1--What is the title of your latest release?
SUCH GOOD PEOPLE
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
It’s 10 p.m. on a Thursday in the spring of her freshman year of college, and April is standing at the back of a crowded Manhattan bar waiting for her friend, Rudy, to arrive. Their eyes lock the moment he enters the room, and in an instant, lives and legacies are altered forever.
Within hours, Rudy is arrested. Within days, April is expelled. Within weeks, he’s incarcerated. And within months, she meets Peter, a prodigious young attorney who makes her world recognizable again.
Years later, April is happily living in Chicago married to Peter, a mother of three with a fulfilling career and standing yoga date with her girlfriends. On the eve of Peter’s election for local office, Rudy is up for parole. Headlines explode about April’s past, jeopardizing Peter’s campaign and everything they hold dear. Suddenly, April is faced with an impossible choice: protecting the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life a possibility.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Having grown up in a borough of NYC, I understand the feel and rhythm of residential sections of urban areas and wanted to root my novel in that type of community. I have a friend from Midwood, Brooklyn, and another friend who is currently a teacher in the area. I have visited several times and connected with the quiet tree lined side streets and bustling main thoroughfares. Midwood felt like a perfect homebase for April and Rudy. I could clearly envision the neighborhood which made writing about it much easier.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely! Both April and Rudy are people I’d want to call my friends.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Resilient, devoted and selfless. Those are the words I would use to describe both April and Rudy, the two main characters in Such Good People.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned that writing a novel really is like creating a giant jigsaw puzzle. As the author, you need to carefully decide how, when, and which puzzle pieces you are going to distribute to your readers. I knew from writing my first book, The Cast, that there is sort of a Venn diagram when it comes to character development and the intersection of individual story lines. With Such Good People, there was all overlapping character development, but also significant legal and medical research that needed to be slowly revealed as if they were additional characters. I spoke a bunch with experts in those fields several times to make sure I got the facts, verbiage, and pacing right. At times, it felt like I was solving two puzzles at once (character development and facts/research) and then neatly fitting them together by the end of the book.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Edit as I draft. Then once it’s done, I edit again. And again.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Dark chocolate chips
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I am a nomad with my laptop. Sometimes I write at a dining table. Sometimes on the couch. Sometimes in an oversized club chair. It all depends on where I feel most inspired and comfortable that day.
10--Who is an author you admire?
So many! Anna Quindlen, Alyson Richman, Jodi Picoult, Lynda Loigman.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
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.
It was actually an email to an agent, and it was with my first book, The Cast. I sent a blind query to an agent on a Friday morning. She wrote back the same morning asking for the manuscript and I emailed it immediately. I didn’t want to get too excited or ahead of myself, so my expectations remained low. She reached out on Monday, we met Wednesday and signed quickly thereafter. It felt like a dream.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Contemporary fiction
14--What’s your favorite movie?
It’s a tie between Love Actually and La La Land.
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall. With the crisp cool air, changing color of leaves, and abundance of school supply commercials, everything feels fresh and exciting – like a new beginning. Plus, cozy sweaters, cute coats/hats/scarves, and sipping a mug of tea beside a fireplace is very much my vibe.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Being home and hanging out with my family and close friends. It’s all about simple pleasures. I’m very happy with a great pizza, homemade cake, a little Carvel ice cream and being surrounded by the people I love.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Ohh… so many!
Podcasts: Smartless; Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson; Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist
TV: I grew up on Saturday Night Live so I really enjoyed the SNL 50th Anniversary Special
Movie: A Real Pain
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Greek/Mediterranean
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Call or visit with a friend or relative. Bake/cook.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Another novel (hopefully in the not-too-distant future).
It’s 10 p.m. on a Thursday in the spring of her freshman year of college, and April is standing at the back of a crowded Manhattan bar waiting for her friend, Rudy, to arrive. Their eyes lock the moment he enters the room, and in an instant, lives and legacies are altered forever.
Within hours, Rudy is arrested. Within days, April is expelled. Within weeks, he’s incarcerated. And within months, she meets Peter, a prodigious young attorney who makes her world recognizable again.
Nearly fifteen years later, April is happily living in Chicago married to Peter, a mother of three with a fulfilling career and standing yoga date with her girlfriends. On the eve of Peter’s election for local office, Rudy is up for parole. Headlines explode about April’s past, jeopardizing Peter’s campaign and everything they hold dear. Suddenly, April is faced with an impossible choice: protecting the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life a possibility. Such Good People is a captivating portrait of blurred lines, divided loyalties, and what it means to love purely, steadfastly, and interminably.
Women's Fiction Friendship | Fantasy Urban [SparkPress, On Sale: July 8, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781684633227 / eISBN: 9781684633234]
Amy Blumenfeld's articles and essays have appeared in various publications, including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, George, and Moment, as well as on the cover of People. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she was the recipient of the James A. Wechsler Award for National Reporting. She has been interviewed on the CBS Evening News, FOX News, MSNBC, and NY1, and has contributed to two non-fiction books. She lives in New York with her husband and daughter.
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