What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The Latecomers Fan Club was published in November 2013.
What’s the book’s first line?
“Abby had to work on New Year’s Eve.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
What is it about guys with guitars in their hands that makes them so irresistible, even when they are obviously self-centered jerks? If Abby and Maggie could answer that question, maybe they could finally get over Nathaniel. There’s just something about him when he picks up his guitar and gets behind the microphone, something that makes sensible women act like teenyboppers instead of rational, self-respecting adults.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
This book, like my first book, was born when I tried to put myself into what I considered a nightmare situation. In this case, the nightmare I imagined was, “What if I got divorced, had no job, and had to move back in with my mother?” I am neither divorced nor have I lived with my parents since graduating from college, and both of those things filled me with dread, so I explored that situation.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
There are three protagonists in this novel, and it alternates point-of-view. Maggie and Nathaniel are both thirty-something dreamers and Abby is a twenty-something with a level head, except when it comes to romance. I have tried to make them all real and multidimensional like the Bravermans on NBC’s Parenthood.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
My motto is that I write beach-reads for smart women, so if you are a smart woman seeking a book that will entertain while going beyond the easy answers to life’s big questions, this book is for you.
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