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M.C. Hi Katie! I am a typical working wife and mother who wrote an extraordinary book about a typical working wife and mother. New York City is my home and around every corner is an adventure.
K.S. Any interesting writing quirks or stories you would like to share with my readers?
M.C. My book Size Eight in a Size Zero World reflects a lot of my life living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan but it is a work of fiction. A lot of my friends and family think that the book is my story. They ask if my husband know about “my” affair? Who is The Man Upstairs? Is he still single? Can they meet him?
I’ve done should a good job telling a story, my friends and family think the story is true!!
K.S. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? What sparked the desire to pen your first novel?
M.C. I returned to school to obtain a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. Finding the subject dry, technical and boring, I had a difficult time focusing on studying. Easily distracted, and prone to daydreaming and fantasizing I starting writing and didn’t stop until Size Eight in a Size Zero World was finished.
K.S. What genre do you write?
M.C. NYC – lit, Chick-lit and Woman’s Romance.
K.S. What would you say has inspired you most in your writing career? Or, who is your favorite author and why?
M.C. My inspiration is me………and taking the common relatable thread that runs through my experiences. Then I elaborate, exaggerate or twist. I find when people know someone else feels the same way, a shared universal experience they want to know how someone else handles things. Once they identify, they want to know more.
I love James Hilton. His books moved and motivated me.
K.S. What does your family think of your writing?
M.C. My children are surprised that Mom has become an author. They ask my help for writing school papers. My husband is amused.
K.S. What was one of the most surprising things you learned while creating your book?
M.C. Humor, I can find humor in embarrassing personal situations. My background and imagination is storehouse for material.
K.S. What inspired you to write your novel?
M.C. Laughing at myself for all the mistakes I have made. What was I thinking?
K.S. Can you tell us a little about your novel?
M.C.
Lindsay Chandler—a 32 year-old New York City working wife and mother with old-fashioned values who thinks she’s living a fairy tale life (she’s not). She's too busy navigating between her job, husband, home, children, friends and other obligations to acknowledge her loneliness. Then an unexpected friendship with her upstairs neighbor (he is smart, successful, sophisticated and sexy— she’s not) unleashes her passion and re-ignites her sparkle.
This liaison causes her to realize what she is missing. Yearning for a storybook ending, she decides to make changes in her life, embarking on a quest for self re-invention in this hilarious, witty, heartfelt story.
In the tradition of Sex and the City, Size Eight in a Size Zero World, is a modern-day story of a good girl trying to do the right thing and the wrong thing simultaneously, while remaining true to herself, whoever that is.
With the help of a believable cast of characters, Lindsay embarks on a plan to better herself and plight. This novel is a wickedly funny social commentary on the lives of average women in New York City’s posh Upper East Side.
What happens when the road to happily ever after takes an unexpected detour?
K.S. Where can we find your novel?
M.C. Size Eight in a Size Zero World is available online at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, BN, Borders and through my website, www.sizezeroworld.com
K.S. Do you have a website, fan site, or Blog that we can visit?
M.C.
www.sizezeroworld.com, www.meredithcagen.com, www.faceook.com, www.sizeeightinasizezeroworld
K.S. Do you have any closing advice to aspiring writers?
M.C. Write whatever and wherever. Carry paper and pencil, you will never know when you will get a great idea.