Guest Star: Brenda Janowitz

Happy New Year everyone! Well, I'm back from my blog-vacation. Or shall I say "blog-cation"...okay, sorry, I won't go there again. And what a treat to be back with a new guest star!

This week it's the incredibly talented Brend Janowitz, the author of a brand new novel called JACK WITH A TWIST, which is the sequel to her praised, SCOT ON THE ROCKS.

Here's a quick summary of the book and my interview with Brenda.

About the Book:

Planning a wedding can be a trying experience…

A little prewedding anxiety is normal for every bride, and Manhattan attorney Brooke Miller isn’t worried. She’s got the loving support of the world’s greatest guy, so planning her nuptials should be a piece of cake.

But that was yesterday.

Today, Brooke’s landed her first big case and has just discovered that the opposing attorney is none other than her fiancé, Jack. But that’s okay. These two professionals aren’t going to let a little courtroom sparring get their legal briefs in a bunch.… Right? Wrong! Now Jack’s pulling every dirty trick in the law books, and Brooke’s starting to suspect that maybe he isn’t the man she thought he was. Warring with her fiancé at work and at home, Brooke realizes that she’ll have to choose between the case of her life, or actually having a life.

Author Interview:

Q: How do you come up with the names for your characters?

A: Oh, I have lots of fun with this! In fact, I did a guest blog about this very topic over on Editor Unleashed! http://editorunleashed.com/2008/11/06/the-trouble-with-naming-your-characters/ I also spoke about this at Barnes and Noble, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywcLBh2RxNw

Q: What’s your favorite part about the publishing process? Your least favorite part?

Writing the book is the fun part for me. I had no idea, when I published my first novel, that once I finished writing my book, that the real work would then begin. As you’re writing your first novel, you tend to think that that’s the hard part—that once you finish, fame and riches await.

In reality, it’s a long road to getting your grand opus published, and there’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears involved with getting it onto book shelves and then marketing it.

Presumably, fame and riches will be there at some point, but it’s a hard long road to get there!


Q: When you got that first phone call announcing your had sold a novel, how did you react?

I was sitting in my office when my agent called me to tell me about it. The whole thing was incredibly surreal and exciting. You spend so much of your time writing and not knowing how the outside world will react to your work. When it finally happened for me, it was just this overwhelming feeling of elation and that Sally Field sentiment of: “They like it! They really like it!”

Q: If your book were to be made into a movie, who could you see playing the lead role?

What a fun question! I’d love Drew Barrymore for Brooke, and Fran Drescher as her mom. For Jack, I could see a lot of my Hollywood crushes playing the part: Adam Sandler, Jack Black, or Paul Rudd would be perfect. (Yes, I like me a funny guy.)

Q: What was your inspiration behind your latest novel?

When I finished SCOT ON THE ROCKS, I just knew that Brooke’s story had to continue! Since both she and Jack are lawyers, I thought it would be so much fun to pit them against each other in the courtroom… all while planning their fairy-tale wedding. Thus the idea for JACK WITH A TWIST was born!

If you'd like more information about Brenda and her novels, please visit her website at: www.BrendaJanowitz.com