A Tasty Read chats with
Kristan Higgins
So, for any of my readers that have been with me from the beginning, you MUST know by now that I am a HUGE Kristan Higgins Fan...Yes, I have met her and acted like a teeny-bopper at an N'CYNC concert, but I squeeled on the inside! And I might have asked her to adopt me a few times, but all in fun...haha! In all seriousness, I one day hope to be as talented and as fantastic of a person as she is, and I am HONORED to have her stopping by for a little chat about her New Release, Blue Heron Book Four, IN YOUR DREAMS. (You can read my review here.)
A Tasty Read: So,
since IN YOUR DREAMS is Book Four in the Blue Heron Series, which revolves
around the Crazy Holland Family, I have to ask, are the Hollands based on a
Family you know, or your family?
Kristan Higgins: A little
bit! The grandparents, Goggy and Pops, bear some resemblance to my own maternal
grandparents in the way they both bicker and love each other, and how hard they
still work. There are some familiar sister dynamics between Honor and Faith
that might (just might) resemble those between my sister and me. And I have a
brother who’d rather drive his car into the frigid Bering Sea than hear about
any feminine problems, so he and Jack have that in common.
ATR: When you
first began the Blue Heron Series, did you know that you would eventually use
Emmaline as a main character, or for Jack's love interest, or was that
something that came to you later on?
KH: No! Em
came as a surprise to me. When I first started the series, I only knew I’d
write about Jack eventually. I thought about Colleen, but that seemed too easy.
So when it came time to write his book, I took a look around town, so to speak,
and all of a sudden, there was Emmaline, who works as a cop with Levi, Jack’s
brother-in-law. And I just knew she was the one. Funny, how that happens
sometimes. I didn’t know too much about her, other than she gives Levi a hard
time, but the second she was in my brain, she started taking on this great
personality.
ATR: Kevin...UGH...Where
did his part of the storyline stem from? Were you reading "Amazing
Weight Loss" issue of People?
KH: Watching
The Biggest Loser, actually! Body image is such an issue with women, but I
wanted to tackle it with a male character, too. Kevin and Emmaline meet in 8th
grade, both outcasts in a tough crowd of over-indulged, wealthy kids. Em has a
profound stutter; Kevin is overweight. I guess I wanted to show that men
struggle with body image just as much as women. In fact, Em’s the one with
healthy self-esteem, until Kevin becomes obsessed with weight and food. He was
a character I loved to hate…and yet I ached for him, too. There’s a scene when
he admits how much he hates being overweight, and it was heartbreaking!
I do love
stories of people who’ve gone from morbidly obese to healthy and so admire what
they’ve had to do to get there. But I’ve also wondered about these people
who’ve hidden behind weight. What are they like without that shield? In Kevin’s
case, while he became more and more attractive and fit, he also became meaner.
I think he’s a great character because he’s complicated, and kind of fun to
hate.
ATR: My one
question that I am wondering, as I do a re-read of JUST ONE OF THE GUYS and
CATCH OF THE DAY, do you ever look back and wish that you had written the
heroes POV as well?
KH: Nah! I
think both of those stories would’ve been weaker if we’d known what was going
on in the heroes’ heads. In CATCH OF THE DAY, half of Malone’s appeal is that
he’s a mystery; if we get inside his head, he’s not anymore. The same is true
with Trevor. If the reader knows how he feels all along, it would certainly
take a lot of bang out of certain scenes.
I love
writing first person books for just that reason. In real life, we don’t get a
window into someone else’s brain. Reading a first person story is incredibly
intimate for that reason; it’s like we become that person. But I also love
writing from the male perspective, because the dichotomy between a guy’s take
on what happened vs. a woman’s take can be so funny and surprising. Jack, for
example, says to Emmaline at one point: “I also like you.” A very simple
statement (if you’re a guy). But when Em hears that, she has a little mental
freak-out. What does that mean? He
likes her, sure, but how? For how long? Why? Like as in buddy, or like-love?
Like with a potential for love, or just like-lust? And there’s Jack, just
cooking dinner, oblivious that “I like you” can be such a complicated
statement.
ATR: Are you
allowed to share what you are working on now? Is it another Blue Heron
Series Romance or a Stand Alone?
KH: I just
finished a book is called IF YOU ONLY KNEW, and it’s a stand-alone women’s
fiction book about two sisters. Jenny, a wedding dress designer constantly
faced with happy brides, is stuck on her ex-husband, who just had a baby with
his perfect and wretchedly likable new wife; Rachel, a stay-at-home mother of
triplet toddlers, has just found out her husband is cheating on her. The book
was incredibly fun to write and has a really lovely romance in it. It will be
released as a trade paperback.
There
will also be another Blue Heron book, which I’m working on right now. Connor
O’Rourke shouldn’t stay single, don’t you agree?
ATR: Kristan, it's such a pleasure and you are welcome back ANYTIME!!
Recipe
ATR: Because
this is A Tasty Read, can you share a favorite recipe, maybe one of your
Grandmother's Delicious Desserts!
KH: Well, since chocolate
cake plays an important role in this story, here’s Gram’s Hershey Bar Cake!
1 7-ounce Hershey bar
(milk chocolate, no nuts) broken into pieces
¼ cup butter
1 2/3
cups boiling water
2 1/3
cups unsifted flour
2 teaspoons baking
soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups light brown
sugar
Combine chocolate,
butter and boiling water in medium bowl; stir till smooth. In large bowl,
combine flour, soda and salt, Gradually add chocolate mixture, beating well.
Blend in eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Beat till smooth, for about a minute.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Perfect
Chocolate Frosting (Hershey’s recipe)
1 stick
butter
2/3 cup Hershey’s cocoa
3 cups
powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
Melt
butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to
spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in
vanilla.
Want to Win a Print copy of IN YOUR DREAMS (US ONLY)
Answer Kristan's Question and Comment with Valid Email Address
Jack and
Emmaline take a midwinter trip to beautiful Malibu, California. If you could go
away for a long weekend in the dead of winter, where would you go?
Places to Find Kristan:
http://www.kristanhiggins.com/
https://twitter.com/Kristan_Higgins
https://www.facebook.com/KristanHigginsBooks