Eileen Cook: Unpredictable

Title: Unpredictable (Amazon | B&N)
Author: Eileen Cook (http://www.eileencook.com/)
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (USA)
ISBN: 978-0425213964

First off, congratulations on the big novel sale! Give us the elevator pitch. What’s your book about?

UNPREDICTABLE is a romantic comedy that tells the story of Sophie Kintock who wants her ex boyfriend back. She poses as a fake psychic to give his new girlfriend a face reading designed to break them up.

Faking psychic powers turns out to be easy and fun, especially after a few lessons from Nick, the cute (if a bit nerdy) skeptic, who knows all the tricks of the trade. But her readings do a lot more than she could have predicted, and soon Sophie needs to figure out whether the answers lie in the stars-or in herself.

New Line Cinema has optioned the rights to make it a film.  I’m hoping the writer’s strike ends soon so I can start planning my Oscar speech.

2. Most new novelists have an interesting story to tell about their journey to publication. What’s yours? Did you use an agent? Make sure to tell us about the day you found out you’d sold a book.

When I was writing UNPREDICTABLE I saw an interview with the agent Rachel Vater in Writer’s Digest Magazine.  I remember thinking that she was a perfect business partner for me. I tore the article out and stuck it on my bulletin board.  When I would get stuck writing I would think how I had to finish because Rachel was waiting for it-even though she didn’t know it.  You could call it stalking, but I prefer to think of it as “focused.”  When I finished the book she was the first agent I queried and was thrilled when she signed me a few months later.

Once the book was out to publishers I used to spend time imagining exactly what it would be like when I got “the call.”  I had imagined all kinds of scenarios, none of which happened.  When Rachel called I had been expecting another call from my work.  It took me a few seconds to understand this was it.  I thought I would jump up and down, but instead I just sat there totally shocked.

3. Do you have another book in the pipeline? What are you working on now?

I’ve recently finished a young adult novel that will be coming out in 2009 with Simon Pulse.  The tentative title is WWAD (What Would Alice Do?) it is an updated version of the play The Crucible set in a religious high school.  I had a lot of fun writing it and I’m looking forward to seeing this one come to print as well.

4. What’s your writing process like? Morning writer, night writer, or something in between?

I am an unorganized writer who wants to be organized.  I have a huge office supplies addiction, I can’t even go near an Office Depot.   I love the idea of having an outline with all the important plot points in a binder with color coded tabs. Sadly this never works for me.  I tend to write best by just heading into the story and seeing where it goes.  Because I am still juggling my day job with writing, I find it easier to have weekly goals versus a daily plan (which never goes according to plan.)  Each week I set out what I want to accomplish and then how it gets done, two full days or a bit each day flexes from week to week. 

5. There seems to be an unusually high percentage of writers who own cats. Here at the The First Book, we’re doing a study to find out if there’s a direct relationship between writing success and cat ownership. Do you own a cat? If so, tell us about him or her. If not, tell us what you have against cats.

Alas, I am cat free, however I do have two dogs a West highland terrier named Bailey and a Scottish terrier named Kahlua. Although they aren’t cats- they share many of the same traits being fuzzy, inclined to sleep in sunny patches, and very good at distracting me from what I should be doing.  I think I should get at least partial points in this area.