The Divining Wand

Contributing editor/features writer/journalist, Nichole Bernier — inspired by a family friend’s healing following the September 11th attacks — becomes a novelist when The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. debuts on Tuesday, June 5, 2012.

Selected as one of BookPage’s Most Anticipated Debuts of 2012, the novel’s introductory description explains:

Before there were blogs, there were journals. And in them we’d write as we really were, not as we wanted to appear. But there comes a day when journals outlive us. And with them, our secrets.

Intrigued? Consider the following stellar blurbs and reviews:

“The question of what makes a life, secrets shared and secrets kept, and the complete makeup of a single human being are the cornerstones of Bernier’s introspective debut… Even best friends can withhold shattering secrets, the kind that can forever change the lives of loved ones and make everyone question the fine nuances of what it means to be a parent, a spouse, a friend, a community member, and a resident of this earth for only a finite, unknown amount of time. Bernier’s tale blends bittersweet heartaches with soaring truths in a style reminiscent of Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve.” –Booklist

“An absorbing, bittersweet novel that examines the vast grey area between protecting and deceiving the ones we love.” — Vanessa Diffenbaugh, New York Times bestselling author of THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

“I loved this bittersweet novel, which manages to be both a compelling mystery and a wise meditation on friendship, marriage and motherhood in an age of great anxiety. Bernier will have you thinking about her characters long after you’ve turned the final page.”
–J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of COMMENCEMENT and MAINE

“Nichole Bernier writes as though she were born knowing how to do so. She understands the fragility of the human heart and also the enduring strength of even imperfect relationships. The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D is a gripping book with a delicate, tender core. You will read on to unravel a mystery but also to be moved on page after page.” — Robin Black, author of the story collection IF I LOVED YOU I WOULD TELL YOU THIS

“Written with exquisite grace, depth, and honesty, THE UNFINISHED LIFE OF ELIZABETH D explores decisions driven by motherhood and marriage. I was transfixed as Kate read the journals she’d inherited from Elizabeth, peeling back the layers of her friend’s life, and in the process grappling with her own choices and terrors. Women have secret lives—sometimes hidden in the corners of our minds, sometimes in dreams unrealized. One mark of friendship is when and whether these nightmares and ambitions can be revealed. This riveting novel fiercely captures this fulcrum of the public and private lives of American mothers.” -– Randy Susan Meyers, International bestselling author of THE MURDERER’S DAUGHTERS

“A smart, poignant novel about the bittersweet choices women make and the secrets they keep. This is one of those rare novels that’s so real you forget it’s written; I literally carried it around with me, and I missed the characters when I was done.” —Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of THOSE WHO SAVE US and THE STORMCHASERS

Even more intrigued? Explore the book and read the first chapter.

The Divining Wand has scheduled a visit with Nichole on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 but, for today, let’s meet the author through her “official” bio:

Nichole Bernier is author of the novel THE UNFINISHED WORK OF ELIZABETH D, and has written for magazines including Elle, Self, Health, and Men’s Journal. A 14-year Contributing Editor for Conde Nast Traveler, she was previously on staff as the magazine’s golf and ski editor, columnist, and television spokesperson. She received her master’s degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, and is one of the founders of the literary blog Beyond the Margins. Nichole lives west of Boston with her husband and five children.

And now it’s time to get to know Nichole much better:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Failed yogi. Shower thinker. Human zamboni. Happiness seeker.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. You never know. Because you never really know what makes another person do the things they do. All you can do is give them the benefit of the doubt.

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Holding your newborn. Solitude with productive thoughts. That sweaty pacing contentment after exercise is done and you feel like you could take out an army. Flipping a perfect crepe. Feeling understood. Watching a Kindergarten basketball game, and seeing that moment of panic when a kid hugs the ball to his chest and flat-out runs down the court.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Sophie’s Choice. Mad Cow disease. That I won’t wake up from one of my apocalyptic nightmares.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. A warm uncrowded beach with a good book… I don’t remember the last time I read on a beach.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Noah. Sometimes I want to build an arc to collect everyone and everything I love and protect them from whatever terrible thing is next down the pike.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Dedicated inner city teachers. Dick Hoyt, who runs the Boston marathon each year pushing his adult son in a wheelchair. Every parent who treks from a rural village to bring their cleft-palate child to a Smile Train medical outpost they’ve only heard of through rumors. That act of blind faith and love and determination — when so many superstitious people hide their cleft-palate children in back rooms — stops my heart.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. Spoken: “Just a minute.” Written: “tenuous.” I’ve wanted to be able to overuse “balls to the wall,” ever since I learned it refers to the mechanics of fighter-jet throttles, and not something anatomical. But I won’t put it in print knowing my mother will see it and misunderstand.

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. I wish I could fly. I used to have vivid dreams of flying when I was a child, and in my dreams I knew exactly how to do it: fierce concentration could make me levitate higher and higher. I’d always be disappointed when I woke up.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. The greatest risks make the greatest reward. Opening my heart to the spontaneity of a blind date, and giving up my rent controlled NYC apartment to move to Boston and marry him. The decision to have five children, even though I was afraid of what it would do to a solitary person. Going out on a limb day after day for a piece of writing that was not any assignment, not anything that anyone in this world was waiting to see. Then selling it, and being able to hold it as a hardcover.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. Privacy.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Privacy.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. That I didn’t know my mother-in-law better before she died of multiple sclerosis last year. She was a complex package of fortitude and stubbornness and depression and mystery, and now there’s no opportunity to really understand her. I think that will continue to weigh on me more the older I get.

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. The family of rabbits that live in our yard. My four-year-old adores them and brings them lettuce every evening. They seem to have a pretty wonderful life.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. If you’re sitting near me in the library, it’s that I type very loudly. It makes me feel alive.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Olive Kitteridge

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Reginald von HoobieDoobie, from Edwina The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Amelia Earhart. I’ll call her an athlete because of her sheer strength of will. “Where did you go?”

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. People who don’t wait their turn and think rules don’t apply to them. But when I’m furious at someone who bullies through a four-way stop or cuts in traffic, I remind myself “You just never know” (see motto). Maybe they’re rushing to the hospital.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Reading in a warm patch of sun. Walking the four-mile loop around our local lake carrying my youngest child in a backpack. Making pie. Laughing with my husband. He’s got a great sense of humor.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Being the protector of orphaned baby animals at a wildlife preserve. I’d also like to have the job in Mother Nature’s factory that gets to design the color and symmetry of kittens.

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Kindness, kindness, and kindness.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Only one thing? Then chicken korma with bleu cheese and strawberry rhubarb pie. With just enough space between them on the plate to not really be one thing.

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. They might be different tomorrow, but today: Rikki Lee Jones, We Belong Together. Van Morrison, Whenever God Shines His Light. David Bowie/Queen, Under Pressure. U2, One. Ferron, Ain’t Life a Brook.

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. Crossing to Safety, Gilead, Gift From the Sea, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Bartleby the Scrivener (I know it’s a short story, but still).

Nichole Bernier is definitely a new author to follow on Twitter, like on Facebook, and read/pre-order her debut The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.

This fairy godmother loves to present debut novelists and their books, and it’s with special pleasure that TDW features Jennifer Gooch Hummer with her coming-of-age story of Girl Unmoored.

Why special? First there is Jennifer’s description of the book:

“Girl Unmoored is about friendship. Deep, loyal friendship. The kind that supersedes family. The kind that keeps you anchored when everything else is falling apart. The kind that can save you.”

Then there are the [true] glowing, heartfelt raves:

“Love, loss, and the coming of age of one remarkable girl blaze through this haunting debut like a shooting star you’d wish upon. It’s tough and tender, funny and smart, and it frankly took my breath away. I loved it.”
– Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You

“With stunning emotional honesty, Girl Unmoored shaves away layers of innocence to reveal the true meaning of love… Effortlessly funny and poignant, Jennifer Gooch Hummer’s masterful debut offers surprises until the very end – a must-read!”
– Elise Allen, New York Times bestselling co-author of Elixir and author of Populazzi

“This book sneaks up on you. One moment you’re laughing at the quick wit and the next you can’t swallow down the lump in your throat. An intimate story of the entanglement of love and loss, Girl Unmoored breaks through the wall around your heart, giving it room to expand.”
– Susan Henderson, bestselling author of Up from the Blue

“From the shadows of loss and uncertainty to the ultimate act of forgiveness, Girl Unmoored is a uniquely rendered and quirky coming-of-age tale that will break your heart one minute and have you laughing out loud the next.”
– Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

“Fierce, funny, deeply eloquent, and unerringly honest, Girl Unmoored is all four courses and dessert. What a dazzling, satisfying novel!”
– Gwendolen Gross, bestselling author of The Orphan Sister

In fact, here’s an entire page of reviews.

And, perhaps the pièce de résistance, Girl Unmoored recently won Paris Book Festival Award 2012, Best YA Fiction.

The synopsis:

Apron Bramhall has come unmoored. Fortunately, she’s about to be saved by Jesus. Not that Jesus—the actor who plays him in Jesus Christ Superstar. Apron is desperate to avoid the look-alike Mike, who’s suddenly everywhere, until she’s stuck in church with him one day. Then something happens—Apron’s broken teenage heart blinks on for the first time since she’s been adrift.

Mike and his boyfriend, Chad, offer her a summer job in their flower store, and Apron’s world seems to calm. But when she uncovers Chad’s secret, stormy seas return. Apron starts to see things the adults around her fail to—like what love really means, and who is paying too much for it.



Apron has come unmoored, but now she’ll need to take the helm if she’s to get herself and those she loves to safe harbor.

The Divining Wand has scheduled a return visit from Jennifer Gooch Hummer for next Wednesday, May 16, 2012. However, for now, let’s meet the author through her “official” bio:

Jennifer Gooch Hummer has worked as a script analyst for various talent agencies and major film studios. Her short stories have been published in Miranda Magazine, Our Stories, and Glimmertrain. A graduate of Kenyon College, she has continued studies in the Writer’s Program at UCLA, where she was nominated for the Kirkwood Prize in fiction. Currently, Jennifer lives in Southern California and Maine with her husband and their three daughters. Girl Unmoored is her first novel.

Now it’s time to get to know Jennifer upclose and personal:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Creative. Lucky. Loved. Busy. Colorful. Nurturing. Funny. Quirky.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. If no one has lice or is in the hospital, it can’t be that bad.

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Having zero expectations. And World Peace.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Anything that could hurt my children

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. In Paris headed for Maine soon. Or in Maine headed for Paris soon.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Any of the Salem Witches (the good kind).

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. My father.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. “I’m not kidding.”

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. Drawing.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. That I taught my children to refer to me as “my beautiful young-looking mom” before I will listen to anything they need/want/wish/expect.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. Not remembering anything.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Not remembering anything.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. Loosing my cool and yelling back.

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I’d like to be a fairy next time around.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I’m always in a hurry.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Phil Dunphy on Modern Family.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada.

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Pau Gasol. “Please, I beg you, can my Lakers-fanatic daughter take a picture with you?”

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. Incompetence.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Shopping (not for food).

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Fashion designer.

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Optimism. Humor. Loyalty.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. A baguette (from France).

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. “American Pie” – Don Mclean
“Heaven” – Eric Clapton
“Philadelphia” Bruce Springsteen
“The Boxer” Simon and Garfunkle
“Upside Down” Jack Johnson

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. She’s Come Undone, Wally Lamb
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
The Center of Everything, Laura Moriarty
Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding

Bold, bittersweet, and exquisitely brilliant, Girl Unmoored is a “dare you NOT to love, must read” novel. And Jennifer Gooch Hummer is an author to watch by following on Twitter and liking her on Facebook.

Novelist Jillian Medoff (Good Girls Gone Bad, Hunger Point) is known for creating in-depth, “real” people to tell their stories and her third novel I Couldn’t Love You More — available Tuesday, May 15th — is another example of brilliant storyteling and effortless writing.

The book is best described by a single question: Which child would you save? A decision no parent can even fathom.

Here’s the synopsis:

Eliot Gordon would do anything for her family. A 38-year-old working mother, she lives an ordinary but fulfilling life in suburban Atlanta with her partner, Grant Delaney, and their three daughters. The two older girls are actually Eliot’s stepdaughters, a distinction she is reluctant to make as she valiantly attempts to maintain a safe, happy household . . .

Then Finn Montgomery, Eliot’s long-lost first love, appears, triggering a shocking chain of events that culminates in a split-second decision that will haunt her beloved family forever. How Eliot survives-and what she loses in the process-is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved a child. With hilarious honesty, wrenching depth, and a knockout twist, I COULDN’T LOVE YOU MORE illuminates the unbreakable bonds of family and reveals the lengths we’ll go to save each other, even as we can’t save ourselves.

TRUTH: This is a WOW! And Pre-ordering is encouraged.

For further proof, consider this sampling of praise:

Poignant…Medoff’s exploration of fidelity, family, and parenthood provides a complex look at the difficult role of a stepparent.” —( Publishers Weekly )

“Medoff produces another fallible, witty, realistic heroine with whom readers will identify. Eliot’s biased and evolving narration brings the characters to life in this gripping story of personal growth. By turns hilarious and heart-wrenching, Medoff’s honest writing and realistic dialogue make the book truly enjoyable, while a Sophie’s Choice moment and its repercussions make it a real page-turner.” ( Booklist )

“Every woman has one: the guy who got away. So what happens when he walks into your life again? If you were happy before-can you still make that claim? The choices we make-and the ones we don’t make-form the backbone of Jillian Medoff’s wonderful novel. These are characters you know, or might even have been, and their trials and tribulations are by turn devastating, hilarious, and painfully familiar.” ( Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Sing You Home and House Rules )

“I COULDN’T LOVE YOU MORE is a sheer pleasure to read. Boasting clear, beautiful writing and characters who could be people I know (and love), it’s a gripping story that doesn’t let up. But more than that, Medoff is that rare thing, a novelist brave enough to unleash the complex, strong emotions of which literature is made.” ( Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man and The Astral )

“Unflinching in its honesty, I Couldn’t Love You More is an intimate story of contemporary family love — with all its maddening and miraculous complexities. Jillian Medoff’s writing dazzles the brain, cracks up the funny bone, and breaks open the heart. Her characters are so realistically layered, you’ll sometimes want to hug them and sometimes want to shout at them, but you’ll never want to forget them.” ( Seré Prince Halverson, author of The Underside of Joy )

The Divining Wand has scheduled a return visit from Jillian Medoff for Tuesday, May 15, 2012 but today let’s meet the author through her “official” bio:

Jillian Medoff attended Barnard College and received an MFA in Creative Writing from NYU. A former fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA and Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain, Jillian has taught at NYU and the University of Georgia. She lives in NYC with her family.

And now the opportunity to get to know Jillian upclose and person:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Overwhelming. Manageable. Overwhelming. Manageable: Depends on the day.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. True blue to the end. And by this I mean I’ve been known to stay in unrequited love affairs, toxic friendships, dead-end jobs, and other self-defeating situations long after all the joy has been sucked out.

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Poolside with my daughters, a big fat book, an iced coffee and no phone service. Okay—and a Valium.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. I’m afraid that if I say it out loud, it will happen, so let’s just say I wish my family members were impervious to pain of any kind.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. See above: poolside with a Valium—I mean with a book.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Richard Yates, American novelist and short story writer, known for his exploration of mid-20th century life. His novels were about self-deception, disappointment and grief. He was totally committed to his art. He was also a raging alcoholic who would work and drink all day, stopping occasionally to vomit into a garbage can by the side of his desk.

I am an American novelist who explores 21st century family life. My novels, although comic, are about self-deception, disappointment and grief. (They’re also about love and devotion, but stay with me.) I am totally committed to my art. I am not an alcoholic but I have been known to binge on Wrap-and-Run tuna (see below) and Tasti D-Lite peanut butter frozen yogurt while working. I, personally, have never vomited into a garbage can, but I say live and let live. I judge dishonest politicians, other parents, and myself, but I would never judge another writer’s process.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Imagine raising three high-strung daughters, each of whom you love beyond all measure. You and your husband work hard, not just to provide your girls with food and shelter, but also to instill good values, sound judgment, and semi-decent table manners. For eighteen years, your life is a never-ending whirl of sleepovers, bad haircuts, boy trauma, science projects, nacho cheese Doritos, and Clearasil. One daughter puts your favorite cashmere sweater in the dryer, where it shrinks to doll-size. Another drives too far into the garage, hits a load-bearing wall, and compromises the structural integrity of your house. A third is given to crying jags. Imagine your teary pride (and relief) when they finally grow up and move out. “Be careful!” you call as the last daughter motors off. “I love you.”

Fast-forward eleven years. Life is good. You’re enjoying the empty nest. Your time is finally your own again. The phone rings. “Guess what!” Turns out your eldest daughter has sold her first novel. Imagine your surprise when you find out the book is about a dysfunctional family’s unraveling, and then your horror when the press calls it “autobiographical.” But wait, there’s more. The book is made into a movie starring Barbara Hershey who, as the ostensible you, is portrayed as clueless, self-absorbed and obsessed with her body. Even worse, she sports one of the weirdest haircuts in the history of cable television.

My parents, Naomi and Lewis Medoff, are the most generous, patient, trustworthy, supportive, and loving people I know. In addition to celebrating everything I’ve ever written (regardless of format, content or success), they move through the world with a dignity and grace that I will spend the rest of my days trying to emulate. I admire them, I respect them, and I love them both, deeply. (And for the record: the press got it wrong: my first novel, Hunger Point, was not autobiographical.)

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. “No, I don’t mind at all” and “Sure, I’d be happy to.”

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. My husband asks me this all the time, although in his case, he wants to know which superpower I would want. He wishes he could read people’s minds, which, as a novelist, I feel I already do. I always say I want to be able to breathe underwater, but now that I think about it, this particular superpower is too limiting. I mean, how much time do I spend underwater on any given day? So, I’m going to choose something more useful to my life as a working mother/novelist/corporate drone: I wish I could fly.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Ten years ago, I wrote a novel that was supposed to be my magnum opus, the book that would prove my worth as a writer of serious literary fiction. It had multiple points of view. It had lofty themes and a complex plot. It told the truth of man. Seriously, though, I thought this novel would change my life. Sadly, I was wrong. Although several editors admired it, no one wanted to buy it. My work had been rejected countless times before, but this particular rejection flattened me. Not only had the novel taken five years to write, but I had also imbued it with so much importance that its rejection felt like twice the setback it actually was. For weeks afterward, I couldn’t write; I could barely read. I was ashamed of my failure, of my sorrow—it was just a book, after all—and my hubris. But eventually, I stopped crying, sat down at my computer and started writing again. Five years later, after sweating through countless drafts, I finally, finally, finally finished my new novel, I Couldn’t Love You More, which will be available on May 15th.

I am very proud this book is being published. However, to me, the true achievement is that I sat down to write even after what felt like a monumental flop.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. I worry too much about inconsequential things. For instance, I’m concerned that my previous vignette about my parents is too wordy, and would have been more compelling had I trimmed it. I can chew on something like this all day.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Humility and the ability to laugh at myself—and, of course, everyone else.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. The time I drove into my parent’s garage, hit a load-bearing wall, and compromised the structural integrity of their house. That, and the time I accidentally shrunk my mother’s favorite cashmere sweater in the dryer. (Full Disclosure: I was also given to crying jags.)

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. Angelina Jolie is having a pretty good year. I wouldn’t mind slipping into her Tod’s loafers for a while.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. My inability to say no. (See above: What are your most overused words or phrases?)

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Katniss Everdeen and Annabeth Chase—my daughter and I are reading the Hunger Games and Percy Jackson together, and we think both these girls are kick-ass awesome.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Iago from Othello

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Tiger Woods—hands down. “Okay, Tiger,” I’d say, pencil poised over my trusty writing notebook. “Start from the beginning. I want to hear everything.”

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. A lack of manners, particularly when it’s easy, like saying “please” or “thank you.” And really, would it kill people to reply to an email with “Sorry, I’m too busy at the moment, but thank you for thinking of me?”

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. I like to occupy the couch while watching crime shows.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. FBI Agent, like Clarice Starling

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Honesty, a sense of humor, and self-awareness.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Tuna salad from the Wrap and Run on Lexington Avenue and 63rd street and Tasti D-lite peanut butter frozen yogurt.

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. Unlike 99.9% of humanity, I don’t listen to music unless I’m running—which is only three times a week for forty minutes. I know this is weird, and probably un-American, but I find music very distracting, particularly when I’m writing or reading. One reason may be because I have sensitive ears and can’t tolerate loud noises, but my husband is convinced that I’m just being difficult. (Who can blame him? The minute I walk into a room, I glare at the radio until he turns it off.) When I’m running, though, I like pop songs with a great beat that can distract me from how much I hate working out: Kanye West, Katie Perry, vintage U2, Rhianna, Madonna, and Lady Gaga.

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. Choosing my favorite books (and only five!) is impossible—it’s like choosing a favorite child. So here’s a partial list of books that stunned me when I read them and have haunted me ever since: Song of Soloman, Mrs. Dalloway, As I Lay Dying, Patrimony (anything by Roth, especially American Pastoral), Crime and Punishment, Lolita, Let the Great World Spin, The Hours, And Then We Came to the End, Anywhere but Here, Go Ask Alice, The Things They Carried.

Fascinating, passionate, and engagingly warm, Jillian Medoff is an a “must follow” on Twitter, a “must like” on Facebook, and a “must read” of I Couldn’t Love You More.

Novelist, essayist/short story writer, Julie Schumacher (complete listing of author’s books) writes for both children and adults. In her latest YA novel The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls releasing on May 8, 2012, the storyline of meaningful literature and mother-daughter relationships easily crosses over into adult fiction. As the author explains:

“No matter what I start writing about, I end up gravitating toward a particular emotional territory: family relationships, characters who are drawn toward one another but don’t get along, off-beat interactions or misunderstandings, unrealized desires. Those motifs work just as well and can be at least as satisfying in YA literature as in literature for adults.”

However, when described in one sentence, The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls is: A book about books and reading.

The Synopsis:

I’m Adrienne Haus, survivor of a mother-daughter book club. Most of us didn’t want to join. My mother signed me up because I was stuck at home all summer, with my knee in a brace. CeeCee’s parents forced her to join after cancelling her Paris trip because she bashed up their car. The members of “The Unbearable Book Club,” CeeCee, Jill, Wallis, and I, were all going into eleventh grade A.P. English. But we weren’t friends. We were literary prisoners, sweating, reading classics, and hanging out at the pool. If you want to find out how membership in a book club can end up with a person being dead, you can probably look us up under mother-daughter literary catastrophe. Or open this book and read my essay, which I’ll turn in when I go back to school.

To sample Adienne’s essay, please read Chapters 1 and 2 of the novel. It’s both delightful, and thoughtful, earning — [Starred Review], Kirkus Reviews: 
“The characters, especially the four girls, sparkle…. Smart and insightful.”

The Divining Wand has scheduled a return visit from Julie Schumacher on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 but — for today — let’s meet the author through her “official” bio:

Julie Schumacher grew up in Wilmington, Delaware and graduated from Oberlin College and Cornell University. Her first published story, “Reunion,” written to fulfill an undergraduate writing assignment (“tell a family tale”) was reprinted in The Best American Short Stories 1983. Subsequent stories were published in The Atlantic, MS, Minnesota Monthly, and Prize Stories: The O.Henry Awards 1990 and 1996. Her first novel, The Body Is Water, was published by Soho Press in 1995 and was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Minnesota Book Award. It was published in translation in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Israel, Greece, and Korea. Her other books include a short story collection, An Explanation for Chaos, and five books for younger readers: The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls (2012), Black Box (2008), The Book of One Hundred Truths (2006), The Chain Letter (2005), and Grass Angel (2004), all from Delacorte. Ms. Schumacher lives in St. Paul and is a faculty member in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at the University of Minnesota.

And now the opportunity to get to know Julie upclose and personal:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Reading and writing whenever possible. Family. Students. Friends.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Be kind. Work hard.

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Reading a good book in front of a fire, on a snowy afternoon by a window, accompanied by drowsy felines.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. I don’t care for arachnids.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. In a hillside writing studio above Lake Como, in Bellagio, Italy.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. I feel I should have an impressive answer to this: Joan of Arc or Elizabeth the 1st…. But a lot of impressive historical figures lived dramatic and not very happy lives. So I guess I’d rather identify with an anonymous, comfortable woman in a tidy house – a person time has forgotten.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Anyone who overcomes adversity and is willing to talk to others about doing the same.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. “Yeah, right” is a favorite. And I have to cross the phrase “some kind of” and “a sort of” out of everything I write. *Eschew verbal clutter.*

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. Musical ability. I want to sit down at the piano and sound like Mozart, without even trying. Or open my mouth and hear Etta James’s voice booming out of me.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Raising children and teaching and writing books – all in the same lifetime.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. I can be stingy; and I am a skillful liar.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Empathy. Writers need to be able to imagine themselves in the lives and situations of others.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. I have plenty of regrets; thankfully, most of them are small. The larger ones involve selfishness or small-mindedness directed toward other people.

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. For a day, or even an afternoon, I’d like to be the fastest person on the planet. (On foot, that is – not in a car.)

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I have what some people think is an odd sense of humor.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. The colonel in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s No One Writes to the Colonel.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. She’s not all that villainous, but: Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden.

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. I’d meet Billie Jean King and tell her, “Thank you for beating Bobby Riggs.”

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. The use of “lay” for “lie,” as in “I’m going to lay down and rest.” That’s like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Reading. I also like typing – preferably on the springy keyboard of an IBM Selectric typewriter.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Writing.

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Candor. Humor. Kindness.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Popcorn.

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. I can’t think of five favorite songs. I am fickle and fairly simple minded when it comes to music.

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. Middlemarch. Northanger Abbey. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Anna Karenina. The Professor’s House.

To learn more about Julie Schumacher, please visit her website, like her on Facebook, and put The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls on your TBR list, It’s available for Pre-order now.

Journalist, biographer, and historian, Peter Golden has spent a career breathing insight and life into award-winning non-fiction. Now, however, he has turned his creative talents to fiction with the novel Comeback Love to be released Tuesday, April 3, 2012.

The premise:

What would you do if you had a second chance with the one that got away?

The synopsis:

Over thirty-five years ago, Gordon Meyers, an aspiring writer with a low number in the draft lottery, packed his belongings and reluctantly drove away, leaving Glenna Rising, the sexy, sharp-witted med student he couldn’t imagine living without.
Now, decades later, Gordon is a former globetrotting consultant with a grown son, an ex-wife, and an overwhelming desire to see Glenna again. Stunned when Gordon walks into her Manhattan office, Glenna agrees to accompany him for a drink. As the two head out into the snow-swept city, they become caught up in the passions that drew them together then tore them apart, and as the evening unfolds, Gordon finally reveals the true reason for his return.

Moving between past and present, Comeback Love is a journey into the hearts of two lovers who came of age in the 1960s and is a sensual exploration of youth, regret, desire, and the bonds that mysteriously endure in the face of momentous change.

Whether focused on the past or present, this storyline and its characters ring true with honesty, depth, and universal recognition in a story of love. Ah, but there’s more praise:

“Stirring and romantic, a sweeping novel about first loves and second chances.”—Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Opposite of Me and These Girls



“An absorbing, intelligent novel about retracing one’s steps to recover what was lost, and about coming to terms with the mistakes of the past in order to rediscover a future. Peter Golden reminds us that going back is sometimes the only way to move ahead.” —Elizabeth Brundage, author of A Stranger Like You and The Doctor’s Wife



“Glenna and Gordon’s romance rises and falls with the familiar but engrossing tempo of reckless, youthful passion.” —Publishers Weekly

“Comeback Love is a heartfelt and lyrical novel. A stylishly composed, moving tale of loss and redemption.” -James Howard Kuntsler, author of The Long Emergency and World

The Divining Wand has scheduled a return visit from Peter Golden on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 but — for today — let’s meet the author through his “official” bio:

Peter Golden is an award-winning journalist, biographer, and historian. The author of several works of nonfiction, including Quiet Diplomat, about U.S. diplomacy with Israel, Comeback Love is his first novel. He lives outside Albany, New York.

And now the opportunity to get to know Peter more upclose and personal:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Wife son reading writing music lucky—so far

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Enjoy every day

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Eating ice cream with no calories that also lowers cholesterol, builds muscle mass, and reduces your waist size

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Losing someone I love

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. In my desk chair

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Crusader Rabbit

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. My wife

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. #@&$! I can say not only in English but in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek. In this manner I avoid overuse.

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. Write songs like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Being a loving husband and father.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. Impatience

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Persistence

Q. What do you regret most?
A. Any time I’ve wasted

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. My cat, Rocky

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I’m persistent

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Superman

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Hannibal Lecter

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Sandy Koufax: Thank you for making me believe that anything was possible.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. Cruelty

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Reading.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Major-league pitcher

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Kindness, persistence, honesty

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Ice cream sundaes

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. Hallelujah, Eight Days a Week, Come Together, Mr. Tambourine Man, It’s Alright Ma, I’m only Bleeding.

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. Taras Bulba And Other Tales by Nikolai Gogol; The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor; Stalingrad: The Seige by Antony Beevor; A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Even with all his previous success, the very talented Peter Golden is living a lifetime dream of becoming a novelist. Share in his journey by following him on Twitter and becoming a friend on Facebook. Also, why not Pre-order Comeback Love now….you’ll be thrilled that you did.

Announcement: The winner of Krys Lee’s Drifting House is: Carl. Congratulations! Please email diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and the book will be sent out promptly.

[Introduced in the post, Picture the Book: MWF Seeking BFF: My Year Long Search for a New Best Friend, relocated Chicago writer/editor Rachel Bertsche chronicled her search for a new, "closer in proximity" friend in MWF Seeking BFF: My Year Long Search for a New Best Friend. Due to email snafus, Rachel's Q&A was MIA but can now be presented along with her guest post on why she writes. Yes, a double post plus a Book Giveaway and now, without further ado, here's Rachel.]

Although Rachel Bertsche’s quest for a best friend in her new home of Chicago was personal, the author focused on a dilemma that have many searching for a new and/or another best friend.

Let’s meet this debut author through her “official” bio:

Rachel Bertsche is an author, journalist and editor in Chicago, where she lives with her husband. Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, More, Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Fitness, Women’s Health, New York, Huffington Post, CNN.com, and more. Prior to leaving the office life for the comforts of working from home (and in her pajamas), Rachel was a producer for Oprah.com and an editor at O, The Oprah Magazine.

And now it’s time to get to really know Rachel, quite possibly even better than some of her “trial” BFF.

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. I am at my happiest right about now.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Do one thing at a time. (Or try, at least.)

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. I’m not sure there is such a thing as perfect happiness. To me, happiness is happiness. It looks and feels different for everyone. I don’t think one type of happiness is better than another. Even in my own life, I could have two relal happy days, but they might be totally different. Maybe happiness is like porn: You know it when you see it.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Losing loved ones.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Is it so lame to say right here, where I am… which is on my couch? Yes? Ok, Sicily.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. I want to say someone super cool like Annie Oakley, but that would be a real stretch. The truth is I have no idea. I guess I feel like so many people in history went through so much so that people like me could be where we are today. So I don’t identify as much as feel really grateful.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Michelle Obama is pretty amazing.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. When it comes to speaking: “Literally.” In my writing: “just.”

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. To dance!

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. MWF Seeking BFF. That I wrote a book at all still amazes me. That I wrote one that someone agreed to publish, and that enough people read to make it a bestseller…I’m still pinching myself.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. I’m so impatient.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Don’t take myself too seriously.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. Any days I should have spent with my father and didn’t.

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. JK Rowling. I just want to know—for one day!—what it would be like to walk around with that kind of imagination.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. My curly hair.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Neville Longbottom

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. A tie! Ed Rooney (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and Regina George (Mean Girls)

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Michael Jordan. I’d say: “You are awesome! Also, my husband wore Air Jordans to our wedding.” Or maybe Sheryl Swoopes or Rebecca Lobo or Hope Solo. Those female athletes who have left me in awe over the years. I’d tell them that they inspire me. That when I watched them play when I was a kid (or with Hope Solo, even as an adult) I felt like I, too, could kick some ass.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. The sound of cardboard rubbing together. Ugh.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. That’s the only occupation, in some form or another, that I’ve ever had! To say editor would probably be a copout, but it’s true.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Oh there are so many: Yoga teacher. Bookstore owner. Book editor. Pop culturist (not an actual profession, but I’d like to turn it into one). Ballerina.

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Sense of humor, kindness, intelligence.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. If calories didn’t count? French fries. Otherwise, um, still french fries.

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. Trick question! Depends on the day. If you looked at my ipod now you’d think I only listen to Glee. I’m that person who no matter what song comes on, I say “ohmygosh this is my favorite song!”

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Harry Potter series (counting the whole series as one but if I have to choose I guess Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite since that’s when the whole series changed for me), Little Women, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. (Honorary mentions to A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and AJ Jacobs’ books)

Krys Lee grew up wanting to be an author and began her career writing poetry but, when the stories needed to be told no longer fit in a poem, she turned to short stories. Recently released, her debut collection, Drifting House, is described as:

An unflinching portrayal of the Korean immigrant experience from an extraordinary new talent in fiction.

Spanning Korea and the United States, from the postwar era to contemporary times, Krys Lee’s stunning fiction debut, Drifting House, illuminates a people torn between the traumas of their collective past and the indignities and sorrows of their present.

Beautiful, devastating, and a wake-up call for most of us, ALL critical reviewers give this book the ultimate praise as a “starred review.”

“Affecting stories about the conflicts between Korean and American culture. . . . Lee writes with a clarity and simplicity of style that discloses deep and conflicting emotions about cultural identity.”
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“…breathtaking debut…Readers in search of exquisite short fiction beyond their comfort zone—groupies of Jhumpa Lahiri … and Yoko Tawada …—will thrill to discover Drifting House.”
—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“In this sublime debut collection spanning both Koreas and America, protagonists locked in by oppressive social forces struggle to break free in original ways, each unexpected denouement a minor miracle or a perfect tragedy. . . . The author’s imaginative metaphors and easy rhythmic variances are unerring, carrying the reader effortlessly. . . . The limpid, naturalistic prose and the flawless internal logic of these stories are reminiscent of the best of Katherine Anne Porter and Carson McCullers.”
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

The Divining Wand has scheduled another feature on Krys Lee for Tuesday, March 13, 2012 but, for today, let’s meet the author through her “official” bio:

Krys Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, raised in California and Washington, and studied in the United States and England. She was a finalist for Best New American Voices, received a special mention in the 2012 Pushcart Prize XXXVI, and her work has appeared in the Kenyon Review, Narrative magazine, Granta (New Voices), California Quarterly, Asia Weekly, the Guardian, the New Statesman, and Conde Nast Traveller, UK (forthcoming). She lives in Seoul with intervals in San Francisco.

And now it’s time to get to know Krys upclose and personal:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Busy, bountiful, broad, impassioned, emotional, and oddly still.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. I didn’t know it was my motto, but a line from my short story “A Small Sorrow” continues to resonate with me, so I’ve adopted and adapted it: The world is greater than my small sorrows.

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. It would be a tent full of books and a picnic basket beside a river.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Love.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Anywhere but on an airplane! I’d be most at home camping or in a dark bar somewhere with good friends.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. All the anonymous people of history who didn’t feel as if they belonged, especially if they appeared to belong but didn’t—these would be my people.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. The Dalai Lama for obvious reasons. Aung San Suu Kyi is a very close second.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. ‘Excellent’. When I lived in England, and for a few years afterwards, it was always ‘brilliant’. I’ve fallen back on ‘excellent’ in the same fashion and can’t stop using it!

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. I’m currently obsessed with the art of puppets these days. I can’t explain the source of this obsession, but generally it’s healthy to follow one’s obsessions.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Being responsible for getting a North Korean refugee to safety from the Chinese border area to South Korea will probably always remain the most important thing I’ve ever done. A distant second would be writing Drifting House, a story collection that got major publishers excited enough to begin a bidding auction between eight major publishers.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. I can be habitually self-deprecating and sometimes too critical of others, as well.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. I’m pretty honest and humble. I’m very uncomfortable with self-importance in general. We all live with the bookends of life and death, and the filling between is the meaning that we make out of our lives.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. I regret not being a grown adult before my mother passed away. There are so many things I’m able to do for her now that I just wasn’t capable of at the time.

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I wouldn’t mind being a sea turtle in a protected cove off the Caribbean. They live for a long time and are beautiful, peaceful and often solitary creatures.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I’m awkward and shy as well as outgoing and social—at the same time!

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. There are many characters I love, but few I would consider my hero. I’m attracted to the flawed, solitary and sometimes charismatic outsiders that people fiction, but in life, my heroes are human rights activists and all-around enlightened human beings.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. There are many, but today it would be Humbert Humbert in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. At the moment it would be Jeremy Lin. I’d like to tell him thank you for persevering despite the setbacks and all the people and institutions that overlooked your talent.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. I am consistently dismayed and irritated by ambitious people who seek success for the sake of fame or gaining power. No one minds a bit of extra cash or respect by those whom you respect, but fame for the sake of fame is meaningless, and chasing after power for its own sake is simply dangerous. I start to suspect the wisdom of individuals who chase after such illusions.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. I’m not quite sure if I understand this, but an activity that means a great deal to me concerns human rights. The urgency of life and protecting life in small and large ways are important to me.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. I’d love to be a park ranger and spend my days in the wilderness and with the solitary, contemplative and kind people that people who work in this profession tend to be.

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. I value honesty, loyalty, and a flair for telling stories.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Kimchi. If I don’t have anything spicy for a few days at a time, I start to behave rather strangely.

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil”, Florence + The Machine’s “Kiss with a Fist”, Sinead O’Connor’s “Three Babies” and “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got”, and Chopin’s Nocturnes.

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. This list is almost random, as I have so many favorite books that 50 favorite books would be a more accurate list. Here it goes: One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Remains of the Day, Beloved, The Select Poems of John Ashberry, and Hamlet.

Passionate, empathetic, and committed to making a difference, Krys Lee has also been gifted with a natural talent for storytelling. Yet — by following her on Twitter, becoming a friend on Facebook, and reading her remarkable story collection in Drifting House — you’ll also appreciate how lovely, and down-to-earth this author is.

Journalist and author of The Ski House Cookbook, Sarah Pinneo turned her sights to fiction and recently became a debut novelist with the January 31, 2012 release of Julia’s Child.

The book has been described as:

A delectable comedy for every woman who’s ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker.

JULIA’S CHILD is a warmhearted, laugh-out-loud story about motherhood’s choices: organic vs. local, paper vs. plastic, staying at home vs. risking it all.

Sound good? The critical reviewers thought so too:

“Pinneo skewers the cult of the child with an insider’s eye. A witty, well-plotted fiction debut.”
–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Peppered with real recipes and the kind of convincing details expected from a food writer. [A] foodie take on I Don’t Know How She Does It.
–KIRKUS REVIEWS

Pinneo, a cookbook author who used to work on Wall Street, has seamlessly blended her two interests into this cute fiction debut. Well written, well paced, and very absorbing.
–LIBRARY JOURNAL

The Divining Wand has scheduled a return visit from Sarah Pinneo on Wednesday, March 7th however — for today — let’s meet the author through her “official” bio:

Sarah Pinneo worked in finance for more than a decade before making the transition from breadwinner to bread baker. Sarah writes about food and sustainability for lifestyle publications including The Boston Globe Magazine and Edible Communities. She has lived in Grand Rapids, MI, New York City, Ludlow, VT and now Hanover, NH, where the occasional moose or bear wanders through her yard.

And now it’s time to get to know Sarah upclose and personal:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Writing, feeding others, laundry, errands, coffee, writing. Wine.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. “An established writer is a beginner who didn’t give up.” Note the vast difference between this and my mother’s motto: “There is a special place in heaven for women with tidy linen closets.” I hope she’s wrong.

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. To paraphrase Barbara Kingsolver, a perfect day is one where I work on a novel, I cook something delicious and I play with my kids.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. I have many, and each one of them will eventually become the basis for a novel. My own life has been very lucky, so it is only in answering this question that I’m able to come up with novel plots.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. That is a very apt question, because late February in New Hampshire is not ideal. Were I whisked away to a sunny location right now, perhaps Costa Rica, I wouldn’t fight it.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. That’s a tough one to answer, because it is difficult to discern which historical figure had the tallest laundry pile. Whichever she was, I am her spiritual sister.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Anyone who can thrive on five hours of sleep per night.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. Actually, I most frequently abuse punctuation. I’m a serial overuser of ellipses…and also emdashes—don’t you think?

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. I would love to be able to sit patiently through meetings. Or fly.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. I prefer to assume that I haven’t met it yet. But leaving Wall Street was a big decision, and I’m proud of my choice.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. I always want to plan everything six steps in advance. I have trouble living in the moment.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. I’m very good at planning things six steps in advance.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. I regret worrying. My mother always told me that worrying isn’t productive, and she’s right. But how to stop?

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I would like to be a child again. I didn’t properly appreciate the freedom of it.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. In the dictionary under “type A personality” there’s a picture of me.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Lily in The House of Mirth.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Willoughby in Pride & Prejudice.

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. I’m not sure I can even name more than three athletes. Perhaps I should have listed this under my greatest flaw.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. These days I have a lot of trouble with children who don’t behave in the car.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. I love crafting, even though I’m not very good at it. I do knit a mean dinosaur, with little spines down his tail.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Cryptographer

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Loyalty, humor, empathy

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Excellent bagels with cream cheese

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. I refuse to answer on the grounds that my ‘80s music habit will incriminate me.

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, Zodiac by Neal Stephenson, Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman, Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen and Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

Enjoy more of the engaging, entertaining, new novelist Sarah Pinneo by following her on Twitter, becoming a friend on Facebook, and reading Julia’s Child….yes, it has recipes!

Announcement: The winners of Eileen Cook’s ebook Do or Di are: Dee, Alicia Marie, and Patti D. Congratulations! Please email diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your download emailing address and you’ll receive a copy.

AND

The winner of Seré Prince Halverson’s The Underside of Joy is: Aimee. Congratulations! Please email diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and the book will be sent out promptly.

Also, to answer Carl’s question about subscribing to this blog: Please check the upper right hand corner where “Subscribe” is featured, click that link, then choose your options. Thank you all!

According to debut novelist, Seré Prince Halverson: “I became a writer because I loved to write, and I was blessed with an utter lack of any other talent.”

If true, what a gift the author’s one talent is as it shines through her recently released The Underside of Joy. A one sentence description of the book notes:

Set against the backdrop of Redwood forests and shimmering vineyards, Seré Prince Halverson’s compelling debut tells the story of two women, bound by an unspeakable loss, who each claims to be the mother of the same two children.

Deservedly earned glowing praise:

“Halverson’s gloriously down-to-earth novel is so pitch perfect that as readers reluctantly reach the last page, wanting more, they will have to take it on faith that this really is her first fiction.”–Library Journal, Starred Review

“…As she mines the family secrets her characters hold close and how those affect their relationships with one another, Halverson proves she’s a wordsmith and a storyteller to keep an eye on.”–Bookpage, Fiction Top Pick

“A poignant debut about mothers, secrets and sacrifices…Halverson avoids sentimentality, aiming for higher ground in this lucid and graceful examination of the dangers and blessings of familial bonds.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Halverson paints a lovely picture of small-town life and intimate family drama…Nuanced characters and lack of cliché make for a winning debut.”–Publishers Weekly

“Halverson’s debut novel marks her as a strong new voice in women’s fiction…this would make an excellent book-club choice.”–Booklist

The Divining Wand has scheduled a return visit from Seré Prince Halverson on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 but — in the meantime — let’s meet the author through her “official” bio….in her own words.

I am from a lot of places, but I now live in Northern California and it feels like home. I worked for 20 years as a freelance copywriter while I wrote fiction and raised kids. My husband and I have four grown children. I’m a mom and a stepmom, and I have a mom and a stepmom. The Underside of Joy is my debut novel.

Piqued your interest? Let’s get to know Seré even better:

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. This crazy plot finally seems to be working.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. Never, never, never, never give up. (Via my dear friend Elle Newmark, via Winston Churchill)

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. I don’t think the most genuine happiness is perfect. Hence, the title of my book! That said, my yellow Lab, Stuart, seems to experience pure, perfect happiness when chasing a tennis ball. And I feel something close to it when watching him.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. The same as any mother’s fear.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. I love many different places, but I feel most at home right here in the writing studio my husband and family recently built for me, overlooking a forest and vineyard.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. I enjoy reading journals and biographies of writers. No matter their gender, or the time period, I can almost always identify with some aspect of their lives and struggles. John Steinbeck’s Journal of a Novel, for one.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. I stand in awe of teachers.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. Just, Very, Um, So, Wonderful. I know! Really? Really! And then a couple of the four-letter variety, which I just really should stop saying.

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. Oh, to be able to sing and to speak several languages! My novel will be published in 13 languages, and I’m thrilled because that’s the closest I’ll ever come to being multi-lingual.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. The Underside of Joy. And my kids. (I don’t think I “achieved” them, but I’m very proud of them.)

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. Disorganization: My purse, my closet, my desk, my computer, my mind. My kitchen cupboards, however, aren’t bad. I have no idea why they’ve escaped the madness.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Empathy

Q. What do you regret most?
A. That I wasn’t able to publish my novel before my dad died. He would have gotten such a kick out of this.

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I like being me, even though it can be, shall we say, challenging.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I don’t think there’s any one thing…but I do smile a lot.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Cal/Calliope in Middlesex

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. The Grinch. I know that’s not very literary sounding, but he’s my favorite.

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Joe Montana. “Hi Joe, you look just like my husband’s Joe Montana Christmas tree ornament. Are you up for surprising your biggest fan?”

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. The toilet seat thing. Left up afterward or down during and—ugh—wet afterward. Come on, guys. And drivers who tail too closely, especially on dark, rainy, twisty roads with deer crossing signs posted everywhere. Back off. And please click down your brights. Thank you very much.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Reading or going for a walk.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Other than being a novelist? Singer/Songwriter

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Honesty, compassion, and a sense of humor.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Dungeness crab. Fortunately, my husband likes to go crabbing. That’s if you mean only one ingredient. If you mean one type of food, I’d say sushi. I get serious, debilitating sushi cravings.

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. Five is an impossible number. I have so many favorite songs. I might have to slip in an extra and hope you don’t notice.
2,000 Miles by The Pretenders
This Must be the Place by Shawn Colvin (Talking Heads cover)
Closer to Fine by Indigo Girls (Almost anything by the Indigo Girls.)
Anchorage by Michelle Shocked
I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You by Tom Waits
Circle Game by Joni Mitchell

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. Again, only five? You use the word “five” loosely, right?
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (When I was nine, I went to Green Gables, the home where L.M. Montgomery wrote, and I bought the book in the gift shop and still have it.)
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard

Genuinely warm and wonderfully honest, Seré is a gorgeous storyteller. Discover more of these truths by becoming a friend on Facebook, visit her blog Who Moved My Buddha?, sample an excerpt from the book’s Chapter One, and then continue reading The Underside of Joy.

Announcement: The winner of Eleanor Brown’s The Weird Sisters is: Janel. Congratulations! Please email diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address.

AND

The winner of Julianna Baggott’s PURE is: Candice. Congratulations! Please email diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address.

Author Erika Liodice dreams, creates to succeed, and inspires others to do the same. With passion and determination, she became a debut novelist in late November, 2011 when her first novel Empty Arms was published as an ebook in Kindle and NOOK Book editions. And only last week Empty Arms was released in paperback. One might say that Erika’s arms now hold her dream come true.

The story is based on a life built on secrets, half truths, evasion, and lies. Not exactly a reader’s choice for a tender, warm-hearted selection, yet the ebook has garnered 5 ***** ratings and the following praise:

“Empty Arms is a compelling novel about haunting secrets, risk and consequence, and one woman’s journey to build a future out of the scattered ashes of her past. A beautiful debut.” ~ Therese Walsh, author of THE LAST WILL OF MOIRA LEAHY

The Synopsis:

Catharine Chase’s entire life is built on a secret. In 1972, at the tender age of sixteen, she got pregnant. An embarrassment to her parents, Catharine was exiled to a maternity home to carry out her pregnancy far away from the watchful eyes of their tight-knit community. What they didn’t tell her is that she wouldn’t be allowed to keep her baby.

With her daughter’s screams still echoing in her ears, the medical staff told Catharine she’d move on with her life and have more children, they promised she’d forget. But they were wrong. Catharine never forgot Emily. And when she and her husband, Paul, learn that they can’t have children, she risks her job, her marriage, and her family’s reputation in a desperate attempt to find the daughter she never wanted to give away and reclaim her only chance to be a mother.

The Divining Wand has scheduled a visit from Erika on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 however — between now and then — let’s meet the author through her “official” bio:

Erika Liodice is an award-winning blogger and founder of the inspirational blog, Beyond the Gray, where she shares her journey to publication while encouraging readers to reach for their own dreams. She is a book reviewer at Reader Unboxed and a contributor to Writer Unboxed, The Savvy Explorer, and Lehigh Valley InSite. Empty Arms is her first novel.

And now it’s time to get to know Erika at her upclose and revealing best.

Q. How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A. Chasing my dreams, inspiring others to chase theirs.

Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” -Confucius

Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Sipping wine with my husband on a sunny afternoon overlooking a body of water.

Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. Losing my husband. He’s my best friend; I couldn’t live without him.

Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. On a tropical island basking in sunshine.

Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Henry David Thoreau because I derive much of my inspiration from “sauntering in nature”, I spend a good deal of time pondering my purpose here, and I love to travel. Plus, like Thoreau, I spent many years working at passionless day jobs in order to support my writing dream.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Jodi Picoult because she writes about tough topics that challenge my beliefs and change the way I look at things.

Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. In my writing it’s: my stomach tightens. I was horrified when I realized how much my protagonist’s stomach was tightening! Fortunately, I discovered this during the editing phase and was able to correct it.

Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. To speak many languages fluently. English is my native language and I studied Spanish for 11 years, but I would love to know a few more so I can converse with all of the interesting people I meet during my travels.

Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Building a life that I absolutely love.

Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. Over-committing myself.

Q. What’s your best quality?
A. I put my heart and soul into everything I do.

Q. What do you regret most?
A. Not going to art school.

Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. Sometimes I think it would be fun to be the sun because I’d always be warm and I’d get to travel around the world every day.

Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I think people immediately notice that I’m tall and blonde, but I hope they also notice that I have a big heart and love to laugh.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. I’ve loved Nancy Drew since I was a little girl. The Nancy I grew up with was multi-talented, self-reliant, clever, and fearless. She was great role model and I loved getting lost in her adventures.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. I love to hate Miranda Priestley from The Devil Wears Prada. She’s so evil, but I also sort of wish she’d let me borrow her clothes.

Q. If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Bethany Hamilton (the surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack). I’d like to tell her that I don’t know how she ever got back in the water but that I admire her determined spirit, positive attitude, and commitment to her passion.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. When people complain about things that are within their control.

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Being my husband’s wife. Too sappy? Okay, bargain hunting on Craigslist.

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Professional vacationer.

Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Good sense of humor, honesty, and kindness.

Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. Macaroni and cheese.

Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. 1) “The Scientist” by Coldplay, 2) “Innocente” by Delerium, 3) “In the Waiting Line” by Zero 7, 4) “Blindfold” by Morcheeba, and 5) “La Femme Parallel” by Thievery Corporation.

Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. 1) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, 2) The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, 3) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, 4) The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve, and 5) The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares.

Erika Liodice is writing her dream life by working hard as well as playing hard so why not join her by being a follower on Twitter, becoming a friend on Facebook, and reading Empty Arms!

Book Giveaway: And the winner of Sarah McCoy’s The Baker’s Daughter is: Jennifer Downing. Congratulations! Please email diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with the delivery address (home or email download) and your choice of book format.