Photo Credit: Madeline Bohrer
I hear so often from people who want to write a book but "don't have time." Make time! Even if you can only write for 15 minutes a day, or if you can only set aside a half hour on weekends, that's okay. There's no race to the finish line. Eventually you'll have written a book.
What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?
I was in the first trimester of my second pregnancy with no childcare for my toddler when I wrote the first draft, and it was so hard coming up with food descriptions when I was nauseous all the time and didn't want to eat anything! I was also so tired that sometimes had to admit defeat on hitting my daily word count while my toddler napped and take a nap myself instead.
What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?
The epilogue. It's hard to say why without spoilers, but it really ties the rest of the book up with the sparkliest holiday bow.
Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
I think that stories help us make sense of our own lives and figure out who we are in relation to the world.
Can you tell us when you started EIGHT WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU, how that came about?
After my last Hanukkah book, LOVE YOU A LATKE, did well, my publisher asked if I had another Hanukkah book in me. Unrelated, I'd also been feeling an itch to write a romance set over many years where the reader pops in to check on the characters every so often. I wasn't sure I had another Hanukkah book in me, but then I realized I could combine those two ideas and write a Hanukkah book where we checked in with the characters every Hanukkah over several years, and this book was born.
WRITING BEHIND THE SCENES
My favorite part of when I first start writing is coming up with character names. I'm a bit of a name nerd and really enjoy following name trends and how they relate to places and times (the day the Social Security Administration releases its yearly most popular baby names list is not quite my Christmas, but it is a very exciting day). So it's important to me that my characters not only have names that fit them as people but that their names make sense for when and where they were born – it's a major pet peeve of mine when I'm reading a book that, for example, is supposed to follow modern-day teenagers but they all have names like Amy and Jessica and Ashley, which were popular when I was a kid rather than when these kids were born.
In Eight Ways, I knew an important part of Shira's journey was going to be drifting away from and then coming back to her Jewishness, so I wanted her to have an identifiably Jewish name. She's also someone who likes to stand out in a crowd, so I didn't want her name to be super common. Shira means song, and I really liked that for her, since she's the kind of character who says what she thinks and loudly celebrates the things she cares about. Meanwhile, Leo spends the book figuring out who he is and what he cares about. I thought it would be fun for him to have a "cool" name, one that's popular now ie. that readers are naming their kids, which means my generation thinks that it's cool, but also that had a secret bit of nerdery – he goes by Leo but his full name is Leonard, which he's embarrassed about. He's insecure about who he is at the beginning of the book, and I thought that specifically hiding his full name and going by a nickname was a way to demonstrate that. For most of the side characters, I pulled up the SSA name list from the year I calculated they would've been born and scrolled through until I found something that clicked.
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
What time are my kids going to sleep to today?
What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?
I was a nerd who liked most subjects, but I really liked psychology and history, because I was fascinated by other people and the things they did and why.
Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
I love food, but not having to decide what I'm going to eat and what every member of my family is going to eat three times a day every day.
What is your most memorable travel experience?
I've been lucky enough to go on some great trips, but my favorite was going to Tanzania on safari.
This Hanukkah, Shira Levinson is returning home to New Jersey riding the high of achieving major milestones. Though she only just graduated from college, she’s got her dream job and a perfect Los Angeles apartment—an actual miracle in the city of dreams.
Life has not been quite as kind to Leo David. Not only did he fail out of college, he was forced to move in with his estranged dad, who he still hates for cheating on his mom years ago. The only silver lining? Getting to see Shira, his childhood friend (and crush, though he’ll never tell her that) while she’s home for her family’s holiday party.
But that’s just the beginning. Over the next eight years, Shira’s and Leo’s lives spin them in all sorts of directions as they grow and change, taking them places they never imagined going. Sometimes those paths take them farther away from each other, and other times closer together. If they can only time it right, they might uncover a love that burns forever.
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And now, The Giveaways.
1 Winner will receive a Copy of Eight Ways to Say I Love You by Amanda Elliot.
Please comment below and share on Instagram to enter and tag JeanBookNerd.
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