We're pleased to "meat" Jason Pomerance....plus a book giveaway

Let's give a warm welcome to Jason Pomerance. His latest novel, Celia at 39, published at the end of 2019. Melissa A is enjoying it so far and learning more than she ever thought she would about working at a barbecue. You can learn too, as Jason is generously sharing FIVE copies with some lucky readers!

Jason Pomerance was born in New York City, raised in Westchester County, and graduated from Middlebury College. His first novel, Women Like Us, was published by the Quill Imprint of Inkshares in 2016, and his four-part novella, Falconer, debuted the same year on Nikki Finke’s Hollywooddementia. His short stories have appeared in Writing Bloc anthologies Escape! and Deception. Writing Bloc is also the publisher of Celia At 39. He lives in Los Angeles with his partner and their animals and has written film and television projects for numerous studios and production companies, including Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, Fremantle Media, and Gold Circle Films. (Bio courtesy of Jason's website.)

Visit Jason online:
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Synopsis:
Celia Bernhart, on the cusp of turning 39, thinks her life is all planned out. She has a successful career selling pharmaceuticals. She's about to marry her longtime fiance, a doctor. Oh, sure, her mother and her two sisters drive her nuts, but that's normal, right? Then a package unexpectedly shows up at her door -- the address is correct, but it was mailed nearly forty years earlier, to another woman, whose whereabouts are now a mystery. Inside is a curious old cookbook, along with a sealed note from a daughter to her mother. Celia decides to deliver the package to its rightful recipient. Instead she finds the woman's grandson, Dante Zebulon, the pitmaster of a small barbecue joint nestled in the Appalachians, a man who literally plays with fire, and who juggles cooking classic Southern barbecue with raising a young daughter alone. When the note reveals a long-kept family secret -- and when sparks fly between Celia and Dante -- it's not just Celia's life that gets turned upside down. Soon the future for all becomes a question mark. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

How do you get into the mind frame of a woman to write your novels?
Such an interesting question. I guess that in some respects I don't look at characters as male or female but just as humans? Whether male or female, humans often have similar needs and desires and hopes and dreams, so I suppose I'm channeling those ideas and it doesn't matter. On the other hand, there's a part of me that's feels like at one point I must have been an old lady! Certainly for my first novel Women Like Us, where the character Edith Vale sort of popped out of my head and onto the page almost fully formed, and she was a persnickety woman of 70-something. Or I just channel certain women I've known and loved. That's probably a large part of it too. Celia At 39 is very woman-oriented because it's not just about Celia, but it's about her relationship with her mom and her sisters too. The inspiration for the book was finding this old cookbook at a library book sale, and inside was a note from a daughter to her mother, which was dated like 20 years earlier. For the longest time I obsessed about the note and wondered about these two people so I suppose just thinking about them for a long time helped to get inside their heads.

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
Food and cooking figured prominently in my first book, Women Like Us, because one of the main characters is a chef. In Celia At 39, a main character is the pitmaster of a barbecue joint, so again food figures prominently. I think a favorite compliment about both books is that the food descriptions are so spot-on they make a reader hungry. In fact somebody just told me the other day a certain scene in Celia At 39 made her hungry for cornbread and cole slaw! It's all really gratifying because I worked really hard on the food scenes in both books

If Celia at 39 were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
Reese Witherspoon or Amy Adams for Celia, Chris Evans for Dante, and for Celia's mom Daisy, Diane Keaton.

If you could take us on a tour of L.A., which off-the-beaten-path locations would you show us?
Must sound like I'm obsessed with food (okay, I sort of am) but I'd go for some lesser-known but delicious places to eat. Let's start with breakfast, for example: head to Malibu and get a breakfast burrito from this little joint called Lily's. It's the best breakfast burrito anywhere (in my opinion). Pro tip: call ahead with your order and you won't have to wait. For lunch I'd hit up what's becoming something of a cult, a sandwich shop in Frogtown called Wax Paper (they have a second location in downtown in Chinatown now too). The sandwiches are amazing, and all are named after NPR hosts! For dinner, in Silver Lake, head to MH ZH -- this place has the most delicious Israeli/Mediterranean food, and it's probably the best bargain in town too. I'd also recommend some off-beat architectural sites because people often don't associate LA with architecture, but it's really a treasure trove if you know where to look -- the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House in Los Feliz, for instance, is fascinating. Book a tour and be dazzled. Or Richard Neutra's Lovell House, also in Los Feliz (If you saw the movie "LA Confidential" you'll recognize it).

What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?
It's a toss-up! Either Once Upon A Time In Hollywood or Parasite. I loved both.

What is something you are looking forward to doing in 2020?
My partner and I have been talking about a return to Italy, specifically to Sicily, where he has roots. Maybe in 2020?? Very much want to also visit Naples and eat pizza for days!

Thanks to Jason for visiting with us and for sharing his book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends January 28th at midnight EST.