Interview with best selling author Whitney Dineen

Today I’m chatting with best-selling author Whitney Dineen about her newest novel, a mommy lit / women’s fiction titled Mimi Plus Two.

Bio:

While attending the University of Illinois in Chicago, Whitney Dineen was discovered by a local modeling agent and began an unexpected career as a plus-size Ford model. She modeled in New York City before moving to Los Angeles with her husband.

During “The Hollywood Years,” Whitney was bitten by the writing bug and started creating characters that are inspired by strong women with a great sense of humor. Her first romantic comedy, She Sins at Midnight, won a silver medal in the 2015 Reader’s Favorite awards. Her second, The Reinvention of Mimi Finnegan, is a finalist in the 2016 RONE Awards, won a silver medal at the 2016 Reader’s Favorite Awards and won Honorable Mention at the London Book Festival. Her third chick-lit book, Mimi Plus Two, is causing all kinds of controversy and who the heck knows where it will land.

In addition to her love of chick-lit, Whitney has also written a series of adventure books for middle readers. The first two books in her series, Wilhelmina and the Willamette Wig Factory and Who the Heck is Harvey Stingle? are both available now. Book three, Beware of the Basement, is due to be released in the spring of 2017.

Whitney and her husband, Jimmy, have relocated to the beautiful Pacific Northwest to raise their children, chickens, and organic vegetables.

Welcome, Whitney. Please tell us about your current release.

Mimi Plus Two is the much anticipated follow up to my award-winning romantic comedy, The Reinvention of Mimi Finnegan. The Reinvention of Mimi Finnegan is lighthearted and upbeat. It’s quintessential chick lit. It also won and placed in several awards and had fans chomping at the bit for the continuation of Mimi’s story.

In Mimi Plus Two, the tone starts our light and funny but then Mimi winds up with postpartum depression about two-thirds into the book. WOW! I did not anticipate the backlash that followed. First of all, I guess I thought women understand postpartum depression more now than they did twenty years ago. I no longer think that’s the case. I guess if you haven’t lived through it, it’s a lunacy you just can’t wrap your head around.

I suffered through postpartum depression twice, for a full year each time. My goal was to convey just how crazy making the experience is. I total achieved my goal, but wasn’t prepared for women not finding it believable or for their anger at me mad that Mimi’s life hit a bump in the road.

When I was in the midst of my postpartum depression it was paramount for me not to let people know how unhinged I was. If they knew the depth of what I was going through then it would make it true. Much of my experience was spent desperately trying to keep my struggle quiet, even while I slid further and further down the rabbit hole.

I think this book is written with much humor in spite of postpartum depression. It’s just a little bit different from what my fans were expecting. I even put a video up on Youtube trying to explain my side of things. 

The reviews on this book are positively schizophrenic. Five stars and one stars abound! Before buying this book I would definitely recommend checking out the video and reading the reviews. In spite of all the drama, Mimi Plus Two was a runner up at the London Book Festival and was a finalist at the Reader’s Favorite Awards. So I guess it’s not all bad.

I can whole heartedly and unreservedly recommend The Reinvention of Mimi Finnegan. No scary boogeymen in the closet there, just pure fun. Then if you have the courage to venture into the land of postpartum with me, you’ll be prepared for what’s ahead. You do not have to read the first book to read the second. It’s a standalone as well and the continuation of the series.

What inspired you to write this book?

I wanted to continue Mimi’s story but I also wanted to shed some light on postpartum depression.

Excerpt from Mimi Plus Two:

While we’re on the subject of horrific body betrayals during pregnancy, I’d like to issue a warning: Not all gas is just gas so be careful. Sometimes, especially when you’re taking a prescription strength stool softener, this trapped air is travelling with a friend. If you forget and try to push it out don’t be surprised if you fill your pants.

I grill Renée on all the disgusting things yet to come and she assures me there are many. Hurray! I can look forward to hemorrhoids, acne that would put a teenager’s complexion to shame and excessive sweating. If that isn’t enough, there’s heartburn, leg cramps, and not being able to sleep for more than an hour at a time without having to go to the bathroom. Dear God, we’d better love the heck out of this baby as it’s destined to be an only child. Elliot is never going to want to touch me again when this one pops out. Oh, and about that, Renée assures me her fifty plus hour labor was atypical. Let the good times roll.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m working on book three of the Mimi Chronicles which goes back to light and funny mommy stuff. Its working title is Mini Mimis.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

My first romantic comedy, She Sins at Midnight, was published in 2014 so I guess I’ve been a “real” writer since then.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I’m a full-time writer, but I’m also a full-time mother to two young daughters, a full-time wife, laundress and housekeeper. I’m looking in to getting cloned.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I never know what my story is about when I start writing it. I’m as surprised as the reader with twists and turns as they show up. I guess I’m really more of a channeler than a writer.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a paleontologist until my mother ruined it by telling me I wouldn’t be able to wash my hair while I was out on a dig.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I hope I haven’t scared you away from reading my books! I think life and love are wild and ridiculously fun adventures that should enjoyed to their fullest and I do my best to write just like that. 

Links:

Facebook | Twitter | Website and Blog

Thanks for joining me today, Whitney.

Interview with historical novelist Karen Truesdell Riehl

Historical fiction novelist Karen Truesdell Riehl joins me today to chat about Helga: Growing up in Hitler's Germany.

Bio: 

Although I cursed it in my youth, dyslexia turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Not being able to read or write until the age of ten forced me to express myself through acting. At the Stephens College playhouse in Missouri I fell in love with an actor, a married actor. That experience led to the publication of my memoir, Love and Madness: My Private Years with George C. Scott. After Stephens College, I moved with my new husband (not George) to North Conway, New Hampshire, where we owned and operated the Eastern Slope Inn for 15 years. My third husband and I now live in Carlsbad, California with Stu and Clark, our stuffed dogs, Zoomer, our robot dog, and Bart and Gilda, our greedy turtles.

Please tell us about your current release. 

This is the true story, as told to the author by the woman who lived it, of how a ten-year-old girl joined the Jugend, Hitler's youth movement. Ten-year-old Helga is forced to join the Hitler youth weekly meetings. Lies and treats are used to build her allegiance to the Fuhrer. As the war draws nearer to Berlin, Helga is sent away to a Youth Training Camp. Her slow disillusionment and harrowing escape home, is a coming-of-age story of a young girl's survival of Nazi mind control. A 2015 San Diego Book Awards Winner.

What inspired you to write this book?

I met Helga in 1978, a German emigrant war bride working as a librarian in an elementary school in Washington state. We became friends. When she told me she had been a Jugend, I asked her for an interview.

Excerpt from Helga: Growing up in Hitler's Germany: 

TEN

What's an Aryan?

We always began our school day by paying homage to the Fuhrer. The rest of the day we studied arithmetic, reading and writing. Then a great day arrived: We were each given a children’s version of Mein Kampf, told to memorize it and be ready to recite. When I held it in my hand I felt as though the Fuhrer had written it just for me. I would make him proud when it was my turn to recite passages from it.

That evening after dinner I asked my parents if they would like to hear me read from Hitler’s great book.

“My stomach is already upset tonight. Read it to your Mutter," Vater growled. He gave Mutter an odd look, stood, put his hat on his head and walked out the door.

“Where is Vater going?”

“You know how Vater likes to take an evening walk.” She began to clear the table, and said, “You may read it to me while I wash the dishes.”

After I finished, Mutter said, “You read well, Helga.”

“Will you help me memorize it?”

“Yes...I will,” she answered slowly. But I could tell it wasn’t something she really wanted to do. I talked to Emma and Agatha the next day about our helping each other. They’d had the same reaction from their parents.

“I thought they would love to hear the Fuhrer’s great words,” Emma said. “But they said the teacher probably meant for me to memorize it by myself.”

“I don’t think our parents know how important his words are,” Agatha said.

“Let’s work together. It’ll be fun."

For the next week we helped each other commit every inspired word to memory, hailing the Fuhrer after every paragraph.

On the scheduled morning, eager to speak Hitler’s amazing words and afraid I’d forget one or two if I didn’t get chosen to recite immediately, I shot my arm in the air, waving it furiously.

“Helga, you look like you might burst if you don’t get to speak. You may be first to come up front and recite.”

When I stood up and walked the few feet to the front of the room I thought my heart would explode with pride. I prayed my knees would stop shaking. I cleared my throat and began to speak, my voice quivering. As I stood in front of the Fuhrer’s photo, speaking his words, I felt a new closeness to him, as though he himself were in the room guiding me. My voice grew strong as I recited. I loved the words, but did not understand about Aryans.

So one Sunday afternoon, when Grossvater, Grossmutter and Tante Alvina, Vater’s sister, were visiting us, all sitting in the living room, I asked Vater if he thought I was perfect.

“Of course you are, Helga, especially when you obey me.” He winked at me.

“What exactly is an Aryan?” I asked.

“My little girl is getting technical. Why do you ask?”

“Because at the Jugend meetings our leaders say we must be perfect Aryans.” I said.

Grossvater stood and crossed the room to the bookcase. He took down Vater’s big black, dictionary. “Let me answer that for you, Helga.” He searched a page. “This is what it says. The Aryan race is a concept in European culture that was influential in the late 19th and early 20th century. It derives the idea that speakers of the Indo-European languages constituted a race.” Grossvater did a slight bow, marched to the sofa, and sat next to Grossmutter.

“Does that answer your question, Helga?” Mutter asked.

I didn’t want to admit in front of everyone that I didn’t quite understand. “I guess. Am I all German?”

“No, you are half Danish,” Mutter smiled. “Luckily you have good Dane in you to sweeten the sour German blood.”

“Oh really, now?” Vater gave Mutter a silly look. “I thought it was the other way around.”

“Well, at least I know I’m not a Jew,” I said.

There was silence for a moment until Grossmutter said, “Helga, why do you say something like that?”

“The Jugend leaders teach us that Jews are devils who cheat us out of our money and never wash.”

For a moment there was silence until Grossmutter said, “Helga, that’s not true. There are good Jews and bad Jews. They’re just people like the rest of us.” 

That was the first time Grossmutter had ever told me something that I knew was not true. It made me angry. “Mutter, may I go to my room? I have some reading to do for class.”

“Yes...of course.”

No one said a word as I left the family gathering. I went to my room, leaving the door open enough to listen.

“It’s terrible what they are teaching her at those meetings,” Grossvater said.

“Yes, it is. But what are we to do? If we say anything, she might...”

“No. Not our Helga,” Grossmutter said.

“Just the same, we have to be careful.”

“Let it go,” Vater said.

“Did you know Max Adler’s brother was directed to seek out the Jews and report their addresses to the Gestapo?” Alvina whispered. “He knew the Gestapo would take him, and maybe his family, if he didn’t obey. He told his family he wouldn’t do it. ‘Let Hitler do his own dirty work!’ The next day he hanged himself.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

The Inn Game and Sins of Kot-Do-INIT. This is about a fictional resort town in New Hampshire in 1970, a whimsical story of the owners of a ski resort in the fictional village of Kot-Do-Init, who try to entertain vacationers while small town gossip and the hunt for a madman swirl about them. Jim White's death from a fall from a skimobile while riding it late at night with another man's wife places the town's wealthy playboy under suspicion.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I began my writing career after my first two books, Love and Madness: My Private Years with George C Scott, a memoir, and Saturday Night Dance Club, were published. I have since written a total of 13 books, 8 novels and 5 plays.

Do you write full-time?

I write six days a week. Out of bed at six, I write until eleven a.m.

If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I am a retired actor, still actively engaged in following professional theatre. I'm also a portrait painter. I'm also a voracious reader.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I don't use an outline for fiction. I let my characters lead me.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

From the time I was three years old, my big ambition was acting. The hundreds of lines I learned, the many characters I played and a vivid imagination have helped me with plots and dialog in my writing.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I love my husband's nose.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thanks for being here today, Karen.