10 Questions with Best-Selling Author Jennifer Weiner

As you may know by now, best-selling author Jennifer Weiner — who recently released her latest novel, Fly Away Home — will be appearing at the Champaign Public Library on Sunday, July 25. Chambanamoms.com was excited to have the opportunity to interview Weiner, and we think you’ll enjoy our chat.

Tickets to the event have all been distributed, although some remain to view the program via live video feed from another room. BUT, chambanamoms.com has ONE ticket to give away to a lucky reader — along with a copy of Fly Away Home! Information about the giveaway follows the interview with Weiner below.

Here’s what Weiner had to say about writing about moms, supporting public libraries, work/life balance as a working mom, and her reality TV obsession, The Bachelorette.

Chambanamoms.com: Of all the characters you’ve written who are moms or mom-figures, who has been your favorite – and who is the most like your mom?

Jennifer Weiner: I don’t know if I can pick a favorite — it’s like asking a mother to pick a favorite child, which you should never do in public. But I did love writing Becky in LITTLE EARTHQUAKES, the plus-size chef who worries that nobody can tell she’s expecting, and plays yarmulke-toss with her baby, because the baby doesn’t know any jokes yet.

The mother in GOOD IN BED is very much like my real-life mom — funny and practical, came out of the closet in her fifties, doesn’t wear any pants that don’t have an elastic waist.

Several of your books detail relationships between mothers and their adult daughters. Why is this dynamic so appealing to you?

Because it’s so fraught and interesting. And because I’m the adult daughter of a mother, and now the mother of two daughters, so it lets me play out the dilemmas I haven’t experienced yet.

Fly Away Home is the story of a woman whose senator husband is enveloped in a sex scandal — a “ripped-from-the-headlines” element that I don’t think I’ve seen in your earlier books. Why were you interested in this topic?

Like every woman I know, I was fascinated by the run of political and sex scandals that have unfolded over the past eighteen months. I remember watching Silda Spitzer standing by her man, the governor of New York, as he confessed to overpaying for hookers, thinking, “What on earth is this educated, accomplished, attractive woman doing on the podium with this guy?” FLY AWAY HOME was my attempt to answer that question, to create a woman who I understood who found herself in those circumstances, and tell the story of how she’d survive a scandal.

Many of the families you have written about have two daughters. And now you do, too. Coincidence? or divine intervention?

I wouldn’t even take a guess!

This is your second visit to Champaign-Urbana (that I know of). Do you remember anything about the first?

I think I spoke at a college campus? I imagine I had a very nice time. And I know I had to drive all through the night and get up at the absolute crack of dawn the next morning to fly to wherever I was going next. This trip should be much more relaxing.

You are a born reader and enjoy advocating for other authors. Any up-and-comers you would recommend?

I love Sarah Pekkanen’s THE OPPOSITE OF ME — that’s the book I’ve been talking about this spring. I liked Ernessa T. Carter’s 32 CANDLES — for fans of girl-comes-of-age-and-triumphs story, and John Hughes movies. Other authors to discover — not first-timers, but still great — Liza Palmer, Janelle Brown, and my all-time favorite, Susan Isaacs, whose new book is called AS HUSBANDS GO.

In your recent interview with Elle, it is more than apparent that you are a big supporter of libraries. That is obvious here in your appearance at the Champaign Public Library. Where did your devotion to libraries come from and what can moms do to support their local libraries?

I grew up in a small town in Connecticut and spent a lot of time in our local library (maybe too much time — I was always more comfortable with books than other kids. To me, libraries are magical portals — you start there and with the right book, you can go anywhere. For free! And these days, libraries are more important than ever — for instance, the Free Library of Philadelphia is the largest internet provider in the city. We tend to forget that there are people without their own computers or internet access who need to find information, or jobs, and libraries are where they go.

Sadly, libraries are always one of the first places affected when the economy takes a downturn. Public officials figure they’d rather cut a library’s budget than cut police officers, or firemen, or trash collection. So if you’re looking to make a charitable donation, chances are, there’s a library that could use your money, or your volunteer hours, or your used books. Check your local library’s website and see what you can do.

As a working mom, what work-life issue proves to be the most vexing for you and your family?

No surprise, it’s the time thing. That feeling of being pulled in a dozen different directions, between work and family; worrying that I’m thinking about my books when I should be thinking about my daughters, running out of hours in the day and grabbing takeout instead of cooking, or letting my 7-year-old watch another episode of “Phineas and Ferb” instead of playing a board game with her. Nothing a million other mothers don’t struggle with every day.

What would be your ideal mom’s night out?

My ideal night out would probably be a night in — a great meal, a good movie, a nice glass of wine, bed and a book!

OK, I have to ask. You are a huge fan of The Bachelorette, and the season will be wrapping up soon. What’s your take so far on Ali and her harem?

Poor Ali! She can’t be feeling great about herself, between Justin and his secret girlfriend and Frank deciding to go back to his ex! She and Roberto are cute together, but I don’t think she’s letting herself fall for him. I like Chris, but his continually invoking his dead mother is getting a little morbid. It’s funny — the other night at a reading someone asked me who I thought would win the season, and I said, “I’m not sure ‘win’ is really the right word here!”

Is there a message you hope people will take away from Fly Away Home?

I don’t think of myself as a ‘message’ writer — I want people to come away from my books entertained, not feeling like they’ve been hit over the head with my opinions — but I think I believe in the resiliency of women, in our ability to survive trying times and move forward stronger and better.

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JENNIFER WEINER TICKET AND BOOK GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

To be entered to win the ticket and book, please leave a comment below telling us why you want to see Jennifer Weiner speak at CPL on July 25. Winner will be chosen at random and notified via e-mail by 6 p.m. Friday, July 23; winner will be given instructions for pick-up at that time.

Good luck!

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