Spotlight & Giveaway: Knocked-Up Cinderella by Julie Hammerle

Posted November 9th, 2018 by in Blog, Spotlight / 64 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Julie Hammerle to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Julie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Knocked-Up Cinderella!

 

Tell us about the book with this fun little challenge using the title of the book:

This book has everything (including a long title)! Such as…

Kissing
Netflix
Ob/Gyn
Costumes
Kick-ass
Eccentrically
Dressed

Unpretentious
Principal

Cross-training
Illinois
North Shore
Diapers
Executive
Rings
Entertaining
Laughing
Loving
Alexa.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

I reached under my voluminous tulle skirt and scratched my butt, once, twice, three times—heck, no one was around. I’d been hiding behind a massive topiary in the hallway outside the ballroom of the Evanston Hilton Hotel ever since I’d escaped a herd of drunk second-grade parents and their ten thousand questions about the school’s paltry foreign language program.

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • I came up with the idea after another pitch had been rejected. I thought to myself, “I’ll write about pregnancy (one the romance tropes I tend to avoid writing OR reading). That’ll show them!” The words flowed out after that, and I fell in love with this book—fast.
  • The dedication, which makes me cry every time I see it, is for my fourteen-and-a-half-year-old chocolate lab, who died back in July. And darn it! I’m crying now!
  • While I’d been reluctant to write about pregnancy, it was fun to use a few of my own experiences in this book—like the godforsaken varicose veins in my groin and how my entire birthing plan went right out the window after I went into labor with my son.
  • Erin and I don’t have much in common, but her fashion philosophy is my fashion philosophy—“Grandma does Vegas.” More sequins, more velour, more caftans.
  • The stealing of the wine is ripped from my own life. We ran out of alcohol at our 20th reunion, and someone thought to pilfer the white wine from another party happening in the school.

 

Was there a scene in this book that was harder to write than others?

I’ve written scenes in other books that have been emotionally difficult to write, but I don’t recall having to dredge up too much of my own sordid past for this one

The most difficult scene for me, from a craft perspective, was, and usually is, the first scene. First scenes tend to flow out easily early on in the writing process, but I always find myself revising, revising, revising those first paragraphs—for consistencies in tone and character. This excerpt, however, is my favorite part, and an idea that made it through ALL the revisions, including the first, ill-fated pitch that was rejected:

After reapplying my lipstick, I hiked up my skirt and yanked at the waistband of my nylons. If the shoes didn’t kill me, these control-top pantyhose would. I stretched the band to the hilt and let it snap, satisfyingly, against my stomach, just like, I’m sure, the real Cinderella did whenever she had a moment alone.

A cough from across the way drowned out my sigh of momentary relief. Heart ramming against my ribs, I dropped my skirt and peered around the side of my topiary sanctuary. A shock of dark hair peeked over the bush on the other side of the hall. I had been operating under the assumption of solitude. I’d scratched my ass. I’d—oh crap—lifted up my skirt and fixed my nylons. My face right now was an inferno.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I want them to feel joy. Writing this book was such a pleasure for me. It’s a fun, happy rom-com about two emotionally unavailable adults finding each other and falling in love. I’m happy to provide counterprogramming to the seriousness of the world around us.

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: $10 Amazon Gift Card

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Book Info:

I’m a walking contradiction.
School principal who liberally drops the F bomb.
Fiercely independent yet willing to auction myself off for charity.
Serial monogamist who’s down for a no-strings one-night stand.

Except now I’ve gone from one-working-ovary to co-parent in the time it took a stick to turn blue.

F. Bomb.

Ian Donovan may be a richer-than-hell venture capitalist, but he’s no Prince Charming ready to sweep me off my feet. Good thing I don’t need him. I’ve been doing fine on my own for forty years, and I’m not about to start changing that now.

Ultrasounds, swollen feet, midnight cravings? Bring. It. On.

But why is it when you finally swear off men, you meet one who’s too sexy—and determined we can make it work?

KUC buy link: https://entangledpublishing.com/knocked-up-cinderella.html
 
 

Meet the Author:

Julie Hammerle writes young adult novels that focus on nerds, geeks, and basket cases falling in love. On the YA side, she is the author of The Sound of Us (Entangled TEEN, 2016) and the North Pole romance series (Entangled Crush, 2017). For adult romances, look for Knocked-Up Cinderella in the fall of 2018. A graduate of Butler University with degrees in secondary education and Latin with a minor in music, Julie lives in Chicago with her family and enjoys reading, cooking, and watching all the television.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
 
 
 

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64 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Knocked-Up Cinderella by Julie Hammerle”

  4. Mary Preston

    We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here, but I do enjoy potato salad.

  6. Karina Angeles

    My favorite dish is green bean casserole. My mom makes it so yummy! It’s the first dish I dig into.

  8. John Smith

    “What’s your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?” Candied sweet potatoes!

  17. laurieg72

    My favorite side is my grandmother Catherine’s hamburger stuffing. I will eat that in place of turkey. I wonder why I only make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas?

  24. Joanne B

    Green bean casserole. It’s the only time I eat it so it’s a real treat.