MEET THE AUTHOR: JANE GREEN
Sunday, Apr 27, 2014, 2:00pm
White Plains Public Library100 Martine Ave., White Plains, NY 10601
Free
Jane Green is the author of fifteen New York Times bestselling novels dealing with real women, real life and all things in-between. Known for confronting hard truths that are relatable to women of any age, and grapples with serious life questions with her trademark wisdom and wit in her novels. This is true for her recently released novel Tempting Fate, which is already a New York Times best seller.
In one night, Gabby shifts from being (in her mind) a dull and unappealing 43-year old housewife and becomes a young and ferocious woman who is aching with pleasure and need.
Then, Gabby meets young, handsome and rich Matt, who sweeps her off her feet enough to make her forget condoms. Drama abounds.
The novel, Tempting Fate, follows Gabby Cartwright, a happily married woman and mother of two teenaged daughters. She has built a comfortable life with her husband, Elliot, a Gastroenterologist. In the eyes of all of her friends, Gabby is the one who has it all. Until, one night out with her girlfriends, Gabby meets Matt, a younger, handsome media mogul who makes her feel…desirable.
Stuck between contentment and temptation, Gabby continues to keep in touch with Matt, telling herself they are “just friends”, while developing a deep emotional attraction to him. When he visits one night, while her family is away, the allure becomes too strong for her to resist.
I got to sit down with Jane Green and ask her a few questions …..
SK: Why did you decide to write Tempting Fate?
JG:I never quite ‘decide’. I usually sit down with my editor and chat about what’s on my mind, what I’ve been thinking about, who I’m interested in and what I’m noticing. A number of women I know had left what appeared to be happy marriages, everyone later discovering they were having affairs. I was fascinated with what happens to the middle-aged woman, and how vulnerable she is. I had always assumed that having an affair meant there had to be problems in your marriage, but after receiving a few flirtatious emails from someone I once met at a book festival, I started to think about how seductive it is to be noticed at a time in your life when you’re feeling invisible, that affairs can happen because of how addictive attention can be, with little to do with how happy your marriage may be.
SK: Who should read Temping Fate?
JG:Anyone indulging in a flirtation when they’re already taken should read it as a warning signal.
SK: Which character do you relate to the most in your novels? Why?
JG:There is a little of me in all of my novels. I created Gabby in Tempting Fate because I really wanted to connect with my English roots. Like me, she’s a transplant, and I think my own homesickness comes across. Unlike me, she makes decisions that turn out to be disastrous for her marriage. Also unlike me, I have no desire whatsoever for any more children…
SK:Congratulations on Tempting Fate making the New York Times best sellers list! Is there more pressure on you to continue to write books that reach the NYT list?
JG: The pressure grows and grows…will you make the list, will you be higher than last time, is your career on the upswing or is this the moment it all comes crashing down and everyone realizes you’re actually a load of rubbish. I had tremendous, and instant, success with my early books, and later had a period when things were quieter. It was a humbling, and valuable lesson. Now I tend to focus less on how well the book does, and more on creating the best possible book I can create. If I know I’ve done that, then I’m happy.
SK Have you started writing your next book yet? If so, any hints?
JG: I’m on the third, and hopefully final, edit of Saving Grace. Grace Chapman is married to a bestselling author, with a perfect life, apart from the disorganization. A new assistant seems to be the answer to their dreams, until Grace finds her life being stolen from under her feet.
SK: Do you have any special rituals or traditions when you begin writing a new novel?
JG:A new notebook dedicated to the book! Large, thin enough to slip into my computer case, the very first page always contains notes on the story, before moving on to characters. All my thoughts and notes go into the book, always in longhand, before being typed up on the computer. And it’s usually pink.
SG: Why was the topic of the “woman’s mid-life crisis” important for you to explore?
JG:As a woman in her mid-forties, I know what it is to feel invisible, to suddenly become aware that you don’t get attention anymore. I spend a lot of time talking to other women my age, and this seemed to be a common theme. I had been on ‘girl’s nights out’, where other mothers I see at school suddenly turned into these seductive sirens, chatting up men at local bars. The first time I saw it I found it shocking, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it was a need to still feel beautiful, valued, worthy. It’s so easy to think flirtation is completely innocent, but what happens if you have chemistry with someone? What happens if they pursue you? What happens if, for the first time in years, they make you feel alive?
SK:What is the biggest message you want readers to take away from Tempting Fate?
JG:The grass is never greener, he’s not your soulmate, and you should stop now before you make a terrible mistake…
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