading beforehand. 

My very first stock signing was in the fall of 2007 at Stacey’s Books, a major independent store in downtown San Francisco where they featured my debut novel, Midori by Moonlight, in a lovely display. I was thrilled and signed each book with the Cross pen my husband had given me to celebrate my first published novel. 

A couple of hours later I was at my first author event at the huge Borders store in Union Square where I read from my novel, answered questions and signed copies—another major thrill I’ll never forget. 

Stacey’s closed a few years ago, a victim of Amazon and the big box stores. Borders has just filed for bankruptcy and the Union Square store (one of the largest in California) is on the closure list. Things are changing in the publishing world and more and more people are purchasing their books through Kindles and iPads. Book signings are an endangered species and are set to become extinct—a quaint memory from the past, much like the album signings by your favorite rock star at Tower Records.

Japan, Funny Side Up by Amy Chavez

I’ve read a lot of guidebooks about Japan, but I’ve never encountered one like Japan, Funny Side Up by Amy Chavez. Chavez, the long-time “Japan Lite” columnist for The Japan Times (the country’s premiere English-language daily newspaper) has written a funny and insightful guide that not only gives readers excellent travel advice, but also offers valuable insights into Japanese culture and society.

Chavez keeps us laughing with essays like Etiquette Tips for Santa Claus and other Foreigners (“When you come inside the house—through the window, please—take off your boots and use the XXL slippers we’ve put out for your big gaijin feet.”) and Japan: A Nation Ruled by Cartoon Characters, which introduces such kawaii mascots perhaps not as well known to Westerners as Hello Kitty, such as Miffy, Afro Ken and Koge Pan, the animated burned bread roll. She also gives practical advice on traveling in Japan, including free off-beat places to explore, as well as tips on living in Japan and teaching English there.

Whether you’re planning a trip to Japan, thinking of relocating there or are just curious about this fascinating country, you’ll find Japan, Funny Side Up a highly entertaining read.

Chavez, who was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, has been living in Japan for 17 years. I recently had the chance to ask her some questions about Japan, Funny Side Up and her life in Japan, her passion for all things Japanese and how she has come to write for a living.

How did you end up living in Japan?

I've been in Japan since 1993 (gasp!) and came over after getting my MA in Teaching English as a Second Language. I came to teach English at college.

How did you come to write for The Japan Times?

I have a BA in Creative Writing and another MA in Technical Writing. I knew I wanted to write for a living, but didn't think I could make enough money at it. I also loved to travel, so I figured a degree in ESL would allow me to live almost anywhere and teach, and then I could pursue my dream of writing. I landed the job as a columnist for the The Japan Times in 1997, after four years in Japan. I had done a lot of writing before that, mind you, but I really found my niche with the newspaper. It has been good to me and I now write for a living.

What made you decide to write a guidebook on Japan?

I had already turned down book offers by two major publishers, mainly because I didn't care for their contracts. Book contracts aren't that hard to get, but good book contracts are. So I took the book and made it into what I felt was needed, according to what was already out there in the market, what wasn't, and what I thought should be. I didn't want to write just another book about Japan. I wanted to write something provocative, something useful and something that offered a closer, more personal look at the country.

What differentiates Japan, Funny Side Up from all the others out there?

My aim with the book is to present Japan in the most honest but entertaining way possible based on my 17 years of living here. Japan is an endlessly fascinating country. Even after all these years, I still find out something new every day! This is what I want to share with others—an absolute passion for things Japanese.

In addition, I hope to pique peoples’ interest in Japan and get them thinking outside the box. So rather than just presenting some strange Japanese custom, I want readers to think how that custom came about and what makes it Japanese. This is the only way we can truly understand and respect another culture.

With the current popularity of blogs, videos, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, etc, another aim of the book is to recommend places people can go to find more information on various subjects. There are so many good J-bloggers out there who work really hard, usually with no compensation for their work. So I want to highlight the people who are doing an outstanding job of presenting up-to-date information about what's happening here in Japan. That's something a regular book just cannot do. And while there are a lot of average sites on Japan out there, the really good ones deserve a mention.

Did you have any interest in Japan before moving there?

I had done quite a bit of traveling in third world countries so I thought that if I were going to settle down somewhere, I’d choose a developed country where I could make a good salary, enjoy a decent standard of living and save some money. Japan was still hot at the time, and the opportunity to teach came via my university. Teaching at university in Japan was my first real job. I had planned on staying for five years.

Have you formally studied the Japanese language? Can you read and write Japanese? Are you fluent?

I studied Japanese formally at a language school the first year I was here. All the other students at the school were Chinese studying to pass the Japanese university entrance exams, so I had to study very hard to keep up (they already knew the kanji). I was also working full time at the university then, so I didn’t have time to do homework. I would go to language school for four hours in the morning, go teach university in the afternoon, then go home and grade papers. Nonetheless, I still managed to learn to read and write Japanese.

You live on a remote island in Japan. Tell us how you ended up there and a little bit about what it's like to live there.

I had lived in Okayama city, for almost five years when I moved to the island. I was looking for traditional Japan in its raw, unadulterated form. I found it, in a big way, on this little island. The people welcomed me into their community and that’s when I found out how much I really didn’t know about Japan. I wouldn’t trade this little island for anything! The people are awesome—all 650 of them! Life on the island is a sub-theme in my next book, about running the 900-mile Shikoku 88-Temple Buddhist Pilgrimage, which I currently have an agent interested in.

Thanks, Amy!

You can get Japan, Funny Side Up as a Kindle e-book HERE.

Girlfriends Book Club

I'm part of an exciting new writers blog called the Girlfriends Book Club. You can check out my post on the inspiration I find as a writer from Mad Men HERE. Thanks!

Friday Mornings at Nine by Marilyn Brant

My guest today is Marilyn Brant, a girlfriend from the Girlfriends Book Club Blog. Her second novel, Friday Mornings at Nine, comes out on October 1 from Kensington Books.

Every woman remembers her firsts: Her first kiss. Her first lover. And her first time contemplating an affair…

Each Friday morning at the Indigo Moon Café, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara meet to swap stories about marriage, kids and work. But one day, spurred by recent e-mails from her college ex, Jennifer poses some questions they've never faced before. What if they all married the wrong man? What if they're living the wrong life? And what would happen if, just once, they gave in to temptation?

Soon each woman is second-guessing the choices she's made -- and the ones she can unmake -- as she becomes aware of new opportunities around every corner, from attentive colleagues and sexy neighbors to flirtatious past lovers. And as fantasies blur with real life, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara begin to realize how little they know about each other, their marriages and themselves, and how much there is to gain -- and lose -- when you step outside the rules.

Marilyn has been a classroom teacher, a library staff member, a freelance writer and a national book reviewer. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and son, surrounded by towers of books that often threaten to topple over and crush her. A proud member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Marilyn's debut novel featuring "Jane," According to Jane, won the Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart Award. When not working on her next book, she enjoys traveling, listening to music and finding new desserts to taste test. You can visit her website HERE.

Marilyn was kind enough to answer some questions below:

What was most important to you in the writing of this story?

I’m always trying to be honest about the complexities of human emotion, particularly in regards to relationships. I would say with Friday Mornings at Nine, the biggest issue I wanted to explore was not so much the concept of “cheating” as a theme but, rather, the far less titillating subject of “choosing.” The idea that a woman can really only be in a relationship fully -- marital or otherwise -- once she understands how and why she’s chosen to be there, and that she has to look closely enough and listen deeply enough to know who she is and what she wants. And, also, that in every romantic relationship or good friendship, she chooses over and over again (either consciously or unconsciously) whether she wants to stay. I believe that’s true of all of us, and I wanted my characters in this story to move from unconsciously living very unexamined lives to consciously, actively making a choice about where they were headed.

Is your relationship with your friends similar to or different from the relationship between the women in the novel?
For the most part, it’s different...and thank goodness! While my friends and I often get together for coffee to talk about our lives, just like the women in the book, the friends in Friday Mornings at Nine have a few things to learn, not only about each other but about themselves. (Big time!) I think they make a fair bit of progress during the course of the novel, but I also think it’s pretty clear that it’s difficult to be a good friend -- or a good spouse, for that matter -- if you’re not examining your needs and your motivations with a clear eye. I've certainly been in group situations with other women where there were secrets and hidden agendas, where the people involved still had so much personal stuff to work out that they couldn’t be honest -- even with themselves -- about who they were and what they wanted out of their lives.

By contrast, my friends and I, while we’re hardly Zen-like creatures of calm and poise (although I can hear one friend saying, “What?! I am too Zen-like!”), we tend to be pretty straightforward with each other. We have varying levels of comfort when it comes to revealing deeply personal information, and our personalities are different, but we also know each other well enough by now to trust that we have each others’ best interests at heart. None of us would do anything intentional that might hurt another. That sort of trust allows for a great deal of candidness in our conversations. And while we spend far more time talking about baked goods than about any subject someone might consider racy (it’s the truth -- talk of hot, muscular guys sadly takes a backseat to discussions about caramel brownies), I’m so grateful to them for being people who know the over-analytical geeky girl that I am and still want to spend so much time with me.

What is the inspiration behind this novel?
I’ve talked with a lot of women about their marriages -- and, in some cases, about their affairs. Sometimes these revelations came in the form of random comments thrown out unexpectedly. Other times they were part of well thought-out discussions about whether the women in question should or shouldn’t stay married. I met my husband 20 years ago and we’ve been married for almost 18 of those years. I consider us to be happy, but I don’t know anyone who’s been married that long who hasn’t experienced some ups and downs. I think the fortunate couples are the ones who keep choosing to be together and work on their relationships despite all of those years and the inevitable changes. Of course, it takes both people to do that, and it also takes a lot of time and effort. The individuals involved have to want to get to know these people they married and who they are now as opposed to the different creatures they may have been when they met a decade or more before, and they need to really pay attention to their own needs and desires, too. Sometimes, in the process of that kind of deep analysis, it turns out there was a profound disconnect somewhere along the line. In some cases, it’s possible to reconnect -- in others, not so much.

So, essentially, I wanted to write a story about three women who have marital disconnects to some degree that make them wonder what would have happened if they’d chosen differently. Then I wanted them to finally take the time to examine their lives so they could choose mindfully where to head next.

Did you run into any challenges or roadblocks while writing this book? If so, how did you overcome them?
There were the usual writing challenges -- especially that pervasive author fear that I’d never finish it or it wouldn't make sense to anyone but me [Ed.: I’ve been there!], etc. -- but the only really big hurdle was in trying to tell this story the way I wanted it to be told. I’ve read and enjoyed novels where thoughts of infidelity were contained in one woman’s perspective and were these really intimate, deeply personal portrayals. With Friday Mornings at Nine, I wanted to feature three individual women, but also show the group of friends as almost a fourth character. In fact, in my earliest draft, I even wrote the first chapter as “we” and “our” instead of “they” and “them” (i.e., “We met on Friday mornings at nine because that was when...” etc.). In the end, I decided to write those group chapters with more of a traveling third person/omniscient point of view, but I hope it still gets across that, in a way, the group of friends is an entity unto itself.

Thanks, Marilyn!

Friday Mornings at Nine is a Doubleday Book Club & Book-of-the-Month Club Featured Alternate Selection for October 2010. Congratulations!

Dead Love by Linda Watanabe McFerrin

The amazingly talented writer and teacher, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, is my guest today. Her latest book, out on September 1, is the novel Dead Love, published by Stone Bridge Press. (You can pre-order it HERE).

Dead Love is a supernatural thriller in the tradition of Mary Shelley, E.A. Poe, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Anne Rice. The novel follows a cast of nefarious characters, both human and otherworldly, as they foil and foul one another’s plans and power plays in a conspiracy of global proportions. It begins when Clément, a lovesick ghoul, falls head over heels for a beautiful young woman. Unfortunately, the girl is marked for death by the Japanese mob (the Yakuza). What’s a ghoul to do? He’s got to create a means to save her. Using secrets learned from a Haitian witchdoctor he finds a way to rescue and possess her, but not in the manner he’s expected. Set in Central America, Europe, Scandinavia, Asia and Southeast Asia, the novel jets readers all over the planet on a diabolical joyride that is destined to end darkly.

Linda not only writes fiction, but is an accomplished non-fiction writer, known especially for her travel writing. She is the editor of the 4th edition of Best Places in Northern California. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, newspapers, magazines, anthologies and online publications including the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Examiner, Salon.com and many more. She also writes poetry and is the author of two poetry collections. Linda is the founder of the Left Coast Writers Literary Salon, which meets on the first Monday of every month at the premier independent bookstore Book Passage in Corte Madera, California.

Linda graciously agreed to take the time to answer a few questions...

Can you tell us a little about your background and your connection to Japan and Japanese culture?
I am part Japanese; my mother is Japanese and Welsh. Her father was a British journalist and teacher in Shanghai where he met my grandmother, who was a Japanese actress. My mother was raised there. We have super old family photos of Shanghai in the 30’s. When I was a girl I lived in Japan for several years. My first novel, Namako: Sea Cucumber is roughly based on the time I spent there as an adolescent. I love Japan, but being only part Japanese, I did not fit in at all. That’s where the concept for Namako originated … I felt like a creature in between two worlds and a part of neither. I’ve been back to Japan many times and I keep writing about it. My favorite city is Tokyo. I love the way it rose up from the ashes and became this crazy, new, almost frenetic place. But it also has its peaceful side, and there are still some magical old neighborhoods.

What was the inspiration behind the writing of Dead Love?
First, I should mention that there is a very lovely supernatural thread that runs through Japanese literature and storytelling. I think some of my work is born of that tradition. My grandfather wrote; my mother, a linguist and translator, wrote; and as a child, my world was full of stories. They were pretty dark stories—a kind of kabuki-Brothers Grimm-E.A. Poe mélange. My mother was also quite dramatic. So that influenced my thinking and my fondness for a creepy tale well told. But as far as the actual topic goes, I was going through a rough spell when I read ethno-botanist Wade Davis’s The Serpent and the Rainbow, which was about his pursuit of a “zombie formula” in Haiti. It captivated me and was probably how the zombie seed was sown. I worked on Dead Love for years and years.

What's your advice for writers who are looking to get their novel published?
Well, I think we write for ourselves, we publish for others, so never lose track of your reader. My friend and teacher, the surrealist poet, Nanos Valaoritis, called this person “the fugitive other” and that really resonated with me. So I’d say that it is a chase, a hunt for the fugitive other. You have to find that “other” and get them to listen … whoever they are. Obviously that fugitive other is not going to come knocking on your door, so get out there and find him/her. I had to do that … I hunted long and hard … and now I’ve discovered a huge host of zombie lovers all over the world,—zombie walks, zombie this and that—and I am happy, happy, happy.

Describe your writing process.
I write every day as practice. I think writing is like any other performance work; you can’t just get up and do it in front of people without working out and perfecting your presentation. This is fine with me because I love to write. I write in a variety of genres; I’ve published poetry, long and short fiction, nonfiction. Generally, I think things out, then, I do a quick outline, leads and closes, transitions, scenes. After that I line up my characters, show them the space and see what they do. Well, in fiction, I do that. Non-fiction is far more managed and manageable because you don’t have all those characters insisting on things their way. For example: Clément was a VERY difficult character to manage and at first Erin would just sulk. She’s a lot better now. She blogs every single day. Yeah, it’s that real or virtual or whatever with them.

You founded the wonderful Left Coast Writers Literary Salon that meets on the first Monday of the month at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Can you tell us the story of how it came about and how people can join?
Well, I had a writers group that kamikazeed and I was in mourning. So I went to Elaine Petrocelli at Book Passage and said that I had this idea about a group and a salon and Elaine, who is up for almost anything literary and bookworthy, said, “Why not?” I love that about her. We thought it might be just 10 or so, but people kept calling and calling. Margarita was worried and called to say, “Oh, no, we have over 30 and they keep calling; I don’t know if we have space. Do you want to cut it off?” But Bill Petrocelli said they were adding the Gallery, so no problem, and the writers kept coming. That was years ago and it is SUCH a great group, don’t you think? I guess we all crave the company of other creative minds and an occasional break from the garret. All a writer has to do to sign up is call Book Passage or go the Left Coast Writers page on their website.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
That’s easy, I like to read, preferably on a plane going somewhere exotic and fascinating because I also love to travel and I’ve been doing it since I was a kid. Dead Love is set in Japan, in Haiti, in the Netherlands, in Singapore, and in Malaysia. I also write travel essays … constantly. I used to run, but I broke my ankle and have metal in it now, so can’t do that as much. I can do a light run—three miles or so—but too much, too often, and the ankle starts to trouble me. Broke my wrist when I fell from my bike in Holland and there’s more metal there. I love to eat, but I have all kinds of serious food allergies, so that’s been curtailed. And I like to cook, though my capabilities are questionable, except that I do make a mean brainloaf. The recipe for that is on the deadlovebook.com site.

What and where is your favorite restaurant and why is it your favorite?
In Tokyo, I love, love, love Kozue in the Park Hyatt Hotel in Nishi-Shinjuku. The hotel is actually the setting for a murder in Dead Love. I also love D’Vijff Vlieghen (The Five Flies) in Amsterdam. It is also the setting for a murder in Dead Love … and a rave. Both of these places have amazing food served in an extraordinary environment. In the Bay Area it’s Michael Mina in the Westin St. Francis. My uncle adored that place. I love it because it’s so posh and because it’s where my friends Tony and Maureen Wheeler celebrated the sale of Lonely Planet to the BBC. It was quite a momentous occasion with a small table of good friends toasting a tremendous accomplishment. The food and ambiance were perfect for a very special night.

Thanks, Linda, and best of luck with Dead Love!

You can find out more about Linda and her work at her website HERE.

Good-Bye to All That - by Margo Candela

Award-winning and prolific writer of sharp and funny books, Margo Candela, has a brand new novel coming out on July 13. Good-bye to All That (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; $14/paper; 1-4165-7135-3) is all about Raquel Azorian, 25, who has spent the last three years working her way up from temp receptionist to full-time administrative assistant and is this close to getting her long-deserved promotion to junior marketing executive at Belmore Corporation, the media behemoth she’s devoted herself to. After proving she has what it takes in a contentious department meeting, Raquel is sure she’ll get her promotion. Instead, her boss suffers a very public meltdown, putting not only his future at Belmore, but also Raquel’s future on the line.

Work life is a mess. And home life isn’t much better. Raquel’s mother has decided to leave her father and move in with her. Now she spends her days boozing on Raquel’s couch and eating all her food. Her older brother is dealing with his own marital problems, her sister-in-law, Cricket, won’t leave her alone, and Raquel is forced to be the family’s intermediary.

Two men seem poised to change all this, however. Raquel begins sleeping with Belmore Vice President Kyle Martin, and discovers the very marketable hunk, Rory Tilley, from the little known film Fire House Hero. Raquel hopes that her relationship with Kyle and the unearthing of Rory will put her back on the fast-track to corporate stardom. But the clash of her personal and professional lives pushes her to the breaking point—starting over may be the only way out.

Margo's first novel with Touchstone, More Than This, was chosen as a Target Breakout Book, an American Association of Publishers BookClub selection with Borders Books and Las Comadres in 2008. It was the 2nd place winner for Best Novel in the Romance (English language) category at the 2009 International Latino Book Awards and the Latinidad List’s Best Chick Lit Book of 2008.

Recently Margo took some time out from her break-neck writing and movie-watching schedule to answer a few questions...

Describe your writing process.

There’s no excitement here. Most days of the week, I turn on my computer first thing in and turn it off when I can’t look at it anymore. Some days I do lot of writing, other days none, but I always know where I want to be by setting short and long term goals. Since I spend so many hours a day sitting, I make a point of getting regular exercise, at least an hour a day. As with anything in life, you have to find a balance.

A while ago you made the move from Northern California to Southern California. Any differences in the writing world and the writing life in SoCal vs. NorCal?

San Francisco is definitely much more laid back. I belonged to a writers group and we’d just sit around and chat. It was all very leisurely and more of an ‘enjoy the process and find your voice’ kind of thing. L.A. is different because everyone assumes you write for film or TV. And when they find out you don’t, they come right out and ask why you’re wasting your time on novels. That being said, I was born in L.A. and, while I loved living in San Francisco and wouldn’t mind living there again, this is where I’m from. While I’m not immersed in the TV or movie business, I do feel that there is a different creative vibe around here. It’s more about doing (or at least look like you’re doing something) than just talking about it.

You recently wrote a screenplay adaptation of your novel, More Than This. How was this process different from writing a novel? Would you like to write an original screenplay someday?

I’ve adapted More Than This and my second novel, Life Over Easy, and I recently finished a draft of an original screenplay. For me the difference between writing novels and writing screenplays is like going from writing a bike to a unicycle—same principles, but a different technique to get from point A to B. Script writing requires a whole other skill set that takes time and practice to get comfortable with. It’s not easier or harder than writing a 90,000 word novel, just different.

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

Besides reading, especially in bed, I love to go to the movies. My biggest guilty pleasure is to sneak away from my desk for a matinee on a workday. I watch a lot of movies and TV. When I’m writing, I usually have something playing in the background. When I was writing More Than This, I had Black Hawk Down in my DVD player the whole time. For Good-bye To All That it was The Departed. By the time I sent the manuscript off to my editor, I could quote entire scenes of dialog.

What and where is your favorite restaurant and why is it your favorite?

At the moment, I don’t have a favorite restaurant, but I’ve eaten some good food. The food scene here in L.A. is nothing like what I took for granted in San Francisco. I’m still trying out places, but nothing has stuck yet. Having easy access to great food is one of the main things I miss about San Francisco. I also miss my friends and being able to just walk anywhere and not feel weird about it. I try to visit at least once a year and all I do is eat, walk and hang out with friends. But it’s not all a bad in L.A. I’ve gotten reacquainted with my mother’s cooking and she’s more than worth the time and effort it takes to drive over to see her.

Thanks, Margo! And congratulations on your latest novel!

Visit Margo at her website: www.MargoCandela.com