When did you start writing? What do you love about it?
I've
been writing for as long as I can remember. I still remember a creative
writing class--and the poem I wrote for it--in third grade, so
certainly as long as that, though I suspect longer. I love losing myself
in a story, whether it's one I am writing or one I am reading. Though I
am a fairly social person, I really enjoy and crave the solitary act of
writing--the quiet contemplation, the hours that zip by when I'm lost
in another place, discovering new people and their desires and dilemmas.
Why do you write women's fiction?
I
write stories populated by smart, funny, ambitious women facing the
complexities of their own desires and relationships and choices. Women
are fascinating and I love exploring those dynamics.
Describe your typical day/writing routine when you're working on a novel.
Every day of my week is a little bit different
because I have two young daughters and their various preschool and nanny
schedules are different every day. But I aim to write at least ten
pages each week, or one chapter, and I work about four hours per day
four days week. I wish I had more time to write, but I also don't want
to lose any of the time I spend with my daughters. I guess I really wish
for more hours in the day!
I loved the idea of writing about two women who are completely different
in almost every way except for their mutual love of cupcakes, and how
that love could bring them back together years after having a falling
out. I also knew I wanted to write about the dynamic between daughters
of a mother and her nanny--two women who grow up almost as sisters until
they begin to understand how complicated their relationship really is.
And I wanted a mystery element.
How did you get your novel published? Tell us about your journey to publication.
I
am incredibly lucky to have a friend who is an editor -- Jeanette Perez
at HarperCollins. She had read some of my writing over the years, so I
sent her the summary of How to Eat a Cupcake and the first two chapters,
and she ended up making me an offer to publish it. I completed the
manuscript about nine months after that and about a year after that the
book was published! Even when the deal happens relatively easily, the
path to publication is pretty slow.
What have been the best parts of the publishing process? What have been the most challenging?
I
have absolutely loved receiving emails and Tweets and Facebook posts
from readers who have enjoyed How to Eat a Cupcake. Those notes really
do not get old--they make my day each and every time! It is still so
surreal to think of strangers out there reading my book and feeling
moved to email me. It means so much to me!
I've learned that it's quite challenging to balance the marketing
and publicity aspects of publishing with the writing/creative aspects.
Like most (if not all) authors, I want to do everything I can to get my
book into as many readers' hands as possible, and those efforts end up
taking quite a bit of time. I am still figuring out how to balance that
work with the writing I want and need to be doing to move forward with
my next book.
What are you working on now?
I
am writing the final pages of the first draft of my new book, All the Summer Girls. It's about three childhood friends whose lives are
unraveling in three separate cities--Philadelphia, New York, and San
Francisco. They escape to the beach town of Avalon, New Jersey, where
they spent the summers of their youth and end up confronting the secrets
about one fateful summer night seven years earlier and how that night
has affected their lives since. It will be published by William Morrow
in early Summer 2013.
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Thank you for answering our questions, Meg!
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