Pamela Redmond keeps us young...plus a book giveaway

Photo by Mark Hanauer

Introduction by Melissa Amster

I have been a fan of Younger ever since it first graced my TV screen. It's funny, sexy, creative, and wildly entertaining. It's no secret that I'm #TeamCharles. So I'm really excited to have Pamela Redmond here today, as she wrote the novel that the TV series is based upon and now has a sequel called Older. I am sure it will keep me entertained while waiting for season seven to finally show up! Pamela is here today to share her thoughts on writing and the TV series. Thanks to Gallery, we have TWO copies for some lucky readers!

Pamela is the New York Times bestselling author of both humor books and novels, including Younger, now a television show created by Sex & The City’s Darren Star, and its sequel Older. Her other books include the historical novel The Possibility of You and the bestsellers How Not To Act Old and 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know By The Time She’s 30. Pamela is also a name expert and the co-creator with Linda Rosenkrantz of a groundbreaking series on baby names and the world’s largest baby name website Nameberry. She lives in Los Angeles with one son and near the other, though she frequently visits New York where her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter live. You can learn more about Pamela in this profile in The New York Times or this story in The Star-Ledger. (Bio adapted from Pamela's website.)

Visit Pamela online:

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:

New York or Los Angeles? Romance or commitment? Younger…or older?

Liza Miller never dreamed that anyone would be interested in her life, let alone buy a book about it. But everything changes when, on the eve of her fiftieth birthday, she publishes a thinly veiled novel about a woman posing as a millennial called Younger—which her old friend Kelsey wants to turn into a TV show.

Liza is off to Los Angeles to help Kelsey write the pilot. But that means leaving behind her on-again off-again boyfriend Josh, her pregnant daughter, and her best friend Maggie. Can Liza find happiness in her new adventure if it means leaving everyone she loves?

Yet as Liza is swept up in the heady world of Hollywood, she finds herself thinking less and less of her life back home in New York. And when she meets Hugo Fielding—the devastatingly handsome and incredibly flirtatious Brit playing her boss on the show—she toes the line between having a crush and falling in love.

Torn between New York and Los Angeles, a familiar love and a risky one, an established career and a shot at stardom, Liza must decide if it’s too late to go to the ball...and if she even wants to. From the author of the beloved Younger, this is an endearing, hilarious, and relatable tale of second chances and new beginnings that proves: the best thing about getting Older is that you finally get to be yourself. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

How are you similar to or different from Liza? I’m similar to Liza in that I’ve changed my life and done a lot of new things after 40. I’m different in that I’m very honest about who I am. Pretending or telling a lie doesn’t even occur to me until days, months, or even years later, when I’m thinking about turning some event from my life into fiction. What were the biggest reward and biggest challenge with writing Older, given the direction the TV series took Younger? The biggest reward was writing about characters who were so well-known and fully-realized, from the original novel Younger which I updated last year and from the amazing work over six seasons of Younger TV by Darren Star, Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, Nico Tortorella, and Tess Albertson. The biggest challenge was to create a story that didn’t step on the toes of all the wonderful plot lines that have developed over the six seasons on Younger TV but stayed true to the characters and their world. Also, to create a hero who could hold a candle to the dreamy Charles! What is one piece of advice you have for aspiring novelists? Take classes! It’s hard to find a good class on novel writing because you can’t really workshop a novel over the course of a few months. But TV writing and screenwriting classes can teach you a lot about plot structure and short story writing classes can teach you to create compelling characters. Best, you’ll meet other writers you might want to continue meeting with in a private group. Who would you love to see as a guest star on Younger for the final season? Me! What is something you learned about yourself during the pandemic? That the thing I love best is what I do all the time anyway: Sit alone in a room typing. Going out and getting together with other people is nice, and I miss restaurant meals and traveling for sure, but it’s not central to my happiness. What is your theme song? "I Will Survive." The character Sutton Foster (this is part of the meta-ness of Older) sings it at an important and meaningful event in the book. But telling you which one would be a spoiler!

Thanks to Pamela for chatting with us and to Gallery 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. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.  

 a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Giveaway ends September 21st at midnight EST.