Happy Friday blog friends. I recently read and reviewed A Bad Day For Pretty, which is a crime mystery with some humor, a bit of romance and a no nonsense heroine. I really enjoyed the book and am thrilled that author Sophie Littlefield has been kind enough to stop by my blog for an interview.
Bookworm: Welcome to my blog Sophie, and thank you for taking the time our of your busy schedule for this interview. Please tell us a bit about yourself.
Sophie: I’m a forty-something author from Northern California. I was a stay-at-home mom and homemaker for many years, but I have also been writing for decades. A few years ago I made writing my full time job, and in 2008 I got an agent and sold my first book. Since then I’ve written quite a few more books, and with the help of my agent I’ve contracted for three series at three different publishers.
I spend most of my time either sitting in my chair working away, or with my kids, who are both in high school. I’m also blessed with fantastic friends in the writing community, and I might just spend a fair amount of time hanging out with them in bars and talking about – what else – books. My family, and my non-writing friends, have been very patient with me, but I think they believe I’m obsessed. And they may be right.
Bookworm: In A Bad Day For Pretty, Stella Hardesty is an avenger for women who have suffered from spousal abuse. Shes a great heroine, strong, intelligent and sassy. How did you come up with her character? Is she inspired by anyone you know?
Sophie: Erm, um, the sad truth is that all of Stella’s baser instincts – her jealous, mean, frustrated, insecure, or bitchy moments – are all me. Her better moments, when she is striving to help other women, when she is generous and kind and brave – that is the ideal that I would like to strive for.
I created Stella when I was still newly arrived in middle age, when I was in the “you-have-got-to-be-kidding” stage. I think some women, after they’ve experienced the down side of middle age for a while, learn to take it in stride – the hot flashes and weight gain and failing eyesight, being ignored or condescended to by strangers, being portrayed as matronly and sexless by the media, watching men our age abandon ship to go shopping for younger models – but in the initial throes there’s a sort of shocked fury that I channeled into creating the character.
Bookworm: A Bad Day For Pretty is your second book featuring Stella, the first being A Bad Day For Sorry, will there be a third book?
Sophie: Yes, and thank you for asking! The third, tentatively titled A BAD DAY FOR FANCY, will be out next spring. A fourth, which I am currently writing, will come out the following year. And I will keep writing them as long as there is an audience who wants to read them.
Bookworm:What was the hardest thing about writing this book? How long did it take you to write?
Sophie: This book practically wrote itself in a brief but intense period early in 2008. I had just finished a book that didn’t sell, after writing several other novels over the course of a decade that didn’t sell, and I was a little tired of trying to follow all the rules and write the book I thought the market wanted to buy. So A BAD DAY FOR SORRY was a little treat for me, a hell-bent project where I broke all the rules I’d been dying to break and just wrote flat-out for the joy of it.
Bookworm: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Sophie: I’d like to thank them for giving a chance to a book that’s a little different from what we’ve come to expect from popular fiction. In particular I would like to tell them how much I appreciate their support for Stella, who isn’t young or pretty or educated or even very polite.
When I was trying to find a home for the book, several people suggested that I make Stella younger, better-looking, and less profane. I’m truly thrilled that I didn’t have to do that. I like Stella the way she is and I’m grateful to everyone who allowed me to keep her that way.
Bookworm:Who are your favorite authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Sophie: I appreciate authors in any genre who make me feel deeply. A romance that tugs at my cynical heart, a thriller that terrifies me, a noir mystery that makes me think hard about the human condition…a young adult novel that reminds me of how hard it was to grow up, a graphic novel that gets my pulse racing. I’m always on the lookout for authors who are new to me, and I listen when a friend says there’s someone I “really have to read.” Recently I’ve been introduced to Marisa de los Santos, Clive Barker, and Derek Nikitas that way.
Bookworm:If your book was to be made into a film, what famous Hollywood actors would you chose to play Stella & Goat? How about Chrissy?
Sophie: I love this game! Goat is definitely J.K. Simmons (the dad in Juno). I think Wynnona Judd would make a great Stella. As for Chrissy…the problem is that there aren’t many plus-size young actresses getting juicy roles, so either some brave actress is going to have to give in and eat a few cheeseburgers, or some talent scout is going to have to discover some overlooked future star. There’s a young actress named Rebecca Field who’s had some TV roles who might be a good fit.
Bookworm: Last but not least, if you were stranded on a deserted island, and were allowed to bring 3 items with you, what would they be?
Sophie: If you let me count my kids as one (which would keep me entertained), that would let me bring a giant tub of Cetaphil moisturizing cream and a crate of Triscuits, which I believe are the perfect food.
Bookworm: Thank you again Sophie! I enjoyed reading your answers. I like Stella just the way she is too and am glad to hear there will be third and fourth books. I think Wynnona Judd would play a great Stella :)
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special thanks to Tony over @ Blue Dot Literary for making this possible.
