Amy Poeppel
Author Interview - Amy Poeppel
Author I draw inspiration from: I can't stop at one! Elinor Lipman, Terry McMillan, and Stephen McCauley are longtime favorite authors who always inspire me.
Author Interview - Amy Poeppel
Favorite place to read a book: My screened-in porch in Litchfield County, Connecticut. My porch is not in great shape to be honest, which means the bugs can get inside pretty easily. But I love it because it has a great view and the animal sounds are amazing. I have a good couch with lots of pillows, so it's a paradise for reading.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Elizabeth Bennet to hang out, James Bond to get out.
Author Interview - Amy Poeppel
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I was very young when I knew how much books (and fiction in particular) mattered to me. I eventually became a high school English teacher because I wanted students to appreciate good books, discover what they love, and become lifelong readers. But it wasn't until I was in my forties that I decided to try writing something myself. I stayed up one night - and I do mean all night - and wrote the first forty pages of a novel. That book was never published, but I realized in that moment that I wanted to write.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Audiobooks for walking, ebooks for traveling, and hardbacks or paperbacks for all the rest.
The last book I read: Normal People by Sally Rooney
Author Interview - Amy Poeppel
Pen & paper or computer: Computer. Only and always computer.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: S.T.—the domesticated crow from Kira Jane Buxton's Hollow Kingdom—and I would make great companions. I'd be sure to have Cheetos on hand, and he would be very loyal to me. The best part of being friends with S.T. is that Dennis (the dog) would hang out with us as well. Animals make very good friends. (If you want to know what S.T. stands for, I suggest you read the book - it's wonderful!)
Author Interview - Amy Poeppel
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: ...a fabulous bookstore employee! I'd be chatty with customers without being overbearing. I would make solid book recommendations, I'd run the store IG page in creative ways, and I'd allow my dog Tucker to be the store mascot which would certainly attract shoppers.
Favorite decade in fashion history: 1970s! Bellbottoms and high heels are very slimming.
Place I’d most like to travel: Nothing makes me happier than traveling. There are many cities/places I'd like to see for the first time, but even more that I'd like to return to again and again. Some favorites: Rome, Berlin, Madrid, London, Vienna, and Copenhagen to name a few.
My signature drink: Dirty martini
Favorite artist: Paul Klee
Number one on my bucket list: I'd like to write a very funny play and actually see it staged somewhere.
Anything else you'd like to add: I wrote Musical Chairs long before the coronavirus was here. It's a story about a woman from New York City who spends an entire summer at her dilapidated house in Connecticut when circumstances cause her adult children to move back home. Well, here I am in Connecticut ... my house is a wreck, and my three children have all moved back home. Life is imitating art. The good news is my book is a comedy and has a happy ending.
Find more from the author:
@amypoeppel
Author Bio: Amy Poeppel is the author of Small Admissions, Limelight, and Musical Chairs. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Rumpus, Working Mother, and Points In Case. She and her husband have three kids and divide their time between Frankfurt, Germany, New York City, and Connecticut.
Author Interview - Amy Poeppel
