Gina Sorell
Author Interview - Gina Sorell
Author of The Wise Women
The Wise Women is a witty and heartfelt novel about the two adult daughters and their meddling advice columnist mother. Set in modern-day NYC, it picks up with the three Wise women just as their lives have been upended. About the price of real estate, the cost of professional and personal growth, aging, family, marriage, and love, it's for anyone who has ever been exasperated with a parent, faced an uncertain future, or searched for a place to call home.
Author Interview - Gina Sorell
Author I draw inspiration from: There are too many to pick just one! I'm going to focus on contemporary authors. I love Caroline Leavitt's work and the moral dilemmas in which she places her fascinating and complicated characters. And both Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney and Cathleen Schine have written some of my favorite novels—full of wit and insight and featuring complex women and complicated family dynamics. The one thing that all these authors share is that their books are engaging and entertaining, and impossible to put down.
Author Interview - Gina Sorell | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: In a comfy chair on my porch.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger. It would be terrifying and hilarious, and I would gawk at her clothes and probably try and get her to like me. I would fail, but it would be fun.
Author Interview - Gina Sorell | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I've been writing since I was seven years old, but I think the moment I knew I really wanted to be an author was in my thirties. I had enrolled in UCLA Writers' Extension Program and fell in love with novel writing. I loved everything about it—the long solitary hours, the ability to create whenever and wherever I could, and the community. Writers and readers, are some of the most generous people I know.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: I love a good trade paperback. I will always buy the hardback to support authors, but I tend to take off the covers to protect them and then I misplace them! I read ebooks too, and recently got into audiobooks.
The last book I read: Laura Zigman's Separation Anxiety. LOVED it.
Author Interview - Gina Sorell | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Computer. Although, I do keep notebooks and yellow legal pads to jot down notes with a collection of brightly colored markers. I love pen and paper, but I can't always read my own handwriting!
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Kate Pearson in Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel. I have much more in common with Kate's sister, but I loved this character, and I loved this book!
Author Interview - Gina Sorell | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: Some kind of artist! I've worked as an actor and a brand storyteller and they are all creative professions, so it's safe to say I'd still be doing something creative.
Favorite decade in fashion history: Oh this is a tough one! I love the 20s for its flapper dresses. Those stunning dresses were flattering AND comfortable! I also love the looks of the 50s and 60s; the dresses and matching jackets and purses and hats—just gorgeous.The reality is that I prize comfort and simplicity above everything because I'm sitting at a desk writing all day!
Place I’d most like to travel: My family has a list going: Capri (Italy), Tofino (British Columbia), Hawaii (United States), and Auckland (New Zealand)!
My signature drink: COFFEE. But if it's a cocktail: Vodka on ice with fresh squeezed lemon. If it's a mocktail: Limonata with carbonated water and fresh raspberries.
Favorite artist: I can't pick one, so let's go with an artist that transcended genres and mediums: David Bowie.
Number one on my bucket list: I don't have a bucket list! I guess I should start one.
Anything else you'd like to add: Thank you for all you do for authors!
Find more from the author:
https://www.instagram.com/ginasorell/
Twitter: @ginasorell
Author Bio: After two decades of working as an actor, Gina Sorell returned to her first love—writing.
A graduate with distinction of UCLA Extension Writers' Program, she is the author of Mothers and Other Strangers, a Great Group Reads selection, and a 2017 best book of Refinery 29, Self Magazine, and the forthcoming The Wise Women, HarperCollins.
Originally from Johannesburg, Gina has lived in New York and Los Angeles, and now lives in Toronto with her husband and son.
Gina balances the solitary hours of fiction writing with work as a creative director and brand storyteller.
