Marilyn Brant

Marilyn Brant is the award-winning women's fiction author of ACCORDING TO JANE (2009), FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE (2010) and A SUMMER IN EUROPE (coming 11-29-11), all from Kensington Books. She's been a classroom teacher, library staff member, freelance writer and national book reviewer. Since turning to writing, her novels have won a number of awards (like the Golden Heart, the Booksellers' Best and the Aspen Gold), and they’ve been selected as Doubleday & Book-of-the-Month Club Featured Alternate Selections. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and son, surrounded by towers of books that often threaten to topple over and crush her. Visit her at www.marilynbrant.com.

GET LOST IN:  FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE

 

Every woman remembers her firsts: Her first kiss. Her first lover. And her first time contemplating an affair…


Each Friday morning at the Indigo Moon Café, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara meet to swap stories about marriage, kids and work. But one day, spurred by recent e-mails from her college ex, Jennifer poses questions they've never faced before. What if they all married the wrong man? What if they're living the wrong life? And what would happen if, just once, they gave in to temptation…?


Soon each woman is second-guessing the choices she's made—and the ones she can unmake—as she becomes aware of new opportunities around every corner, from attentive colleagues and sexy neighbors to flirtatious past lovers. And as fantasies blur with real life, Jennifer, Bridget and Tamara begin to realize how little they know about each other, their marriages and themselves, and how much there is to gain—and lose—when you step outside the rules.


You can read an excerpt from FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE, here.



GET TO KNOW MARILYN

Welcome, Marilyn! Thanks for stopping by to chat with our readers. What was most important to you in the writing of this story?

I’m always trying to be honest about the complexities of human emotion, particularly in regards to relationships. I would say with Friday Mornings at Nine, the biggest issue I wanted to explore was not so much the concept of “cheating” as a theme but, rather, the far less titillating subject of “choosing.” That a woman can really only be in a relationship fully—marital or otherwise—once she understands how and why she’s chosen to be there. That she has to look closely enough and listen deeply enough to know who she is and what she wants. And that in every romantic relationship or good friendship, she chooses over and over again (either consciously or unconsciously) whether she wants to stay. I believe that’s true of all of us, and I wanted my characters in this story to move from unconsciously living very unexamined lives to consciously and actively making a choice about where they were headed.

I love that -- looking at our day to day lives in a much more active way. You're right. Even not doing something is a choice. So, what’s your favorite movie of all time?

This is impossible for me to narrow down! I love lots of movies…especially classic films like “Roman Holiday” (with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn) and “The Philadelphia Story” (with Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn). I also love “A Room with a View,” all the “Pride & Prejudice” films, “While You Were Sleeping” and “When Harry Met Sally…”

All great ones. And I'm sensing a theme. ☺ My first two novels are fairy tale adaptations, so I'm curious... What’s your favorite fairy tale?

Cinderella, hands down! My new book, Fridays Mornings at Nine, has a fairy-tale theme, though, so it was fun to explore a mix of tales and give them a modern suburban twist, particularly using Little Red Riding Hood (with Bridget), Rapunzel (with Tamara), and Goldilocks and the Three Bears (with Jennifer).

What turns you off like nothing else?

Insincerity. I don’t expect everyone I meet to become a close friend, but I expect those who are my friends to be genuine and trustworthy. Period.

Do you write while listening to music? If so what kind?

No. I wish I could. I LOVE music, but it’s wildly distracting to me while I’m writing. (I am too often tempted to sing along—and, sadly, I don’t always do it especially well!) However, I reference songs quite a bit in the narrative itself, so I listen to a lot of music while I’m working on a story—just not when I’m actually sitting at the computer doing the typing. One of my favorite things to do is to go on walks with my iPod and think about scenes, testing out different songs to see if they provide the right musical subtext. For my debut book, According to Jane, I have an entire soundtrack of ‘80s tunes amassed. For Friday Mornings at Nine, I returned to the sounds of the '70s. And for my upcoming novel, A Summer in Europe, I'm referencing musicals, especially those of Andrew Lloyd Webber. (I have a "Soundtrack" link for each novel on the BOOKS page of my website at: http://www.marilynbrant.com/MBbooks.html)

What’s your favorite kind of cheese?

You realize I’m originally from Wisconsin…we Wisconsinites know cheese. I love fresh mozzarella, provolone, Monterey jack and—as a throwback to my childhood—salami cheese (especially delicious on sourdough bread!) and white curd cheese.

Who’s your favorite villain?

Mr. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice. I think he’s a terrific villain because he’s so charming and cunning that people don’t suspect him for the longest time. He knows how to flatter people so they fall under his spell, and then he betrays them. But, once someone is onto his schemes, it’s easy to see through him and he loses his power.

He is a great villain. Handsome and charming villains can be the worst! What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

Order a carry-out dinner in celebration (I don’t want to have to cook—LOL) and get something chocolaty-good for dessert!

Mmmm. Chocolate.... What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?

It means a lot to me to get to work on something creative every single day. Truly, that’s been such a gift. Even when the plotting of a scene is giving me fits or the synopsis doesn’t seem to make sense at all…I love knowing that I have a place to play with these characters and storylines. My hope is that by writing about women’s dreams and experiences as honestly as possible, I might get closer to helping readers recognize truths about their own lives. It was this sense of “recognition” that my favorite novelists gave to me, and I'll always be grateful for that.

GOTTA ASK -- GOTTA ANSWER ☺

A very personal question... What’s in your purse?

Lots of little scraps of paper. Seriously. Besides the basic set of cards (credit, insurance, library, bookstore, grocery, etc.), loose change and a few dollar bills…it’s mostly old crumpled receipts that I scribbled something on at some point. And one tube of lipstick. And my keys. Sometimes my cell phone, too—if I remember to charge it.

MARILYN'S JUST GOTTA ASK HER FANS

So, it’s the New Year…are you someone who does or doesn’t make resolutions? If you do make them, have you chosen yours for 2011 already?

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GIVEAWAY!

Marilyn is generously offering a Friday Mornings at Nine t-shirt as a prize for a random commenter. (Cool!) The draw is open to any random commenter within North America and the chances of winning will vary depending on the number of comments.

GET IN TOUCH 

You can keep in touch with Marilyn here:

Website: www.marilynbrant.com
Blog: http://marilynbrant.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marilynbrant