Yea! My favorite day of the week – Saturday – made even better with our Summer Sizzle series featuring four fab authors and their new books! Today, we’ve got Jenny Nelson under the shade tree with us talking about GEORGIA’S KITCHEN. *pours peach tea for each of us* What’s your favorite summer activity and favorite summer destination?

There are so many things I love to do in the summer — gardening, biking, going to outdoor concerts and catching summer flicks are a few of my favorites, but there’s nothing I love more than a sunny afternoon around the pool with good food and good friends. Give me a barbecue, some burgers (veggie for me), fresh corn, a couple salads, my wonderful daughters and husband, throw in another family or two – and ice cream, of course – and I’m the happiest gal in the world.

As for a destination, this year I spent a couple days in Santa Barbara, which was really amazing. The beaches are lovely, though the water is way too cold for me!

Tell us briefly about the writing process for this book.

When I was in high school I enrolled in a summer-long creative writing program taught by Michael Cunningham, a terrific teacher and a phenomenal writer. By the end of the program, I promised myself that “one day” I’d write a novel. I continued writing short stories throughout college and after, the idea of writing a full-on novel still bouncing around my brain. It wasn’t until my daughters were about two that I decided to do something about it. I’d left my job to be a stay-at-home mom, and it seemed like the perfect time to try my hand at that novel. I’ve always been fascinated by chefs and restaurants and how a calm, well-run dining room reflects none of the chaos taking place in the cramped, hot kitchen just inches away. As my ideas about my book and Georgia and who she was began to crystallize, I knew that she had to be a chef. No other career encapsulated who she was in quite the same way.

I enrolled in a writing class where I wrote the first chapter of what became Georgia’s Kitchen (which I basically scrapped in my next go round). I took another class, feeling that I needed the structure and the deadlines, but when I’d written 50 pages or so I decided to continue writing on my own. I’d write during the day, when my kids were in preschool, or when my sitter was with them, or at night, if I was working out an important scene. I finished the first draft and let it sit for a few weeks and then did a total revise, and then another and another. Finally, I realized that I could spend the rest of my life revising this one novel and if I ever wanted to see it published, I needed to start submitting to agents. I enjoyed the agent process, because it felt like I was being pro-active with my book, getting it out there instead of holing up with my laptop and fixing a scene or two here, a sentence or two there (which can be addictive). Soon after, I found my agent and then began the revision process anew. At long last, the manuscript was ready and we sold it to Pocket Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, which is now called Gallery Books. And here we are!

We’re ready to have a pool party with your characters. Give us your main character’s names and a one-line definition for us to get to know them at our pool party.

Gianni: Drop-dead sexy in that effortless Italian way, wearing stylish Vilbrequin trunks and no shirt to show off his perfectly bronzed body; walking around with a bottle of rose in hand, offering the other guests “a splash of vino.”

Glenn: The good-looking guy (might he have been a J Crew model?) wearing the slim, navy trunks, now engaged in a cannonball contest (he’s winning, of course) with a bunch of brand-new buds, splashing everyone within 20 feet.

Georgia: With her dark-brown curly hair pulled back in a bun, her green eyes rolling ever so slightly behind tortoise-shell shades as Glenn does yet another cannonball into the pool, Georgia expertly works the barbecue, flipping burgers with a barely perceptible flick of her wrist, and wishing Gianni would bring that bottle of rose her way.

Vanessa: Her face shiny with sweat, Vanessa plates burgers and grilled chicken while stealing furtive glances at the pack of Reds someone’s left on the table, wondering about the harm in having “just one cigarette,” and also where that cute Ricky guy is.

Ricky: With floppy blond hair falling in his face and a tattoo that looks like a pot leaf, but on closer inspection turns out be a basil leaf, on his right shoulder, Ricky mans the iPod, starting up his air guitar as the first few notes of Hot for Teacher blast from the speakers.

Claudia: Stretched out on an inflatable lounge chair, Claudia floats around the pool, a serene smile on her face, a bump in her belly, an icy lemonade in the cup holder and not a care in the world.

Sergio: His nose is buried in a book, but he’s read the same sentence at least ten times; he can’t remember where he left his smokes and is beginning to jones.

Clem: With a floppy red hat covering her fair, freckled face, Clem’s slathered in sunscreen and holding court at an umbrella-d table, sharing one of her trademark “all true, swear” tales with a rapt audience.

Lo: Under an umbrella, wearing giganto black shades, her fingers and toes painted the same almost-black, listening to her own iPod (who decided to play Van Halen?) as her belly rumbles with hunger.

I do feel like I know them better now! Can’t wait to read them in action in your book. Book End Babes is all about girlfriends and great reads. What are some of the themes we could explore in your book?

Love, friendship, family, intergenerational conflict, self-discovery, learning to appreciate what you have instead of dwelling on what you don’t, holding out for your dreams.

What is a “must read” book in your beach bag this summer?

There are so many. The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen, Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead, The Girl Who Played With Fire (loved the first) by Steig Larsson, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, One Day by David Nicholls.

BUY THE BOOK

Jenny, thank you for taking time out to chat with us. Babes, leave a comment before Friday on this post for a chance to win a copy of GEORGIA’S KITCHEN.