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About the author: I am a Tennessean by birth, and have lived pretty much everywhere. My Dad always says that when I was born, and the doctor tried to slap me to make me cry, that I stood up on the table and slapped the doctor instead…and from then on, I never did anything that I didn't want to do.Luckily, what I want to do is write…and not carjacking or vandalism.
Like my main character, Ellie, I love making random lists…so here are some random facts about me:
-I'm nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other. The world looks like a fun-house mirror if I don't wear my glasses or contacts.
-I was almost kicked out of Graceland for using flash photography in the peacock-mirrored front room, and my tour group shunned me the entire rest of the tour. That made for a lonely trip through the Jungle Room.
-I was once mistaken for a member of Hanson…granted, they all had long hair at the time, but still….not what you wanna hear as a girl.
When I wrote That Time of the Month , I really saw it as though it was a movie. I can see every scene, every character and what they are wearing, every piece of pie, perfectly in my mind. I'm currently writing the sequel, That Time of the Year. I love the story and characters so much, that I am tempted to turn the series into a trilogy.
Connect with Emily
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyAShaffer
The plan seems simple but becomes complicated by a nosey best friend, a difficult roommate, a dreamy stranger, and a really bad ring. As the month progresses, Ellie must confront the realization that by deciding to focus on herself, she may have become completely self-centered.
Will she let her own ambitions, insecurities, and assumptions ruin her friendships and get in the way of a possible romance? Ruled by endless lists and fueled by several plates of pie, Ellie's comical thoughts and mishaps drive this story from the office to the coffee shop during a month that will leave her with a broken foot, a great pair of shoes, and a forever changed life.
Lights, Camera, Ellie…
Like any aspiring author, I like to daydream about the day I will become so successful that my novel is snatched up and turned into a huge Hollywood blockbuster. During those delightful delusions, I imagine the amazing and talented people who will bring my beloved characters to life.
Emma Stone, Kate Winslet, Jessica Biel…I have cast and re-cast the lead in my novel-turned-movie so many times, that I don't know how I could ever truly decide on a star. At first I thought it was because nobody could really capture the "Ellie" I had in my mind, but I soon realized that it was actually quite the opposite. There are lots of ladies that could play Ellie, because Ellie is the type of girl we have all been at one time or another.
She is funny and clumsy. She is a wallflower and the center of attention. She might be the prettiest girl in the room, or she might be the girl nobody would ever notice. She is scared and brave and a million other attributes. She is all of us. We've all had those moments where we say the exact wrong thing. We've all had a time where we have let down a friend and then tried to rectify our failings. We have all traveled to life's crossroads… unsure of where we are going, and where exactly it all started to go wrong.
So while I do have a couple of actresses in my mind who would be pretty great Ellie's, I think the right actress would be the one who read the book and saw herself on the pages.
Now, as for the casting of the dreamy Jeff…that is a whole different post…
Q. What inspires your writing? Many of my story ideas come from something that has happened in my life, and that event becomes a catalyst for the rest of the novel. My stories are fiction, with little pieces of my real life sprinkled throughout.
Q. What is your favorite thing about being an author? My main goal is to create something that makes people laugh. There is nothing that makes me smile more than when someone reads my book and tells me that they "laughed out loud" during it.
Q. What is the toughest part of being an author? Self-promotion can be daunting. It's so important to build a readership, and there are so many authors and books out there, that getting your own book noticed can be tough.
Q. Can you tell me a little about the inspiration behind your book cover(s)? My dear friend, Sarah Lepak, did a lot of proofreading when this book was still in the drafting stage. We met at a diner one night to discuss the story, and we had both ordered pie. She decided to commemorate the event by snapping a picture of our pie slices on top of the draft of my manuscript. A little Photoshopping of the title later, and my book cover was born.
Q. If you could not be author, what would you do/be? Being a writer is my dream job, and my second-place dream job is to be a Broadway baby. I love musicals, and I love to sing, so throw me on that stage and I would be a happy gal.
Q. What would the story of your life be entitled? "I Couldn't Make This Up If I Tried"
Q. What is your favorite book of all time? That is a very hard choice, but I really love A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Q. Which part of your book(s) was the easiest to write? All of the scenes where Ellie is embarrassing herself in a very public way were surprisingly easy to imagine and write.
Q. Which part of your book(s) was the hardest to write? I knew Ellie and her best friend were going to end up having some issues, and it was hard to write those scenes, because I do love their friendship so much.
Q. Which character from any book are you most like? One side of me relates to Eleanor from Sense and Sensibility. She spent most of her life doing what was expected of her, and keeping her feelings inside. The other side of me feels like Bridget Jones, who never does what she is expected to do, and cannot ever quite keep her thoughts to herself when she should.
Q. What is your favorite season? Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love the crisp and cool weather. It makes me want to bake something yummy and stay inside (reading and writing of course).
Q. Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book(s). The funniest thing to me, are the comments I have gotten from people who know me and should know whether something in the book is real. There have been several good friends who ask me about incidents in the book...thinking they are things I have actually done.
Q. Are you working on something new? I am currently working on a sequel to That Time of the Month, called That Time of the Year. I also have another novel I am close to finishing that is in the realm of more dramatic literary fiction.
Q. Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by? I really do appreciate every single person who has taken the time to read anything I have written, whether it is an interview, a post on a blog, or my novel. I'm so lucky to have anyone take a moment from their day to see what my writing is about. The people I have met during this process have been so incredibly helpful and supportive.
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