Tag Archives: SARAH PEKKANEN

Five in the Hive with Sarah Pekkanen

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by Malena Lott

We’re excited to share a new feature on books we’re buzzing about…Five in the Hive, and our first author is Sarah Pekkanen as we celebrate the release of her third novel, THESE GIRLS. Now, let’s put some honey in our tea and get busy…

Sarah…

1) In all seriousness, lipstick or lip gloss? Favorite brand?
Lip Gloss! I absolutely adore lip gloss and have tubes everywhere – in my car, my purse, my pockets (which is a problem when I do laundry and forget to check my jeans for any stray tubes!) My favorite is Lorac. They make this lip-plumping gloss that I’m mad for.

2) First book you fell in love with?
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. It didn’t feel like a book; reading it wasn’t work. It felt as if a good friend was telling me a wonderful story that I didn’t want to end.

3) Favorite “nearly peed in my pants from laughing” book?
Bridget Jones’s Diary. It was v.v. good.

4) Most unusual place you’ve ever written?
It’s probably a toss-up between a moving car – I was in the passenger’s seat – and at Chuck E. Cheese’s. I’m a former journalist, so the screams of glassy-eyed children at Chuck E. Cheese’s were oddly comforting to me – it sounded a lot like my former editors around deadline time! I can actually write anywhere and everywhere, and it’s easier for me to crack open my laptop in a strange place. If I went to a writer’s colony, and sat in a silent room working on my craft, I’d probably feel such pressure that I wouldn’t be able to write a single word! For me, writing comes the most easily when I don’t make it too precious or important.

5) Favorite, “forget the diet” dessert?
Anything involving chocolate. Maybe a bittersweet chocolate mousse, surrounded by chocolate-dipped strawberries. Mmm… (sounds of Sarah scrambling for car keys and peeling rubber as she heads to the nearest sweet shop).

About the book (from the publisher):
THESE GIRLS
Family secrets may shape us all, but it’s the rich, complicated layers of friendship that can save us.
Cate, Renee, and Abby have come to New York for very different reasons, and in a bustling city of millions, they are linked together through circumstance and chance.

Cate has just been named the features editor of Gloss, a high-end lifestyle magazine. It’s a professional coup, but her new job comes with more complications than Cate ever anticipated.

Her roommate Renee will do anything to nab the plum job of beauty editor at Gloss. But snide comments about Renee’s weight send her into an emotional tailspin. Soon she is taking black market diet pills—despite the racing heartbeat and trembling hands that signal she’s heading for real danger.

Then there’s Abby, whom they take in as a third roommate. Once a joyful graduate student working as a nanny part time, she abruptly fled a seemingly happy life in the D.C. suburbs. No one knows what shattered Abby—or why she left everything she once loved behind.

Pekkanen’s most compelling, true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate the complications of careers and love—and find the lifeline they need in each other.

I had the opportunity to read an advance of the book and since I’ve read all of Sarah’s books, I can say her fans will be pleased she continues to give us characters we can feel deeply about – and probably know someone in real life very like them. I was so hooked on Abby’s story that I found myself wanting to skip pages to get back to her. For me, Abby’s story was the most compelling, complicated -and yet also sweet – so I would’ve loved to see a whole novel devoted just to her storyline. Looking forward to the next.

Find out more about Sarah and her books at www.sarahpekkenan.com.

Side dish with author Sarah Pekkanen

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How NOT to take an author photo by Sarah Pekkanen
 
When it came time to take a photo for the jacket of my debut novel, The Opposite of Me, I figured I should do it right. Instead of having my husband snap a headshot with our cheap little camera, I hired a professional photographer. I asked her to come by one afternoon during a narrow sliver of time when I’d organized a baby-sitter for my baby and a Wii extravaganza for my older kids. I was showered (a minor triumph), mascara’d, and though I hadn’t managed to squeeze in a haircut or a trip to buy new Spanx, all things considered, I was feeling pretty triumphant about my grooming.
So there we were, me and the photographer, in my backyard, ready to take the picture that would proclaim to readers: See how friendly (but not too friendly, certainly not in a stalkerish way!) and smart (not too smart, though! No threats to you Mensa members here!) this author is? Isn’t her novel just leaping into your hands and compelling you to start reading it?
The problem was, it was hot outside. Brutally hot. And I was wearing a sweater (even I knew better than to trot out my usual summer uniform of slightly stained Old Navy t-shirts).
“Perch on this chair,” Hilary the photographer suggested.
I obligingly perched, smiled, and sweated while the camera clicked. After a few minutes, my thigh muscles complained about perching on the edge of a chair and suggested we all go inside for a little restorative chocolate treat.
“You don’t look comfortable,” she said. “Maybe a different outfit?”
I raced inside, changed, came back outside, and posed again.
“Hmm…” Hilary said. “I’m not sure that shirt is the right color for you.”
Since I know and trust Hilary – she shoots my photo for a magazine column I write – I dashed upstairs again to change. I tore through my closet, which was stuffed with shorts and t-shirts, maternity wear, and a few very outdated business suits. Where were all my clothes? My cute, trendy, flattering clothes? Did I really dress like this? The horror!
“Mom,” one of my kids whined, “can we have popcorn?”
“I’m having a photo shoot,” I said importantly. “You know, for my book.” The kid looked at me blankly.
“The Opposite of Me?” I said. “At bookstores everywhere? Didn’t Mommy teach you to say that whenever possible?”
“He bit me!” came an outraged wail.
“Stop fighting and I’ll take you to the pool in ten minutes,” I lied to my children, whose sense of time is seriously warped from scenarios just like this one.
“I’ve got to go,” the babysitter said apologetically. “I have another job to get to.”
“Let’s put the baby on a blanket outside,” I said desperately. “He can watch the photo shoot.”
“Did you powder your nose? You really should,” the photographer asked, clearly feeling this was no time for subtlety.
I powdered, brushed my hair, threw back my shoulders, and posed again.
“THARM alert!” The photographer shouted.
(A “Tharm” happens when you position your arm in such a way that it appears to be bigger than a typical arm — more like a thigh. Like the Ebola virus and men with bushy toupees, it is to be avoided at all costs).
I shifted, sweated, and posed. The baby rolled off the blanket into the grass. The older kids made popcorn themselves and doused it with a pound of butter. Was the baby rolling onto a bee? Why were the older kids being so quiet inside? And why didn’t I have cuter clothes? Wasn’t it bad enough that I drove a minivan?
“Smile!”
It was absolutely exhausting. And you know what? The tension showed in my face. I didn’t use the photos from that shoot, after all. Instead, I found an old shot Hilary had taken of me for my magazine column. I wasn’t wearing much makeup, and I wasn’t posing. I’d just moved in close to my sweet black Lab, Bella, to give her a cuddle, and I think my happiness of being near my dog showed. 

That’s the photo on the back cover of my book. 

Links:
www.sarahpekkanen.com
www.twitter.com/sarahpekkanen
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Pekkanen/215202723761?ref=ts

Thanks, Sarah. Babes, I read OPPOSITE last month and you’re in for a treat with this read. Grab a bottle of Middle Sister we wrote about yesterday and settle in to read this tale of fraternal twins and finding your grown up self.
BUY THE BOOK