SARAH PEKKANEN: NOVEMBER FEATURED AUTHOR!

I'm so excited to share November's featured author with you. Sarah Pekkanen is one of my absolute favorite authors because I love her novels, and also because she is so down to earth and real. So not pretentious and she really seems to care a lot about her readers. She always has a kind word for her Facebook friends, she is a fantastic writer, she takes the time to make the fan feel important!


She has written three novels, The Opposite of Me, Skipping a Beat, These Girls, and her next one, The Best of Us is coming out in the spring! In the meantime, Sarah fulfills our need for her written word with awesome little novels for just 99 cents, and sometimes she even gives them away to her fans for free! Later this month she'll have another e-story out called Beginning Again. I've fallen absolutely in love with her e-story characters, and I really look forward to these little sampling of her books. If you haven't checked them out, you really need to. Start with: All Is Bright and then read Love Accidentally and by the time you finish those two, Beginning Again will be out. (I can't believe there's NO cover for this one yet Sarah!! ACK!!!... Maybe they are still looking for the perfect faceless model? Haha)

Anyway, in honor of Sarah being the Booking with Manic FEATURED AUTHOR of the month, she has graciously offered to give away a set of her three novels here to one winner! SO EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS!!! 

I also got to ask her some questions that I thought you all might want to know, so here they are! Thanks so much Sarah, and we can't wait to read Beginning Again, and then The Best of Us!

1. I loved your first book, The Opposite of Me, and the sister dynamic. Do you have a sister, and if so, did you base the story on your relationship at all?

Sarah: Thank you! I actually don't have a sister, but I've always been intrigued by the messy, complicated, intense relationships my friends all seem to have with their sisters, which inspired me to write The Opposite of Me. When I was younger, I yearned for a sister, and imagined she'd be just like me - a little shy and dorky and into Nancy Drew books. Then one day I thought, "Wait - what if I had a sister, and she was nothing like me?"  That was when the idea for my first book began brewing.

2. Do you have a hidden manuscript? Anything you'll never share with your fans?

Sarah: I do have a manuscript in a drawer in my office that will never be published, but I'm okay with that - it will always have a special place in my heart because working on that novel taught me how to put together a book. It's my practice pancake - the books that followed were stronger, but I'll never regret writing this one (even though it took years. Years!)


3. You write some incredible short stories that are inexpensive and fun and available on all e-readers. The characters intertwine and like your full-length novels, we can't help but fall in love with them. You have a new one coming out -- what's it called and what's it about?

Sarah: Thank you so much! I love writing short e-stories partly because they're a real challenge: my characters cross over from story to story, so the stories need to enhance one another, but they also have to make sense on their own in case someone buys just one. They're only 99 cents, which is nice, because sometimes you want to sample an author's style before splurging on a whole book. My upcoming e-story is titled "Beginning Again" and it'll be out Nov. 27. It's actually quite long - about 1/5 the length of a novel - and it tells the story of a woman named Corrine Brown, who returns to her hometown for her little sister's wedding. Corrine is reeling from a very recent, very painful divorce, and she's being forced to begin a new kind of life. 

4. And your next full-length novel is coming out this spring? I know it's about a group of friends who get trapped in Jamaica due to a hurricane. Any more info you can share on it?

Sarah: The Best of Us will be out April 9, and it's a full-length novel. I'm so excited about it! I actually had the surreal experience of doing a final read through on the manuscript before it went to press last week while I was hunkered down in my basement, riding out Hurricane Sandy. Meanwhile, I was reading about my characters who were hunkered down in Jamaica, riding out a hurricane.

Here's the description:

An all-expense paid week at a luxury villa in Jamaica – it’s the invitation of a lifetime for a group of old college friends. All four women are desperate not just for a reunion, but for an escape: Tina is drowning under the demands of mothering four young children. Allie is shattered by the news that a genetic illness runs in her family. Savannah is carrying the secret of her husband’s infidelity. And finally, there’s Pauline, who spares no expense to throw her wealthy husband an unforgettable 35th birthday celebration, hoping it will gloss over the cracks already splitting apart their new marriage.


 Languid hours on a private beach, gourmet dinners, and late nights of drinking kick off an idyllic week for the women and their husbands. But as a powerful hurricane bears down on the island, turmoil swirls inside the villa, forcing each of the women to re-evaluate everything she knows about her friends – and herself.

5. Can you tell us if you have the next novel swimming in your head yet?

Sarah: I do - in fact, I've written about 50 pages of it! I have a book due every April 1, so I start writing a new one when my kids go back to school in September. It's a little tight to finish a whole book in six months, but that way I get to spend my summers with my kids, so it's worth the work crush in the fall and winter. 

6. With three boys, your schedule must be nuts -- how can you go from writer to mom? Are there times when you have to say, "OK, Mommy needs a minute, an idea for a scene just came to me, and I HAVE to go write it down?" How do you manage those kinds of things? Can you switch gears like that?

Sarah: It's tough, because i have a three-year-old whose concept of time is a little different from mine, so asking him for a minute doesn't always work - "But we need to play trains NOW, Mommy!" Still, in a weird sort of way I'm glad my writing life is so fractured. I've learned to squeeze in writing around the margins of our days - I rack up pages at soccer practice, at the orthodontist's office, and in the preschool pick-up line. I think it keeps me from feeling as if writing is too precious or important, which is good, because it also keeps it from being intimidating. When I know I've only got an hour on a certain day to write, there's less of a temptation to over-think it; I just dive in.

7. What is the absolute best thing about being a writer?

Sarah: Connecting with readers. They're so darn nice! I'm always touched and thrilled to hear them say they liked one of my books. And I'm tempted to say, "Really? My Mom didn't pay you to say that to me?"


Thank you so much Sarah! It's been fun getting to peek inside your life as a writer and a mother! So for all you readers out there, if you would like to win the set of Sarah's books: The Opposite of Me, Skipping a Beat and These Girls, this is what I'd like you to tell me...

Since Sarah's next book is about a group of four couples going on a luxury vacation, tell me this -- if you could go on a luxury vacation, would you rather go with -- 

Girlfriends?
Your husband/spouse/partner?
OR a group of couples friends?

Those are your three choices -- At this point in my life, I would choose a luxury vacation with just my spouse. We sooo need a getaway -- YOUR TURN, tell me your choice and you'll be entered to win! 

Also, check out below to see if you won either of the following books recently posted:

Love Anthony: Congrats to: Ludy2288
Charlotte Street: Kimmi with the Penguin logo

If you are either Ludy2288 or Kimmi with the Penguin logo, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com to claim your book. Include your full name and mailing address so I can get your book to you! 

Thanks everyone, more books to come. Still dealing with some health issues with Luke and we have a neurology appointment coming up so please keep us in your thoughts! xo 

NEW TO BOOKING WITH MANIC?  

If you're new to Booking with Manic, thank you for stopping by! We love new readers! Some notes - If you're entering to win a book, please use an identifying name and it's usually a great idea to include an email, which I will never give out to anyone else. You can only enter once please. You'll need to check back here in about a week or so to see if you've won the book -- I will highlight the winner's name at the top of this post, or tell you where you can find the winner's name at the top of this post. Most books are supplied directly through publishers, publicists and the authors. Winners will receive books directly from the publisher or author within 3 weeks from the time you provide me with your address, unless I send you the book (sometimes I will). Sorry, but we can only ship to U.S. and Canada so if you're from another country, thank you for coming by to read and discover new authors, but we can't send you a book. Any questions on how I run the blog or suggestions on who you would like to see featured, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!