The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit List Previous Next Random

 

Allison Winn Scotch from the Girlfriend’s Cyber Circuit drops in today to chat about her debut novel, The Department of Lost and Found.

Cover:

 

About the Book:

Natalie Miller has just had the worst day of her life.  But it didn’t start out that way.  After all, she’s on her way to the top. She has a bright future ahead of her and is using her determination and smarts to get her—and the senator she works for—where they need to be, regardless of whom they step on along the way.  Passing lukewarm bills to please the constituents and leaking stories to the press are mere checkmarks on Natalie’s to-do list. And that’s the way she likes it.

Until, on the very same day, her doctor gives her the shocking news that she has breast cancer and her boyfriend dumps her, leaving Natalie to question everything she knows.

So she decides to take on her cancer the way she does everything—with steely determination. But as she becomes a slave to the whims of chemo, her body forces her to take a time out.  She gets a dog, becomes addicted to The Price is Right and, partly to spite her counselor’s idea to keep a journal, Natalie embarks on a mission.  She is going to track down the Five Lost Loves of her Life and figure out what went wrong.

About the Author:

Scotch has contributed to American Baby, American Way, Cooking Light, Family Circle, Glamour, InStyle Weddings, Men’s Health, Parents, Prevention, Redbook, Self, Shape, Women’s Health and Woman’s Day, among others. She lives in New York with her husband and their son and daughter.

 

Allison’s take on the RosettWrites Q & A:

Dream vacation destination?

Probably an African safari with a week afterward spent in the Seychelles or somewhere like that.  I’ve traveled all over the world but regret not getting to Africa before I had kids.  Now, who knows when it will happen!!

You’ve just won the lottery. What’s the first thing you do/buy?

Probably a live-in housekeeper.  Is that a lame answer?  Honestly, we have a huge dog and two small kids, and I feel like I’m constantly cleaning, so yeah, that would be amazing.  And maybe, just for kicks, a private jet!  I HATE flying – it’s my one big fear in life – and I do think that if I had a pilot and a plane that catered just to me, I’d somehow feel safer.  Oh, and not having to deal with airport security and all of that would rock my world.

Favorite mystery/thriller movie?

I’ll say Dead Calm.  I first saw it in high school, and those final scenes scared the bejeesus out of me.  I still can’t stand to watch it because it’s too tense for my blood!  But man, is it good.

Favorite junk food?

Anything with chocolate.  You could cover beets in chocolate, and I’d likely eat them. 

What’s one food you absolutely can’t stand?

Er, beets?  Fish eggs.  Foie gras.  Liver.  Pate.  I’m also not a fan of red meat, not for political reasons but because it triggers my gag reflex.

Paper or plastic?

Plastic.  Yeah, I know, it’s horrible, but I live in the city, and have to fling shopping bags over my stroller’s handlebars, and thus, plastic is the only way to go.

What’s one talent you wish you had?

Are we talking real talent or superhero talent?  Real talent?  I wish I’d listened to my mother and stuck with guitar lessons.  I can play the piano, but the guitar is so much handier and cooler, no?  Superhero talent?  I think it would be pretty cool to be read minds.  I’m sure that I’d get a lot of information that wasn’t entirely pleasant, but still, it would be awesome to have that ability.

M&Ms or Godiva?

Can I say both?  Ha!  No, I’m fine with M&Ms.  It doesn’t have to be expensive to be good!  And frankly, M&Ms are fabulous!

Favorite time of Day?

Probably about 7:00pm, when my kids are just winding down and I know that there’s an end in sight, but they haven’t yet dropped of to sleep, so I still have a few more moments with them.  I’m not a morning person, though I’ve learned to adjust because as a mom, you have to be on your game in order to get the kids out the door, so I’d definitely have to choose a time later in the day.  Of course, my other favorite moment is at about 10:59, just as my eyes press together, and I’m finally asleep.

Tell us a little about your book. Did an event or idea inspire the book?

I lost someone close to me to cancer, and that was definitely the emotional spark for the book, but from there, I took it and created fiction.  I wanted to write about a character whose life was in total disarray and who had to be turned on her head in order for her to find a way to right herself.  In the book, cancer is just a catalyst for her “aha moment,” much like I think we’ve all had – that low point maybe after a break-up or after we’ve lost a job or whatever – when we’ve had to dig a little deeper and find a way to nudge our way out of the crap pile that life has heaved on us.

What’s your writing style? Outline or no outline?

No outline.  I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gal, both in life and in writing.  I tend to jot down upcoming scenes about two or three chapters ahead, so, for example, as I wind up one chapter, I’ll write down major plot points for the next few – a scene with a boyfriend, a problem at work – and then I keep doing this over and over again until I’ve written the whole book.  This method gives me the freedom to change the plots and the characters as needed, taking them down organic and honest paths, and also gives me momentum for the next day of writing: I don’t open up the document with no idea where I’m headed, which can be really daunting for me and causes me to procrastinate indefinitely.

What do you wish you’d known about either the craft of writing or the business of publishing when you first started writing?

How difficult it is to get the damn thing published in the first place!  Truly, before I got on the hamster wheel, I had a vague idea of how vigorous the process is, but until I saw it up close – how many people need to approve the sale of the book, for example – I had no idea what I was up against.  I was amazed that I got even one offer, much less that the book went to auction.  That said, I don’t mean to be discouraging: hey, books get bought every day, and there’s no reason that yours can’t be the next one sold.

What’s up next for you? What are you working on now?

I just finished up my second novel, Time of My Life, which should be out next fall.  It’s about a woman who seems to have it all but who is haunted by her lingering “what ifs.”  And she wakes up one day seven years in the past with the opportunity to redo it all and discover if the path she chose was the one she should have chosen all along.  I’m totally fascinated by how even the littlest decisions can change the entire landscape of our lives, and I’m also a compulsive googler of anyone and everyone, so writing this book was a lot of fun for me.  I also think and hope that others can relate to it: a lot of us have flashes of what our lives might have been if we’d made other choices, and you know, I don’t really see any shame in admitting that.  It doesn’t take away from my current happiness or how much I love and embrace my current life, it just means that sometimes, it’s human to wonder about other roads you could have gone down.  I do hope that others agree!

I completely understand, Allison. In fact, the book I’m working on now has some “what if I had. . .” elements in it, too. Thanks for stopping in!