Suzanne Redfearn delivers another gripping page-turner in her latest novel, a story about a young mother's fight to protect her children from the dangerous world of Hollywood.
Faye Martin never expected her husband to
abandon her and her three children . . . or that she'd have to struggle every
day to make ends meet. So when her four-year-old daughter is discovered through
a YouTube video and offered a starring role on a television series, it seems
like her prayers have been answered. But when the reality of their new life
settles in, Faye realizes that fame and fortune don't come without a price. And
in a world where everyone is an actor and every move is scrutinized by millions,
it's impossible to know whom to trust, and Faye finds herself utterly alone in
her struggle to save her family.
Emotionally riveting and insightful, No Ordinary Life is
an unforgettable novel about the preciousness of childhood and the difficult
choices a mother needs to make in order to protect this fragile time in her
children's lives.
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing – February
2, 2016
What
readers are saying . . .
“Suzanne Redfearn's NO ORDINARY LIFE is a gripping
exploration of a mother's love and the lengths she'll go to protect her
children. Redfearn honestly captures one family's meteoric rise and
heartbreaking undoing. Compulsively readable, this poignant story will stay
with readers long after the last page is turned.”
—
Heather Gudenkauf, New
York Times bestselling author of The
Weight of Silence
“Once
again, Suzanne Redfearn delivers a fast-paced, compelling story of family, frustration,
and the unexpected consequences of a mother's choice. NO ORDINARY LIFE provides
a dazzling look inside the entertainment industry, illustrating both the lure
and lunacy of child stardom.”
—
Lori Nelson Spielman,
#1 international bestselling author of The Life List
About the Author
Suzanne Redfearn is the
author of Hush Little Baby, which was
chosen as a Target Recommends selection and Target’s Emerging Authors program.
She graduated summa cum laude from California Polytechnic University and, prior
to becoming an author, was an architect. She is an avid surfer, golfer, skier,
and Angels fan. She lives with her husband and children in Southern California.
No Ordinary Life is her second novel.
Twitter: @SuzanneRedfearn
Publicity Contact:
Suzy
Missirlian
Twitter:
@Suzy4PR
Some Q & A with Suzanne:
Tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you started
writing.
Before becoming an
author, I was an architect. I designed small commercial projects, restaurants,
and houses. When I started writing my first story, I had never written anything
longer than an architectural thesis. My first novel started as a bucket list endeavor.
I had an idea and I started to write. Seven months later I had a novel. It was
really bad. I didn't know where to put commas. I didn't understand sentence
structure. I used the same words again and again. But amazingly, the characters
and story were there, somehow this other world had been created in which it
felt like real things were happening to real people and evoking real emotions.
I was hooked. That first novel got me my first agent and my third agent, but it
was my fifth novel that finally made it into the world.
What are some things you enjoy when not writing?
I am a dabbler, which
means I like to dabble in a lot of things. I ski, surf, SUP, golf, play tennis,
do yoga, kick box, hike, paint, read, hang out with my dog, do Sudoku, and garden.
Mostly I like being with my family. My favorite thing in the world is when we
are together sitting on the couch watching really bad reality television while
playing Scrabble.
Do you have a “day job” as well?
When I first started
writing, I was still practicing architecture and was a full-time mom. Now my
kids are off at college and I am no longer doing the architecture, so my focus is
entirely on writing.
Where do you get your ideas?
I love and hate this
question because it baffles me. I am always certain I’ve had the last good idea
I’m ever going to have, when bam something happens and suddenly I’m racing away
on a new concept. The idea for No Ordinary Life took less than an
hour to come up with. I knew I needed to write a story about a mother protecting
her children because that was the “brand” my publisher wanted me to pursue. I
was at the grocery store and saw a tabloid with Zac Efron on the cover and the
headline, “Zac Efron Enters Rehab Again!!!” and I knew I had the story I wanted
to write, the story about a mom protecting her child from the dangerous world
of Hollywood. It always feels a bit like inspiration is a gift, a zap from the
universe that I don't control. Not every idea that strikes is golden, and I’ve had
a few false starts, but so far, the writing gods have been kind, and somehow,
whenever I need a jolt for what to write next, I get one, then I hang on tight
and let it take me for a ride.
Is there a particular author or book that influenced or
inspired your writing or decision to write?
As I mentioned, writing
for me started out as a bucket list endeavor. I didn’t set out to be an author.
Unlike most authors, I didn’t grow up dreaming of being the next Ernest
Hemingway or Beatrix Potter. That being said, the first book I read that truly
showed me the power of words was Ayn Rand’s Atlas
Shrugged. I read it as a teenager and it altered my course in both life and
reading. She wrote with such conviction and purpose, and the story left an
indelible mark. My stories are not meant to be philosophical or political, but
I do like the idea of writing with purpose and trying to weave deeper ideas
into the subcontext. It’s why I include questions at the end, to encourage contemplation
and discourse after the story is done.
Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first
book published?
That would take way too
many pages, so I will sum it up: dozens of rejection letters from agents; three
agents along the way; dozens of rejection letters from publishers; five novels
written; one contingency sale based on my ability to edit the story to the
publisher’s liking; one very small advance; a dozen more compromises on the
story; Hush Little Baby published!!!! It was a difficult journey that
required perseverance above all else.
If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any
aspect of your novel or getting it published that you’d change?
You need to be
extraordinarily humble when you start out. There are a million talented authors
out there. It is very competitive and a publisher is taking a risk on
publishing a new author. I am grateful to have made it through the gauntlet and
for Hush
Little Baby making it into the world. It was my fifth novel, but in
retrospect, it was the right one for my debut, so it turned out to be a good
thing that I hit the obstacles I did. Over the years, I became a better writer.
I learned my craft and got better. The only regret I have is quitting, which I
did for about a year. It’s easy to give up when you face so much rejection.
Even now, there are moments when I lose faith and when I need to remind myself
to keep on keeping on. Nothing I write will ever be perfect and it will never
reach the expectations I had for it when it was just a germ of an idea with
infinite possibility. It’s easy to see the flaws, but that’s where forgiveness
comes in, being proud of what it is, accepting good enough, and letting go.
How do you market your work?
Social media is huge.
Facebook and Twitter and doing blog interviews like this one. Authors are
reliant now more than ever on the network of readers who interact on the Internet
to spread the word about new authors and books. My other trick is to try to say
yes to every opportunity that comes my way, no matter how uncomfortable. Like
Jim Carrey in that movie Yes Man, I
pretend “no” is not an option. I find that inevitably something good comes out
of showing up. When Hush Little Baby first came out I was terrified of talking in
front of people, but I kept saying yes whenever I was asked, and now I actually
look forward to it.
What are you working on now?
I love the new story I
am writing. It is another mother protecting her children idea, but this one has
a Thelma and Louise twist—two moms on
the run from the law and their husbands with their kids. It’s a mess at the
moment, the characters confused about who they are and the timeline completely
muddled, but the plot is coming together and it’s turning into a wild ride.
Is anything in your book based on real life experiences?
No Ordinary Life is almost entirely
based on real life events. I read every autobiography I could find by former
child actors. I also did an enormous amount of research on celebrity and how it
affects people. So while No Ordinary Life is fiction and is
not any one person’s story, it is every bit based on reality.
Do you have a favorite chapter or scene?
I love the airport
scene. As a mom, it was the scene that affected me the most. I was once in a
Bed, Bath and Beyond when my daughter had a meltdown because I wouldn’t buy her
a toy she desperately wanted. For twenty minutes I stood there while she
screamed and had a tantrum with people walking by with either sympathetic
expressions or judgmental frowns. It was the worst feeling, and to imagine
something like that happening while dozens of photographers documented it,
knowing it was going to be plastered in every tabloid and shown on every celebrity
gossip show in the world made my heart split in two with sympathy for Faye. It
was the pinnacle moment in the story that illustrated how out of control Faye’s
life had become.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Write, write, write.
Get the words on the page. I think so many writers stymie themselves by trying
to make it perfect, when what they need to do is not worry about the
perfection, but instead worry about what it is they want to say. They need to get
the story out and then they can go back and clean it up. And if, when they
finish, it turns out to be lousy, so what? Move on to the next story. I have half
a dozen novels that are unpublished. Each one led me to the next. Each one made
me a better writer. Hush Little Baby wasn’t necessarily my best story, but it was
the one that got published. The more you write, the more chance you have for
success.
What are the downfalls of your writing career? The best
parts?
In the beginning, it
was all about downfalls. There was so much rejection that it was hard to
believe there would be any career at all. And now that I'm published, I feel
like the difficulty is getting a foothold. It’s tough to get noticed in the
enormous sea of writers and books. I’ve also taken some missteps in terms of
figuring out my brand. Aside from the first four novels that did not make it
into the world, I have written three others that either did not fit my genre or
my brand. I don’t regret writing these other stories. I believe that, when
inspiration strikes, you need to hold on tight and see where it leads. That
being said, it’s not the most efficient way to launch a career. The best part
of this journey is the connection I feel when readers get what I wrote, when I
read a review or talk to a reader and think, Yes, exactly. I’m so glad you felt that or understood what I was trying
to say. It’s also the satisfaction of knowing I did it. Writing a novel is
no easy task. It requires hard work and perseverance that hurts the brain and
taxes the will, and finishing is immensely gratifying. I always hope that what
I wrote will find its way into the world for others to enjoy, but even if it doesn’t,
there’s incredible satisfaction in knowing I did it.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers and
fans?
Thank you. Sink or
swim, that’s the fate of a debut author, and if you flounder, you don’t usually
get a second chance. An incredible group of passionate readers embraced, championed,
and made Hush Little Baby a success. So thank you for taking a chance on
an unknown author and for all your support. I love being on this journey and I am
only here because of you.
Thank you, Suzanne, for taking the time to share a bit about your book and writing life!
Thank you, Suzanne, for taking the time to share a bit about your book and writing life!
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