{Q&A} Em Barrett, Author of "Leaving Green Island"

Em Barrett is an indie author who has released her first fiction novel, "Leaving Green Island," this past summer. Main character Brecken Pereira is faced with a fork in the road: stay engaged to her wonderful British man, or rehash old feelings with a handsome ex who suddenly reappears back in her life? The events in the story will have the ladies at the next book club divided!

I had the chance to ask the Chicagoan questions about her novel. Read below her thoughts on writing a strong female character, how authors can support each other and how Jordan Catalano was such a handsome devil in the 90s!

JULIE CHICKLITASAURUS: What was your inspiration for writing "Leaving Green Island?

EM BARRETT: Well, I’ve always loved writing and have been a fan of chick lit books for a long time, but I’m sometimes frustrated that many of these books have lead female characters who are kind of weak and one-dimensional. I set out to write a chick lit book with a stronger and (hopefully!) more interesting lead character who has complicated relationships with her friends, family and co-workers as well as a complicated love life. And, that’s how Leaving Green Island was born. I guess that I have to leave it to the readers to decide whether or not I actually succeeded in my mission.

Book cover photo from here

JC: The main character, Brecken, is faced with a fork in the road. One of the characters in the book said it's like a Dylan and Brandon, Mr. Big and Aiden kind of situation. How has the reaction been to Brecken's choice or her actions? Are you nervous when blogs or other critics review your book?

EB: Overall, I've gotten a really positive reaction to Brecken and her choice with regard to her love life. While this book is definitely a love story, I think of it more as Brecken's story, with her relationships with Lizzy and Nevada being the heart of the book. It seems like a lot of readers have connected with the friendships in the story even more than the romantic relationships. And, yes, I am insanely nervous about reviews! I don't have a very thick skin, unfortunately, so each critical review kind of feels like a punch in the stomach. Thankfully most of the feedback has been positive so far, so I haven't had to spend too much time obsessing over the bad ones.

JC: Speaking of Dylan and Brandon, I loved, loved the 90s references in the book. It made it so much more fun to read, being a child of the 90s myself. Was the 90s not the best decade? And (I saw this was a popular question on Twitter) what were you doing in 1994!?

EB: Thank you! That’s so good to hear! It was a lot of fun trying to cast back into a teenage mindset and coming up with pop culture references that I could stick in during the Green Island summer portions. The 90s were the best for sure! Walsh twins forever! As for 1994, I was in seventh grade then, wearing Sally Jesse Raphael glasses and braces with colored bands (I was a very attractive middle schooler, in case this isn't obvious), and pining away for Jordan Catalano!

Just look at him rocking that chocker

JC: Is this your first novel?

EB: This is my first novel. I have a few others that I have been working on from time to time, but "Leaving Green Island" is the only one I've finished so far.

JC: Do you have any advice for young women who are trying to have their books/writings published?

EB: I am still really just trying to find my way into the writing/publishing world myself, honestly. Over the course of about a year, I sent "Leaving Green Island" to a fair number of agents and no one was interested. I have a baby and a job, so it was hard the find the motivation to spend my little free time sending out continuous letters to agents only to have them not respond. After hearing so many self-publishing success stories, I decided to give it a try. So far, it has been such a great experience. Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and other such sites provide really great avenues for getting the word out about your book without spending much money on marketing. I also reached out to several more well-known indie writers to see if they had any great advice on publicizing my book. Most of them responded that their success resulted from a mixture of working hard to spread the word about their books and a lucky break where an influential website featured their stories. Everyone was really supportive and responsive - I feel lucky to be a part of the indie writer movement!

JC: Do you have your next novel in the works right now or coming up soon? If so, can you tell a little about it?

EB: I recently started and am hard at work on a sequel to "Leaving Green Island," which I plan to publish in 2013. The sequel will begin shortly after "Leaving Green Island" ends, and it will be written from the perspective of Brecken's best friend, Lizzy. All the main characters from "Leaving Green Island" will feature heavily in this book, but this will be Lizzy's story.

A new perspective! That will be one that lovers of "Leaving Green Island" will want to get a hold of when it's published. Get to know more about this hard-working indie author at EmBarrett.com.

Purchase the "Leaving Green Island" ebook here.

Get the gals together for a book club featuring these great questions about "Leaving Green Island."

Review system

Julie Chicklitasaurus devoured this book.

Reading Forts

I inspired myself so much with my last post, that I went on Pinterest and found more reading nooks! While browsing, I found this fancy fort.

Fancy fort, from here

So I had to find more. Which fort is your favorite? Which one would be the most realistic to create in your home?

Sheet and Christmas lights, from here

Backyard fort, from here

For fun! Because the 90s ruled. From here

I think an interior designer made this fort, from here

Outside fort with kittens, from here

Under the table, from here

{Crazy idea} I really want Man-Beast and I to build a fort with sheets and white Christmas lights for our next anniversary. We'll play Yahtzee, eat Jack in the Box tacos and we'll read to each other.

Another {Crazy idea} Maybe feature a reading nook of the day on this blog? Of course I would have to incorporate a few forts here and there.

I am off to have an exciting weekend with the ladies. Leaving the house for a night so the Man-Beast can have his "Man Night." That's what he called it in the email to his friends.

Have a relaxing weekend everyone! Curl up with a good book in whatever book nook that works for you! xo

{Crazy Ideas} New School Uniform

Still don't have Photoshop so I am continuing on with Paint! (And I think I'm getting quite good. Watch out, graphic designers everywhere.)

I'm kind of a crazy lady so I have kind of crazy ideas.

Let's get rid of "professional attire" in schools.

All students and staff are required to wear PE clothes all day, every day.

Build exercise into lessons throughout the day. And keep PE. And keep recess. And add a recess. Crazy idea overload!

Read the 2009 article from USA Today about a school in Fort Collins, CO that has its kids sit on core ball instead of using chairs.

That boy on the left is so sassy, "Oh. You got the purple one? That's stinks."

John Medina in Brain Rules (read the review here) said humans are evolved to walk 12 miles a day. But we don't. Now we sit at desks and in front of computers.

Wouldn't it be lovely to read a book while walking the school grounds? E-readers and iPads have to make it easier to do that.

Or write an essay while sitting on a core ball?

School gardens gets kids outside, and in gym clothes, they're ready to get dirty.

While we're at it, I say ix-nay professional attire at the workplace and replace it with workout gear. We're not meant to sit in front of a computer all day. Let's vamp up productivity and brain activity by embracing exercise.

So let's change the way we think about how we work. You know I'll be dressing like this:

In order to avoid a moment like this:

What do you think? Can our culture change to be more exercise-centered? If it could change, who would start it?

Gifts for Mother's Day

The Man Beast and I are a little behind this Mother's Day. It doesn't help that we live a few states away from our madres, so we can't just go to Tuesday Morning, pick up something cute, and head over to their houses for Mother's Day.

We did send them cards and these homemade coupons! Yeah, and you thought homemade coupons went out with floral print pants in the mid-90s. Wrong! Every trend deserves a comeback.

We made our mom's coupons for one breakfast with just son or daughter. It was really cute when we made these. I told Man Beast he had to make his own for his mom, so he looked at mine and copied it. I love him. He is so cute. Look at the way he wrote "son."

A big, happy Mother's Day to all the madres out there! *muah*