Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "molly-hacker-is-too-picky"

I'm thrilled to be introducing you to my guest today, author Lisette Brodey. I met Lisette on Goodreads about 2 years ago, maybe more. We have also connected on MySpace and numerous other social networking sites. She has become a good friend. It's a hectic life being a self-published author and doing your own promotion, but Lisette always finds time to drop me a line every month or so to check up on me and see how I'm doing. I have found her to be very caring; a really genuine friend.

As well as being a fabulous person, she is also a very talented author. I fell in love with her book Crooked Moon, and am eager to find time to read her other novels (Squalor, New Mexico, and her latest -- to be published towards the end of this year: Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!).

In addition to answering my interview questions, Lisette has very generously agreed to give away a signed, personalized ebook copy of Crooked Moon or Squalor, New Mexico. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below. We'll do a random draw on 25th April 2011, and contact the winner directly! Also, at the end of the interview, Lisette has given details of promotional codes you can use to purchase both of her books on Smashwords for just $2.99 each, until 1st May 2011!



Here are Lisette's replies to my interview questions:

When did you first discover your love of writing?

As early as I can remember. My first recollection of writing was a song I wrote at the age of five or six. Throughout the years, I wrote poetry, short stories, and random essays. Interestingly, poetry, short stories, and essays are things I never write now.

Do you have any tips for someone who is considering self-publishing their own book?

Absolutely. Build a network. Don’t wait until your book is published. That’s way too late. It’s very important to remember that building a network means supporting other authors’ work.

If you are planning to self-publish, don’t be so excited that you rush to publication without taking the necessary steps. I can’t stress the importance of getting your manuscript professionally edited. Many writers have little or no budget so they often skip this step. Don’t do it. Just look around. There are many competent editors who will work for a very reasonable fee. Looking for an editor ahead of time will greatly increase a writer’s chance of finding a competent professional.

Take the time to have a great cover done. There are many artists looking to build a portfolio who will do work very reasonably or perhaps even barter services. Although it may be true that you cannot judge a book by its cover, books are indeed judged by their covers every day.


I have read and enjoyed Crooked Moon, in fact it’s one of my favourite ever books. The characters all seem so real.  I especially liked the way you portrayed the relationship between Frankie and Callie. Do you ever base characters on people you know, or are they always entirely fictional?

Most of my characters are hybrids of people I know or have known, or types of personalities that I am familiar with. Frankie Cavalese, one of the two main characters in Crooked Moon, is based on someone close to me, but she is NOT that person. Even if a character is not based on someone I know, it is important for me to have a visual of the person on which I can build a character of substance.



Who do you relate to more, Callie or Frankie?

Interesting question. While there are parts of me that relate to each woman, overall, I would probably say Frankie.

I’m hearing some good things about your young adult book, Squalor, New Mexico.  Firstly, lets deal with that title, it’s quite unusual, how did you come up with that?

All throughout my life, whenever I heard someone described as, “living in squalor,” it always sounded like a place to me. One day, I had a vague idea of writing a book and making the first line “My aunt lived in Squalor.” Years later, I was finally ready to get to work on this idea. I wrote the first line, which became: “My aunt Rebecca lived in Squalor.” Then, around that one line, I built the story of a family and their secrets, encompassing many layers and many years.



What is Squalor, New Mexico about, and how does writing a young adult novel compare with writing an adult novel? Are there any tips you can give to writers of the genre?

Squalor, New Mexico is the story of Darla McKendrick, who, at nine years old, overhears her mother and her aunt Didi talking about their sister, Rebecca. Darla is intrigued by the mention of this mysterious aunt and immediately has questions for her mother. It isn’t long before Darla realizes that while no one wants to tell her the truth about Rebecca, they seem to talk about her quite a bit, especially when they think Darla is out of earshot.

The book covers Darla’s life beginning at age nine until the age of sixteen; it is the evolving story of her discoveries and simultaneous coming of age.

It’s funny you should ask me about tips for writers of the genre. I’ll share a secret with you: I had no idea I was writing a young adult book. I set out to write a coming-of-age story that was shrouded in family mystery. It naturally fell into that genre. My advice would be that if you are writing about teens, listen to teens. Remember your own childhood. That was key to me in writing this novel.

Crooked Moon is an adult contemporary fiction book, Squalor, New Mexico is a young adult book, and your new book, due to be released later this year, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!, is a women’s fiction novel.  That’s quite a diverse range of writing.  Does that reflect your own reading tastes?

Crooked Moon is closest to my own reading tastes by a landslide. I wrote each book for a very different reason. My fourth novel will likely be closer to Crooked Moon. Since publishing my own books and meeting so many fellow authors, my reading of other genres has expanded. I just love a good story with believable characters that is well written and pulls me in. The genre is secondary to good writing.


Which one of your books was the most fun to write?

I don’t have an answer for this. I only remember how much I enjoyed writing certain parts of certain books, either because they were emotional, poetic, funny, absurd, or shocking.


How long does it usually take you to write a novel? And which book took the longest to write?

If I could just focus on the writing of a novel itself, I might finish one in six months time to a year. The book that took me the longest is my upcoming third novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! The reasons for that are many. First, when I wrote Squalor, New Mexico and Crooked Moon, it was a very different world. There were no social media and no networking to worry about. It was much easier to just write.

I began writing Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! in 2006 because I saw that women’s fiction and chick lit were popular genres. When I discovered in 2007 that self-publishing was feasible for me, I put Molly on hold to publish my two already written books. In 2009, I went back to the half-written Molly manuscript, and it was quite a job to make every nuance of the character and the storyline current in my brain. Although this book is a comedy/drama and more lighthearted than the first two, it has more small details, and it was not easy to write.

Who are your favourite authors and what is it about their writing that you like?

My favorite books have been the ones that I have seen as literary masterpieces: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many other writers.

Is there a book you own that you’ve read more than once?

With so many books to read, I don’t believe I have ever read one more than once. That said, there are so many I would love to read again. It’s all about having time. With time, I would read everything!

What was the last book you read?

David Copperfield.

Are you reading a book at the moment?

The Language of Trees by Ilie Ruby

What do you think of ebooks?

I think ebooks are fabulous, but I don’t want to see paper books disappear from our lives. I think that the ease of reading ebooks and the pricing make it so much easier for authors to get their work read. I read books on my Kindle and my phone, but I also hold paper books in my hand. There is no substitute for the warmth of a room filled with shelves of books, or for browsing through an old bookstore or physically picking up books in one’s personal library to find one that suits your mood.

How important are reviews for you as a writer?

They are very important because they give prospective readers an idea of what other people are thinking. I take into consideration that taste is subjective. There is no one book that everyone loves. Reviews are also important to me because I learn a lot about what readers took from my work. I’ve learned a lot from reading the way different people describe my work; it helps me know my audience, too.


How do you go about choosing a cover for your books?

For Crooked Moon, I was set from the beginning on showing the Philadelphia row houses in which the two main characters, Frankie and Callie grew up, as it is also the home where a great deal of the story continues. After taking photographs of houses that matched the ones in my story, an artist then turned the photograph of my choice into an illustration, adding the elements that made it come alive.

For Squalor, New Mexico, which has such an unusual title, it was important give the reader a clear picture of what the book is about. That is why I ultimately decided to show Darla peeking around a door, listening to her mother and aunt whispering secrets.

With Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! I described Molly in depth to the artist (Goodreads author, Megan Hansen), and she brilliantly drew the character as I had envisioned her.

You’ve recently launched a blog for your new women’s fiction book titled: Molly Hacker Is Too picky!.  I understand that the blog will be written as if by your character, Molly, rather than by you.  This is a fun idea, how did you come up with it?

A friend of mine, who is an author and author success coach, gave me the idea. She suggested the blog would be the best way to build a book platform and introduce Molly Hacker to the world before the publication of her book.

Summarise your book, Molly Hacker is Too Picky!, in three or four sentences.

Molly Hacker is a 32-year old snarky, overanalytical, and husband-seeking reporter working for the Swansea Herald, a newspaper covering an old-money bedroom community of New York City. Molly battles interference from friend and foe alike in her search for true love.



Where can people buy your books?

The paperback editions of Crooked Moon and Squalor, New Mexico can be purchased on Amazon.com.

The ebook editions of these novels can be purchased through most major retailers, including Amazon, BN.com, Smashwords, and OmniLit.


Do you have your own website or blog where people can read more about your work?

My general website is Lisette Brodey

My Facebook Author page is Facebook. On this page, I have the most up-to-date announcements on everything that I am doing.

My Goodreads.com profile also has lots of information about my books and is linked to my blog. Lisette Brodey

Readers can meet my character, Molly Hacker, at Molly Hacker. Molly blogs every Monday.

Molly also has put out her first video, which can be seen on YouTube: Molly Hacker on YouTube, as well as on Molly’s blog site.

And, of course, there are numerous reviews of my work on Amazon.com.

Thank you for answering my questions, Lisette. I understand that you would like to offer promotional codes to readers of my blog for a limited period, can you tell us more about that?

I am offering a special promotion to all readers of this blog. From now until May 1, both of my novels can be purchased at Smashwords for only $2.99 each.

Please use the following promotional codes:

CROOKED MOON: RY75D
SQUALOR, NEW MEXICO: RN83N

Thanks, Lisette!

Remember, to be in with a chance of winning an ebook of either Crooked Moon or Squalor, New Mexico, leave a comment below.

Good luck!!

Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! Will be available to purchase later in the year. Follow Lisette's dedicated blog for more information.

My latest interview can be found by clicking on the following link:

Molly Hacker's blog

I'm also giving away one paperback copy of my latest novel,The Dream(It's an international competition). Leave a comment on Molly's blog to enter!



Molly Hacker is a fictional character created by the author Lisette Brodey. Lisette has appeared on my blog in the past talking about her books. I am a fan of hers. If you haven't read her book Crooked Moon, you must go and buy it now! It's excellent.



Lisette's novel, 'Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!' is due to be released later this year.

Back in April 2011, I introduced you to one of my favourite authors Lisette Brodey. Here's a link back to the blog interview: Lisette Brodey - author interview

Since then, Lisette has gone on to release her new novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!



Throughout 2011, in the lead up to publication of her novel, Lisette's character, Molly Hacker, interviewed a host of authors and artists on her blog (me included). Some of Molly's guests were invited back to provide an update on what they are up to. I am one of the authors featured on Lisette's/Molly's blog today. Click here to take a look at what everyone's been up to: Molly Hacker: Where are they now?

Followers of my blog may remember that I interviewed author,Lisette Brodey last year about her book Crooked Moon and her latest novel,Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!.
I thoroughly enjoyed Crooked Moon, and it's one of my favourite books ever, so I was looking forward to readng another of Lisette's books. I recently found time to read Squalor, New Mexico. After reading that, I invited Lisette back here to talk about it. She is an author who deserves to be read. She has the rare talent of being able to create many varied and realistic characters in her books. Her stories are modern, but the messages contained within them are timeless. It's a pleasure to welcome her back here.




Here is the interview:

The main characters in Squalor are teenagers and I thought that they were all very realistic as if you'd really got into the mind of a teenager when writing the book. In particular, the narrative is in the first person and Darla, the protagonist is telling her story; I could really feel her passion and frustration coming across in the way the story was told. What kind of research did you do into teenage behaviour? Or was it a matter of recalling your own teenage experience?





Hi, Maria. Thanks so much for having me as a guest again on your blog. It’s great to be here.

The writing of Darla’s character came from my own childhood. Like Darla, I was very determined and didn’t give up easily, though I would not say that I am Darla. Nor is her story mine.

When Darla was nine years old, after overhearing a conversation between her mother and her aunt, she learned that they had a sister she had known nothing about. I think that most people would be curious to learn of a “mystery relative.” When Darla asks her mother about Aunt Rebecca, she is given a bare-bones answer, just enough to satisfy her. But as time goes on, things happen, and Darla becomes painfully aware that her mother is being less than forthcoming. It was really important to me to show Darla’s frustration, coupled with her growing pains and the desire to do right by her parents while standing by her individuality.

Many of the crazy teenage stunts in the book are quite reminiscent of my own childhood.

This is a silly question, so bear with me. What does 'skeive' or 'skieve me out' mean? Your character Melanie uses it a lot!

That is a very good question. “Skieve me out” was a common expression when I was growing up on the East Coast of the United States meaning “gross me out.” “Skievy” meant vile, disgusting or unnaturally uncomfortable. Some people spell it “skeeve.” As you know, Maria, although the book is titled Squalor, New Mexico, it takes place in East Coast suburbia in the 1970s and has nothing to do with New Mexico. That said, I have come to find that the word is regional and not known by all. I first learned that when a woman who grew up in California asked me what it meant. Not sure of the origin, but that’s what the word means to me.

Darla meets an elderly woman, Victoria, in a care home when her cousin May takes her to visit. Victoria is one of my favourite characters in the book. She is so wise. Again, I was impressed at how you really seemed to be writing her dialogue from the perspective of someone with over 70 years of life experience. There are real lessons to be learned from what Victoria says. How did you go about creating that character?

Victoria, like all of my characters, is a hybrid of people I have known. Prior to writing the book, I was visiting an 87-year-old friend of mine, Marjory, in a rehab facility. She was a very sharp woman and we had much in common. She didn’t live in the facility, but during her stay she had a lot of the same complaints as Victoria: being served dinner at ridiculously early hours, being talked to as if she were a child, and so on. My feelings about the place and my memories of what she told me were a contributing factor, but Victoria’s character just came to me, and as many characters do, she told me what she had to say and I simply typed out her words.

Although classed as a Young Adult book, I understand that you prefer to think of Squalor as general fiction, and I agree. I think it's suitable for all ages. The thing that struck me most about it is how many diverse characters there are in the book. There are teenagers, parents, drug addicts, loose women, elderly people, eccentrics, drunks. All are well drawn and believable. Having also read your first novel, Crooked Moon (which is one of my favourite books), I have noticed that you seem to have a real talent for being able to portray different types of people realistically and with an almost extraordinary insight into human nature. How do you go about creating each character? Are they based on people you know?

First, let me address your question about the genre of the book. You are correct. I really don’t think of Squalor, New Mexico as a Young Adult book. I think of it as general fiction where the main character happens to be a teenager. It was very important to me in the writing of this book not to side with either Darla or her parents, but to show the frustration on both sides. I don’t like to tell my readers how they should feel. Real conflicts between people are ones that don’t always have a definitive answer and that are multilayered. To me, this novel is the story of a family. I wanted to show how easily it was for a family to fracture, as sadly, this is a far too frequent occurrence for many. People everywhere are estranged from loved ones and many can’t even tell you why. It’s very sad.

Thank you for your kind words about my diverse characters. I have always been a people watcher. Shortly after high school, I moved to New York City for ten years. But more than just watching people on the street, I have always had a keen interest in human behavior. For years, I watched talk shows to try and understand the motivation behind people’s outrageous behavior. I am a good listener and have heard myriad stories from friends and seen much in my own life.

Squalor is set in the 1970s before the introduction of the internet and mobile phones etc. This meant that solving the mystery of Darla's estranged aunt Rebecca was made all the more difficult. I'm writing a book at the moment where part of the story is set in a time when not everyone had a mobile phone so I know that it can be hard to avoid slipping and accidentally making one of the characters pick up a mobile. How did you go about avoiding such mistakes?

You ask great questions. The easy answer to this is that I wrote this novel in 1996. The more complicated answer is that I was quite the sleuth in my youth. (No rhyme intended! ) If I say so myself, as a teenager, I came up with brilliant ways to seek out information in an age with no computers or cell phones. I just put myself in Darla’s shoes and asked myself what I would have done.

Your character Darla has many vivid nightmares in the book. You have described some of those in detail. I loved the way her nightmares would relate back to experiences she'd had in the day in a sometimes comical, if frightening way. Have you ever suffered from nightmares?

Oh, yes! I have had quite the bizarre, and I do mean bizarre, dreams in my time. I’ve always found it interesting how some people have very ordinary dreams and others do not. Our dreams are comprised of symbols. Water, for example, is a symbol, but it means different things to different people. If you have a recurring dream of being in a swimming pool that suddenly loses all water, if you are a swimmer, that dream may indicate that you are frustrated and feel you cannot move ahead. If you cannot swim, that dream may indicate that you feel you have been rescued.

I am fascinated by how the mind works and interprets our life while we are asleep.

I understand that you're currently at work on a fourth novel, which is something you began writing when you were 17. How is that going and can you tell us a little about it?

Yes, that is correct. When I was 17, I was attending college in New York. My grandmother came to visit one weekend, and after a special outing in with her, I was inspired to write a short story. I never got very far with it. Years later, while living in New York, I asked my roommate at the time if she would photocopy it for me at work. She forgot to do so and eight years later, when I was living in Los Angeles, mailed me the story I had forgotten about. It was like being reunited with an old friend.

I was so happy to have the story back and quickly turned it into a one-act play. Years later, I expanded it into a two-act play. Long story short, the characters have been with me a long time, and the novel will explore a great deal more than is in the play. This, like Squalor, New Mexico, is a period piece and will take place in the 1980s. No cell/mobile phones in this book, either!

Do you have any upcoming events or news you'd like to share with your readers?

I am currently promoting my latest/third novel, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! It is a romantic comedy and the most lighthearted of my three novels. As you know, Maria, for a year prior to publishing this book, I blogged weekly as Molly Hacker at www.mollyhacker.com and conducted interviews (as Molly) of my creative peers. You, of course, were one of Molly’s very delightful guests. I’m still interviewing lots of great people in 2012, but on a semiregular basis. Readers can keep up-to-date with my latest news on Molly’s site as well as my Facebook author page: www.facebook.com/BrodeyAuthor. I also have a profile here on Goodreads.com.



I do have some surprises in store, but they’re secrets for the time being. Thanks so much for having me as your guest, Maria. It’s been a true pleasure. You’re a great support to your fellow authors.


Thank you, Lisette, and good luck with your future writing and promoting. I look forward to chatting with you again soon.

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Today, I welcome back to my blog an author I admire very much. She has published three novels, all in different genres, and all are excellent. I recently found time to read her book, Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!. It's a romantic comedy that will appeal to fans of chick lit, and anyone who likes contemporary fiction.



After reading the book, I was keen to invite Lisette over here for a chat.

She has generously agreed to give away 2 e-book copies of Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! I've set up a Rafflecopter giveaway for this contest; you can enter by following the link: Winners will be picked on 30th April 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Here's the interview:

I absolutely loved Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! It's chick lit, I suppose, but grown up chick lit; I couldn't help thinking as I was reading it that it would make a wonderful romantic comedy in the cinema. The style is very different from your other two books. What made you decide to write a chick lit type novel?

First, thank you for your very kind words, Maria. Many people have told me that they could envision Molly as a feature film. She’s still waiting to be discovered. Yes, the style of this book is quite different from my other two novels. A very honest answer to your question: I got the idea to write Molly in 2006, before it was feasible to publish independently. I chose to write chick lit because I saw so much of it selling. But then, in late 2007, I discovered that I could publish on my own, so I set the book aside. I first published my novel Crooked Moon, and then Squalor, New Mexico. After I had done that, I thought about the 65K words I had already written for this chick lit book called Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! I liked what I reread and decided to finish it.

You have written three books and all are different in style, with Crooked Moon being more geared towards an adult readership; Squalor, New Mexico, a young adult novel, and finally Molly is a chick lit/rom com book. One thing that shines through in all your novels, in my opinion, are your observational skills about human behaviour and motivation. This, to me, makes your books among the best I've read. The characterisation is so realistic. How do you go about developing your characters?



I love a good story, but I relate to people first, situations second. I have always been fascinated by human nature. As we all know, fact is always stranger than fiction. It’s funny that I couldn’t even fictionalize some of the situations I see in real life because readers would find them too far-fetched! That said, I take a lot of mental notes about the actions and characteristics of people everywhere. I’m a people-watcher, for sure. I like seeing what makes people tick and what ticks people off.

Fact is definitely stranger than fiction. I totally relate to that, having had comments about stuff I've written in my own books, taken from real life, where people have said in reviews "it's unrealistic, that would never happen." Um... it did... LOL

Molly Hacker, as everyone knows by now, is too picky. Are you picky about anything?

Oh, my, Maria. Yes, I’m picky about a lot of things and easygoing about others. I am picky about people who aren’t professional when they should be. I’m picky about my work (but so are most authors, yes?)

Oh, yes! Definitely. We have to be picky about our own work.


Leading up to your release of Molly's book, you created a website for the character and some wonderful videos on YouTube introducing her. Molly also did a series of interviews with authors and other artists (myself being one of the lucky interviewees!). How successful was that pre-launch promotion, and would you recommend that type of thing to other indie authors?

Yes, for eight months, I blogged as Molly. Every week, I published a new blog with original artwork (by Charles Roth) or original photos. This was one of the most time-consuming things I have ever done with my life. And because I am so picky about my work, I labored over finding just the right topics to present each week. And yes, simultaneously, also as Molly, who is a reporter, I interviewed creative people on another part of the website. It was an experience; I’ll say that much. People really loved the blogs, but I can tell you that I would never do it again. (By the way, all of the blogs and interviews are still up for the world to see at www.mollyhacker.com.)

I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Molly, if anyone is interested in checking that out, by the way.

Lisette, you've been promoting your work online for a few years now, do you have any tips as to what works best and what doesn't work when it comes to marketing a book?

I often hear people say, “I prefer Facebook to Twitter, so I just market there.” They’re both social media sites, but as you know, they work quite differently. I do have a Facebook author page and regularly post content about my work, authors who I am interviewing (and vice versa), and topics of interest to readers/writers. But my personal Facebook page is really a place for friends. I share news, but I don’t like to do very much promotion there.

Twitter, for the most part, is a better place for promotion. It is great because you can make relationships with people all over the world without having to be personal Facebook friends. But there has to be a balance. Neither Facebook nor Twitter exists solely as a place to advertise your work. It’s like any other community. If you don’t care about other people, nobody is going to care about you. Every tweet should not be about your work. If it is, you’ll turn people off quickly. I recently wrote a lengthy blog about how to use and not use Twitter that is on my website. I support authors like you, Maria, who care about others and cross-promote. I don’t care how great someone’s work is; I am just turned off by the it’s-all-about-me kind of person.

Hear, hear!

I also think that book bloggers and well-read review sites help writers tremendously. I think it’s good to diversify, throw things up against the wall of the universe and see what sticks.

Ha, ha!


Are you working on any other books at the moment?

Yes, I am. I am working on a YA paranormal set in the California desert.



Ooh... paranormal. Different again! I like that :)

If you had the opportunity to have one of your books made into a film, which one would you choose, and why?

Oh, that is a really tough question! I’m going to say that Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! would be my choice only because I think it would have the most commercial success. 



Molly has some hilarious dialogue, and is in essence a comedy. Who are you favourite comedians?

Comedy is something I’m very picky about. I don’t really have any favorite comedians, though I do like Steven Wright quite a bit. I can watch one comedian after another and not laugh even though I appreciate their talent. I think the people who make me laugh are the ones who best know how to poke fun at real life. Billy Connolly is quite funny, and I enjoyed seeing him in the film Quartet.


As mentioned above, all of your books so far have been different in style. Which was the hardest to write, which was the easiest, and which was the most fun?

Molly was easily the most difficult to write. For one, as stated earlier, I stopped writing it to publish two other books, then came back to it. So I had to completely immerse myself back into the book and all of its tiny details in order to get it right. As you know, Molly is dating four men, pining over a lost love, fighting with the town socialite, working hard to keep her love life a secret from well-intentioned but interfering gal pals, and sharing her romantic adventures with her co-worker and friend, Randy. There’s a lot going on, and I wanted to make sure that it all came together well and was easy to follow. I kept careful track of all of the details. My other two novels were more emotional to write but easier.



How long did it take to write Molly?

Because I stopped in 2007 and started again in 2009, I’m not sure how long it took. At least a year. And that is only because I had so many things going on at the time—like a cross-country move.


I know you have qualifications in acting. If you could star as one of your characters in a film, who would you choose?

I would choose someone else to play the roles! But the one I think I could best portray would be Frankie in Crooked Moon.




What's the nicest thing someone has said about Molly Hacker Is Too Picky!?

Oh, my, that’s a tough one! There has been so much great feedback and many wonderful reviews. I think what makes me happiest is when people have said that they really related to the characters, laughed a lot, and loved the ending. 



I loved the cat character in Molly. Was he based on a cat that you own or have owned?

As you know, Maria, there were cats in Crooked Moon, but they were just supporting players. Molly’s Captain Jack is a leading man! He was partially based on my beloved Saki, a cat I had for over 20 years. But Jack is his own man.



Molly has quite a few suitors throughout the course of the book. Are any of the men based on people you've known, or were they all entirely fictional?

For the most part, entirely fictional. But of course, there are bits and pieces of some of the men who remind me of real-life people.


Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! is written in the first person, and often when books are written in that way, the reader can begin to think that the writer is speaking through the character; almost like it's a memoir. How much of you is there in Molly?

I don’t think I could’ve written this book in the third person. It wouldn’t have worked. Molly insisted on being up close and personal with her readers, and I agreed with her. I’m like Molly in some ways but not in others. I’m definitely very unlike Molly dating-wise. We’re very different there. Like Molly, I can tend to be overanalytical and drive myself nuts on some topics. I am also like Molly in that I don’t suffer fools gladly. But she is definitely her own woman. And she has a lot more energy!


Do you have any other news you'd like to share with your readers?

Yes, thank you. I recently published a book of my mother’s poetry. It’s called My Way to Anywhere by Jean Lisette Brodey. It’s a collection of poetry that my mother wrote as a young woman, before she reentered the workforce and became a university professor. I’ve blogged about my mother and the book here: http://bit.ly/Xh1KTX



Yes, I have a copy of that book on my Kindle and am looking forward to reading it!

Thanks for coming back for a chat, Lisette, you've been great as usual!

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