Chandra Hoffman
Author Interview - Chandra Hoffman
Author of WHAT PRETTY GETS YOU and THE SUMMER AFTER
"What Pretty Gets You"
19-year-old Maia works a kiosk at Philadelphia International Airport, waiting to be discovered and watching people’s lives take off while hers stays stagnant. When a handsome commuter charms her with stories of the perfect life in the snow-capped mountains of Colorado, she rashly follows him into a future she was not expecting.
Desperate to regain control of her life and sentenced to bedrest in her second pregnancy, Carolyn makes the dangerous decision to hire the young woman she suspects is sleeping with her husband to be their nanny. Friends close; beautiful enemies closer, she reasons.
Carolyn and Maia harbor secret pasts. What unfolds in Boulder over the summer exposes the gritty underbelly of their dreams and forces both women to question the bounds of loyalty, the complicated nature of female friendship, and the privilege and peril of physical beauty
"The Summer After"
The summer after the loss of their spouses, Juliet and Dean meet over their children’s sandcastle friendships on a remote beach in the Cayman Islands. Love blooms among the hibiscus. But as they navigate tentative steps out of grief, it becomes clear that neither has come to the island simply for fun in the sun.
Mysterious emails from the States, an accident involving Dean’s oldest son, and hazy memories from a night most of Rum Point would like to forget threaten the escapist summer life their families are building. When an approaching hurricane forces Juliet and Dean to choose if they will evacuate to separate lives, secrets threaten not only their new relationship, but everyone’s safety.
With the storm approaching, Juliet and Dean confront their ghosts to answer the question—is the greatest tragedy the loves they have lost, or the risk of losing everything they have just found? They must overcome dark shadows of their pasts and fight for a second chance at happiness.
Author Interview - Chandra Hoffman
Author I draw inspiration from: John Irving was a major influence on my voice and structure but a lot of readers compare my novels to Jodi Picoult; I love her work (Click here for my list of Best Jodi Picoult Books)
Author Interview - Chandra Hoffman | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: at my Mom's, Seven Mile Beach Grand Cayman
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: When I was five, my dad's work shirts came home from the dry cleaner with white cardboard between them. I'd stitch those together with yarn and write romances on them.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: ooh, paperback, so I can hold it in my hands, but don't feel too bad if I spill my drink or get sunscreen on it
The last book I read: Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover--inhaled it in one night. I am about to take the train to visit one of my best writer friends and am packing Lionel Schriver and the latest Anne Tyler.
Author Interview - Chandra Hoffman | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: My first draft is on paper, then a round of revision as I transcribe that to laptop, then print out and mark up, and round and round we go!
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Nell from Jean Hegland's "Into the Forest", but do I have to live in the post apocalyptic Pacific Northwest woods?
Author Interview - Chandra Hoffman | Book Character I Think I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: Oh man, I think no matter what I do, I will always write, but there are times when I want to quit everything I do professionally and go to medical school to deep dive into metabolic nutrition. I have a kid with an extremely rare disease so I feel like an honorary MD a lot of the time.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I don't have a preference--I am most at home in jeans, base layer black tank and a zip up hoodie (with boots or flips, depending on the season) and so long as I can wear that, I can tolerate a certain amount of fluctuation in rinse and cut of the jeans.
Place I’d most like to travel: I fantasize about a bare boat trip through St Vincent and the Grenadines. If there's not a warm ocean I can swim in, I am not sure it’s worth leaving home. I traveled/moved around a lot when I was in my twenties. Now I love my gardens/animals/cozy home life.
My signature drink: mango jalapeno margarita
Favorite artist: I keep trying to convince my college students of the versatility and timelessness of U2, but my kids have me listening to Khalid and Mac Miller as well
Number one on my bucket list: cross country with my horse
Anything else you'd like to add: Do you think about who should be cast in the film version of your books? ALL THE TIME. Claire Danes has to be Chloe in "Chosen", and I want Johnny Depp for Jack in "The Summer After" and maybe Kate Winslet for Carolyn in "What Pretty Gets You?”
Find more from the author:
https://www.facebook.com/Chandra-Hoffman-author-111432308897259/,
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3503609.Chandra_Hoffman
Author Bio: Chandra has lived in thirteen international cities and this wanderlust shaped her writing. In each novel, the setting is its own character. She writes about everyday scenarios; shining a light on the complexities of human nature through the voices of multiple narrators.
Chandra has been an orphanage relief worker in Romania, a horse trainer in the Caribbean, a short order cook in a hospital, the director of a US adoption program, an event planner and homeschooled on a remote island off Honduras while chronicling the adventure for the the Huffington Post.
She is now settled back in her hometown outside of Philadelphia where she teaches writing and is the founder of the Summer Writing Retreat at Bryn Athyn College.
She lives with her husband, three children and a menagerie of horses, big dogs, needy cats and free-range chickens.
