We chat with author Libby Gill about Malibu Summer, which is an opposites-attract romance set on a sunny Malibu hillside!
Hey Libby! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Sure! I spent my first career in Hollywood heading television PR at Sony, Universal and Turner Broadcasting. After that, I started my own business as an executive coach, working with women leaders across the country. After publishing six nonfiction books, and raising two sons, I decided to have some fun writing fiction. MALIBU SUMMER is the happy result.
When did you discover your love of books and writing?
Books: In a seventh grade English class reading Jane Eyre.
Writing: In the same seventh grade English class when the teacher chose to read my short story—a creepy sci-fi called The Planaria Principle about a brain-eating dictator—aloud to the class. It was so exciting to hear my own words echoed back at me. My best friend Cathy hated it, but everyone else loved my story. I’ve had the bug ever since!
Why did you choose Malibu as your setting for your new book?
MALIBU SUMMER is set against the backdrop of the television industry, so where better to place my handsome leading man than Malibu? It is the beach dream town, with not only the Hollywood A-listers and their fancy beachfront estates, but the rugged beauty of the ocean and mountain foothills. And like any natural landscape there are environmental threats that lurk unseen until they unleash their fury. But no spoilers about that!
In five words or less, describe MALIBU SUMMER.
Love, grief and television.
What can readers expect?
Ivy Bauer is a young soil scientist who has invented a game-changing irrigation solution. When her husband dies unexpectedly in a bicycle accident, hoping to heal in the sun and salt air, she takes a job as gardener on the Malibu estate of down-on-his-luck television producer Conrad Reed. When Ivy and Conrad meet, sparks fly, though not necessarily the good kind.
Was there any part of the research you particularly enjoyed?
I lived the television part of the book, so that didn’t require too much research. But I loved learning about soil science and gardening. Coincidentally, my husband and I moved from LA to Southern Oregon while I was writing MALIBU SUMMER. I immediately took a horticulture class at the local college and planted a garden in my backyard. I even grew a green bean tower like the one Ivy builds for Hudson as a playhouse, only minus the front door.
What’s next for you?
I have a really fun book in the works about the worst daytime talk show on television. It’s set in the early ’90s at the height of talk show mania—remember all that chair throwing? Having worked on a dozen different talk shows and survived to tell the tale, I definitely have some stories to share!
