The best news is that today's guest post offers a sample of the author's voice on her feelings and thoughts as Jennifer shares why she writes....(brilliantly).]

When my kids were still too young to taste the difference between brownies made with water and brownies made with broccoli, my husband went to Mt Everest for two months. Two months. He’s a sports broadcaster. It was a show. I talked to him once a week from base camp.

There were days when the only people I spoke to were three feet tall. Staying sane was a top priority, so I had to come up with a plan. I decided to pretend there were secret cameras in every corner of my house. That way, when I most wanted to scream my brains out, I would think twice and remember to at least smile as I did. And as nutty as this sounds, it helped. (I also taught them to address me as their “young-looking beautiful mom” whenever they asked for something.)

This is how writers go through life. Not as that insane mother, but as the hidden camera. We’re watchers. We watch people when they don’t know it. We watch people when we don’t know it. And weirdest of all, we watch ourselves and know it.

I write because I’ve always been the hidden camera. When I was seven years old, I was brushing my teeth one day, minding my own business, when the girl in the mirror smirked at me. “You’re going to be a writer you know.” “Nope,” I said. Writers were old and not pretty and not famous. Plus, I had big plans to be a professional Avon lady. There was no way I was going to be a writer. “You’ll see,” that little girl said. And by fourth grade I knew she was right.

I often wonder if whoever designed this thing called “Life” fell asleep at the wheel a few times. Why else would bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad? But writers can fix this. We add the motives to the craziness. Selfish, self-centered, mean? You don’t get the girl at the end. Humble, caring, funny? You do. It might be cliché, but it’s also reassuring. Writers are like ER doctors; we never know what kind of trauma we’re going to find when we show up at the page each day, but whatever it is, it’s our job to fix it.

Being the hidden camera can be solid gold at times. But it’s also a bit of a curse. When I’m away from the page for too long, my brain gets tangled and scrambled and snarled. The things I’ve seen or thought or watched in the passing wordless days make no sense. These motive-less moments get all cramped together inside that too-small space between my ears and pretty soon – we all know – it’s gonna’ blow.

I wish it weren’t this way. I wish I could stop assigning reasons as to why my mail person consistently wears a knee brace on the right knee one day, but on the left the next. I wish I would stop wondering why that guy I see at Starbucks who’s dressed in an Armani suit drives a red beat up truck. And mostly, I really wish I had just done the math on the SAT’s instead of staring off into space wondering why Jimmy had seventeen marbles while LaShawn only had six – did Jimmy steal them? Are they siblings? Is he threatening to beat her up if she tells anyone?

Okay, so I didn’t get into my first-choice college. But I’d be willing to bet my mother’s circa 1960 Pucci pants that I’m not the only writer out there whose head is in a constant state of repair. And I think we’d all agree that these brain explosions are much better splattered on paper rather than on family, friends and dentists. Personally, I need these people, I love these people (not my dentist) and even though I wish I could edit them sometimes (did I mention I have three tween/teenage daughters now?) staying sane for them is still a top priority.

So I write.

And every minute of every day I feel so lucky that I do.

In The Revealing of Jennifer Gooch Hummer, the phenomenal praise for Girl Unmoored was noted along with the news that the book had won the Paris Book Festival Award 2012, Best YA Fiction. Since then this unforgettable novel has also won The San Francisco Book Festival Awards 2012 – Teen Fiction, Next Generation Indie Awards for YA Fiction, Finalist in the Next Gen Indie for Best Chick Lit, and Finalist for Best Fiction Cover. Please disregard the YA and Teen Fiction labeling. This is a coming-of-age story — a tale in which lessons are learned about life and love at any age! [In fact, according to Amazon tracking, customers who purchased Girl Unmoored also bought Fifty Shades of Grey. I rest my case. ]

Jennifer Gooch Hummer can also be followed on Twitter and liked on Facebook.

Book Giveaway: The Divining Wand is giving away one copy of Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer — in a random drawing — to anyone who leaves a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight! The winner will be notified by email tomorrow.

In today's guest post Jillian admits her need to make sense of the world through writing. However, by doing so, the novelist gives voice to all of us. Enjoy.]

I Couldn’t Love You More, like each of my novels, was born of rage and frustration. Although the reasons for my rage differ from book to book, the underlying motivation is always the same: to have my say, usually about someone who has wronged me or someone else. (To clarify: nine times out of ten, the people who wrong me have no idea. Although I burn with the heat of ten thousand suns, I do this silently. I am painfully shy and overly nice (too nice, sometimes), but only my closest friends (and now you) know that I can also be opinionated, competitive, and when it comes to writing, very critical of myself. But because I rarely articulate my truest thoughts (not out of fear but because it’s not nice), I need some way to express them.) I also feel very sympathetic toward people who have been mistreated, marginalized, and under-represented in our culture. My husband says that I carry the sorrows of the world, but someone has to speak up for those who can’t. I realize this sounds as though I write novels about migrant farm workers or early 20th century factory workers when in fact I write tragicomic domestic dramas. Give me time, though. I’m just warming up.

Here’s the truth about writing fiction: no one asks you to write, and no one cares if you do. In fact, very often it feels as though people are actively arguing against it. As an artist, then, your challenge is to create despite (or in my case, because of) the world’s indifference and opposition. To make art is a very lonely, very isolating enterprise. Believe me, I would much rather watch crime shows and British period dramas than stare at a computer all day. But I am a writer, which means that even if I have just spent five years working on a dead book that no one wants to read, much less buy (see my Q&A), I will sit down and do it again, and again, and again.

The world is an absurd, chaotic place, and my books help me make sense of it. Writing is what keeps me tethered. When I’m not engaged in a novel, ambient sounds become deafening. There are too many sharp corners. Time moves at a dull, languid pace. I feel too present, too large and ungainly. But when I’m working, the loud noises are muffled, the edges smoothed out, and everything is cast in soft focus. Writing well feels like moving through water. It’s easy, endlessly satisfying, often exhilarating, and I can lose eight, ten, twelve hours at a clip. Writing novels is like having a conversation with every person who has ever burned you (or a mistreated factory worker), except you are the only one talking, so you can finally express all that built-up resentment and sorrow. For someone who rarely had her say growing up, this is a very heady, very powerful feeling.

I am the eldest daughter of a traveling salesman who moved his family 17 times by the time I was 17. I attended seven elementary schools, two junior highs and three high schools. At the end of the tenth grade, my family ended up in Atlanta, where—spoiler alert!—my new novel is set. After high school, I studied writing at a fancy private college, and then struggled to pay for a top MFA program while working full-time. In graduate school, I discovered I was a terrible editor, and had to first re-learn how to read before I could then re-learn how to write. Most of the writers I went to school with were talented, many far more talented than I, but talent, we all found out, was the easy part. A writer’s life is fueled by stamina, relentless self-belief, deliberate self-delusion, and absolute will (and in the end, it all comes down to the luck of the draw). Back then, I doubted myself at every turn, but to not try to succeed seemed worse somehow than failing. So I gave it a go.

Here is another truth about writing: you are rejected, in one way or another, every single day. I graduated from college in 1985, and since then, I have worked (almost) full-time at an anonymous, old-fashioned, nine-to-five corporate job. So for the whole of my adult life, I worked and went to work. While my friends went to bars, hooked up, got married, and had children, I worked and went to work. Eventually, I had children and got married, too, but I continued to work and go to work—and I continued to get rejected Every. Single. Day. Despite all the rejection, though, the idea that anyone—agent, publisher, reviewer—could say anything that would make me stop is beyond my comprehension. I may never be considered a literary icon, but my art is my art and I work at it every day. I’m a writer, ipso facto, I write.

After reading (and likely feeling) Jillian’s strength and passion, you can now watch and listen to her describe the storyline of I Couldn’t Love You More. Also another truth is that this book could not be more highly recommended!

Book Giveaway: The Divining Wand is giving away one copy of I Couldn’t Love You More by Jillian Medoff — in a random drawing — to anyone who leaves a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight! The winner will be notified by email tomorrow.

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.

According to The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May 2012:
"The result is a story that explores the way books can and can’t inform lives, as Adrienne’s summer leads to some surprising, even tragic events; that makes this a natural for book-club discussion by reluctant and eager attendants alike."

If reading can and can't inform lives, what about writing? In today's guest post, Julie Schumacher explains why and what writing does for her.]

There are two terrific essays called “Why I Write,” one by George Orwell and the other by Joan Didion. In his essay, Orwell confesses that as a boy, “I had the lonely child’s habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons.”

Didion, who begins her essay with “Of course I stole the title for this talk from George Orwell,” notes that “In many ways writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind.”

Writers, I think, are both shy and egotistical. On the one hand, they like being left alone, hermit-like, scuttling into their libraries or burrows where they can chew on the bones of their own odd thoughts; on the other hand, they want to exercise god-like powers, re-ordering the world according to their liking – killing a character off here and there, inventing a new, pink planet, slowing time down. And once they’ve re-ordered the world, they want to emerge from the burrow and show it off to other people.

I usually start writing a piece of fiction because I find that my thoughts are stuck on a particular remark or event or idea. There is something in my head that I keep returning to – something that makes me feel restless. It’s as if I’m staring at a painting, and I’ve been told that if I look at it carefully enough, I’ll see the “magic eye” 3-D image hidden inside it. I write to try to find my way to that image. Through draft after draft, I wait for it to rise up off the page and announce itself – here I am, in plain sight, you idiot – and make sense to me.

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” That was E.M. Forster’s more sophisticated way of phrasing the same concept. Perhaps Forster didn’t know about the magic-eye image.

If I had to come up with a list of reasons why I write (and lists are incredibly gratifying, aren’t they?), it would have to include the following:

1) I write because stories take the random and bewildering stuff of our lives and try to make sense of them. (And it seems to me that we’re supposed to make sense of them.)
2) I write because not writing is worse.
3) I write because my ninth grade English teacher, Mrs. Pritchett, read my short story out loud in front of the entire class, and I thought, “This is the highlight of my life.”
4) I write because it’s hard to talk about the weird and misshapen things that lurk in the underlayers of my imagination – but I can write them down.
5) I write because I am not good at math or other reasonable things that make sense to most people.
6) I have no idea why I write.
7) I write because, when I was ten, I composed a rhyming elegy for a litter of orphaned, newborn rabbits that I tried to raise in a cotton-lined box in my bedroom, but all of them died, refusing the eyedropper of lukewarm milk and stiffening into tiny beautiful brown tufts one after the other so that I had to bury them in the back yard during individual funerals, and I was so heartbroken I couldn’t stand it – and I found that the elegy made me feel better.
I write because writing is:
a) infuriating
b) fulfilling
c) demanding
d) ever-changing
e) all of the above
[Hint: the answer is e]

Julie Schumacher, can be found on Facebook, and please remember that The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls is highly recommended for all ages.

Book Giveaway: The Divining Wand is giving away one copy of The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher — in a random drawing — to anyone who leaves a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. EST tonight! The winner will be notified by email tomorrow.

Meet the Authors:

Jefferson Bass is the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. Dr. Bass, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist, founded the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility—the Body Farm—a quarter century ago. He is the author or coauthor of more than two hundred scientific publications, as well as a critically acclaimed memoir about his career at the Body Farm, Death’s Acre. Dr. Bass is also a dedicated teacher, honored as National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Jon Jefferson is a veteran journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Popular Science, and broadcast on National Public Radio. The coauthor of Death’s Acre, he is also the writer and producer of two highly rated National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm.

About The Body Farm:

On the campus of the University of Tennessee lies a patch of ground unlike any in the world. The “Body Farm” is a place where human corpses are left to the elements, and every manner of decay is fully explored—for the sake of science and the cause of justice.

And now, there’s a fascinating new fiction series based on reality…

A sample of Praise:

“The real deal.”
—Kathy Reichs, New York Times bestselling author and producer of the FOX television hit Bones

“The Sherlock Holmes for bones.”
—Katherine Ramsland, author of The Forensic Science of C.S.I.

About The Inquisitor’s Key:

The most riveting and ambitious novel to date in Jefferson Bass’ New York Times bestselling Body Farm mystery series, The Inquisitor’s Key takes forensic investigator Dr. Bill Brockton to Avignon, France, and embroils him in a deadly religious mystery that could shake the Vatican itself to its very foundations. Another sterling crime novel in the vein of Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs, and Karin Slaughter, as well as TV’s C.S.I., The Inquisitor’s Key adds a touch of James Rollins and The Da Vinci Code to the typically acclaimed Jefferson Bass mix of suspense, surprise, and finely detailed forensic investigation.

Now to picture the book:

Want another sneak peek? Here’s an Excerpt

Also, Jefferson Bass can be followed on Twitter.

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.

In today's guest post, the author reveals how she discovered why she writes.]

On a warm summer afternoon in 1994, as I walked home from my job as Assistant Vice President in Corporate Finance for a Japanese Investment Bank, I paused, looked at the wall of skyscrapers that surrounded me, and had an epiphany. As much as I loved working on Wall Street, I suddenly understood that when it was my turn to retire, my absence would not be noteworthy. There would simply be someone else to take my place.

Then I thought of my mother who was retiring that year, who’d spent her entire career in early childhood education, and who, upon retirement boarded a plane to work in an international school in the former-Soviet Union. When she got up from her desk, she left a living legacy of children who had learned to read through her efforts.

Then I thought of my brother John, who is a building contractor, who could drive me around his hometown and show me the historic homes that he’d brought back to life, the clients he’d helped to create a dream home. He is an American success story. With his wife Heidi, he’s built a business that operates on principles of integrity and quality work. His legacy is as tangible as the windows that open up to a water view.

My epiphany that day was that I wanted to leave New York and find my own legacy. Of course, at the time, I had no idea of what it would be.

It was actually my other sister-in-law, Kathy, who provided a nudge in the ‘write’ direction. After I’d left New York and spent more time poolside than I care to admit, with a glass of wine in one hand and a book on ‘discovering your perfect career’ in the other, Kathy called and shared a newspaper article she’d read about romance authors and suggested that since I obviously liked to read, perhaps I should try writing.

Did I start to write just because Kathy told me to? No. Actually, I wrote my first book at the age of 5 and have had a life-long love affair with writing. However, Kathy’s encouragement was the impetus to overcome a history of what Brenda Ueland called ‘helpful criticism’, in her classic work, “If You Want to Write”. As my mother loved teaching, as my brother loved building, I have always loved books. But after one high school teacher discouraged my early writing efforts, I buried the revelation I experienced when I read a book, the singular desire to ‘do that too’, for the more practical pursuit of a career in business.

Unfortunately, recognizing a desire is not the same as creating a new life. I spent the next several years writing, submitting, getting rejected, and getting discouraged. I wrote four novels and several children’s books. And while I loved writing, my books found no home, so back I went into business.

Then last year with a desire to simply see my work in print, I took the plunge into self-publishing. I published Mrs. Tuesday’s Departure in a much edited form, changing the setting from World War Two Budapest to a dystopian European city, changing the First Person POV to Third Person, and completely eliminating the original spiritual message. All in the name of creating what I thought would be a more commercial version of the book I’d originally written. And as what happens when something is not its true self, it went nowhere.

In February of this year, I re-published Mrs. Tuesday in her original version and finally discovered my authentic writer’s voice….a cross between literary fiction and religious fiction, a contemporary woman who loves God passionately, but sometimes wonders if He’s really listening. As a result, I discovered that this was the underlying voice in all of my books and one that I was ready to share. Once I embraced this authenticity, I felt more confident about my work and my purpose.

Finally, let me leave you with two quick illustrations of Why I Write: The other day I was reading Cynthia Rylant’s children’s book The Heavenly Village. Its unflinching beauty brought tears to my eyes and filled me with an overwhelming hope that I will someday write a book that will have a similar impact. And then, a week before, I was at my desk working on the final draft of my next book and as I looked up from my desk and out the window, I realized that if I had a week to live, this is how I would choose to spend it. I would want to publish my next two books. These books would be my legacy. I have finally found the answer to the question I asked nearly twenty years ago on the Brooklyn Bridge.

To learn more about Suzanne, please follow her on Twitter, become a friend on Facebook, and experience her story of Mrs. Tuesday’s Departure in paperback or Kindle Edition. In fact, this novel as an ebook will be available in a Free Giveaway this Friday, May 4 – Monday, May 7.

Book Giveaway: The Divining Wand is giving away one paperback copy of Mrs. Tuesday’s Departure by Suzanne Anderson — in a random drawing — to anyone who leaves a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight! The winner will be notified by email tomorrow.

Once again Joëlle tells an entertaining, edge-of-the-seat story, of girl power....with the help of terrific secondary characters. For those who may have missed the synopsis in Picture the Book: The Right & the Real, the book can be described in this lead sentence: Kicked out of her home for refusing to join a cult, 17-year-old Jamie must find a way to survive on her own.

Being a reader/fan of YA, the author knows her audience and offers a terrific adventure complete with a love story too. In the following interview though, Joëlle provides more background to the storyline and her philosophy on life as well.]

TDW: Restoring Harmony was a successful dystopian novel but now you’re back in the present with The Right & the Real, is there any reason other than that’s where the storyline worked best?

J. A.: I never set out to write a dystopian, it just caught a wave. A bit of luck on my part, really. With Restoring Harmony, my plan was to tell a story set after an economic collapse, and to do that, I had to set it in the future somewhat. I’ve always considered myself a contemporary YA writer.

TDW: Where did the idea for The Right & the Real come from, what’s the backstory?

J. A.: I’m from Portland and I used to see the sort of motels around that are in the book. I couldn’t go past them without wondering who lived in them. I actually came up with one of the other characters in R&R, LaVon, several years ago when I was working on a book that I’ve since abandoned. I always liked him and when I was looking for a new book idea after Restoring Harmony, he kept saying, “Choose me!” so I thought about who might live in a motel next door to him, and why she might be there.

TDW: In both novels the plot spotlights fighting against control and oppression to gain freedom and independence. Is this a personal cause?

J. A.: I hope it is for everybody! Actually, I think it’s more that I really want to create young characters who are strong and determined. It’s almost my obligation or responsibility. If kids are going to read my books, I want them to feel empowered, like they could be in that situation and handle it, even if they aren’t equipped for it now. It’s more about doing the right thing than fighting anyone.

TDW: Is your idyllic life on the island in B.C. a way to live as freely as possible?

J. A.: Living on such an idyllic island is both a reflection of living my beliefs, and also, a little bit of me sticking my head in the sand. I know that the rest of Canada and the world is not the way it is here, and on a larger level, I worry about that. But on a local level, I do what I can to make this part of the world better. I don’t like the idea of fighting unless you have to, so I try to live here, in a responsible, peaceful way, so that I’m happy and also so I have as little negative impact on the Earth as I can.

TDW: Your protagonists have both been intelligent, strong-willed young adults who are not blind to romance, how do you balance the romantic element and still maintain the character’s independence?

J. A.: I am a total romantic, and I’m not sure I even knew it until people started calling RH a romance! However, it’s important to me that it’s one element of any story I tell, not the whole story. There are places for complete romances, but my writing is not that place. I think we all love romance to some degree, and I can use that in my writing to show my character growing – dumping the wrong guy, standing up for the right one, being on her own if that’s what’s necessary. It has to be one facet of the story, not the be all and end all. The other thing that’s important to me is for the guys to act like guys. My husband watches over them to make sure they don’t do anything too girly!

TDW: Your writing also contains wonderful pacing and believable action, does this come from your theatre background? Do these scenes play out in your mind?

J. A.: I can definitely see every scene as if it were a movie. These movies play in my head all the time when I’m writing. I do think this comes from my theatre background, but it’s hard to say for sure to what extent because I don’t see much separation between writing and theatre/acting. It’s all just part of me. There is a certain amount of scene structure that I learned while studying directing, and I think that helps me create visual scenes.

TDW: Your secondary characters could be stars in their own right and I appreciate how fully developed they are, yet how do you manage to give them that much life in such limited appearances?

J. A.: It’s very nice to hear you say that because secondary characters are my biggest challenge! When I write a first draft, everyone except my main character tends to simply prop up the story. I always mean to make the supporting cast fantastically rounded from the beginning to save myself some work, but it never happens. Once I have a draft, I go back and combine characters, cut others, and try to find ways to use small characters again later in the story. After I’ve done that, I spend time with each one, figuring out what they want in each scene, and in their lives, their likes and dislikes, even what they look like.

I read recently, and I’m sorry I don’t recall where, that every character in every book thinks that the author is telling their story, that they are the most important character in it. As I work on each one, I try to keep that in mind. It really helps.

TDW: Besides being entertained, what would you like readers to take away from R&R?

J. A.: Mostly, I just want them to be entertained. Actually, that’s all I want. A good story can teach you what you need to know, but I consider that a bonus. Some books you read for information, some you read to change your life, and some you read so that you can be sucked into the narrative. That’s what I aim to write…books that grab you and don’t let you go. I like books that make you wonder afterward what you would do if that happened to you. Like my mentors, Nevil Shute and John Rowe Townsend, I’m just trying to tell a good story.

Indeed Joëlle Anthony tells an excellent story and you can discover that by reading The Right & the Real available now.

Book Giveaway: The Divining Wand is giving away one copy of The Right & the Real by Joëlle Anthony– in a random drawing — to anyone who leaves a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight! The winner will be notified by email tomorrow.

“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.

It's also brilliant, witty, and poignant yet the best news about the novel is that today it comes out as a paperback! Both the content and the flow of Laura's writing are so natural that one might stop occasionally and wonder how does she capture that effortless magic? In today's guest post, the author describes the simple (and successful) reason for why she writes.]

I write because I love to read.

Can it be that simple? Maybe yes, and maybe no. In thinking about the reasons I write, there are so many answers that immediately came to mind. Writing helps me answer questions, it is my primary way of reaching new understandings, it provides me a sense of joy, and it has (long before I did it professionally) helped me figure out my place in the world.

All of those answers are true. But the most true answer is the first one. I write because I love to read. I have loved to read since I was too young to even know what I was reading. For me, writing is the natural extension of reading. It is the other side of the same conversation about what makes our narratives feel special—the unique ways we experience joy, work through relationships and figure out what we want our lives to be. Writing is another way to experience stories, another way to share them.

While working on my novel The First Husband, I often returned to the notebook I’ve kept since I was in High School—which is really a testament to my love of reading. It is a notebook of quotes and ideas from things I’ve read that touched me. Things that I didn’t want to forget. Ideas that came from a variety of reading sources: favorite novels and biographies and memoirs and plays and poetry collections. Bad magazines and beautiful story collections. All the words that stuck with me, like only music or words can.

In thinking about why I write, I opened it again to look through it. One of my favorite quotes (a very apropos one!) popping out at me immediately.

“Keep in mind that the only person to write for is yourself. Tell the story you most desperately want to read.” – Susan Isaacs

And as I start looking through some of the others—Ernest Hemmingway’s advice on writing (“write one true sentence”); Toni Morrison’s thoughts on love (“He can’t value you more than you value yourself”); W.S. Merwin’s thoughts on dreams (“We are asleep with compasses in our hands.”)—I get that familiar desire to sit down and start telling a new story. Or get back to figuring out an old one.

Reading does that. Which is why, when I’m stuck, when I don’t know how to finish a sentence or a chapter or how to begin one, I’ll throw my books down from the bookshelf and sit on the carpet with ten books and have a little reading party. Just to remind myself that reading and writing is a messy, wonderful business.

And that I write because it is.

For more from Laura Dave, please follow her on Twitter, become a friend of on Facebook and enjoy The First Husband available in paperback today!

Book Giveaway: The Divining Wand is giving away one copy of The First Husband by Laura Dave — in a random drawing — to anyone who leaves a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight! The winner will be notified by email tomorrow.