Kerry Winfrey Interview - Just Another Love Song ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Credit: Alex Winfrey

Kerry Winfrey is the author of the romantic comedies WAITING FOR TOM HANKS and NOT LIKE THE MOVIES, both published by Berkley. Her next book, VERY SINCERELY YOURS, will be out in 2021. She’s also the author of the YA novels LOVE AND OTHER ALIEN EXPERIENCES and THINGS JOLIE NEEDS TO DO BEFORE SHE BITES IT, both from Feiwel and Friends. When she’s not writing, she’s most likely baking a pie or watching far, far too many romantic comedies. She lives with her family in the middle of Ohio.

Greatest thing you learned at school.

My love of books and reading! I had so many wonderful and encouraging teachers.

When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?

I’ve always wanted to be a writer, even before I knew how to write. I would tell my mom stories and ask her to write them down for me. And as I got older, I always gravitated toward books and writing.

Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre?

My all-time favorite is probably Little Women. It’s a book that can mean something different to you at different ages, and it has so much to say about family.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

Whenever someone says my books helped them through a hard time, or provided an escape when things were tough, I am so touched. I’ve also had a few people say that my books made them love reading again after years of not picking up a book, and that means so much!

What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?

When I’m trying to avoid writing, I’ll end up reading the most inane celebrity gossip. See: my Sister Wives obsession that I mention later on.

Can you tell us when you started JUST ANOTHER LONG SONG, how that came about?

Just Another Love Song was originally a very different book—the town of Baileyville was always the same, but Sandy was a romance novelist and Hank was the one who still lived in town. It went through a lot of changes before it became the book it is now!

TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT JUST ANOTHER LONG SONG

1. I’ve always wanted to write a small town book, and this is maybe my fourth or fifth attempt. I’m so glad it finally worked out!
2. Sandy’s best friend, Honey, is a veterinarian because my high school BFF is a vet. She was able to read over the book and make sure all my vet facts were correct! I had to ask her how to remove a squirrel from a house.
3. I named Baileyville after George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life.
4. Sandy’s favorite flower is zinnias because they’re my favorite flower, too.
5. I came up with the title of the book because it sounded good, but I didn’t really know what it meant. Then I named one of Hank’s songs “Just Another Love Song.”
6. The Baileyville Street Fair is based on a real fair in my hometown.
7. I have a playlist for JALS that includes Eric Church’s “Springsteen,” Jason Isbell’s “The Life You Chose,” and a Maggie Rogers cover of Taylor Swift’s “Tim McGraw.”
8. I wrote a lot of this book while I was actually in my hometown, because my parents still live there and they would often babysit my kid for me while I wrote.
9. I listened to so much 90s country music while I was writing this book. The song “Neon Moon” made its way into the book because it was on all the time.
10. Sandy and Hank end up watching Sister Wives one night in the book because I’m so fascinated by that show and that family. I don’t even watch it, but I often end up reading articles about them.

What is the first job you have had?

My first non-babysitting job was being a cook at a summer camp.

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?

Is my kid awake yet?

What is your most memorable travel experience?

My husband and I went to Kauai for our honeymoon and it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.

What's your most missed memory?

I have such fond memories of going to the library as a small kid, getting a stack of books, and going home to read them without any distractions. Of course I can still go to the library and check out a stack of books today, but there was something so comforting about doing it as a kid.

What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?

Usually I fall asleep reading, so I’m usually thinking about whatever book I’m into…which is why I can’t read anything scary before bed.

What is one unique thing are you afraid of?

I’m really terrified of people in mascot costumes. I don’t like how you can see their eyes through the mascot’s mouth.

What is the weirdest thing you have seen in someone else’s home?

When my husband and I were in the home buying process years ago, one of the houses we looked at had a framed picture of a naked woman and a tiger on the wall. I still think about the thought process behind leaving that up for an open house. We didn’t buy that house, but I wonder if the picture was included?

Two high school sweethearts get a second chance at their perfect ending in this charming new romance by Kerry Winfrey, author of Very Sincerely Yours.

Once upon a time, Sandy Macintosh thought she would have her happily ever after with her high school sweetheart, Hank Tillman. Sandy wanted to be an artist, Hank was the only boy in town who seemed destined for bigger things, and they both had dreams to escape town together. But when Sandy’s plans fell through, she stayed in their small town in Ohio while Hank went off to Boston to follow his dreams to be a musician, with the promise to stay together. Only that plan fell through, too.

Fifteen years later, Sandy runs a successful greenhouse while helping her parents with their bed and breakfast. Everything is perfect…until Hank rolls back into town, now a famous alt-country singer with a son in tow. She’s happy with the life she’s built by herself, but seeing Hank makes her think about what might have been. There aren’t enough cliché love songs in the world to convince Sandy to give Hank another chance, but when the two of them get thrown together to help organize the town’s annual street fair, she wonders if there could be a new beginning for them or if what they had is just a tired old song of the past.

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