It’s Hump day!!! A today I have a little Q&A with the wonderful Jill Knapp to help you get through the working week.
Jill can you tell us a little about you?
I’m a native New Yorker currently living in North Carolina. After spending most of my life in New York, I realized I wasn’t growing as a person. That’s when the big move became more than just a fantasy.
Can you tell us about your new book?
“We’ve Always Got New York” is book two in my “What Happens To Men…?” series. It picks up a few months after the first book ends, and just hits the ground running with tons of new (and old) obstacles for Amalia to jump over.
What is your favourite place to write?
I do nearly all of my writing in my kitchen, or on my patio. I live by myself, so I have free reign of the house. Those two locations offer the best views. Whether it’s out the window, or actually being outside, I am surrounded with beautiful spring time flowers, trees taller than I ever saw in New York, and the sun-shining over head.
Where do you get your character inspiration from?
I’d have to go back and talk about what inspired me to write in the first place. Growing up, I was a huge fan of Dawson’s Creek. The story took place in a (fictional) town in Massachusetts called Capeside. The show inspired me for too many reasons too count, but when it was over (and after I pulled myself together from balling from the final episode!), I had a really strong feeling spread over me. I wanted to write a story that when the readers finish it, they will have been emotionally effected by it.
Now I am no Kevin Williamson, I am still just starting out. But that is what originally drew me to writing.
The only one of my characters who I went into the books with a fully imagined figure in my head was Amalia. Someone who was naive but tough. And ultimately smart enough to grow from her mistakes, even if she does take her sweet time with it! Physically she is based off of Peyton Sawyer in One Tree Hill (the first couple of seasons anyway). Wild, curly hair. Minimal make-up, but still looks pretty. And the cherry on top is her wardrobe. Amalia will walk into one of Manhattan’s most popular bars in jeans and converse sneakers, even when her best friend, Cassandra is dolled up to the nines.
Now I definitely don’t want to come across like I copied Mark Schwahn’s character, because I didn’t. Peyton is tall and thin. Strikingly beautiful. Amalia is more fair looking, more natural. More typical ‘girl next door’. She’s about 5″5, 125-130, and her appearance is not one regularly seen in the city.
After creating Amalia, my second job was to create a paramour for her. Or in this case… two. The rest of the characters came a lot more easily after creating her.
What are your 3 desert island books?
The Lying Game, Everyone Worth Knowing, Twilight
What is your favourite place to read?
This would either me on my porch, or in my bedroom. You can usually find me with a book in my hand before bedtime.
What is your favourite book and why?
My favourite book is Siddartha by Herman Hesse. It changed the way I looked at the world the first time I read it. And it still changes the way I look at the world with every re-read.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I’m probably reading 😉 or abusing my Netflix privileges! Right now I am obsessed with The Vampire Diaries.
Chocolate or sweets?
All of it!
Is there a book you wished you wrote?
There are definitely a few. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald to start!
You have a free flight and accommodation to anywhere in the world where would you go?
Ireland. I desperately want to see the Cliffs of Moyer.
What is your favourite season?
Spring!
Where can we find you?
North Carolina 😉
Twitter| Facebook |Blog/Website
Other: Instagram @JL_Knapp
We've Always Got New York by Jill Knapp
Series: What Happens To Men #2
Published by One More Chapter on 20th November 2014
Genres: Chicklit, Love & Romance, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 182
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle, Audible
Fresh off the plane, Amalia’s feeling anxious and unresolved; left alone to pick up the pieces and deal with the repercussions of choosing her own path over Michael.
Without an apartment, without a job, and starting to wonder if she’s even without a best friend, she finds herself holding on tightly to the one thing she is familiar with, New York City.
Sometimes you have to let go of who you were to become who you will be…
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