Q&A with Stephanie McAfee
Author of Happily Ever Madder
Debbie - Stephanie, welcometo the B&N.com General Fiction forum.
Themisadventures of Ace Jones continue in Happily Ever Madder, which begins with the grand opening ofAce’s art gallery in Pelican Cove, Florida. She’s a nervous wreck, gives aterrible speech, and, despite her solid dedication to being a nicer person,manages to offend a not-so-nice-herself pillar of the community, Lenore Kennashaw.Lenore doesn’t take kindly to being insulted and squares-off against Ace inwhat becomes a struggle of one-ups and will power. And she’s not the onlyproblem Ace has in Pelican Cove. Mason gets busy with work, leaving Ace to plantheir wedding solo; she has the misfortune of meeting Margo and Cindy, twosilly ladies who relish their positions of authority in the neighborhoodhomeowners association; and then there’s Kevin Jacobs, a big sexy country boywho keeps showing up at the gallery. The good news is that Ace picks up some greatnew friends along the way. She meets Tia, who has an aristocratic dachshundnamed Mr. Chubz; Jalena, a fellow warrior in the battle of the bulge; andAvery, who provides some much needed company at the art gallery.
Your website says this is a sequel to your smash e-pub hit, Diary of a Fat Girl.Are you planning a series?
One more is on the way! It’s called Down & Outin Bugtussle and it’s scheduled to be released in the summer of 2013.
Hey, Pubit is a greatwebsite and I recommend it to everyone. As you might imagine, there’s quite abit of difference in the two release days. First of all, I didn’t tell anyoneI’d written Diary of a Mad Fat Girl nor did tell anyone when I listed it forsale as an ebook. My husband was the only person who knew. I was trying to savemyself some embarrassment in case it turned out to be a complete and totalfailure. After the ebook started selling, I told my parents and then some of myfriends. Of course, when it showed up on the New York Times and USA TodayBestseller Lists, I told everyone. Therelease of Happily Ever Madder is a completely different story. For example,I’ve been talking up the release date and showing off the cover for the pastseveral months. I’ve been tweeting, blogging, and posting on Facebook about it.And there are so many advantages to being with Penguin, all of which I verymuch appreciate. I have a great editor so I don’t have to worry about beingembarrassed by mistakes or typos. I have a great publicist who schedules reallycool events and interviews. I think I’m extraordinarily lucky that myself-published book got me to where I am right now. It’s been an amazingexperience and I’m very thankful.
Tell us the history behind your becoming an author. Did youalways want to write, was it just something that came about?
My eleventh grade Englishteacher, Mrs. Carolyn Jackson, didn’t tolerate laziness in the classroom. And itjust so happened that my family went to the same church as her family soanything I was slipping on, she’d let slip to my parents and I would getgrounded. So I worked really hard in her class. As a result, I discovered alove for reading and creative writing that I might or might not have realizedotherwise. Toward the end of the school year, I wrote a descriptive essay whichshe read to the class as an example of how to write a descriptive essay. Thatwas a fine day for me. And that’s how it began. I entertained the idea for along time before I finally sat down and did it.Sowhat made me do it finally? One day I was looking at my son, who was about tenmonths old at the time, and thought, “How can I teach him that he can dowhatever he wants with his life when I’ve never even tried to do what I really want with mine?” That’s a little bitcorny and sentimental, but that’s how it happened. And no one was moresurprised than me by how it all turned out.
Right now, I’m working on a plan that involves arelaxing vacation sometime in the not-so-distant future.
Are you a reader? What genres and authors are yourfavorites?
Of course, I love chicklit. Or maybe I should say women’s literature that’s humorous. I really likeJennifer Weiner and Laurie Notaro. I’ve read all of John Grisham’s books. I’m alsoa fan of spy/espionage novels so I read a lot of Robert Ludlum and DavidBaldacci. And I just finished The NewExotic Marigold Hotel. I loved it so much I read it twice.
Stephanie, I love your “official author video” (which I’veposted below). I think more authors should settle down and get serious in frontof a camera like you did. While it gives us a glimpse of the “real you,” it’snot a full picture. Could you give us an example of a day in the life ofStephanie McAfee?
Oh me! I have a threeyear old so, as you might imagine, everything revolves around him. I try to getup early and get some work done, but that doesn’t always happen. When he getsup, it’s eggs and toast or biscuits, sometimes pancakes, and then Jake and theNeverland Pirates. When he goes to his grandmother’s, I work at home. Or Imight go to Panera Bread or the library at the college. Then when everyone getshome in the afternoon, it’s choo choo trains, dinner, rocket ships, and bathtime. Right before bedtime, we read four or five books. He really likes LittleNutbrown Hare and Scuffy the Tugboat. Sometimes I stay up after he goes to bed.That depends on how early my day started.
I would love to meet you in person if you ever left yourgator-infested back yard long enough to visit the Midwest, and I’m sure themultitude of fans who read this would also like to know if you’ll be visitingtheir cities and towns. Do you have any Barnes & Noble events planned?
I’m sure I’ll have someBarnes & Noble events. And I’m a rambler so I’ll go anywhere. I love totravel. Maybe I can get out that way soon!
Stephanie, thank you so much for taking time to chat with usand let us get to know the “real you” a little better. Good luck with your newnovel and Go Ole Miss (my son is an art professor there).
That is fantastic! I loveOle Miss and I love Oxford. I’m actually doing Thacker Mountain Radio at SquareBooks on Thursday, November 1 and I’m speaking at the annual Bridging the Gapevent hosted by the SAC on November 9. Hotty Toddy!
Buy the book here visit the author's website here
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| photo by Rachel Wade |
Enjoy the Author video by Stephanie
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