Interview with Christine Nolfi, author of Second Chance Grill

Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!

Today we have Christine Nolfi visiting us! She is the author of Second Chance Grill and is here to answer some of my questions and to share some information about her book. If this sounds like something that you would be interested in reading, please find buy links at the bottom of this post and pick up a copy or two!

Barb – Describe your book in one sentence.

Christine – If you’re partial to movies like Steel Magnolias and books like Fried Green Tomatoes, you’ll thoroughly enjoy Second Chance Grill.

Barb – Tell me a little about yourself.

Christine – I’m zany, an adoptive mother of four, recently remarried and a happy transplant to Charleston, South Carolina. I can also be frighteningly focused, silly or contemplative. At a party, I’m the woman who loosens everyone up with a few jokes so they’ll spill their darkest secrets, which I file away in my brain for characters in future books. This does not go down well with everyone.

Barb – When did you decide to become a writer?

Christine – During childhood, around the time I convinced the kids on the block that fairies had hidden magical gems beneath rocks we’d soon locate. I also persuaded them—and myself—that I could fly. It’s a miracle I didn’t break my legs tumbling from Bobby Cooper’s tree-house.

Barb – State a random fact about yourself that would surprise your readers.

Christine – In my youth I married a multimillionaire. It didn’t last long, but I sure enjoyed hanging around Hollywood royalty. Oddly, I haven’t written about those years. Yet.

Barb – What do you love about writing?

Christine – Possessing the ability to set emotion on paper. Literature connects people; it’s the closest we come to walking beneath another’s skin. I cherish every facet of the process from the moment the blank page waits for inspiration through the final edit.

Barb – Why did you choose to write in your chosen genre?

Christine – Independent publishing will soon dissolve genre restrictions. My novels take elements from romance, mystery, suspense, literary—I’ll use any tactic available to tell a story in a compelling fashion.

Barb – How do you come up with the premise for a book?

Christine – I’m forever asking the What if? question as I travel, glean the news or meet new people. I also read voraciously, everything from The Wall Street Journal to the latest novel that catches my eye. Once I have a compelling character, I interview him or her in the first person. In essence, I become the character and simply write out backstory on a pad. I never do this at my Mac—there’s something about writing longhand, the slower process, which allows ideas to germinate. Once I understand the main character, the plot takes shape.

Barb – What book is currently on your nightstand?

Christine – Books, actually. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Heart of Matter by Emily Griffin, Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Then there are the books on my iPad TBR list…

About Second Chance Grill:

Interview with Christine Nolfi, author of Second chances grill Dr. Mary Chance needs a sabbatical from medicine to grieve the loss of her closest friend. But when she inherits a struggling restaurant in Liberty, Ohio she isn’t prepared for Blossom Perini. Mary can’t resist falling for the precocious preteen—or the girl’s father. The bond they forge will transform all their lives and set in motion an outpouring of love that spreads across America.

Welcome back to Liberty, where the women surrounding the town’s only restaurant are as charming as they are eccentric.

Second Chance Grill is the prequel to Treasure Me, 2012 Next Generation Indie Awards Finalist, which The Midwest Book Review calls “A riveting read for those who enjoy adventure fiction, highly recommended.”

Christine Nolfi closed her public relations firm after adopting a sibling group of four children. Her debut, Interview with Christine Nolfi, author of Second chances grill Treasure Me, was selected as a finalist in the 2012 Next Generation Indie Awards. Her second release, The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge, continues to earn rave reviews. Her latest work, Second Chance Grill, was released October 30^th