Kate Jacobs Interview, Contest and Blog Tour: Knit The Season

Thriftymommasbrainfood is so excited to offer an interview with Kate Jacobs and a review of her latest paperback release, the third story in her Friday Night Knitting Club series. Also there is a contest involved as well, so stay tuned to the end of the blog for information. Jacobs is a #1 New York Times Best-selling Author. Her latest novel, in paperback this week, is a lovely story of female friendships filled with strong and admirable female characters. It starts with Dakota Walker, pastry chef and daughter of the late Georgia, force of nature, returning home at Christmas time. Walker is surrounded and supported by her mother’s friends and, in this novel, she is forced to make important choices balancing friends and family. She returns home at the holidays with intentions of turning the somewhat neglected knitting shop into a knitting cafe. This is a lovely story perfect for the season and complete with reader’s guide is a natural choice for book clubs. I have enjoyed this series, particularly because of the great characters.

1. Can you tell readers a bit about your writing habits and what your day looks like when you are working on a novel?


KJ: My writing schedule varies and I’ve tried all sorts of different methods: Writing daily, writing every other day, always taking Fridays off, you name it. I think we all have our own rhythm and it’s unique to each writer. But I always come back to the same pattern: Writing daily (sometimes for long hours) for weeks and weeks and then taking several weeks to rest, read, and edit. I just repeat that cycle until I finish a
book, and have typically edited my draft multiple times before I turn it in. I tend to dress in very comfy clothes – I have special writing pajamas – and if I feel stuck, I grab my laptop and move locations around the house. I might write on the couch for a while and then return to the desk in my home office. My dog, Baxter, prefers when I stay put because my writing coincides with his daily nap. (In other words, he naps anytime I pull out the computer.)

2. For budding authors what advice do you have?


KJ: Sneak time to write regularly. It’s not a very glamorous secret, but it’s crucial. Sometimes I meet aspiring writers who confide that they have a half-finished novel in a drawer at home and ask me how they can complete it. My answer it always the same: Open the drawer! In all seriousness, writing is challenging. Instead of waiting for the moment of inspiration, simply sit down and get some sentences onto the page. Silence your inner critic with the promise to edit, edit, edit, and just march forward. And I am a huge procrastinator! Nothing looks as interesting as folding the laundry when a manuscript is due.

3. Who are some of your favourite authors?


KJ: I jump for joy when certain writers bring out new works: William Trevor, Alice Munro, and Kazuo Ishiguro. I love to read and they are each such masterful storytellers.

4. What motivates you to get out of bed every morning?


KJ: Breakfast! Hanging out with my husband and my dog. The chance to see what’s going to happen next in whatever story I’m writing. The knowledge that I’ll probably sneak in a nap later on. All the good stuff.

5. You write amazingly strong and three dimensional female characters. Can you tell readers of thriftymommasbrainfood and thriftymommastips if that is deliberate and if they are modelled after any females in your life?

KJ: Thanks so much! I want to write characters (particularly women) that are smart and strong – I never write stupid women though the characters often make questionable choices! For the most part, I don’t use real people as models as I find it more liberating to just follow my imagination. That said, I do sometimes weave in personality elements from people who are no longer in my life, and Gran (Dakota’s great-grandmother in Scotland) is a good example as she has much in common with my late grandmother, Nanny. That’s just a writer’s way of revisiting with a missed loved one.

Knit The Season is by Kate Jacobs, published through Penguin Group Canada, paperback edition out this week, $17.50 Canadian, $14 U.S.

This one gets $$$$ out of $$$$$.

Thanks very much for talking with me and for sharing with our readers.
This contest and blog tour is offering two signed copies of Knit The Season for two lucky readers.
To win:
1.Follow thriftymommasbrainfood on GFC.
2.Follow me on twitter @inkscrblr
3.Leave me information on how to contact you if you win.
I will draw for the winners on Nov. 26th with random.org. Thanks and good luck!