The Vervacious Josie Brown: Chick Lit Author Extraordinaire

Welcome to International Chick Lit Month as well as a sneak peek into the secret lives of chick lit authors. They are a cool group of people and today we have author Josie Brown on The Lovebug Blog! Welcome Josie!

Oddly enough, I first ‘met’ Josie Brown’s books when I published my own. There was this DAZZLING cover sitting on the women’s fiction lists that totally hooked me in. It was the cover of Totlandia: The Onsies. I mean, what isn’t there to love about a sparkly baby bottle on a light blue cover? I picked it up (it’s FREE) and promptly set the other book I was reading aside so I could finish her hilarious look at momhood and what we’ll do for our kids. In other words, I was an INSTANT FAN!!!

Josie was available to chat here on the blog for International Chick Lit Month as well as SHARE THE COVER OF HER UPCOMING BOOK, The Candidate, AND tell us how we can win $100 gift card! Wow!

Interview with Author Josie Brown

Jean/The Lovebug Blog: When were you first introduced to chick lit or romance? Who was your first chick lit or romance love?

Josie Brown: I guess my very first “chick lit” book was BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY, which I adore to this day. It had all the elements: a quirky heroine who learns to believe in herself, a cad, the good guy, and the best friends in the world, and a story arc where she finally proves to herself that she’s worth having all the wonderful things she deserved.

Then again, if we can call Jane Austen chick lit, I’d have to say PRIDE AND PREJUDICE was my first chick lit reading. Funny how little we women (and readers) have changed through the ages!

Jean: What do you enjoy most about writing humourous chick lit? (Do you ever make yourself laugh?– ‘Cause you totally make your readers laugh, chortle, giggle and snort.)

Josie: HA HA! Well, that just made my day! I’ve had interesting conversations with my editors as to how much — and how little humor a good novel should have. Really, I should rephrase that: our discussions have been based on the amount of pathos in my books, which I leaven with humor. I love it when readers comment on how “real” my heroines are; that they can feel for them, cry for them, as well as laugh with them (and at them). My goal is that you’ll miss them when the book ends. So, from the bottom of my heart, thanks for letting me know that I’m doing so.

Jean: The Totlandia series reads like Desperate Housewives hits the playgroup circuit and you completely hit the nail on the head with the competition between mothers as well as their insecurities and motivations for wanting the best for their tots. Did you have to do any undercover work and infiltrate top-notch playgroups as research? In other words, how did you end up totally capturing the best and worst of motherhood?

Josie: My research was playground-based (LOL!) Living as I do in San Francisco and Marin County, California, I’ve witnessed a lot of mama drama from the posh set. Some things that should be mundane are blown out of proportion. Keeping up with the Joneses is always top-of-mind, as is ensuring that your child has all the advantages of those in the same zip code. It’s why they’re raising their children here in the first place. But  when all is said and done, is pray that the experiences and advice you’ve shared with your child puts them on the path of being healthy and happy adults. You won’t be around to micromanage their lives forever. And you can’t measure it by “stuff”.