I had so much fun taking over my publisher’s (Little, Brown’s) Instagram page last Thursday, two days after my book, The Wedding Thief, came out. It was great connecting with readers and with other authors about the book and about writing in general. The post that got the most views was a photo of a manuscript page from an early draft. There were notes in the margin (through the comments function in Word), notes in pen, and notes on yellow stickies. As I explained in the post, that page didn’t even make it into the finished book. Between that version and the final, the manuscript went on a diet and lost 90 pages! A lot of weight to lose, but definitely … Read more
I had a nice chat about my new book, The Wedding Thief, with John Valeri for his show, Central Booking. John, formerly of the Hartford Books Examiner, asked a lot of great questions about the book and about my circuitous route to a fiction writing career (journalist, lawyer, author). Sometimes I wonder how many books I would have written if I’d gone straight into writing novels and hadn’t worked in magazine publishing or the law. But I think those experiences were necessary for me to get where I needed to go. Maybe I wouldn’t have been ready to be a fiction writer earlier in my life. I certainly don’t regret the time I spent doing other things. I met wonderful … Read more
When Sara Harrington of The Wedding Thief arrives at her childhood home in Connecticut one July day, she’s greeted by this picturesque driveway, complete with a horse barn and day lilies bowing over the stone wall. I would love to have grown up in a home that had this driveway and barn – which is probably why I was attracted to this photo and used it as inspiration for where the Harrington sisters grew up and where their mother still lives. This property is located in Litchfield County, Connecticut.
This beautiful home is where Sara, the main character in my novel, The Wedding Thief, grew up. Well, not really. This house, located in an idyllic area of northwestern Connecticut, was owned for many years by the actor Denis Leary and his wife, Ann. I used this photo of the house as inspiration for the Harrington family home. I re-imagined the inside to suit my needs for the story, but stuck pretty closely to the look of the house’s facade and surrounding grounds when describing the place where Sara grew up. It’s to this home where Sara returns in the opening chapter of the novel.
Costco’s book buyer, Pennie Clark Ianniciello, has chosen The Wedding Thief as her “Pennie’s Pick” for July. Look for an article about me and the book in July’s Coscto Connection newsletter. If you don’t receive the paper version, you can view the magazine on line here. And remember to go to Costco and pick up a copy of the book – or two two or three or . . . .
I’m very excited about the cover of my new novel, The Wedding Thief, and the lovely blurb written by James Patterson. The book is being published by Little, Brown and will be out in July of 2020. The story is about two sisters in love with the same man. One is about to marry him; the other is about to sabotage the wedding. Imagine the possibilities …. It’s not the book I originally planned to write, though. In fact, I was several months into working on a completely different novel when I decided it wasn’t coming together the way I wanted it to. So I shelved it and began something new, which turned out to be The Wedding Thief.
A friend once asked if I had trouble letting go of a book when I knew I was getting to the end of writing it. I’ve only written three books (I’m now tying up some loose ends on my third), but I didn’t hesitate for a second before saying, “No!” When I’m getting to the end I can’t wait to be done and move on to the next project. Getting to the end means I’ve already gone through several rewrites, so by that time I’m tired of the manuscript. More than tired of it. And that’s before my editor even sees it. She’ll have comments and suggestions which will strengthen the story, but it means more revisions. It’s all worth … Read more
Interview with a Writer’s Assistant
We recently sat down for a candid interview with Cinnamon, a Tonkinese cat who is the assistant to author Mary Simses.
Why don’t you tell us about your job?
I’m underpaid, unglorified, and underappreciated. What else do you want to know?
There’s nothing that makes me feel more like a kid in a candy store than being in a bookstore or in any store that sells books. I love having a stockpile of books on my night table, and even when I’m knee-deep in writing my own book, as I am now, I need to have a book to read. And yes, I did buy a couple of books the day this picture was taken.
Full disclosure: I’m not that big of a fan of Ernest Hemingway’s writing, but I find him a fascinating person. Everyone Behaves Badly is an intriguing and well written book about Hemingway in Paris in the 1920’s, and the lead-up to the writing and publication of The Sun Also Rises, his first novel. It’s a look into how ambitious Hemingway was in his desire to become a successful published author and how his style – spare, lean, direct, and the opposite of what was being published at the time – took the literary world by storm. I’ve read other books about Hemingway, including The Paris Wife, which I also enjoyed, so I had an idea of what the Paris years … Read more