Summer Book Talk: Day 2 - Huntley Fitzpatrick

 Hello lovely readers! It is day 2 of the Summer Book Talk event, and what way to celebrate the summer season than with a book that is all about the beginning of a summer romance? This is why we've got Huntley Fitzpatrick with us today to talk about her debut book My Life Next Door. If you guys are looking for that book that you want to take with you to the pool or the beach, a book that just makes me feel good and happy? well this is the one! I'll leave the floor for Huntley, after an introduction, to discuss her book and then give you a chance to win an awesome swag pack! I am jealous of whoever gets to win it! 

Huntley Fitzpatrick grew up dreamy and distracted in coastal Connecticut, attended Concord Academy and Yale. She flourished in a family of bookworms where the library was always the most important room in the house. She kept an exhaustively thorough journal which frightened her boyfriends but has proved very useful in her career as a writer. Her debut contemporary Romance, MY LIFE NEXT DOOR, will be published in June of 2012 by Penguin-Dial for Young Readers. Now she laughs with and eavesdrops on her six children who provide her with perspective and material. She is represented by the amazing Christina Hogrebe of the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over. 

1. Describe your book in three words
 Summer, True love 


2. What inspired you to write a contemporary, especially one with hot neighbors ;) ? 
I read dystopian and paranormal, but I am pretty fascinated by the here and now. I was a watcher and a dreamer as a teenager, and I kept waiting for that hot neighbor! Sometimes you have to compensate fictionally. 


3. When did you realize that you wanted to be a writer? 
 When I was five and my father read my Charlotte’s Web. The ending broke my heart, so with one stroke of a pencil, he changed it to dry my tears. And I realized that if you were a writer, you could just do that. Change things. Give things the ending you really wanted. 




4. Do you base your writing on your own past experiences? 
Yes and no. No one in My Life Next Door is directly taken from anyone in my real life. George bears a certain resemblance to my son. Andy has some moments taken from the experiences of several of my daughters. I knew a Tim or two. And I have been lucky enough to always love boys as kind and thoughtful and funny as Jase. But they are all, by and large, fictional. 


5. Where do you usually like to write or read? Provide photos if possible.
I have a desk, but inspiration generally strikes when I am in the car, or on the beach or somewhere where I have to scribble down notes in lipstick on the back of a random receipt. 


6. What are some of your favorite books you’ve read recently? 
Kristan Higgin’s Somebody To Love, Amber Dermont’s The Starboard Sea


 7. Any favorite movies and shows? Do you get any inspiration from them? 
I always lose the Fight for the Clicker so I don’t watch many shows. I did completely fall for Downton Abbey, though. I mostly get inspiration from just things I see in passing—I’m a huge people watcher. Part of what inspired My Life Next Door was watching a boy and a girl laughing and teasing one another in Boston Common a few summers ago. He was holding her purse so he could take a picture of her, and the way they were so comfortable with one another made its way into Sam and Jase’s relationship. 

      

8. What is one thing that you can’t do without when you’re writing? Music, a cup of tea?
Iced tea. I drink it all year round and am completely fussy about everything from the lemon slice to the ice cubes. I’m generally not high-maintenance at all, but with regard to tea I even scare myself with my persnickety-ness. (Is that a word?) 




9. How is the writing process for you? Do you sit and write until you are out of ideas or do you set a schedule for yourself? 
I set a schedule, but break out of it all the time. The one rule I never break is that I have to write SOMETHING every single day. I try to write all day when the kids are at school (more of a challenge during summer) but when things are going well I write at odd hours of the night as well, and dash up during dinner, etc, to make a note. When things aren’t flowing, I interrupt myself a lot to do the household chores I generally prefer to neglect. 

10. What are your plans for the next book? Different genre? A standalone, or a series? 
The next book is already signed, and so far scheduled for summer of 2013. It is a standalone, but set in the same general locale as My Life Next Door. The quick description is that it’s about 17-year-old Gwen Castle, whose Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, is slumming it on her small summer-community Island this year. He’s a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay and she hails from a family of housecleaners and fisherman who keep the Summer Folk happy. She thought she’d be able to forget him and the Incident that drove them apart over the school year, but now here he is, all summer long, right in front of her. 

Huntley has graciously offered this awesome swag pack for one lucky reader! I know you all want! So fill the rafflecopter below for a chance to win this swag! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to come back for the rest of the days in the Summer Book Talk event! As for today, we've also got a paranormal author interview at Anja's blog and a dystopian author interview at Amber's blog! Be sure to head over there! 

We've got an interview with a publicist from  St. Martin's press. Get a glimpse on the publicity world of book publishing and also some fun and quirky info about the publicist! Also a chance to win all of Amanda Hocking's novels! So be sure to check it out! All you have to do is click on the button on the right

At Amber's side, We've got a guest post done by myself that discusses female protagonists in dystopian novels! What do you think about them? Head on over there for great discussions and interactions! Also be sure to check out the previous days of this event! All you have to do is click on the button on the right