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On
behalf of The Romance Readers Connection, I would like to welcome Beth Kendrick as April’s Author of the Month. Beth's April release is EXES and OHS and I would like to thank her for taking the time to answer my questions. I look forward to reading her next book.
Kelly: Will we hear more from Alex and Gwen? What about Cesca and Carter?
Beth: I have no immediate plans to write a sequel to Exes and Ohs, but never say never! Gwen and Cesca are both pretty unpredictable—wouldn’t it be fun to follow up with them in a few years to see how they’re adjusting to their new marriages, their new careers, motherhood, etc?
Kelly: How did you come up with the characters of EXES AND OHS?
Beth: Oh, I never come up with characters; they come to me and DEMAND to be written about! The plotting process is different for every writer, but for me, stories start with characters as opposed to plot points. I’ll be stuck in traffic or picking out citrus fruit at the grocery store when a character will materialize in my head, announce she’s taking me on an adventure, and drag me to the computer.
Kelly: The scenarios in this story are very true to life situations. Do parts of this story depict things that happened in your life?
Beth: Well, I did attend a Ph.D. program in psychology in Los Angeles, which is where this story is set, and many of the locations in the book (Carmine’s II Cafe, the Santa Monica Pier, The Spanish Kitchen) are real places. Although my grad school experience wasn’t nearly as exciting as Gwen’s, I definitely know what it’s like trying to survive on a tiny fellowship stipend in a city famous for conspicuous consumption. Forget Bentleys, Bulgari and Beverly Hills—for me, it was more like ramen noodles and rent control!
Kelly: What was your inspiration for writing this book?
Beth: I thought it would be fun to take a few fed-up singletons, a few of their more “colorful” exes, throw everybody into a blender, and mix at top speed.
But on another level, Exes and Ohs explores the increasing complexity of family life in today’s world. Ex-wives, stepchildren, half-siblings—these are hopelessly inadequate terms to define deep and delicate relationships. Love, not legalities, is what holds families together.
Kelly: Have you ever thought of writing another genre?
Beth: I will be branching into YA next year while continuing to write chick lit. I’m very excited about the project I’m working on right now—a non-fiction essay on Jane Austen to be published in an anthology called Flirting with Pride and Prejudice (edited by the fabulous Jennifer Crusie!) in October 2005.
Kelly: What is a typical day like for you when you are writing your novels?
Beth: My two dogs decide when I’ve slept long enough and wake me by piling onto my stomach and whining. It’s a delightful start to the day. I fritter away the morning with email and phone calls (and, okay, sometimes online shopping. Oh the shame!) Around noon, I give myself a stern talking-to about not procrastinating, daylight’s burning, blah blah blah. Finally, I decide that the guilt over procrastinating is worse than the actual writing would be, so I open up the current work in progress, do some editing, and get a few pages done. At 5 pm, it’s time for another stern talking-to, this time about working out. I do my best to think up stunningly clever solutions to plot problems while jogging through the neighborhood. After dinner, I force my husband to “brainstorm” with me about the scene I have to write tomorrow (this usually consists of him sitting at his computer playing video poker while I lie on the floor and toss around ideas until I’ve solved my own problems. If that doesn’t work, I break down and call my critique partner.) At the end of the day, I reward myself for my exceptional self-discipline by watching “Alias”, “Animal Precinct” or “Desperate Housewives.” My life is SO glamorous!
Kelly: How long did it take for you to be able to write full time?
Beth: By the time I finished my dissertation, I had sold Exes and Ohs along with my first novel, My Favorite Mistake, which allowed me to segue right from grad school to writer. Fortunately, I was engaged to a guy with a more traditional job and all the benefits that go with it—I often tell my husband that I married him for his health insurance!
Kelly: What kind of advice would you give other people trying to get published?
Beth: The most important thing is to FINISH THE BOOK! It would be so great if you could skip that part and go straight to seeing your name all over the bestseller lists, but alas, you can’t (trust me, I have tried to figure out a way around this.) You have to complete the manuscript and then revise it. And then revise some more. And then keep revising until you’d rather throw your computer in the ocean than deal with the characters and their problems even one more time. Then you’re ready to query agents and publishers, at which point you have to research the market. Find out who works with your favorite authors and start there. Pitch your book like it’s the most exciting summer blockbuster to ever hit theaters. Pretend a deep-voiced movie preview guy will be reading your query letters out loud: “Coming soon to a bookstore near you…”
Also, hang out with other writers. Published or unpublished, it doesn’t matter. It’s important to have friends who will give you feedback when you need it, a shoulder to cry on when you get a terse rejection letter, and a bottle of champagne to share when you get your first contract.
Kelly: What are you working on now?
My next chick lit, FASHIONABLY LATE (slated for January 2006) is about an aspiring fashion designer who gets a view of the high life from rock bottom. I had the original idea for this book while living in West Hollywood, where many of my friends were trying to become actors, models and designers. You would not believe the horror stories these people told about their mistreatment at the hands of the rich and famous. After awhile I realized I couldn’t pass up such great material and I put it all in the book!
Kelly: Is there something you would like to tell people about yourself that they might not know?
Beth: Readers can find out all about me, my books, and my lifelong obsession with the Chicago Cubs at my website:
http://www.bethkendrick.com
I LOVE chatting with readers, so please feel free to email me or drop by a booksigning. Thanks!
(Click
here for a review of EXES AND OHS)
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