Jen Lancaster Coming to Phoenix and Talking to Me Here

 "If You Were Here," then you are in the right place when we talk to Jen Lancaster, author of this title and a New York Times Bestseller. We will be talking to Jen on LIVE radio this Tuesday, February 21st, from 5:30-6:30pm MT (Arizona time).
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kwodradio/2012/02/22/youre-in-the-right-place-with-jen-lancaster

Jen has a huge following (over a million books in print, with memoirs titled Bitter Is the New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass; My Fair Lazy and Such a Pretty Fat). Her fans have been clamoring for her to return to Phoenix . Now she is answering the call on a “Spring Break tour” that includes various cities in Flordia, and Phoenix , as she promotes her first novel, IF YOU WERE HERE.

Jen, your novel If You Were Here is set in the same Chicago suburb where John Hughes made all of his 80s films. What’s more, the book is dedicated to Mr. Hughes. Why John Hughes?

The novel is set in the fictional town of Abington Cambs, which I turned into my “Shermer, IL” made so famous in all of Hughes’s films.  Actually, Hughes filmed in a handful of suburbs along the lake and to the north of Chicago.  I imagine the easiest thing for him was to give them all one name, so that’s what I did, too.

Hughes hit his stride when I was a teenager and every film he wrote during that time made me feel like he was talking directly to me.  I will never forget that, so I think of John Hughes as the guiding spirit of this book. 

Ever since moving to Lake Forest, I’d planned to bring flowers to John Hughes’s grave.  I was blocked creatively because I didn’t know how to fix my book, so I figured I may as well get up from my desk and go pay my respects.  I clipped a bunch of my best roses and drove to the cemetery.

While I was sitting on the bench across from his grave, I began to reflect on his movies because they’ve had such an impact on my life.  In fact, we picked Lake Forest because it’s the town where Hughes live before he passed away.  That’s when it hit me to make Hughes the heart of this book.  I mean, we’re stretching our budget to live where he used to live, so it would stand to reason that my character Mia would as well.  Hughes has always been my inspiration and in this book, I formally recognize his influence.

Come by her YouTube video to learn more about Jen Lancaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7s2ABjmpnE