Woo! Today, I’m excited to share an author interview with you. I e-mailed Kristin Harmel a few weeks ago and she promptly got back to me and agreed to do an interview. I was super excited because Harmel is one of my favorite authors. You can check out my reviews for her books here. Enjoy the interview…

Two of your books take place in Europe. What made you decide to base your stories in different countries?

The most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done was to take three months off and move to Paris for the summer in 2002. I didn’t speak much French (my college minor was Spanish), and I’d only been there once, for less than 48 hours, on a family vacation a year earlier. But it was, without a doubt, the best move of my life. Immersing myself in a totally unfamiliar place and a completely foreign culture changed me fundamentally; I came back from Paris as a better, stronger person, knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life, which was writing books. I think there’s something very transformative about spending some significant time in a foreign country, and I wanted to give my characters that experience too.

Are any of your books based on things that have happened to you in real life?

Not really. HOW TO SLEEP WITH A MOVIE STAR, which is the tale of a journalist who the world thinks is having a secret fling with a movie star, is based on the thought of “what if” – what if something like this happened in my life? I write for a magazine, and I interview celebrities, but I’ve certainly never had a secret fling with anyone I’ve interviewed!! THE ART OF FRENCH KISSING stems from my experience living in Paris, but the plot doesn’t mirror my life at all (although the main character, Emma, does reside in my old apartment!), and ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS incorporates a few elements from my real life – for example, I knew a restaurant manager in Italy very similar to Marco – but again, it’s not based on anything that really happened to me. I think there’s a piece of me in all six of my novels, and there are events in each book that are inspired by things that have really happened to me, but I would say that I use real-life experiences only as sources of inspiration, as opposed to cutting them from my life and pasting them in my books. 🙂

Your story ideas are so unique and exciting. For example, I loved the whole premise of HOW TO SLEEP WITH A MOVIE STAR. Where do you find your story ideas?

Aw, thanks! I’m often inspired by places I’ve been, people I’ve talked to, things I’ve found interesting, or things people have said to me. I always keep my eyes peeled for ideas. Believe me; the ideas aren’t the problem! I have way more ideas than I have time to write!

When you come up with a story idea, do you outline your story or just jump right in to the writing process?

I always, always, always outline. It’s one of the biggest things I emphasize when people ask me how to write a novel. I think of an outline as a roadmap, a safety blanket and an opportunity to test out plot twists before I’ve wasted hundreds of pages writing the wrong thing! I’d never write a book without one!

If you could pick one of your books to be made into a movie, which would it be?

ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS. In fact, the film rights have just been optioned, and I’m working with a wonderful producer who’s trying to put something together. Fingers crossed; I’m hopeful you’ll be seeing it in theaters one day soon! And wouldn’t Rome be a beautiful place to film?

What advice do you have for those who want to pursue writing?

The two most important things aspiring must do are: read and write. Really, it’s as simple as that. Read as much as you can in the genre you hope to write in. And commit to writing every day, or at the very least, every other day. You have to make time for it, to look at it as almost a part-time job. If you don’t take yourself seriously, no one else will. So create a plan; write an outline for your book, and commit to tackling a certain amount each day – maybe 500 or 1,000 words. It feels like a tough uphill climb at the beginning, but after a while, you’ll be very surprised at how quickly the words come! If you’re writing women’s fiction, you’ll want to shoot for at least 80,000 words, so if you can write just 1,000 words – or four double-spaced pages – each day, you’ll finish the novel in less than three months. That sounds pretty manageable, doesn’t it?

In addition to your novel writing, you also do some freelance writing. Can you tell us more about your column SINGLE GIRL AND THE CITY? What do you like about writing these columns?

Sure. SINGLE GIRL AND THE CITY was actually very short-lived; I wanted to write a Sex and the City-like relationship column, and a company hired me to do that – and then promptly changed their minds within a week. I could have continued doing the column on my own, and maybe some day I will, but I already have soooo many projects on my plate right now that it’s not worth it for me to pursue currently. My main freelance gig right now is writing for PEOPLE magazine, which is something I’ve been doing for a decade now, and to be honest, I have a lot more fun writing about other people than I do writing about my own life!

Tell us a little bit about your latest book AFTER.

AFTER is the story of a 16-year-old girl named Lacey, whose father has died nearly a year before the book opens. She and her two brothers, Logan and Tanner, are all coping with the death in very different ways, and as the anniversary approaches, Lacey finds she needs to tackle her feelings before it’s too late. But it takes a cute new boy at school, and another student who needs her help, to convince her to take a good look inside herself and to stop blaming herself for her father’s death.

Thank you so much for your time, Kristin!

For more on Kristin, check out her website.