Making FRIENDS with Holly Chamberlin this SUMMER...plus a book giveaway!

By Melissa Patafio

**Giveaway is now closed**

Holly Chamberlin, author of "Summer Friends" (pub date 6/28), is visiting us at Chick Lit Central today! The New York City gal graciously took some time to chat with us about how she likes to spend her down time, getting through writer's block, and how she ended up in Maine. Read on to find out more about Holly and we hope you will enjoy "meeting" her as much as we did!

Holly is giving away a copy of the newly re-issued "The Summer of Us" (complete with interview and reading group guide) and a copy of "Summer Friends" (complete with interview and reading group guide, as well) as a pair to one lucky reader in the US or Canada.

If you like what you read today, visit her on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out her blog.


What is your usual writing routine?

My writing routine isn’t set in stone, though sometimes I think that it should be. Generally, the first hours of the day involve kitty care, kitchen clean up, other daily household chores, and then checking email and reading the news online. Only then do I turn to work, which on any given day can involve research, editing, and writing. Some days include a nap; after this break I seem to be super productive for a solid hour or two. I refuse to work in the evenings. Working from home requires the setting of boundaries between the business and the personal life. And then there are the days when any sort of writing schedule is disrupted by, say, a doctor’s appointment or a visit from an out-of-town friend or family member. It can be hard to get back into a productive routine, even when the disruption is a pleasant one. One day ‘off’ can prove disastrous.

How do you like to spend your time when you are not writing?

When I’m not writing – i.e., working – I read, watch certain television shows (I’m currently into AUCTION HUNTERS and am addicted to FAMILY GUY, THE OFFICE, and SEINFELD), keep the three storey house in order (no mean feat), and read some more. The most important thing I do when both working and not working, is spend quality time with my cats. I am typing these answers with one hand as I’m holding Cyrus on my lap with the other.

Do you ever suffer from "writer's block"? If so, how do you remedy it?

Writer’s block is all too real. In my experience, the only way to hold back the panic is to read as much as possible until the block crumbles. If words keep pouring into my brain, eventually some of them will form themselves into thoughts appropriate to my story and force themselves out through my fingers. Weird.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

I don’t like to travel anymore, for a variety of reasons, but if those reasons didn’t exist and I had lots of money, I would go back to Ireland and Rome, finally explore England and Scotland, and visit Vienna.

If you were not a writer, what would you do?

If I weren’t a writer and an editor, I would love to be a painter. As it is, I can’t draw a straight line so maybe I would be a professor of European painting or English history. When I was little, I wanted to be an archaeologist when I grew up, but later realized I couldn’t have long nails on a dig so that dream went bust.

If "Summer Friends" were made into a movie, who would you like to see in the lead roles?

Tough question. I love Michelle Williams, so maybe she could play a college aged Maggie. Otherwise, I’d leave casting decisions to the experts. If there were a role for Colin Firth, however, I would beg for him to be hired.

You grew up in New York and then moved to Boston, so how did you end up in Portland, Maine?

The short answer to how a New York City gal ended up in Maine is – love. I left NY in 1996 to marry Stephen, who lived in Boston. In 2003, we moved to Maine. Life is full of surprises! Now, my New York City gal mother lives down the block from us. She still doesn’t quite know how that happened.


What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing "Summer Friends"?

This is an interesting question because for reasons I still can’t entirely understand I had a terribly tough time writing SUMMER FRIENDS. I spent what seemed like endless hours rewriting every single line and often despaired at being able to produce a coherent story. A friend suggested that maybe it wasn’t the right time for me to be telling that particular story, which idea gave me pause. I still don’t know the reasons behind my distress, but my editor thinks that SUMMER FRIENDS is the best book yet so . . .

Do you always know how a story will end when you start writing it? Or does the ending change as you go?

Yes, I always know how the story will end, but what I don’t know, in spite of plotting and outlining ahead of time, is exactly how that ending will come about. The characters reveal themselves to me as I write and so their stories change and develop. Evolution or creation is a hard process to describe.

What songs are on your playlist right now?

I don’t have an iPod, so I don’t have an actual playlist. I like blues and jazz, the music of Frank Sinatra, Madeleine Peyroux, Jane Monheit, Diana Krall, Amy Winehouse, Adele, and other singers and musicians like them. I have little idea about what’s going on in the world of rock, rap, pop, etc.

Thanks again to Holly for chatting with us today and for giving away her books at CLC!

How to win "The Summer of Us" and "Summer Friends":
Please comment below with your e-mail address.
(Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: Would you ever (or have you ever) relocated for love? (Or, why do you live in your current city/state/province?)
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.)Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

US/Canada only. Giveaway ends June 21st (First day of summer) at midnight EST.

More by Holly Chamberlin: