Photo Content from Cassie Gonzales
Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
The most rewarding part of reading and publishing is one hundred percent when readers tell me that my book made them smile during a tough moment or made them feel seen when they've felt invisible. For this book in particular, it's been so incredibly rewarding to hear Jewish readers telling me how important this book has been to them—there are so many Christmas books traditionally published every year, but very few Hanukkah books.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?
Remember that you can't edit a blank page. It's better to get something subpar down on the page than nothing down on the page, because you can always go back and fix it later.
What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?
Having a newborn baby! It turns out they're pretty distracting I managed to finish the first draft of this book and turn it in before she was born, but all edits happened when she was a couple months old and, let me tell you, edits are usually challenging enough, but mix in the lack of sleep and the demands of a baby and it really takes them to the next level.
Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes?
Well Met by Jen Deluca. I'd been writing mostly YA and MG until I read that book, but I remember reading that book and putting it down with the feeling that, Wow, I want to write something that makes people feel like this. I started writing Sadie on a Plate, my debut adult rom-com, soon after, and have been writing them ever since.
What were your inspirations for the character development?
I really love the grumpy/sunshine trope and hadn't written one yet, and I thought that combining it with the fake dating plot I'd already decided on would be really fun. Turns out, it was!
Writing Behind the Scenes
My writing process has changed a lot since having a baby. Before: I'd get up first thing and write, and I'd write as long as I needed to make my word count or my goal for the day. Now: I've got a rambunctious one-year-old who needs a lot of attention, so I squeeze it in during naptime and during the glorious periods where she's happy playing by herself on the floor. Before: I had my quiet desk in the spare room with my notepad and a snack and my desk toys. Now: the spare room is the baby's bedroom, so I have the couch or the kitchen table or the floor or wherever else I can find a quiet-ish moment. It's very different, but what I've learned is that I'm more flexible than I ever expected!
What is the first job you have had?
Neighborhood babysitter.
What is your most memorable travel experience?
Going on safari in Tanzania.
Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?
True love with a guarantee of heartbreak.
What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
Everything I have to do the next day.
What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a kid?
I was a 90s kid and, honestly, it was pretty great! I'm glad to have been one of the last kids to grow up without technology the way it is today.
When was the last time you told someone you loved them?
I tell my husband and my daughter every day that I love them.
Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
The lack of responsibility! I do enjoy the freedom of adulthood, but I would love a day where I wasn't responsible for feeding myself and my family and setting a schedule and making sure all the boring chores and things get done.
Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her café every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby's been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don’t understand that the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene, even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes.
Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There's one Seth.
As it turns out, Seth’s parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah, and if Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he’ll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart.
You can purchase Love You a Latke at the following Retailers:
And now, The Giveaways.
Thank you AMANDA ELLIOTT for making this giveaway possible.
Winner will receive a Copy of Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot.
jbnlatestinterviews
No, I wish I had learned.
ReplyDelete