I'm delighted to have Huntley Fitzpatrick, the author of My Life Next Door, stop by the blog today. If you're in the mood for a really good summer romance read, be sure to pick up My Life Next Door. This or that feature allows us, the readers, to get to the know the author's preferences. Below are Ms. Fitzpatrick's responses to my questions. Enjoy!

Mass or CT? I’ve loved both at different times and in different ways. What I love about both is living on the coast near the ocean.

Calvin O'Keefe from A Wrinkle in Time or Laurie from Little Women?  Oh, Calvin all the way. He really GETS Meg right from the start, completely accepts everything about her and stands by her. I think Laurie was a little more in love with the idea of Jo than he was with Actual Jo. And he gave up on her and went off and married her sister! Still haven’t forgiven him for that.

Favorite Shakespeare film adaptation: Branaugh's Hamlet or Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet? Romeo and Juliet is more fun to watch, but I think I’d pick the old Zefferelli version, even though Romeo has a bathing suit tan line in a key romantic scene.

Biking or walking?  Biking is great---it’s always felt a little like flying to me. But the slow-down-and-appreciate part of walking is wonderful. Plus you can walk and talk with friends, which is harder with biking. My daughters and I love to take this five mile ride to the beach, but we stop all the time to comment on things we see or thoughts that strike us, so I’m not sure how aerobic the whole experience
is.

 Revision or free write?  Both in different ways. Free writing and having characters do unexpected things and turn the plot in surprising directions is exhilarating. But going back over the tangled first draft and getting it right (hopefully) is satisfying in a completely different way.

Can't leave with out: cell phone or computer/laptop?  I have an unhealthy attachment to my laptop. I take it everywhere. My husband jokes that it’s like the suitcase with the nuclear codes the POTUS has to have with him at all times.

 Work preference: home or café?  Home. I can’t focus on my story when I hear all these other potential ones going on around me. I can’t work with music in the background. It’s hard for me to write if another person is in the room. Our pets, of course, know this and the minute I sit down at my laptop, the three cats and the dog all charge into the room and drape themselves around.

Coke or Pepsi?  Diet Coke. Way too much when I’m on deadline.

Instant love or slow burning romance?  Both can be amazing. The times I really fell were instant, but then with a long slow burn til we figured things out and were sure of one another.

Love and lost or not love at all? Love is always worth it. Always.

 Thank you for stopping by Ms. Fitzpatrick! I completely agree with you on Calvin. He is my first book boyfriend I've ever had. Still miffed about Laurie. Did he really have to pick Amy?!


“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.