Wendy Wax
Author Interview - Wendy Wax
Author I draw inspiration from: All of them. Like most authors I know, I’m a voracious and eclectic reader. I draw inspiration from everyone I read. (Including longtime critique partners Karen White and Susan Crandall whose books I read as they’re being written.) I have great admiration for anyone who can not only conceive but complete a novel, and I’m grateful to every author who’s sucked me in on page one and refused to let go.
Author Interview - Wendy Wax
Favorite place to read a book: I usually end up stretched out on the couch or bed. Given a choice I would read on a chaise by the pool, or better yet a towel or cabana on a sandy white beach. Bodies of water are always a plus. I also like to listen to audio books while walking and on long drives.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: I was going to say Scarlett O’Hara from my favorite novel GONE WITH THE WIND. Then I was going to say that I could be happy with any strong, independent, female character. Unless we were going to be stuck for a long time. And there was limited air to breathe. In the end, I’m going with Rhett Butler (also from GWTW) because he was the first male character I fell completely in love with.
Author Interview - Wendy Wax
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: Oddly, although I was a journalism major and wrote as part of my first career, I didn’t seriously decide I wanted to write a book until just after I’d given birth and was at home with a two-year-old and a newborn. I chalk this decision up to post pregnancy hormones and lack of sleep. Because of their ages (and the fact that I’d never actually written a novel before) it took me years to write that first book, but I did manage to finish and sell it.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Yes! I love having so many options. I have yet to meet a format I didn’t enjoy.
The last book I read: I just finished Sarah J Maas’ THE HEIR OF FIRE. It’s part of her Throne of Glass series. Did I mention that I’m an eclectic reader?
Author Interview - Wendy Wax
Pen & paper or computer: I have a fairly good imagination, but I cannot imagine writing a 100,000 plus word novel with pen and paper. (And I notice you didn’t offer white out.) I’m constantly rethinking what I’ve just written or tweaking to get the phrasing and timing just right. My usual rhythm while writing: Type… type…type. Delete… delete… delete. I doubt I could write a cohesive story without the ability to insert, rewrite, or delete. I’m definitely never giving up the cut and paste feature.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: If we’re talking my characters, I’d choose Madeline Singer of the Ten Beach Road series. She’s the ‘glass-is-half-full’ me I’d like to be.
Author Interview - Wendy Wax
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: Hmmm… I had a career in radio, TV and film before I started writing. (My claim to fame was hosting a live radio show on Friday nights called Desperate & Dateless, when I was both.) But that was twenty years ago and I don’t think they’d want me back. Can you make a living as a reader?
Favorite decade in fashion history: I don’t have a decade. I just hope the cold shoulder thing never goes out of style. My shoulders have become my best feature.
Place I’d most like to travel: Maine. Every time I see photos of the gorgeous coastal towns, I know I need to go see them for myself. In the meantime, I’ve become totally addicted to the DIY network’s MAINE CABIN MASTERS.
My signature drink: At the moment I’m a huge pinot noir fan and am looking forward to rose’s in the summer months. That said, I’ve never turned down a Moscow Mule or a glass of the Bourbon Slush I make batches of each summer.
Favorite artist: I’m especially fond of contemporary art and am drawn to the work of Klimt, Klee, Miro’, Van Gogh and Matisse, as well as abstract expressionists like Willem de Koonig, Lee Krasner, and Jackson Pollock.
Number one on my bucket list: A Viking European River Cruise. I’ve been aware of them since they sponsored Downton Abbey and Masterpiece on PBS. When my novel WHILE WE WERE WATCHING DOWNTON ABBEY came out I was hoping they’d invite me on a cruise to talk about it. Maybe this September when the Downton Abbey movie comes out?
Author Interview - Wendy Wax
Anything else you'd like to add: My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding was an especially personal book for me in that it was inspired by a wedding dress that’s been worn by family brides for generations and by a friendship that was lost. Oh, and two of the three main characters are writers, so I got to dish a good bit about the publishing business.
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Author Interview - Wendy Wax
