Kristin Harmel
Author Interview - Kristin Harmel
Author of The Book of Lost Names.
“Inspired by an astonishing true story from World War II, a young woman with a talent for forgery helps hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis in this unforgettable historical novel from the international bestselling author of the "epic and heart-wrenching World War II tale" (Alyson Noel, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Winemaker's Wife.”
Author Interview - Kristin Harmel
Author I draw inspiration from: Anne Frank
Author Interview - Kristin Harmel
Favorite place to read a book: In my 4-year-old's bed, as he falls asleep beside me. (I always read on my phone while I wait for him to fall asleep!)
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Perhaps Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby. Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, any of Jasmine Guillory's characters, because they always seem to carry the best food around with them. If we were stuck in an elevator, we wouldn't starve. (In fact, I remember a stuck-in-an-elevator scene from one of her books that I believe involved brie and champagne. I would like to be on that elevator.)
Author Interview - Kristin Harmel
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I always loved to write, but it wasn't until I read Anne Frank's diary that I realized that you could change the world for the better with words. That was the moment my dream was solidified.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: All four for different reasons! Hardcover when I want to keep the book forever (or when it's autographed). Paperback when I want to be able to throw it into my tote bag and take it with me. Ebook for travel and reading in the dark when I should be sleeping. Audiobook for long car rides. A book is a book, regardless of format, and I love that it's possible to access stories anywhere!
The last book I read: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, which will be out in March. (I'm reading an advance copy for a blurb.) It's very good!
Author Interview - Kristin Harmel
Pen & paper or computer: Definitely computer. I type much more quickly than I write.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Diana from Kristy Woodson Harvey's Feel Like Falling or Conley from Mary Kay Andrews's Hello, Summer.
Author Interview - Kristin Harmel
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: sommelier. I'm fascinated by everything about wine!
Favorite decade in fashion history: The 1920s.
Place I’d most like to travel: Paris. For the billionth time. A portion of my heart always seems to be there!
My signature drink: A glass of champagne (with a dirty martini coming in second, and a negroni coming in third!)
Favorite artist: I'm going to name a musical artist: The band Sister Hazel. We had them on our Friends and Fiction show (https://www.facebook.com/groups/FriendsandFiction) on July 22, and the way they explained their songwriting was incredible. I've been a fan since 1997 and have loved seeing them evolve over the years. Music truly is art!
Number one on my bucket list: To see the Northern Lights in person.
Anything else you'd like to add: Thanks for all the great questions!
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Author Bio: Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling and #1 international bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into numerous languages and sold all over the world.
A former reporter for PEOPLE magazine, Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late 1990s. After stints covering health and lifestyle for American Baby, Men’s Health, and Woman’s Day, she became a reporter for PEOPLE magazine while still in college and spent more than a decade working for the publication, covering everything from the Super Bowl to high-profile murders to celebrity interviews with the likes of Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, OutKast, Justin Timberlake, and Patrick Dempsey. Her favorite stories at PEOPLE, however, were the “Heroes Among Us” features—tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. One of those features—the story of Holocaust-survivor-turned-philanthropist Henri Landwirth (whom both Walter Cronkite and John Glenn told Kristin was the most amazing person they’d ever known)—partially inspired Kristin’s 2012 novel, The Sweetness of Forgetting, which was a bestseller all over the world.
In addition to a long magazine writing career (which also included articles published in Travel + Leisure, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and more), Kristin was also a frequent contributor to the national television morning show The Daily Buzz—where her assignments included flying to London three times to interview the cast of the Harry Potter films—and has appeared on Good Morning America and numerous local television morning shows. She even stumbled into a role as an extra in the 2003 American Idol movie while awaiting an interview with Kelly Clarkson.
Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts and spent her childhood there, as well as in Columbus, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduating with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her husband and young son. She travels frequently to France for book research (and—let’s be honest—for the pastries and wine) and writes a book a year for Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.
