Title: The Idea Of Him
Author: Holly Peterson
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A fabulous and compelling story from Holly Peterson, the New York Times bestselling author of The Manny
Mary Crawford is a once aspiring screenwriter turned successful public relations executive, mother of two young children, and wife of a hotshot magazine editor whose power base spans the worlds of finance, fashion, culture, entertainment, and society. At 34, she finds herself at a crossroads: between the office and her home, her life has become an endless rotation of people pleasing-whether pulling rabbits out of hats for her mogul boss, entertaining advertisers and phony A-listers for her husband's magazine, or making elaborate costumes for children's school plays. At least, that is, until she meets a head turning, traffic stopping beauty at the bar of the famed Four Seasons Grill Room-where many of the novel's players regularly convene-and shortly thereafter finds the same woman and her husband in an apparently compromising position in her own apartment.
And so begins the story of two very different women bound by similar missions-to uncover the crimes and betrayals of various men in their lives and finally put their own interests front and center. For Mary this ultimately means leaving a husband who is ideal in theory but not in practice, and deciding to risk security for self-fulfillment and a new life on her own. Like so many women, Mary fell for the man she married when she was in her twenties only to realize years later that it wasn't him she fell for as much as it was the idea of him-the idea of a savior who would protect and provide and ferry her from her past into the future. But the guy who seemed so right at the time turned out to be nothing more than a fantasy.
Mary Crawford is a once aspiring screenwriter turned successful public relations executive, mother of two young children, and wife of a hotshot magazine editor whose power base spans the worlds of finance, fashion, culture, entertainment, and society. At 34, she finds herself at a crossroads: between the office and her home, her life has become an endless rotation of people pleasing-whether pulling rabbits out of hats for her mogul boss, entertaining advertisers and phony A-listers for her husband's magazine, or making elaborate costumes for children's school plays. At least, that is, until she meets a head turning, traffic stopping beauty at the bar of the famed Four Seasons Grill Room-where many of the novel's players regularly convene-and shortly thereafter finds the same woman and her husband in an apparently compromising position in her own apartment.
And so begins the story of two very different women bound by similar missions-to uncover the crimes and betrayals of various men in their lives and finally put their own interests front and center. For Mary this ultimately means leaving a husband who is ideal in theory but not in practice, and deciding to risk security for self-fulfillment and a new life on her own. Like so many women, Mary fell for the man she married when she was in her twenties only to realize years later that it wasn't him she fell for as much as it was the idea of him-the idea of a savior who would protect and provide and ferry her from her past into the future. But the guy who seemed so right at the time turned out to be nothing more than a fantasy.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
What is your name, where were
you born and where do you live now?
I was born in Chicago, but I’m
really a New Yorker as I’ve lived here since I was 10 years old. I do love the
pulse of the city but I love more the fascinating people I meet every day who
are seeking their dreams here.
Did you always want to be a
writer? If not what did you want to be?
I always liked to write but I
think I’m honestly a better “Producer”. I worked at ABC News in that capacity
for years and I have four brothers so I’m used to herding cats and getting
everyone organized…that is definitely my best skill set. I do love to write and
I try to do so in an honest and energized way in my fiction.
When did you first consider
yourself as a "writer"?
I guess when a publisher said, yes,
they would publish the Manny.
Did it take a long time to get
your first book published?
The Manny was immensely
commercial…the term was just funny…and one publisher said, “you had me at
Manny”, so it honestly wasn’t. In this day and age, they are looking for
catch-y things in books and often say no to wonderful writing, as we all know.
Do you work another job as well
as your writing work?
Yes I am a journalist with a
past at magazines as well. I was an Editor at Newsweek and I often write freelance
pieces. You can see them all here:
http://www.hollypeterson.com/writings/
How long does it usually take
you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
I think it takes years to let a
book marinate and to fix characters and to layer them unfortunately. I write
extremely quickly but I need to let the scenes and dialogue settle a bit. Some
novelists even write diaries in their characters’ names to get to know them
better. You’ll find characters become real and they wouldn’t say or do certain
things so it’s hard to control them and it takes time for them to emerge as
well.
What can we expect from you in
the future? ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
More books of the same
genre…super fast paced because I personally can’t read slow moving books at
this stage of my life…too much work and mothering to slow down with even
serious literature I’m afraid…I mean 19th century masterpieces I
used to devour. So I like to offer my readers smart, reality based fiction in
that it is believable, accurate, and current (because I’m journalist I write
that way)…but with a plotline that takes off like a locomotive for sure. Next I will write a murder in the
Hamptons…always filled with love and sex and longing though.
Do you have a favourite
character from your books? and why are they your favourite?
I like to main protagonists in
my book because I create characters who are very real and very earnest. I hope
that doesn’t sound corny but they are working moms who are trying really hard
to make things work out…and things aren’t working out. So you feel for them,
you root for them, you understand why they are yearning for something they
don’t have and trying so hard to get it/achieve it/find it. I don’t think I write “happy endings”, I
write what happens in real lives that add some hope.
Where do you get your book plot
ideas from?What/Who is your inspiration?
New York City is jam packed
with action and intrigue. I have written many columns on money and covered the
wealthy extensively for magazines…so it’s a world I know, it’s a world I like
to satirize because the behavior among this set is honestly so bizarre that it
makes for great reading and scenes. I
hate silly caricatures of “rich, mean, greedy people” as I know many of them
and they are not so simple minded. They are complicated, often highly insecure
and neurotic and never satisfied and deserve many layers to explain that well
as I try to do.
Do you have a certain routine
you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?
The cable TV man who finally
shows to fix the Internet and no one’s home, the plane tickets where I lose
hundreds of dollars if I don’t tell my travel agent yes or no, the kids’
teachers who are asking about play date permission slips….all of these emails,
as all of you know, come at you like a rocket launcher all day and they are
all, for moms, crucial. I mean that. So it’s impossible to write in a library
as I do with all those missives coming at me. But I do try when my kids leave
in the mornings. I most often write at 4am for 3 hours before the kids wake up
and yes by Thursday night I scream at them and pass out at 7:30 because like
all women, I am unfortunately not superwoman and I can’t survive long on 5-6
hours of sleep a night.
What was the toughest/best
review you have ever had?
Someone said The Manny had the
worse sex scenes ever written and for some reason that was the #1 Google search
item for my name for years…didn’t do wonders for my post-divorce dating.
Would you ever ask a reviewer
to change their review if it was not all positive about your book/books?
No I’m a journalist and that is
nuts. I would never do that; you have to respect the autonomy of the
writer/reviewer.
Do you choose a title first, or
write the book then choose the title?
I most definitely choose the
title first…haven’t you all fallen
for THE IDEA OF HIM????
Where can readers follow you?
Your Blog Details? http://www.hollypeterson.com/hollys-blog/
Your Website? http://www.hollypeterson.com/
Your Facebook Page? https://m.facebook.com/HollyPetersonny?id=275564372549939&_rdr
Your Goodreads Author Page? https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/283702.Holly_Peterson
Your Twitter Details? https://mobile.twitter.com/hollypetersonny
To learn even more about Holly Peterson and her book here
Thanks for taking part in the tour and hosting Holly!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating woman, I have to admit.
ReplyDelete