Brandi Megan Granett can be our sister!

We welcome Brandi Megan Granett to CLC today to talk about our theme of the month...family. Her novel, Triple Love Score, was published earlier this month.

Brandi Megan Granett is an author, online English professor, and private writing mentor. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Aberystwyth University, Wales, an MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College, a Masters in Adult Education with an emphasis on Distance Education from Penn State University, and her BA from the University of Florida.

Granett is the author of My Intended (William Morrow, 2000). Her short fiction has appeared in Pebble Lake Review, Folio, Pleiades and other literary magazines, and is collected in the volume Cars and Other Things That Get Around.

In addition, she writes an author interview series for the Huffington Post, and is a member of the Tall Poppy Writers, a community of writing professionals committed to growing relationships, promoting the work of its members, and connecting authors with each other and with readers.

When Granett is not writing or teaching or mothering, she is honing her archery skills. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter and two dogs. Visit Brandi at her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Synopsis:

What happens when you stop playing games?

Miranda Shane lives a quiet life among books and letters as a professor in a small upstate town. When the playing-by-the-rules poet throws out convention and begins to use a Scrabble board instead of paper to write, she sets off a chain of events that rattles her carefully planned world.

Her awakening propels her to take risks and seize chances she previously let slip by, including a game-changing offer from the man she let slip away. But when the revelation of an affair with a graduate student threatens the new life Miranda created, she is forced to decide between love or poetry.


“Brandi Megan Granett’s beautifully written debut novel, full of twists, turns and truths about the ups and downs of life, had me spellbound from the very first page. Triple Love Score proves that, in matters of the heart—as in Scrabble—when you get it right, it’s nothing short of poetry.”
~ Kristy Woodson Harvey, author of Dear Carolina and Lies and 
Other Acts of Love

“A charming mash-up of viral poetry, relatable characters, and slow-simmering romance. Granett explores how doing the unexpected might lead to what you had always wanted.”
~ Amy E. Reichert, author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake and Luck, Love & Lemon Pie

“Clever, heartfelt, and full of surprises until the very last page, Brandi Megan Granett’s Triple Love Score is unlike anything I’ve read.”
~ Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences

What is your favorite song that involves a family or is about being a family?
"Rocks and Water" by Deb Talan captures a lot of what I feel about being a mom. Talan sings:
“I will be rocks, I will be water.
I will leave this to my daughter:
Lift your head up in the wind
When you feel yourself grow colder
Wrap the night around your shoulders
And I will be with you even then
Even when I cannot see your face anymore.”

Recently my daughter found her voice in poetry. I feel like I get to pass on some of what I’ve enjoyed so far through her as well as some of the things that made me a real live person. Her accomplishments as a young writer light me up so much more than anything I’ve ever achieved.

Brandi and her daughter

Who is someone you are not related to that you consider part of your family?
My archery coach, Len Cardinale! He gives so much to me and has taught me so much about not only archery, but about how to live a life worth living. The biggest thing he taught me is that thoughts are things. How you think about the world, how you process events…that determines your reality. I so appreciate his care and respect.

Which fictional family would you like to be a part of?
I would like to be a Waverly Sister from Sarah Addison Allen’s books, First Frost and Garden Spells. I’d love to have magic and a sister to count on to help me raise my daughter. I am lucky to have some pretty amazing girlfriends, but as an only child, I can only imagine what it would be like to have a sister.

What is something that has been passed down in your family?
A belief in Santa Claus. When I was little, my mom struggled as a single mother. Yet every year at Christmas something special would happen, a bill would be for less, an extra would come up, a boss would pay a bonus, and she would be able to make Christmas happen. I have seen Christmas magic continue throughout my life. Just this last year, when I was riddled with Lyme disease and our house was torn up for repairs, my Jewish husband insisted we get TWO Christmas trees because he felt we needed double magic that year. My sixteen year-old daughter said to me the other day that she tells people Santa isn’t real just to make them feel better about themselves; people don't like to be contradicted, she said. She didn’t want to hurt their feelings!

Which holiday do you enjoy spending with your family the most?
While Christmas is a great holiday, we have really enjoyed celebrating our dogs’ birthdays. We take them to Dilly’s, our local hamburger and ice cream place, for kiddie sized dishes of vanilla soft serve with rainbow sprinkles. We get so much joy from their excitement; it makes a regular day special.

Finish the sentence: To me, family is ___________
Everything.

Thanks to Brandi for chatting with us! Enter to win TRIPLE LOVE SCORE at the following blogs:
Teddy Rose Book Reviews (US only, Ends 9/23)
Books á la Mode (US only, ends 9/16)
Liz and Lisa, along with 31 other books (US/Canada, ends 9/17)