Title: The Next Thing On My List
Site: http://www.jillsmolinski.com
1. What inspired you to write The Next Thing on My List?
I'm one of those people who makes lists. I've got a list for everything. So when I sat down to write my novel, I thought, What if you weren't the type to do a list, but you had to? How would that change your life? In the novel, my character, June, is trying to complete a life list for a friend who died before she had a chance to finish it herself. In doing it, she's forced to take a long, hard look at her own life.
2. Did the book come out of your own daily practice?
I actually do a variation of a life list myself. I try to do one thing, however small, every day that I’d never done before, that's challenging or that just sounds fun. I chronicle my daily progress at jillsmolinski.com
3. Who is your favorite author and why?
Jane Austin - as far as I'm concerned, she invented the romantic comedy, and she took a lot of flak from the critics for it.
4. If you could pick out anyone to read and comment on your book, whom would you pick and why?
I suppose I should name someone famous here, but actually, I'd love for my first grade teacher, Mrs. Lipson, to read it. She's the one who first pushed me to be a writer. I'd like to think she'd feel proud.
5. Jill, if readers could take away one idea from your novel, what would it be?
I hope it inspires them to live life more fully - not to put off what they want to do.
6. Is there a part of the book that's a personal favorite for you?
When writing it - definitely the part where I got to the end! I love writing, but even more so, I love having written.
7. Where can our readers buy The Next Thing On My List?
At book stores and online retailers.
8. Have you received any special comments back from any of your readers and can you share them with us?
Actually, the response has been amazing! I've gotten so many emails from people saying that reading my book inspired them to make a life list and to try the things they'd never before had the courage to do. When I set out to write it, I knew the idea of getting more out of life was important to me. I had no idea so many people felt the same way.
9. We'd love to have a 2-minute commercial about yourself so our audience can connect with you.(background - current life)
I've wanted to be a writer ever since I was invited to participate in a young author's conference at age six because of a short story I wrote, The Boy Who Ran Away. I got to miss a day of school and eat cookies. I believe there may have been a framed certificate involved. Once you get a taste of that sort of glamour, it's hard to give it up. So after serving as literary editor of my high school yearbook (Troy, Michigan) , and editor-in-chief of my college yearbook (Central Michigan University), I took my Journalism degree, loaded up the Chevy Nova, and headed for California. Since then, I've been on-staff at TEEN magazine, and my articles have appeared in numerous women's magazines. I'm also the author of nine non-fiction books on topics including origami, travel games and science fair projects. I've written two novels, FLIP-FLOPPED and THE NEXT THING ON MY LIST, and my short story, "40 Days" was included in the anthology AMERICAN GIRLS ABOUT TOWN. Currently, I live in the >Los Angeles area with my 15-year old son Danny and guinea pigs Joan and Scruffy, who prefer I don't disclose their ages.
10. What message would you give anyone who may be thinking of buying this book?
Just that I hope they enjoy it, and to please drop me an email at jillsmolinski@earthlink.net and let me know what they thought.
11. Your book has already gained a huge amount of success. Would you mind sharing your "secret to success"?
I started my first novel in 1999 when I took a general fiction writing course. I didn't set out to write a novel. The teacher simply gave us a final assignment to write "15 pages of anything." I was terrified - I hadn't the slightest idea what to write. As it turned out, those 15 pages became the opening chapter of my first novel, FLIP-FLOPPED. From there, it took me two years to finish writing it. I had a full-time job running promotions for a carpool agency, so I had to limit my writing to early mornings before my son woke up. After I finished the manuscript, my writing teacher helped me send it to agents. It took about four months to find an agent, and maybe another six months to find a publisher. It felt like forever at the time, but I've been told since then that that's not very long at all. Flip-Flopped was published in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. My second novel was released April 2007 in the U.S., Germany, Holland, Korea, France, Australia, Sweden, Spain, Brazil and Italy, and film rights have been picked up by producer Wendy Finerman (Devil Wear's Prada) for New Line.
