To celebrate today's release of The Aristobrats, we have Jennifer Solow on our blog today!!
Which of your characters would you have been the closest with in middle school?
I probably would have been closest with Allegra, actually. I see Allegra as a lot more than she appears to be (she’s a key character in the next Aristobrats, which I’m working on now). I think it would be fun to have a sleepover with her and realize she’s good at something unexpected, offbeat and interesting – to find out, despite my preconceived notions, that she’s really fun to hang out with.
Who or what inspired you to write?
In 2001, I was sitting in a business meeting in downtown Manhattan when the World Trade Center collapsed. I was just a few blocks away – close enough to see things I’ll never forget. The experience made me grateful to be alive and asking myself the question: If I was in one of those buildings, did I do everything I wanted with my life? The answer was no.
Within a month I had left my 20-year career behind and took my first writing class. An assignment I started in that class went on to become a national bestselling novel.
In three words, how would your characters describe you?
Hopeful, tenacious, messy
What is one thing you must have when you're writing?
A big thermos of piping hot Hojicha tea.
Who's one of your favorite literary characters and why?
The first that popped into my mind was Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby. I see Nick as slightly floating on the edge of the scene, observing, participating, desiring that something unattainable. He’d like to be Gatsby, or at the very least, get to know him and be around his dazzling aura – but he’ll never be Gatsby. Is it better to be the mythic, ethereal guy who winds up dead in the end, or the neighbor, the regular guy, who’ll probably live out his life wishing he could have been someone else?
Just for fun, did you know that Jennifer....
* Owns a Tractor
* Makes her own goat cheese & bakes bread nearly every day.
* Met her husband in the ashes of the World Trade Center
* A real vampire threatened to spank her on her 30th Birthday
(all used with permission from Jennifer)
You can get to know Jennifer more, by visiting her site here:
Read an excerpt of The Aristobrats
Watch the video trailer
Which Aristobrat Are You? Take the quiz.
Follow Jennifer on Facebook
Don't forget to LOOK for this image on Jennifer's site to find her SECRET PAGE!
Thank you so much to Jennifer and Sourcebooks for your time!!