Ask the Author: Jane Heller
Answered Questions (9)
Jane Heller
Hi Fran, it was not my intention for the hospital scene in Some Nerve to be offensive. None of my editors or other readers found it to be. I write humorous novels and sometimes sex can be comical. But humor is subjective and you're certainly entitled to your opinion. "Hate" is a strong word, however. My books are meant to be lighthearted escapes. Perhaps you'll find another of my novels that is more to your liking.
Jane Heller
I would go wherever Bernadette, the heroine of Maria Semple's brilliantly funny novel, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette," is living with her daughter and husband. I love to laugh, and Bernadette is eccentric in a way that makes her irresistibly hilarious. Her fictional world would suit me just fine.
Jane Heller
I just finished Dennis Lehane's new novel "Since We Fell" and loved it. Now I'm looking forward to reading "The Awkward Age," a novel by Francesca Segal. And I plan to re-read Timothy Gallway's classic "The Inner Game of Tennis," because I hope to play lots of tennis this summer and improve my mental game. My new novel is now being shopped to publishers and with any luck, it'll be out next summer or the one after that!
Jane Heller
Interesting question! My father died when I was six, and I know so little about him. He was in the Army and sent overseas during World War II, but that's the extent of the information I have. Was he a spy? Or just a husband and father serving his country? I'd love to come up with a plot in which he turns out to be a spy and saves the day!
Jane Heller
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Jane Heller
For me, the best part is making readers laugh. I love writing comedy. Love it! We all need an escape from time to time, and laughing is how we get through the dark times. It keeps us sane and lowers our stress levels. Humor has always been my salvation, and I hope my books provide it.
Jane Heller
As I wrote above, I'm almost finished with the sequel to "Princess Charming." The tentative title is "Rich and Famished" and it finds Elaine, Jackie and Pat at a farm resort in CT as "agritourists" learning how to cook farm-to-table meals. The scene where Elaine milks her first cow was fun to write but even more fun to research since I had never milked a cow before!
Jane Heller
Ideas come from so many places. I'll read a magazine piece or overhear a conversation in a restaurant or get an email from a reader asking about a character. I draw on incidents in my own life. As Nora Ephron famously said, "Everything is copy. Everything is material."
Jane Heller
Right now I'm writing a sequel to "Princess Charming," my romantic comedy/mystery about three best friends who take annual vacations together. I got the idea from readers who loved PC and wanted to see Elaine, Jackie and Pat have another adventure. The book has been my biggest seller in its ebook edition, along with "Best Enemies," so I thought it was a wonderful project to undertake. I'm almost finished with it and it's great fun.
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