INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

Robert Goolrick:

An Interview


Robert Goolrick: Photo by
Leigh Ledare, USA TODAY

Much thanks to Robert Goolrick, author of A RELIABLE WIFE, for agreeing to do this interview for me. (I absolutely LOVED this book so much!)

What have you just finished reading?

I have just finished reading a galley of THE NEW VALLEY, by Josh Weil, due out from Grove Atlantic in May. It is a terrific book, a collection of novellas, set in the back hills of Southwestern Virginia. It is a really rewarding book from an important new writer.

What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?

Considered in one light, Marcel Proust wrote the only novel ever written. It is unique, monumental, massively involving. I believe it to be the greatest artwork of the 20^th century, in any medium. Anna Karenina had a huge impact, as have the novels of Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. Among contemporary writers, I find Ian McEwan to be the most compelling, and it has been amazing to watch him grow in power as an artist.

What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or….?

In the case of A RELIABLE WIFE, I had the opening sentence and the final scene in my head for several years. They were easy. The middle was extremely difficult work. With the novel I’m working on now, I have had in my head a true story I heard thirty years ago. It was vivid then, and has remained so ever since.

What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?

I never wear linen after Labor Day. I take a short nap every afternoon – Southerners tend to nap a lot – and I tell the stories I tell because they’re the kind of stories I like to read.

What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?

Writing is the only work I’ve ever found in which I enjoyed the process as much, if not more, than the end product.

A RELIABLE WIFE: A GIVEAWAY!
THANKS TO Lindsey @ ALGONQUIN
BOOKS FOR THIS GIVEAWAY
I HAVE ONE HARDBACK
BRAND NEW FIRST EDITION COPY OF
A RELIABLE WIFE BY ROBERT GOOLRICK
TO GIVE AWAY--Check my review here

This Giveaway will begin now and run until 6 PM, EST, Sunday, April 19

All you have to do is comment below with your email address. There will be only one entry per person this time. This is a book everyone will want to win, I promise!


US and Canada entries only, please!
No P.O. Boxes

Entrants must check this blog to find out if they won and email me with their address.

I will attempt to email the winner but just in case, if the winner does not reply or comment by 6 PM, EST, Monday, April 20, I will choose another winner. Thank you!