Holly Peterson's great "idea"...plus a book giveaway

We are pleased to introduce you to Holly Peterson as we celebrate the pub day of her sophomore novel, The Idea of Him. Thanks to William Morrow, we have THREE copies for some lucky US readers!

Holly Peterson is also the author of the New York Times bestseller The Manny. She was a Contributing Editor for Newsweek, an Editor-at-Large for Talk magazine and an Emmy Award–winning Producer for ABC News, where she spent more than a decade covering global politics. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, Talk, The Daily Beast, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and numerous other publications. With all this work under her belt, she likes to kick back on the waves with her surfboard!

You can find Holly at her website, Facebook, and Twitter. She's also chatting LIVE at BookTrib TODAY at 4 pm EST.

Synopsis of The Idea of Him:
Allie Crawford has the life she always dreamed of—she's number two at a high-profile P.R. firm; she has two kids she adores; and her husband is a blend of handsome and heroic. Wade is everything she thought a man was supposed to be—he's running a successful newsmagazine and, best of all, he provides the stable yet exciting New York City life Allie believes she needs in order to feel secure and happy.

But when Allie finds Wade locked in their laundry room with a stunning blonde in snakeskin sandals, a scandal ensues that flips her life on its head. And when the woman wants to befriend Allie, an old flame calls, and a new guy gets a little too close for comfort, she starts to think her marriage is more of a facade than something real. Maybe she's fallen in love not with Wade—but with the idea of him.

Captivating and seductive, told in the whip-smart voice of a woman who is working hard to keep her parenting and career on track, The Idea of Him is a novel of conspiracy, intrigue, and intense passion—and discovering your greatest strength through your deepest fears. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

What was your inspiration for The Idea of Him?
The very truth of the matter is I got divorced and I started to spend a ton of time thinking about why we get into relationships and how we get out of them. When a marriage ends, you can’t help but think...how and why did I fall for this husband if it wasn’t everlasting? My ex-husband and I are lucky enough to care about and respect each other enormously, so we get to parent our three children in a symbiotic manner that works for all, and, most importantly, minimizes stress on the kids. My book isn’t based on “us,” but it is a study of something I went through; namely, intense fear of being on my own. Whether it’s a relationship or a marriage ending -- men, women, gay, straight and trans-gender -- ALL OF US – sometimes we fall more for an “idea” of someone, rather than the actual person and I think that’s where we get into trouble. Reality hits and we wonder why the person across the table isn’t who we thought they were...because we were fixated on an “idea” (cool guy with long hair, responsible and paternalistic savior, bad boy rebel….) and not the actual, emotional, breathing person!

I wanted to create a character who was thinking about divorce, wondering why she married that person and see where the narrative took me. Allie in my book is a woman who feels sad, nervous, excited for change, and still lost...all emotions I have felt in spades. She is grasping after two other possible men to run to, so there’s three love interests and lots of passion and sexy scenes, but you won’t find out until the final page who Allie chooses. Nothing important is life is easy no matter where you are from, and I wanted to write a book mature women, and by that I mean over 21, who searching for real intimacy, could relate to and possibly learn from that made them laugh and cry!

In one sentence, what was road to publishing like for you?
My road to publishing was filled with doubters that women wanted to read about a “good” and “likeable” and “relatable” mother in a failing marriage who cared more about checking the text from the hot guy in her screenwriting class than whether her kids’ chicken nuggets were served with the right sauce on the side.

What do you think the key is to a successful chick lit novel?
I did not want to write a book where the goal was “getting a guy” and I’d love to read more chicklit books about strong women who care about all kinds of passions in their lives. I wanted to write a book about a woman finding the strength through female friendship, her mothering and work passions, and her very SELF, to find happiness. I wish there were more chick lit books that didn’t emphasize winning a man as a prize. Life isn’t like that. We lose them, we get them, but it’s ourselves, our work, our expertise, our families, our children’s smiles, our best girlfriends, that really pull us through. My character Allie is certainly obsessing over many men and we read about her fears and live through her sexy adventures, but inside she is growing in a good way that is allowing her to consider being on her own. We are so fearful of being without a man that we often cling to the wrong ones...so much of literary fiction and Hollywood pushes us to believe we aren’t okay without one. That’s why they all end with the protagonist kissing Colin Firth in the rain...I loved that movie and book...but I just am on a mission here to get women to focus on themselves a bit more.

If they made a movie of The Idea of Him, who would you cast in the lead roles?
Reese Witherspoon as Allie Crawford. Brad Pitt as the cool, elusive husband.

What is the funniest thing that happened to you recently?
I decided to get over my fear of riding horses, so I went on a calm sunset ranch ride on a horse in Mexico and it tripped on a ditch and I went flying over its head.

What is one item you can NOT live without?
My surfboard...and I first got on one when I was 42 years old.

Thanks to Holly for visiting with us and William Morrow for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


US only. Giveaway ends April 6th at midnight EST.