At home with Kate Moretti...plus a book giveaway

Photo by Pooja Dhar at PR Photograph  

We're excited to have Kate Moretti back at CLC today to talk about family and feature her upcoming novel, The Vanishing Year. Melissa A enjoyed this novel and recently reviewed it at Goodreads. Thanks to Atria, some lucky readers have a chance to win this book as part of Kate's blog tour. (However, since they're hosting the giveaway, it is US/Canada only.)

Kate Moretti is the New York Times bestselling author of Thought I Knew You, Binds That Tie, and While You Were Gone. She lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her husband and two kids. Find out more at her website, or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Synopsis:
Zoe Whittaker is living a charmed life. She is the beautiful young wife to handsome, charming Wall Street tycoon Henry Whittaker. She is a member of Manhattan’s social elite. She is on the board of one of the city’s most prestigious philanthropic organizations. She has a perfect Tribeca penthouse in the city and a gorgeous lake house in the country. The finest wine, the most up-to-date fashion, and the most luxurious vacations are all at her fingertips.

What no one knows is that five years ago, Zoe’s life was in danger. Back then, Zoe wasn’t Zoe at all. Now her secrets are coming back to haunt her.

As the past and present collide, Zoe must decide who she can trust before she—whoever she is—vanishes completely.

“THE VANISHING YEAR is a stunner. A perfectly compulsive read that's impossible to put down.”
-Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Don’t You Cry

"Engaging, intriguing, heart-pounding… the twists had me gasping, the details had me transfixed. I cared about Zoe right away, which along with everything else, made it impossible for me to stop reading this book."
-Amy Sue Nathan, author of The Glass Wives

“Expertly told with secrets, twists and whip-smart prose, Kate Moretti shows in her third book that she deserves her New York Times best seller status. THE VANISHING YEAR will live in your mind long after you put the book down.”
-Ann Garvin, author of The Dog Year

What is something essential to have in order to be a family?
Love, connection, the desire to protect each other. That's pretty much it. I try to hammer home to the kids that families can look so different, that there's no such thing as a wrong family, as long as they love each other. We've gone through so many iterations: a mom and dad, two moms, two dads, just a mom, just a dad, a grandma that lives with you, etc.

What is your favorite family-themed movie?
This is ridiculous I know, but probably Christmas Vacation. It captures the craziness of the holidays with family so well. Plus, it has Uncle Eddie.

What is your favorite memory from a family vacation?
We used to camp when I was a kid with my cousins. I was eighteen before I knew that people rented hotel rooms. Those trips are a montage in my mind: Uno on the picnic table, the year it rained five of the seven days and we spent most of the time in the movie theater or the laundromat, using the dryer, the year we went to Fenway in 100 degree heat. My best childhood memories are those camping trips. As a mother, we take our kids to the same beach every year with grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, great aunts. It's just a wonderful week.

Share a recent or favorite family portrait.
We're not really a "portrait" kind of family. I don't know why, I just don't do it that often. But here is a group shot of us on vacation at Disney World, and then my favorite picture with my kids. This was two years ago, but I love it anyway.

What is your favorite family tradition?
Not to go back to Christmas again, but we do Christmas eve at my mom's house every year. We open presents from my side of the family then. We eat the same food my grandmother used to make -- stuff from the 50's like Gherkins and salami. Nothing is allowed to change. If we ever have to get snowflake rolls from another bakery, I'm not sure what will happen.

Have you ever found long lost relatives? If so, what was the experience like?
No, I haven't. But we did find relatives that lived in Hungary. Our families kept in touch and I actually visited them when I traveled after college. They made us dinner and we stayed in their rental apartment. The whole experience was fantastic.

Thanks to Kate for chatting with us and to Atria for sharing her book with our readers. You can also win a copy from Confessions of a Bookaholic through September 27th.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


US/Canada only (part of a blog tour). Giveaway ends October 20th.