Finally my interview with Jennifer Yih, one of the 4 fab and funny authors of Shy Town Girls. So Jennifer is the author of the first book of the Shy Town Girls series. I loved the idea of 4 collaborating girls and the book! Although angst was thrown in there was enough humor and life lessons to make it more funny! Pure chick lit in my opinion that is the best lit!!
How and who came up with this idea to write this together? I see many books with two authors and maybe more than one POV,but this was the best and most refreshing idea I have seen in a long time.
I’ve been working for Melissa for about three years now and just this summer she approached me with an idea she had for a book series. It turns out, it was the wonderful idea of bringing a Sex In The City-esque series to Chicago. She asked me if I’d be interested in writing the first book and I got started right away. Melissa, Katie Leimkuehler, Kate Clinesmith, and myself got together and created 4 different female characters. We narrowed it down to what they looked like, their favorite foods, family lives, and so on. After character development we brainstormed ideas about how we wanted the books to come off. As we developed the characters, I really got a feel for who Kate and Katie were, and how they related to their characters and vice versa. The book finished November 14th and went in for editing.
I sort of have a vision of each author being a character, or at least having their personality traits. Is that true?
Absolutely each character has major similarities to the authors. Bobbie, I believe, is very much of me…more so, parts of me overtime. (I knew it!!!) I hoped to overdramatize the insecurities, the optimism, the uncertainty, also her strengths and weaknesses as a overly loyal person with priorities that are some what out of whack. In the end, I hoped Bobbie would trust herself more than she did in the beginning.
Who is Barbara? Would you say she is funny like Holland Taylor from Two and Half Men or more serious like Candace Bergen?
I’d say Barbara is more of a Holland Taylor, less serious than Candace. Barbara is a diva, but undeniably intelligent. I created her character based off my best friends Grandmother who was a Legs model back in the day, lived on Lakeshore Drive her whole life, and no matter where she went she looked like a movie star. Of course, she was dating a man 30 years younger than her, and looks hotter than any of us in our 20’s at 70 years old. My friends Grandmother used to come dancing out of her bathroom in a silk robe, hair in curler, make up done, with a glass of scotch, singing some old song I didn’t know. Her friends were just as fabulous as she was. (giggling on my end)
Charlie is a man we all love to hate. Was the moving out and breaking up hard to write? I felt like he was always thinking it was just a whim and she would be back.
Yes, Charlie is a disaster of a man. He’s gorgeous, shallow, and manipulative. Although, Bobbie sees the goodness in him, he’s not an evil person, just a superficial…lost…weak…person. Bobbie is so much stronger and deeper than him, but she’s distracted and he plays her weaknesses. It wasn’t hard to write, it was real. I experienced a very similar situation to Bobbie with my ex model boyfriend. Every girl has a Charlie and for those that don’t…lucky them!
How did you come up with them being amicable? The car ride over to the new place had me on the fence about them, maybe this is it or maybe there is a chance..
Old habits are hard to break. They’ve dated for a long time, lived together, the level of comfort is high. Bobbie also is his agent…they have a very dependent relationship on each other. (I think she has a voodoo doll in her closet somewhere… LOL)
Do you think that Bobbie’s work made her insecure?
Absolutely. She’s competed with 5’10” models, but she knows her strengths and it hasn’t totally ruined her. In fact, she has so much hostility towards the industry and everyone in it. The job as a modeling agent was never a pursuit for her, she fell into it by “a friend of a friend”…it’d be hard for any girl graduating from undergrad to deny the offer at a high end modeling agency surrounded by fashion and the glam (temporarily)
What can we expect in the next book?
You’ll have to contact Katie about that. Katie’s a great writer and also has created a hilarious character, Ivy. The next book is from Ivy’s perspective and she’s a bit “wilder” than Bobbie, but not to be underestimated….her energy and wit is addictive. (Can’t wait. Note to self, bother Katie asap)
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