Skip to main content

Author News & Interviews

Author Talk: Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You

Aug 2, 2013

Jojo Moyes's ME BEFORE YOU, which was a huge hit when it released last New Year's Eve in hardcover, is now available in paperback. The novel follows Louisa Clark, who takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor --- wheelchair-bound and having a hard time adjusting to his new life. In this interview, Moyes talks about the very real and tragic news story that inspired the book, as well as the personal experiences that led her to it. She also discusses her fascination with the love-hate bond between siblings, which allowed her to write so compellingly about the relationship between Louisa and her sister, Treena. Lastly, Moyes tentatively weighs in on the re-heated debate about whether or not having children is essential to understanding the human condition, and how achieving broader commercial success has changed her writing process --- for better or for worse.

Interview: Elaine Hussey, author of The Sweetest Hallelujah

Aug 1, 2013

Elaine Hussey is a writer, actress and musician who lives in Mississippi, where her love of blues and admiration for the unsung heroes of her state’s history served as inspiration for her latest book, THE SWEETEST HALLELUJAH. Bookreporter.com’s Terry Miller Shannon talks to Hussey about how her Southern roots have influenced her storytelling (“the history of the Deep South is woven into my bones”) and the patience she had to have while waiting for her characters to mature and fully inhabit the story she was trying to tell. On a more personal note, she opens up about the message that is central to the novel --- female empowerment --- and the importance of her own friendships with the women in her life. An eternal optimist, Hussey shares how she balanced her own glass-half-full outlook with some of the book's darker themes, and her own routine that prepares her mentally for writing.

Interview: Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

Jul 19, 2013

Adelle Waldman’s debut novel, THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF NATHANIEL P., chronicles the affairs of the titular hero (who is also sort of an anti-hero) as he makes his way through life and love in the Brooklyn literary scene. Nate is neither romanticized nor vilified as he goes from one relationship to the next, and Waldman deftly keeps him grounded in details that are almost painfully relatable. Naturally, The Book Report Network’s Nicole Sherman and Emily Hoenig jumped at the opportunity to interview the author about getting into a thirtysomething guy’s head. Here, Waldman discusses how she was able to so expertly channel the male psyche, how she feels about inevitable comparisons to HBO’s “Girls” --- the current reigning champ of Brooklyn coming-of-age --- and which of the NATHANIEL P. characters she identifies with the most. And, of course, she has lots of insightful things to say about navigating relationships, both romantic and platonic.

Interview: Sandra Lee, author of The Recipe Box

Jul 17, 2013

Sandra Lee is an award-winning expert in all things kitchen and home, and the Editor-in-Chief of the new magazine Sandra Lee. In her first work of fiction, THE RECIPE BOX, we are introduced to Grace D'Angelo, who realizes she must take immediate steps to repair her life and her most precious relationships following the death of her best friend. Sandra talks to Bookreporter.com's Bronwyn Miller about her transition from cookbooks to novels, and how she learned to believe in her story and not use recipes as a crutch in the process. Rest assured, it wouldn't be a Sandra Lee book without mouth-watering recipes, and plenty made the cut! Sandra also opens up about the transformative power of first love, the importance of seizing the day, and why she believes the metaphor of the "recipe box" is central to every woman's life.

Author Talk: Patrick W. Carr, author of The Hero's Lot: The Staff and the Sword, Book 2

Jul 17, 2013

Patrick W. Carr, author of the acclaimed fantasy A CAST OF STONES, returns with THE HERO'S LOT, the second installment in The Staff and the Sword series. Picking up where the first book left off, forces bent on the destruction of the kingdom conspire against Errol Stone, who is falsely accused of terrible crimes and sentenced to undertake a perilous quest. In this interview, Carr talks about choosing clever --- and pithy --- titles, how even authors are sometimes surprised by the way events unfold in their own books, the ongoing romance between Errol and Adora, and why writing the second book in a series is sometimes harder than producing the first.