1. Tell us a little bit about yourself!
Jenny: I lead a bit of a double life, actually. Hang on, that makes me sound a lot more interesting than I actually am, like I’m Batman. Yes, I’m Batman. :-) No, not really. But I write romantic comedy and cookery novels, and for the tv show Doctor Who in the daytime, but the rest of the time I’m a mum of three here in France where I live.
2. What inspired you to write this book?
Jenny: Well, after I had my children I started cooking and baking a lot more and discovered that I really loved doing it (my poor husband had to eat all my failed experiments at the beginning) and I wanted to write about that, so that’s where it came from. Issy takes her hobby and manages to turn it into a whole new life.
Jenny: Well, after I had my children I started cooking and baking a lot more and discovered that I really loved doing it (my poor husband had to eat all my failed experiments at the beginning) and I wanted to write about that, so that’s where it came from. Issy takes her hobby and manages to turn it into a whole new life.
3. Have you ever had a career change, like Issy going from receptionist to baker in Meet Me at the Cupcake Café?Jenny: totally, yes, I worked in a hospital for years. I wasn’t very good at it. I think it’s good for people’s health in general that I’m now a full time novelist.
4. Issy’s Grandpa Joe is such a fun character! What are your three favorite things about him?
Jenny: Aw thank you! I like that generation of older men like my own grandfather who weren’t expected to raise children or change nappies, even if they really wanted to, so he’s a bit like that really.
Jenny: Aw thank you! I like that generation of older men like my own grandfather who weren’t expected to raise children or change nappies, even if they really wanted to, so he’s a bit like that really.
5. Do you bake in your spare time? What’s something fun you’ve made recently?
Jenny: I do, yes. My latest success is crumpets, those English teacakes with the holes in the top. My worst thing recently was a cheesecake. For the children’s birthdays you’re expected to bring a cake into class, they have a party once a month for all the kids with their birthday then. So I made this GORGEOUS cheesecake and sent it in with my son, but they don’t really eat cheesecake in France. Everyone just kind of looked at the weird immigrant kid with his weird immigrant food and ate the chocolate cake instead, and he was very sad about nobody wanting his cake and I felt very sorry for him!
Jenny: I do, yes. My latest success is crumpets, those English teacakes with the holes in the top. My worst thing recently was a cheesecake. For the children’s birthdays you’re expected to bring a cake into class, they have a party once a month for all the kids with their birthday then. So I made this GORGEOUS cheesecake and sent it in with my son, but they don’t really eat cheesecake in France. Everyone just kind of looked at the weird immigrant kid with his weird immigrant food and ate the chocolate cake instead, and he was very sad about nobody wanting his cake and I felt very sorry for him!
6. What’s the last book you read that you totally fell in love with?
Jenny: I really loved Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, about a shot down female british spy in France in the second world war. It’s fiction but based on a lot of real stories and the bravery of the resistance was just breathtaking.
Jenny: I really loved Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, about a shot down female british spy in France in the second world war. It’s fiction but based on a lot of real stories and the bravery of the resistance was just breathtaking.
7. When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do?
Jenny: I like to bake, read, and make really stupid jokes on twitter – you can find me on @jennycolgan – and getting my husband to take me out to the cinema. My cinematic tastes are the complete opposite to my books, I only like films about aliens and zombies.
Jenny: I like to bake, read, and make really stupid jokes on twitter – you can find me on @jennycolgan – and getting my husband to take me out to the cinema. My cinematic tastes are the complete opposite to my books, I only like films about aliens and zombies.
8. Its summer in the US and many of us are going on vacations. What is your most memorable vacation?
Jenny: I went on a girl’s holiday to Miami to get over a break up and met this cute guy who worked on a yacht there, who I thought would be perfect for a holiday fling to make me feel better. That was twelve years, three children and four countries ago!
Jenny: I went on a girl’s holiday to Miami to get over a break up and met this cute guy who worked on a yacht there, who I thought would be perfect for a holiday fling to make me feel better. That was twelve years, three children and four countries ago!
MEET ME AT THE CUPCAKE CAFÉ BY JENNY COLGAN – IN STORES JULY 2013
A sweet and satisfying novel of how delicious it is to discover your dreams
Issy Randall can bake. No, Issy can create stunning, mouthwateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe's bakery, she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. She's much better at baking than she is a filing so when she's laid off from her desk job, Issy decides to open her own little café. But she soon learns that her piece-of-cake plan will take all of her courage and confectionary talent to avert disaster.
Funny and sharp, Meet Me at the Cupcake Café is about how life might not always taste like you expect, but there's always room for dessert!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A former columnist for The Guardian, Jenny Colgan contributes regularly to national BBC radio and is the bestselling author of more than eleven novels, including Welcome To Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams, which won the 2013 Romantic Novel of the Year award from the Romantic Novelists Association, and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris, both international bestsellers. She is married with three children and lives in London and France. For more information, please visit http://www.jennycolgan.com/, follow her on Twitter, @JennyColgan, and Like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennycolganbooks.
To Purchase Meet Me at the Cupcake Café:
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I am looking forward to reading this book. Thank you for hosting a giveaway. I enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeletegriperang at embarqmail dot com
It must be very exciting to live in London and France.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds great, I can't wait to read it.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Anything cupcake-related has me intrigued, and this sounds like a fun read! Enjoyed the author interview, too -- Jenny leads quite the interesting life!
ReplyDeleteI'm such a sucker for baked goods. Anything that's got food in it will definitely interest me :) Thanks for the giveaway and Jenny, I would love to taste that cheesecake from France :)
ReplyDeleteI like Chick Lit books, which I think this book I sounds like.
ReplyDeleteBonnie
I've been seeing this one around a lot and it look pretty interesting. I've added it to my TBR!
ReplyDeleteOn my "to read" list!
ReplyDelete