GIVEAWAY AND INTERVIEW WITH WENDY WAX…

PENGUIN GROUP USA/BERKLEY BOOKS AND MY BOOK ADDICTION AND MORE PROUDLY PRESENTS…

WENDY WAX!!

Good morning, Wendy, and welcome to My Book Addiction and More!

 

MBA&M: Please tell our readers a little about Wendy Wax?

 

Wendy: I’m originally from St. Pete, Florida, so even though I’ve lived in Atlanta for many years now, I still look for any excuse to go to the beach and sink my toes in the sand.  (Setting my books at some of the most beautiful beaches in Florida is no mistake, I assure you!   I mean if I have to travel to do research… it might as well be to the beach, right?)

 

I’m also the mother of two college-aged sons (which I still find hard to believe!) and so for years I’ve been the only woman in a house of men.  That could be why I focus on women in my novels.  After all, I think I’ve had enough testosterone to last a lifetime!

 

As a writer, I think I take equal parts “life experience”, “what-if scenarios” and “women who keep moving forward in the face of adversity” and mix them together to create stories that real women can relate to.  I write for and about women that I’d like to have a glass of wine with…  women who are not perfect, but are maybe just a little stronger than they even realize!

 

 

 

MBA&M: What inspired you to write Ocean Beach?

 

WENDY: Ocean Beach is my first ever sequel, and it came about because the women of Ten Beach Road just weren’t done for me.  I thought I had given Maddie, Nicole and Avery enough closure at the end of that book, but even after I was busily working away on another novel, ideas for new developments in their lives and ideas for more fabulous houses to renovate just kept creeping in to my thoughts.  I finally had to put the book I was working on down, talk to my agent and editor and get started on Ocean Beach.

 

MBA&M: Which character in Ocean Beach do you identify with most?

 

WENDY:Readers often think that the main character in a novel (or one of the main characters) is actually the author in disguise.  For me, that’s not the case.  Instead I feel like each of my characters is a little bit me, sometimes a little bit someone I know and mostly just their own fictional selves.  Kind of like your child might have your nose and his ears, but really they are their own person.  That said, Maddie is probably the most like me in age and life situation, but … I don’t have a daughter – my family didn’t lose money in a Ponzi scheme (thank heavens!) – and I am nowhere near ready to be a grandmother yet!

 

MBA&M: How did you decide which characters would do what in this story? Or did they demand their own appearances from the start?

 

WENDY: That’s the interesting thing about writing a sequel.  Maddie, Nicole and Avery all had lives already and they were already on a trajectory when we rejoined them in Ocean Beach.  Though the book completely stands on its own (readers don’t have to read Ten Beach Road first), as a writer it was very easy to just let the characters flow into this new situation.

 

 

MBA&M: If you can tell, our readers what is next for you?

 

WENDY: It’s a bit of a secret, but I can tell you that I am currently working on a novel set in Atlanta that revolves around a group of women who come together to watch one of the most popular TV series around right now.  And that in many ways their lives parallel the lives of the characters on aforementioned show (which will remain unnamed for now!).   Have I got you curious?  Good.  It’s all part of my evil plan.

 

MBA&M: What is your writing process?

 

WENDY: I’m not big on outlines, which is funny because in my everyday life I’m a major planner.  I usually flesh out the overall plot and the main characters before I get heavily into writing.  That way I know who the characters are and where I want them to start and end… and then I start writing and try not to worry too much about the story taking a twist or turn I hadn’t planned on.  I critique with two other writers—all three of us are on major deadlines right now—and we generally share our work chapter by chapter, which also helps to keep me on track. Brainstorming via conference call occurs whenever one of us gets stuck or wants to work through a plot problem or character question.

 

 

MBA&M: What is one of your most interesting quirks?

 

WENDY: I’m not sure this is a quirk, but when I get ready to promote a new book I always find myself drawn to clothing that matches the cover of that book!  The cover for Ten Beach Road was in the pink family so I had some great fuchsia jackets and accessories (no hardship since this is one of my favorite colors), but the brand new cover for Ocean Beach is light and breezy and working several shades of blue… so I guess I need to go shopping.  Darn.  (Oh and in case you’re wondering… I’m not the only author who does this!)

 

 

MBA&M: What is the first book you remember reading?

 

WENDY: I was always a reader from as early on as I can remember.  As a very young girl I loved The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Francess Hodges Burnett, (who didn’t?) And of course I was a fan the Little House on the Prairie Series and Nancy Drew… but it wasn’t until I read Gone with the Wind in high school that I became truly obsessed with a book.  I now own several collectors edition copies of it and I even chose to go to college in Georgia because of it!

 

 

MBA&M: Please tell our readers where to find you and where Ocean Beach is available?

 

WENDY: You can find me at the beach – or at my website: http://www.AuthorWendyWax.com.  I’m also findable on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorWendyWax or you can tweet me at @Wendy_Wax.

 

Ocean Beach will be available everywhere you buy books – in stores and online starting June 26, 2012.

 

 

Wendy, do you have anything else you would like to say today?

 

Thanks so much for inviting me to be a part of My Book Addiction and More and thanks to you and all your readers for checking out Ocean Beach.  I hope you all enjoy reading about Maddie, Nicole and Avery as much as I enjoyed writing about them!

 

 

Thank you for being our guest today!

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OCEAN BEACH

WENDY WAX

*from the author’s website*

Madeline, Avery and Nicole, the unlikely friends from Ten Beach Road, have hit some speed bumps in their lives, but when they arrive in Miami’s South Beach neighborhood, they are all hoping for a do-over. Literally. They’ve been hired to bring a once-grand historic house back to its former glory on a new television show called Do-Over. A lot hinges on the success of the DIY program. For Nikki, it would mean getting back on her feet financially. For Avery, it’s a chance to restart her ruined career. And Maddie hopes it will give her a shot at keeping her family together.

At least, that’s the plan—until they realize that having their work broadcast is one thing, but having their personal lives play out on TV is another story entirely. Soon they’re struggling to hold themselves and the renovation together, even as a decades-old mystery—and the hurricane season—loom on the horizon, threatening not only the project but everything that’s brought them together.

 

 

AVAILABLE AT:

- Amazon - Barnes & Noble – Books-A-Million – Indiebound or visit your local bookstore

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***GIVEAWAY ALERT***

*Sponsored by the publisher*

We are offering 1 lucky commenter a print copy of “Ten Beach Road” by Wendy Wax. Open to U.S. residents,only! No P.O. Boxes,please. Giveaway open from today July 1 until July 8,2012.* Tell us what your favorite summer memory is and why**

*Must leave a valid e-mail address*

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

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Please check back later to read our “Thoughts” on “Ocean Beach” by Wendy Wax.

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We hope you have enjoyed our guest today and will spread the word about “Ocean Beach” by Wendy Wax.

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Thank you for spending time with us and have a great summer!