Kim Hooper's Blog, page 31

Cherry Blossoms: Reviews, blurbs, and other happenings

We are getting closer to publication day–October 30! I wanted to share some early reviews that have been rolling in, as well as blurbs from some authors many of you may know.

Just in: Publishers Weekly reviewed Cherry Blossoms yesterday:

“Hooper gives familiar themes of loss and redemption fresh and inviting life in her entertaining second novel… Readers will enjoy riding alongside this vivid protagonist to the end.”

Foreword Reviews sent us an advance proof of the review that will run in their November/December issue:

“Introspective chapters [that are] sometimes darkly comic, sometimes wrenching, consider the nature of long-term love, guilt, and the shaping of memory…In its clearest, most beautiful passages, the book accumulates details of [a] couple’s early joy… Cherry Blossoms interrogates what it means to face uncertainty.”

The Literary Word had this to say:

“A simply stunning read! This novel grabs your attention and won’t let go. It’s fascinating, heartfelt, intense, unforgettable, and there is so much info regarding Japanese culture that really adds something to the reading experience. This was my first time reading a Kim Hooper book and I can’t wait to see what she writes next…”

And I’m so grateful to these fellow authors who took the time to read my book and share their thoughts:

“Kim Hooper’s talent is spirited, at times breathtaking, and at the height of its bloom. Cherry Blossoms is a lovely meditation on loss, renewal and the ephemeral nature of life. I just loved it.”

-Steven Rowley, author of Lily and the Octopus

“Heartfelt, deliciously funny and compulsively readable, Cherry Blossoms is a profound meditation on grief and the crazy beautiful mess of our most intimate relationships. Kim Hooper writes with deep humanity and pitch perfect dialogue, leaving us cheering for her characters as they grapple with their complex pasts and uncertain futures.”

-Tracy Barone, author of Happy Family

“This gorgeous, full-hearted novel skillfully cuts to the heart of love and loss—and what’s left to live for. With her raw insights, sharp dialogue and quick-witted gallows humor, Kim Hooper has quickly become one of my must-read authors.”

-Colleen Oakley, author of Before I Go and Close Enough to Touch

“With compassion and poignancy, Kim Hooper’s engaging new novel follows a depressed copywriter in the months before he plans to end it all. Part mystery, with a dash of travel guide, and a hearty splash of dark humor, Cherry Blossoms is an adventure I won’t soon forget.”

-Shari Goldhagen, author of 100 Days of Cake and Family and Other Accidents

“Cherry Blossoms is a captivating tale concerned with the age-old themes of love and loss. Kim Hooper manages to take us both sky-high, across an ocean, and down into the depths of our most closely-held thoughts and desires. I was hooked the entire way.”

-Kemper Donovan, author of The Decent Proposal

Other news:

We Heart Writing published a post I wrote about rethinking “women’s fiction”
I’m organizing a launch event at Laguna Beach Books on November 4
I will be at the Newport Beach Public Library as part of their Author Lecture series on November 17

If you haven’t preordered Cherry Blossoms yet, do it!

Amazon ~ IndieBound ~ Barnes&Noble

The post Cherry Blossoms: Reviews, blurbs, and other happenings appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

The joys of research: An ode to the Internet

When I started writing my first novels (back in the 20th century–ha), the Internet was in its infancy. Google was not the preferred search engine. Anyone remember AltaVista? Those were the days. Except they weren’t. Not for a writer in need of easy research.

I used to go to the library to do research for my stories. I remember spending many days of one summer at the library on the campus of California State University, Northridge. I brought my spiral-bound notebook and parked myself at a table until the sun went down. In retrospect, it all seems so charming and romantic. But, it was very time-consuming. Many days I would come home and remember something else I wanted to look up, which meant another trip to the library.

Now, of course, the Internet is a beast. All you have to do is type a query into a search bar and you get pages and pages of results. You can disappear down rabbit holes for hours–days!–at a time. I’ve heard writers talk about how their quest for information begins to overtake their stories. Suddenly, they are more obsessed with gathering facts than with developing their characters. There’s just so much out there.

All of my books have involved some research. I’m still a fan of reading actual books on topics, but the Internet comes in very handy. I haven’t been to a library for research purposes in a very long time.

Cherry Blossoms is the most research-heavy book I’ve written. I read lots of books (this one was a favorite), and I traveled to Japan, but I also relied heavily on the Internet. In fact, I’m not sure the book would be what it is without the Internet. There’s just no way I would have had access to knowledge of certain things without it.

Here are a few interesting factoids I found while doing research for Cherry Blossoms:

In a survey of international students, 86% of young Americans believed that the 21st century offers them hope; only 34% of young Japanese agreed
Japan used to have a system of lifetime employment, which disallowed layoffs; poor workers were sent to “banishment rooms” with minimal work responsibilities until they became so disheartened that they quit
A Japanese official proposed distributing secretly punctured condoms to young married couples to help boost the birth rate

Those tidbits (and many more) are in the book. What’s interesting about this book is that the character himself is doing research about Japan as he prepares to go there. That means that much of my research as the author becomes transparent. Usually, when I’m researching for a book, my findings are integrated into the story in a subtle way. The reader probably isn’t (and shouldn’t) be aware of the behind-the-scenes digging that goes into a certain story line. With this book, the process of discovery–mine and the main character’s–is obvious. And it’s my hope that the process of discovery for the reader is nothing short of enjoyable.

Cherry Blossoms will be released on October 30, but you can pre-order now. Like, right now: Amazon ~ IndieBound ~ Barnes&Noble

The post The joys of research: An ode to the Internet appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

Why I wrote a book about a guy who wants to kill himself

At the end of the “Parts Unknown” Berlin episode, Anthony Bourdain quoted Samuel Beckett: “You must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” Except he didn’t go on. Shortly before this episode aired, he hung himself in a French hotel room.

I read Kitchen Confidential a few years after it was published and became an immediate fan of Bourdain. I was thankful for the invention of the DVR so I wouldn’t miss any episodes of his shows. I didn’t like him because of his cooking and adventurous eating; I’m a pretty dull vegetarian (Bourdain once said vegetarians are “the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit,” though I do wonder if his recent interest in environmentalism changed his opinion). I never aspired to travel the planet like him; I get anxiety just flying to the east coast. What drew me to him was his way with words and his “give no f***s” attitude. He always did things his way. I never thought him doing things his way would end like this.

His suicide came shortly after Kate Spade’s. I’m about as familiar with fashion as I am with the intricacies of braising short ribs, but I still found myself scouring the Internet for information about Spade. I scrolled through photos of her with her husband and daughter. I refreshed the news sites to see if there were any more details about what had happened–was she home alone? Did she leave a note? Were there marital problems? For some reason, I had to know. I had to understand.

That’s the thing about suicide–it leaves those left behind desperate to understand. We want some clues into the despair that leads to this. We want to know how to stop the despair if we feel it ourselves, or if we see it in our loved ones. We want there to be some reason, something that will make us say, “Oh, well, that makes sense then.” Often, there is no such conclusion to be had.

I’ve been trying to think of the appropriate word to describe my relationship with suicide. Is it fascination? Obsession? It started in high school. A classmate’s father killed himself and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I didn’t know the classmate well. His father had been the chaperone on one of our Sierra Club hiking trips and he seemed like a completely normal guy. He reminded me of my own dad. Then he jumped off a parking garage (or, at least, that was the rumor; there was no Google back then, no rabbit hole dug by morbid curiosity). I remember going to bed at night, picturing him at the top of that parking garage, pondering the jump. I remember wondering how his loved ones would ever get that image out of their minds.

I struggled with depression through adolescence and into young adulthood. There were times I hated being alive, but I never wanted to die. Maybe that explains my fascination/obsession. I knew the darkness of depression, but I’d never pondered taking my own life. Where was the line between the two? Was I close to it? Would I know if I was? More importantly, if I crossed the line, would I be able to go back?

Photo: WeHeartIt

I have eight months to live.

That’s the line that kept nagging me and led me to start writing Cherry Blossoms back in 2009. The character saying the line was a guy named Jonathan. He had a plan: He was going to quit his job and, when his money ran out, kill himself. That’s all I knew. I didn’t know his motivations. I didn’t know if he would go through with it. I think I wrote the book to discover those things. I think I wrote the book as a way to put myself on the ledge and see if I could turn around. Hindsight being 20/20, I see why I set the book aside for several years. I was going through my own dark night of the soul and I couldn’t figure out Jonathan’s story until I’d figured out my own.

I did a lot of research about suicide while writing Cherry Blossoms. I read through notes left by those who took their own lives. I looked up rates by gender, race, country.  Through all the research, I think I was hoping to find that thing to explain it, the same thing I was looking for online in the days after the deaths of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade. I have yet to find any one thing to explain it. What I’ve found is human suffering that feels, to the sufferer, insurmountable. What I’ve found is that many of us feel this suffering, to different degrees. What I’ve found is that we are all connected that way, though many of us continue to feel completely alone.

There is still too much stigma in our society about mental health issues. People are still shy about admitting they see a therapist. Taking medication is often seen as a sign of weakness, not strength. That needs to change. My own little offering is a book featuring someone who is struggling. My hope is that I’ve created a character who feels like a real person, a guy you would meet in the break room at work or in the grocery store checkout line. My hope is that by sharing his innermost thoughts–the funny ones, as well as the ugly ones–someone out there will feel less alone. That’s what reading is about, after all–connection.

Cherry Blossoms comes out on October 30. I will be donating a portion of my proceeds from the sale of the book to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).

 

** IMPORTANT **

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, there is help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text “Talk” to 741741. They’re available 24/7 and it’s all confidential. Don’t give up.

The post Why I wrote a book about a guy who wants to kill himself appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

Advance copies are in!

At the beginning of 2018, I flirted with the idea of making a resolution to post here at least once a week. I’m glad I did not make this resolution, as I would have failed miserably. It’s been nearly 2 months since I last wrote. My reasons are not unique; I’m working full time and I have an infant. The other day, I put a dirty onesie in the dishwasher. So, yeah.

The arrival of advance copies of Cherry Blossoms is what triggered my memory of this blog. Then I had to go and find my login information because I really did not remember it.

Advance copies go out to reviewers, usually months in advance so they have time to read and decide if they want to give the book any coverage. For me, the advance copies are almost more exciting than the final product. Up until this point, I’ve thought of the book as a file on my computer. With the advance copies, I get to hold A REAL BOOK. I really love this story. I’m so glad it’s making its way into the world.

You can pre-order here. It comes out as a hardcover, paperback, and e-book on October 30! That’s less than 6 months away!

The post Advance copies are in! appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

Throwback Thursday: The AAUW Literary Luncheon

On March 10, I had the honor of speaking at the AAUW Literary Luncheon in Laguna Beach. I’m always a big ball of anxiety leading up to these events, even though I end up having a great time. I never learn.

With Elizabeth Letts, Annabelle Gurwitch, and Kathryn Slattery (one of the event organizers).

My fellow authors included Elizabeth Letts, New York Times bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, and Annabelle Gurwitch, hilarious author of books like You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up and Wherever You Go, There They Are. They both gave great talks and I nearly cried in mine (oversensitive new mom alert). You can watch/listen here:

The AAUW is an awesome organization supporting equity and education for women and girls. You can learn more here. If you’re interested in joining the Laguna Beach chapter, click here.

The post Throwback Thursday: The AAUW Literary Luncheon appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

Drumroll, please. Book #2 cover is here!

I am so excited to share the cover for book #2!

The release date for Cherry Blossoms is October 30. It will come out as a hardcover, paperback, and e-book on the same day so you can take your pick.

Here’s the official synopsis (I consider it “official” when it’s on Amazon):

From the author of the critically-acclaimed debut People Who Knew Me comes the story of one man’s determination to abandon his will to live.

Jonathan Krause is a man with a plan. He is going to quit his advertising job and, when his money runs out, he is going to die. He just has one final mission: A trip to Japan. It’s a trip he was supposed to take with his girlfriend, Sara. It’s a trip inspired by his regrets. And it’s a trip to pay homage to the Japanese, the inventors of his chosen suicide technique.

In preparation for his final voyage, Jonathan enrolls in a Japanese language class where he meets Riko, who has her own plans to visit her homeland, for very different reasons. Their unexpected and unusual friendship takes them to Japan together, where they each struggle to make peace with their past and accept that happiness, loneliness, and grief come and go—just like the cherry blossoms.

Haunted by lost love, Jonathan must decide if he can embrace the transient nature of life, or if he must choose the certainty of death.

And here you can watch a little video of me in my backyard talking about the book:

The post Drumroll, please. Book #2 cover is here! appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

My favorite female authors

In honor of International Women’s Day, I wanted to share some of my favorite contemporary female authors. Who are your favorites?

Here they are (from top, left to right), along with the books that made me love them:

Maggie O’Farrell–After You’d Gone; The Hand That First Held Mine; I Am, I Am, I Am

Liane Moriarty–What Alice Forgot; Big Little Lies; The Husband’s Secret

Maile Meloy–Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

Janet Fitch–White Oleander

Colleen Oakley–Close Enough to Touch; Before I Go

Lily King–Euphoria

Marisha Pessl–Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Jenny Offill–Dept. of Speculation

Lionel Shriver–We Need to Talk About Kevin

Rufi Thorpe–The Girls From Corona Del Mar

Meg Wolitzer–The Interestings; The Ten-Year Nap

Jhumpa Lahiri–
Caroline Leavitt–Pictures of You; Cruel Beautiful World

Edan Lepucki–California

Celeste Ng–Everything I Never Told You; Little Fires Everywhere

Gabrielle Zevin–The Storied Life of AJ Firky

Maria Semple–Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Jacquelyn Mitchard–The Deep End of the Ocean

Donna Tartt–The Goldfinch; The Secret History

Tracy Barone–Happy Family

Nicole Krauss–History of Love

Emily St. John Mandel–Station Eleven

Evie Wyld–All the Birds, Singing

Miriam Toews–All My Puny Sorrows

**On a related note, I am speaking at the AAUW Literary Luncheon in Laguna Beach this Saturday. You can find more information here. Call 949-494-5789 to find out if seats are still available**

The post My favorite female authors appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

When the muse drops by and you’re like, “I’m busy”

Most creative types know that a visit from the ever-elusive muse is a welcome and wonderful thing. You can’t always control when inspiration strikes. It comes and you take advantage of it because you don’t know when it will come again.

Unless you’re busy.

Then it might not be realistic to strike while the proverbial iron is hot. Then you might have to put inspiration on hold and tell the muse, “Rain check?”

This is how I picture my muse. Source: Popperfoto / Getty Images

In the first few months of motherhood, there were no visits from the muse. I was entirely consumed with my tiny human. I am still consumed with her, but we are no longer total strangers to each other. I can read her better; she can read me better. We have a good thing going. As we’ve settled into a bit of a routine (I stress the words “a bit”), the muse has come a-knockin’. And, more often than not, I have to take that rain check.

Not surprisingly, I don’t have the time I used to have. When I return to my full-time job in a couple weeks, I’ll have even less. This means I’m learning to be comfortable with not having the same opportunities for flow (oh, flow, I miss you). My writing life has become…choppy, for lack of a better word. A little writing here, a little there; a whole lot of Post-its and notes in my phone. It’s less organized and focused than I would like, but this is the phase of life I’m in.

If you’re also too busy for your muse, here are some tips that have helped me:

Take Post-its everywhere. Write down ideas and notes. It will keep your mind clear and your inspiration fresh. Alternatively, you can use the Notes app in your phone, but I find writing things down imprints them on the brain better
Make smaller goals. Instead of, “Finish short story this week,” make a goal of “write X words this week” (pick something manageable). It’s best to underestimate your abilities at first. That way, endeavors feel like successes instead of failures
Pick a task that aligns well with your current schedule. For example, I get very small chunks of time to work and I’ve noticed that jives well with editing projects. So, I’ve been digging up incomplete novels and stories and working on those. At some point, I’ll embark on a brand new novel, but I don’t know when. Maybe when my kid is 18
Keep a journal. Sometimes, it helps to just write SOMETHING. If you’re feeling mentally backed up and you have all kinds of ideas you want to get to, just write about that. It will ease the anxiety
Read. I can usually find pockets of time to read, like before bed or at various times in the middle of the night when the baby wants to eat. Just a few minutes of escape into another world via reading can help keep the creative juices flowing
Go easy on yourself and remember life is all about phases. I get impatient sometimes because I want to write NOW. There’s a sense of urgency because I don’t know how long the inspiration will last. I fear I’ll lose it if I don’t act on it. But I’ve learned that the really compelling ideas, the “sticky” ideas, will be there waiting when you are ready. My next book, Cherry Blossoms, is a good example. I started writing that book 9 years ago, set it aside for years, and then picked it back up and finished it this past year. It’s obvious to me now that I was meant to finish it when I did. I wasn’t ready to finish it 9 years ago

Speaking of Cherry Blossoms, I’ll have more to share in the next month or two. I should be seeing the cover art soon–so exciting!

The post When the muse drops by and you’re like, “I’m busy” appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

The beat goes on

The little one is napping, so here I am. One of the most humbling things about motherhood (and there are lots of humbling things) is admitting that I have so much less control over my schedule. I used to pride myself on my productivity. I would wake up with a specific to-do list and if I did not accomplish everything on that list, I was agitated. I still make a list (weekly, not daily), but my expectations for crossing things off of it have changed dramatically. I am fine with the same list rolling from one week to the next. If I’m honest, sometimes I put things on the list that are super easy to get done so I can cross them off and feel accomplished. I’ve changed, but yet I haven’t.

Right before the holidays, I got my first round of edits for Cherry Blossoms. The old me would have tackled the edits in one day. New me, the me with a baby, tackled the edits over several days–a half hour here, a half hour there, while the baby slept. I met my deadline. It’s fine. It’s just an adjustment in mindset. I’ve had to learn to be patient. There are benefits to patience. When things take longer, my subconscious mind gets more of a chance to weigh in and sometimes it has some cool things to contribute.

Mya helping me with edits. And, yes, I know the seat is supposed to be on the floor.

With the edits done, I went back to work on another novel I’ve had waiting in the wings for a couple years. The draft was mostly complete, so it’s been the perfect project to chip away at during nap times. I’m not sure my brain is ready to take on a brand new novel right now. I’m happy to finesse and edit novels I had in drawers (well, digital drawers… I don’t print anything these days). I’m also thinking of wrangling some short stories I’ve written into a collection. I’d like to have a draft done before my maternity leave ends (I go back to work at the beginning of March).

That’s all for now. Hope your 2018 is starting off well!

The post The beat goes on appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.

Books I read in 2017

It’s that time of year again, time to look back at my year of reading. Last year, I read 78 books. This year? 81! You can scan the covers, or peruse the full list below. What were some of your favorite reads of 2017?

Good ol’ fiction:

The River at Night by Erica Ferencik

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt

A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable

Before I Go by Colleen Oakley

Caravans: A Novel of Afghanistan by James Michener

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Since She Went Away by David Bell

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

The Decent Proposal by Kemper Donovan

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison

Happy Family by Tracy Barone

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang

Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline

The Weight of Him by Ethel Rohan

Eleven Hours by Pamela Erens

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Saving Grace by Jane Green

After You by Jojo Moyes

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo


This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

The Girls by Emma Cline

Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

California by Edan Lepucki

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

Christmas in London by Anita Hughes

Nonfiction (memoirs, biographies, essays, pop culture, comedy, true crime; all on audio):

It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) by Nora McInerny Purmort

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary

Walk Through Walls by Marina Abramovic

This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression by Daphne Merkin

Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in An Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy

Drop the Ball: Achieving More By Doing Less by Tiffany Dufu

The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter: Essays by Scaachi Koul

The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward: A Memoir by Mark Lukach

The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker

What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen by Kate Fagan

Estranged: Leaving Family and Finding Home by Jessica Berger Gross

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don’t Have with People You Don’t Like Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do (A No F*cks Given Guide) by Sarah Knight

You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

I’m Fine…And Other Lies by Whitney Cummings

Has Anyone Seen My Pants? by Sarah Colonna

Nonfiction (guides on pregnancy/childbirth/parenting… My daughter was born in October):

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

From the Hips by Rebecca Odes and Ceridwen Morris

Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Mark Sloan

The Zygote Chronicles by Suzanne Finnamore

Birthing From Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by Pam England and Rob Horowitz

Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy

Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today’s Best Women Writers by Eleanor Henderson and Anna Solomon (editors)

A Good Birth: Finding the Positive and Profound in Your Childbirth Experience by Anne Lyerly

What to Expect the First Year by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel

The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year by Alice Green Callahan

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp

Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman

Crash Course for Moms-to-Be: This is Where Confidence Starts by Alison Bishop

On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime by Robert Bucknam

The post Books I read in 2017 appeared first on Fiction Writing Blog.