1--What is the title of your latest release?
PICKLEBALLERS
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
PICKLEBALLERS is a sporty, enemies to lovers rom-com. Think, The Hating Game, meets Dodgeball.
When Meg Bloomberg’s brief marriage implodes, her friend Annie drags her onto the pickleball courts to help boost her mood. Six months later, Meg is on the mend; loving her new pickleball community and even steaming up her car in a sexy encounter with a hot environmentalist. And all is well until…she finds out he is the same guy in charge of closing down her community’s pickleball courts to restore the wetlands. Hilarity ensues. And sexual tension, of course.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I set a lot of the action on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride away from Seattle, mainly because that is where pickleball originated in 1965! Also, the Seattle area has been my home for thirty years, and I love the Pacific Northwest; the magnificent mountains, the brooding Puget Sound, and even the rain. All play a part in the story.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
No way. She’s kind of strait-laced and makes a point to be nice. I like my friends to have a little more bite. But I would hang out with her best friend, Annie who is snarky and edgy.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Good-intentioned, goofy, adorable
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Even though I spent many years as a high school English teacher, I still made a ton of grammatical and style errors. For the second book, PICKLE PERFECT, I hope my error sheet is shorter than seventeen pages! Also, I learned a lot about pickleball, and I really improved. I “had to” play for many hours. For research.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I try to write on autopilot, and not do too much second-guessing. That’s helpful for improvising character reactions, but it means I have a mammoth task reworking and revising on the back end.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Lobster. However, I think I like lobster because it’s a vehicle for butter. And really good chocolate. Maybe a chocolate covered lobster dipped in melted butter. Mmm. I’ll be right back. I need to make a quick stop in my secret candy drawer.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I work in my bedroom. My desk is set up in front of a picture window that looks out onto a quiet little lake. Really it is paradise, and I love to write when the rain is slashing across the lake and the sky is grey. Which is often…because I live in the Pacific Northwest. The other perk of my workspace is that it is very near my secret candy drawer.
10--Who is an author you admire?
F. Scott Fitzgerald. When I read Great Gatsby, which I did many times because I loved to teach it, each time I found something new that surprised me. The characters behave with such unrestrained theatricality but are so real and true to their emotions. And the language is lyrical and hints at a much deeper subtext. It is a layered, big-idea read.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Rather there was a series of books...by young adult fantasy author Zilpha Keatley-Snyder. Recently, I found an “after-care” note from our family doctor. My parents had taken me in because they were concerned because “Ilana spends a lot of time in her room alone reading books.” I was obsessed! I would lose myself in an author’s worlds. I wrote Ms. Keatley Snyder, and told her I wanted to be a writer when I grew up and received a handwritten note in return. She said, “If you want to be a writer, you will be. You already are.”
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was in my classroom in Costa Rica, (I taught at international schools for several years) and I had a prep period in between my high school English classes. My agent called with the news that Berkley Publishing had made a two-book offer, and I was so excited I shrieked and jumped up and down, laughing. A student from the classroom next door popped in to check on me because the teacher in the next room was concerned!
Immediately after, I called everybody in my family and shared the news. I could hardly teach the rest of the day, but my students shared in my excitement, and I’m sure they didn’t mind a little brain break!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love sci fi, especially anything about AI or time travel. I’ve been on a kick lately reading Kazuo Ishiguro and Emily St. John Mandel. Before I wrote romance, I wrote YA sci-fi!
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I adore broad, screwball comedies like Bridesmaids, The Hangover, and Date Night. If I can laugh til my stomach hurts, it’s been a great night. I’m the person on airplane who wakes you up by accident when I snort with uncontrollable giggles. Sorry.
15--What is your favorite season?
Summer. I’m happiest out in nature, hiking, swimming the lake, or playing pickleball. Also, I was a teacher for a long time, and can I tell you that the siren call of summertime kept me going through some challenging parent-teacher meetings.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I’m an extrovert, so for my birthday I love to throw myself a big party, have friends over, eat tons of brownies, and burn meat on the barbecue. My birthday is in August, so often I’m lucky enough to be able to play on the lake on my birthday. And I usually pout until I get a lobster dinner. Or chocolate. This is a recurring theme, no?
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
White Lotus. That series was insanely creative, intense, and I can’t wait for a third season. I watch very little TV, because I have such a short attention span for that kind of visual experience, but that series really reeled me in.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Thai food. I love the mix of flavors: spicy, salty, sour, sweet, and even bitter. The subtle blend of tastes is like a party in my mouth.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Get outside and hike. But also, I play the guitar and piano and I write folk/rock music and sing. Lately I’ve been playing original music at local open mic nights, and I hope to record some of my music this year for fun.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Book two, baby! PICKLE PERFECT is next in the Pickleballers line-up, and some of my favorite side characters from PICKLEBALLERS return in the spotlight. It was a blast to write, because I feel very comfortable with the cast of characters I created. You can find a first chapter teaser at the end of PICKLEBALLERS!
A pickleball newbie looking to recover from life’s swings and misses crosses paddles with love in this debut romantic comedy.
Meg Bloomberg is in a pickle. When Meg’s ex turns out to be a total player, she and her bestie take off for a mood-lifting pickleball excursion to Bainbridge Island. It’s supposed to be an easy lob, a way to heal, not the opening serve to a new courtside romance that’s doomed to spin out.
No matter how Meg tries, she can’t shake her feelings for Ethan Fine. A charismatic environmental consultant and Bainbridge local, Ethan seems like the real dill. But when Meg discovers that Ethan is sabotaging her home court, she decides the match is over.
It’s time for Meg to take control of her own game. And maybe, just maybe…love will bounce back.
Romance Sports [Berkley, On Sale: November 12, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593642238 / eISBN: 9780593642245]
A.J. (she/they) is a magpie of plots, bad ideas, and spite. She is a queer speculative fiction writer and the author of the acclaimed Hell’s Library fantasy series. Her writing has appeared in Uncanny Magazine and various anthologies, and she's an alumni of Viable Paradise workshop.
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