| Interview with Jessica Conant-Park |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I am actually not one of those writers who’d been writing my entire life, struggling to get published. I sort of
fell into writing, I guess! I married a chef and was struck by the many crazy tales from restaurant kitchens
that he had to tell. My mother was a well-established author, and after I’d shared the millionth wild culinary
story with her, she suggested that we collaborate on a book. Write a book? Me? Huh. The prospect of
writing a book felt oddly perfect. An avid reader, I especially loved chick lit and cozy mysteries. The idea for
the Gourmet Girl series began to grow. I knew right away that I wanted our book to mix chick lit, mystery,
food, and humor.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I admit, I had it much easier because my mother and I were writing together. I know how absolutely tough it
can be to get published and I’m so grateful that my mother wanted to work with me. We used her agent who
promptly sent us straight to Berkley and we were offered a three-book contract based on four chapters and
a detailed outline.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
SIMMER DOWN came out in March 2007 and is the second in the Gourmet Girl series. In this book, Chloe
Carter’s dream boyfriend, chef Josh Driscoll, is prepping for the opening of Simmer, Boston’s hot new
restaurant-which means her love life is being put on the back burner. Josh is too busy to be her own
personal naked chef for a while. . .But bigger problems are to come. At a fund-raiser featuring samples of
Josh’s cuisine, a club owner is found bludgeoned to death by Josh’s state-of-the-art, professional-grade
food processor, the ominously named Robocoupe. By opening night at Simmer, the list of suspects is
almost longer than the line to get in. Chloe is struggling to solve the crime before the final course is served .
. . And one thing to sell the book? Think Shopaholic meets Rachel Ray meets Janet Evanovich.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My personal chef…er, husband, Bill, without a doubt. I’ve always been a big foodie, but before Bill, I never
gave much thought to the whole restaurant scene. What goes on in a kitchen, how crazy chefs’ lives are,
the fierce competition in the industry, etc. I found I was constantly telling everyone about Bill’s chef antics
and I found all the restaurant-insider information fascinating.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
I live in New Hampshire with Bill and my six-year-old son, Nicholas. Nicholas sort of gets that I write books,
but threw a fit when our local newspaper did a story on me and he didn’t get to have his picture in the
paper, too! Maybe I’ll get some more support from him later…Bill, on the other hand, is tremendously
supportive and he also loves that his recipes are now in print!
Writing with my mother has been great fun and, much to many people’s surprise, has not been the source
of tumultuous fights and bad feelings! She is a wonderful co-author and it has been really fun for the entire
family to have us working together.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
There is this frozen spinach and cheese pita thing that is the absolute best! It takes 45 minutes in the oven
(which, when you have a craving, is a very long time) and puffs up into this delicious, flaky dough with a
gooey inside . . .Oh, now I’m starving!
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
1) Brew a huge pot of coffee and glare at it until it’s ready.
2) Investigate the garden to see if any flowers have miraculously bloomed overnight and then curse the
stupid weather for not cooperating enough to produce blooms.
3) Check e-mail and get annoyed when there is nothing of great importance.
Um…yeah, I’m not much of a morning person.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
If anyone ever got a look at my attic, I might die of embarrassment. I evidently have an addiction to
Christmas ornaments and those crazy light-up houses.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Terracotta. A little weird, I know, but I find that orange/brown/rusty color to be so homey and comforting.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
My son watches Kipper the Dog and I have to say, that is one cute animal, but Charlie Brown and his crew
are my favorites. My husband might (good naturedly) say that I have a tendency to be bossy and controlling
like Lucy, but I’d like to think there is a little Snoopy in me, too!
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
I would have loved the sock hop era of the 1950’s. The music alone would be enough reason to time travel!
Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly…Oh, I would’ve adored it! Plus, poodle skirts, drive-ins, and really
the whole social/pop-culture scene would have been a blast for me!
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I listen to almost anything except jazz (which irks me beyond belief!) Favorites are: Pink, Kelly Clarkson, the
Goo Goo Dolls, Carbon Leaf, Counting Crows, Live, Gwen Stefani, and all the oldies/Motown. I try to work in
total silence, but there is usually the sound of lawn mowers, snow blowers, garbage trucks, and other street
noise going on outside my window. Plus, there are times (deadline time, especially) when I do a lot of writing
with my six-year-old at home so I have to do my best to block out the sound of him yelling about Pokemon.
But, ideally, I would love a nice, quiet work environment!
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you
saw at the theater?
So stuck on 24, Prison Break, and Lost, but my absolute favorite is Kathy Griffin’s Life on the D-List.
Everything about her is hysterical. I haven’t been in a movie phase in a while and have been watching TV
series on disc. I am probably the last person on the planet to join the Gray’s Anatomy craze, but I’ve been
working my way through that series. I did love 10 Going on 30 and have watched that a ton. Oh, and 50
First Dates is so adorable I could see that movie once a week. I got to see Shrek the Third in the theatre a
few weeks ago, except my son wanted to leave halfway through! Can’t wait to see the end on disc…
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Learn to laugh at yourself; not only do others like you for it, but you’ll love yourself for it. It’s much less
draining than trying to be cool all the time.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
The third book in the Gourmet Girl series, TURN UP THE HEAT, comes out in March 2008 and my mom and
I are getting ready to sign a contract for two more books in the series. I would love to find the time to write a
novel specifically for teens, too. I have some of the general feeling of the book in my head, but no actual
plot yet (slight problem), so when I get the chance I need to brainstorm the story.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I am actually not one of those writers who’d been writing my entire life, struggling to get published. I sort of
fell into writing, I guess! I married a chef and was struck by the many crazy tales from restaurant kitchens
that he had to tell. My mother was a well-established author, and after I’d shared the millionth wild culinary
story with her, she suggested that we collaborate on a book. Write a book? Me? Huh. The prospect of
writing a book felt oddly perfect. An avid reader, I especially loved chick lit and cozy mysteries. The idea for
the Gourmet Girl series began to grow. I knew right away that I wanted our book to mix chick lit, mystery,
food, and humor.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I admit, I had it much easier because my mother and I were writing together. I know how absolutely tough it
can be to get published and I’m so grateful that my mother wanted to work with me. We used her agent who
promptly sent us straight to Berkley and we were offered a three-book contract based on four chapters and
a detailed outline.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
SIMMER DOWN came out in March 2007 and is the second in the Gourmet Girl series. In this book, Chloe
Carter’s dream boyfriend, chef Josh Driscoll, is prepping for the opening of Simmer, Boston’s hot new
restaurant-which means her love life is being put on the back burner. Josh is too busy to be her own
personal naked chef for a while. . .But bigger problems are to come. At a fund-raiser featuring samples of
Josh’s cuisine, a club owner is found bludgeoned to death by Josh’s state-of-the-art, professional-grade
food processor, the ominously named Robocoupe. By opening night at Simmer, the list of suspects is
almost longer than the line to get in. Chloe is struggling to solve the crime before the final course is served .
. . And one thing to sell the book? Think Shopaholic meets Rachel Ray meets Janet Evanovich.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My personal chef…er, husband, Bill, without a doubt. I’ve always been a big foodie, but before Bill, I never
gave much thought to the whole restaurant scene. What goes on in a kitchen, how crazy chefs’ lives are,
the fierce competition in the industry, etc. I found I was constantly telling everyone about Bill’s chef antics
and I found all the restaurant-insider information fascinating.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
I live in New Hampshire with Bill and my six-year-old son, Nicholas. Nicholas sort of gets that I write books,
but threw a fit when our local newspaper did a story on me and he didn’t get to have his picture in the
paper, too! Maybe I’ll get some more support from him later…Bill, on the other hand, is tremendously
supportive and he also loves that his recipes are now in print!
Writing with my mother has been great fun and, much to many people’s surprise, has not been the source
of tumultuous fights and bad feelings! She is a wonderful co-author and it has been really fun for the entire
family to have us working together.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
There is this frozen spinach and cheese pita thing that is the absolute best! It takes 45 minutes in the oven
(which, when you have a craving, is a very long time) and puffs up into this delicious, flaky dough with a
gooey inside . . .Oh, now I’m starving!
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
1) Brew a huge pot of coffee and glare at it until it’s ready.
2) Investigate the garden to see if any flowers have miraculously bloomed overnight and then curse the
stupid weather for not cooperating enough to produce blooms.
3) Check e-mail and get annoyed when there is nothing of great importance.
Um…yeah, I’m not much of a morning person.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
If anyone ever got a look at my attic, I might die of embarrassment. I evidently have an addiction to
Christmas ornaments and those crazy light-up houses.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Terracotta. A little weird, I know, but I find that orange/brown/rusty color to be so homey and comforting.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
My son watches Kipper the Dog and I have to say, that is one cute animal, but Charlie Brown and his crew
are my favorites. My husband might (good naturedly) say that I have a tendency to be bossy and controlling
like Lucy, but I’d like to think there is a little Snoopy in me, too!
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
I would have loved the sock hop era of the 1950’s. The music alone would be enough reason to time travel!
Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly…Oh, I would’ve adored it! Plus, poodle skirts, drive-ins, and really
the whole social/pop-culture scene would have been a blast for me!
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I listen to almost anything except jazz (which irks me beyond belief!) Favorites are: Pink, Kelly Clarkson, the
Goo Goo Dolls, Carbon Leaf, Counting Crows, Live, Gwen Stefani, and all the oldies/Motown. I try to work in
total silence, but there is usually the sound of lawn mowers, snow blowers, garbage trucks, and other street
noise going on outside my window. Plus, there are times (deadline time, especially) when I do a lot of writing
with my six-year-old at home so I have to do my best to block out the sound of him yelling about Pokemon.
But, ideally, I would love a nice, quiet work environment!
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you
saw at the theater?
So stuck on 24, Prison Break, and Lost, but my absolute favorite is Kathy Griffin’s Life on the D-List.
Everything about her is hysterical. I haven’t been in a movie phase in a while and have been watching TV
series on disc. I am probably the last person on the planet to join the Gray’s Anatomy craze, but I’ve been
working my way through that series. I did love 10 Going on 30 and have watched that a ton. Oh, and 50
First Dates is so adorable I could see that movie once a week. I got to see Shrek the Third in the theatre a
few weeks ago, except my son wanted to leave halfway through! Can’t wait to see the end on disc…
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Learn to laugh at yourself; not only do others like you for it, but you’ll love yourself for it. It’s much less
draining than trying to be cool all the time.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
The third book in the Gourmet Girl series, TURN UP THE HEAT, comes out in March 2008 and my mom and
I are getting ready to sign a contract for two more books in the series. I would love to find the time to write a
novel specifically for teens, too. I have some of the general feeling of the book in my head, but no actual
plot yet (slight problem), so when I get the chance I need to brainstorm the story.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
| Visit Ms. Conant-Park's Website! |