Q&A: Amy Pine, Author of ‘The Bloom Girls’

Gilmore Girls meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding in this humorous, multi-generational story about a mother and daughter who discover that life happens when you least expect it.

We chat with author Amy Pine about her latest novel The Bloom Girls, along with book recommendations, writing, and more!

Hi, Amy! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hi everyone! I’m a former English teacher, current school librarian, Kdrama-loving and Marvel-fangirling mom of two. Oh…I also write lots of books with humor and kissing.

When did you first discover your love for writing?

I really didn’t realize I wanted to write with serious intent until about ten years ago. I worked at a school that put on (and still puts on) this fantastic yearly event called Writers Week, where every class period of every day for a week we had professional writers, poets, and musicians as well as student and faculty writers share their original work in packed auditorium of 500+. The more I saw my students and colleagues create and share, the more I was inspired by them and realized I wanted to do what they were doing. So I wrote my first book—and did not get it published. But then I wrote a second one, and here I am, almost twenty books later, and I’m so grateful I get to keep writing more!

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

• First book I remember reading: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.
• Book that made me want to write romance: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• Book I can’t stop thinking about: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Your latest novel, The Bloom Girls, is out August 3^rd 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Love, laughs, surprises, pregnancy, pizza…Is that last one a red herring? You’ll have to read to find out.

What can readers expect?

THE BLOOM GIRLS is a mother/daughter story between Gabi—a recent college grad who comes home from a summer in Europe with a surprise fiancé—and Alissa—an almost forty empty nester who just found out she’s pregnant with her ex’s (and Gabi’s father’s) baby after they spend one nostalgic night together after Gabi’s graduation. From there, romance, hilarity, and maybe a little bit of heartbreak ensue.

Where did the inspiration for The Bloom Girls come from?

You might have heard of a TV series with a similar title called Gilmore Girls. I’m a huge GG fan, and while I was always #teamluke and am happy that’s who Lorelai ended up with, I always wondered what it would have been like if she and Christopher were just too young and naïve to make things work when they were teen parents but maybe got the timing a little bit better as adults. And from there I came up with Alissa, Matthew, and Gabi but threw a couple of extra wrenches into Alissa and Matthew’s second chance by having them get unexpectedly pregnant—again, 20+ years after having Gabi—and having Gabi come home from abroad with a fiancé. I also wanted to write a story with all Jewish characters that wasn’t about being Jewish but simply about the characters living their lives and navigating the challenges they face. Bloom is a family name, so I’m thrilled at the title that parallels one of my favorite television series and that it’s a title that honors my family and my Jewish roots.

Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?

One challenge was remembering that while there are romantic elements in the book, the book is women’s fiction rather than romance—which meant toning down the sex scenes. Haha! It might not sound like a huge challenge, but trust me…It was.

Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

My favorite scene to write was early on, where Alissa realizes she’s not going through early menopause and instead may actually be pregnant. She heads to the grocery store in the middle of the night and buys every brand of pregnancy test—and the only thing that tames her morning sickness, white chocolage Reese’s. It was frantic and funny and also relatable. While I have never been caught off guard by a pregnancy (I do have two kiddos), I think any of us who have been through it can relate to both the terror and excitement as well as the sheer need to feed whatever craving we are having, even if it means tearing into a Reese’s while still in the checkout line!

What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?

Best writing advice: Don’t try and write to the market since it’s constantly in flux. Write the book of your heart because that will show through in the words.

Worst writing advice: Use Scrivener. LOL. I know so many people who love this word-processing program, but I am such a linear writer/thinker that trying to us the nonlinear facets of the program basically broke my brain.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently working on the follow-up to THE BLOOM GIRLS. While THE BLOOM GIRLS is a stand alone novel, I do end it on a tiny bit of a cliffhanger for a secondary character. So for all who are wondering about that last line, Becca and Sadie’s book is next!

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

I just finished a really unique women’s fiction book with time travel called OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore about a woman named Oona who—starting on her 19^th birthday—jumps forward and backward in time, spending each consecutive year of her life out of order. And currently I’m reading THE LAST SUMMER AT THE GOLDEN HOTEL, a women’s fiction novel about two Jewish families who own an outdated Catskills resort and—as the different generations of each family grapple with love, loss and unburied secrets—are deciding whether or not to sell or try to revive the place. It’s described as DIRTY DANCING meets THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, and that is a truly fitting description!

Will you be picking up The Bloom Girls? Tell us in the comments below!