Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Holiday 2016 | Page 52

Q&A Love, Cake and Writing Millburn author Judith Natelli McLaughlin talks about her new novel, her writing process and why she loves cake J udith Natelli McLaughlin celebrated the release of her latest novel, Love, Reality Style, in June at Millburn’s Splurge Bakery, a fitting choice given her main character’s passion for cake. A Millburn resident for 23 years, Judith has been writing since childhood; she still has a book she wrote as a little girl, The Bunny and the Eggs, now bound together by masking tape. Today, Judith juggles her roles as mother to three daughters and her full time job as Director of Corporate Governance at Neca, with writing and illustrating. She sat down at The Squirrel and the Bee in Short Hills to discuss her book, her life as a writer, and cake. Love, Reality Style is a wonderful romantic comedy. How did you come up with the idea? The first novel I wrote, This Moment, is a real tear-jerker. When I finished that, I wanted to write a straight up comedy. I wondered, what if a woman in her thirties, who was never the belle of the ball, is proposed to by a man she might love, but after accepting she begins to get all this other male attention? I also knew I wanted to include a reality show in the story, and then the characters emerged. Your main character, Mary Grace, loves cake. How did cake become a theme? It began with the notion that Mary Grace was a woman who was always carrying 20 extra pounds. Then I thought, why? What was her weakness? CAKE! So I put cake in one scene and it kind of took over and began to pop up over and over, with her often enjoying dessert before dinner. Then it introduced 50 itself into her childhood and Anytime Cake was born. So, as a theme, it wasn’t something I had outlined or expected, but rather a natural evolution to the story. Did you create Mary Grace’s Anytime Cake? I did. While Anytime Cake in the book is chocolate, my Anytime Cake recipe is for a yellow cake. I figure Anytime Cake is exactly that, cake to be eaten anytime. You have cake related quotations as chapter headings. Which is your favorite? I thought that was a cute and unique way to begin each chapter. My favorite is by Angela Falcone, who says, “There is no problem in life that can’t be solved with a good piece of cake.” Do you have a particular routine for writing? I am an early riser, so I do my writing in the early morning and once I have finished a manuscript, I put it away for a while to make it fresh again. Then, when it is time to edit it, that is something I do all the time. I am always thinking about it. When you start a story, you don’t know the characters yet, but by the time you finish, they are your friends. They are in your head all the time. I love to run and if I have a problem I am trying to solve with a storyline, I put it in my head for the run and I brainstorm. I can’t tell you how many times I come back with the answer. How long did it take to complete your book? From start to finish, it took around two years to write. I hired a pro- MILLBURN • SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE HOLIDAY 2016 fessional editor so that was another block of time, and then another year to find a publisher. This is not for the faint of heart! After self-publishing your first novel This Moment, how different is it to work with Blue Moon Publishing for Love, Reality Style? I found this concept called Twitter Pitch Parties. You tweet your pitch and edi tors, agents and publishers review them. That’s how I found Blue Moon, a small boutique publisher, who liked my pitch. The beauty of working with Blue Moon is that you get an editor and a publicist working with you every step. This experience has been amazing. When I self-published, it was just me, making it up as I went along, making up the marketing and the public relations. What are you currently working on? I have pub- lished two books for children, Dear Diary, E.P. Thompson Here and Mackenzie Goode Here, Makes a Mistake Mistake. I’ve written the second in the Mackenzie Goode series, and I am working on the illustrations, which will be published this fall. I am also working on the final draft of a novel tentatively titled You Got Friend, for Blue Moon. What is your favorite book? I can’t say! It is a big joke in my family; they make fun of me because my favorite is always the last book I read! Whenever I finish a book, I say it was the best, and they say what about the one you read just before it? ■ – AS TOLD TO JO VARNISH