The Summer Season picks up where its predecessors left off, chronicling the exploits of Hannah, a female professional trying desperately to make sense of the L.A. single life. Through broken hearts, broken dreams, and nearly-broken bed frames (yes—there is a lot of sex), Hannah grapples with the modern late-twenty-something's conundrum: Does the fairytale life exist, and is it worth having?
Sex, Life, and Hannah is acclaimed by audiences as jaw-dropping, frank, and relatable. Writer's Digest hails it as "an honest, sensitive, and intelligent investigation of the human heart… [with] wit, charm, pathos, and passion."
Let's hear more about it from the author herself: Dorota Skrzypek
A: Growing up, my guilty pleasures were romance novels, and daytime and night time soap operas, but not until Sex and The City did I feel like I should give writing a shot. The style of writing on that TV show made me feel like there was an audience for the topics I wanted to discuss and the types of stories I wanted to unravel. I didn't just want to write about romance and idealistic sex, I wanted to expose some of the awkward, real-world stuff too, like performance issues, and STDs, and questions regarding your sexuality.
Q: The book is written in the first person point of view. Would you say you identify with the titular character, Hannah? In what ways are you similar to (or different from) her?
A: I identify with Hannah most in that I was on the same quest she's on when I was in my late twenties: Find The One. I was done with the parties and the dating and really wanted to settle down and start a new phase of my life. Maybe my biological clock was ticking, maybe my liver was screaming "give me a break!", or maybe I was just convinced that finding The One was going to somehow complete me, but it definitely became a quest, ridden with a lot of anticipation and anxiety.
Q: Where did you come up with your hilarious cast of secondary characters? Which one is your favorite?
A: The secondary characters are a patchwork of a lot of interesting people I've had the pleasure of knowing, or still know, in my life. For example, my best friend is a guy, and someone I've known since high school, who is also very sexually ambiguous. His strength, independence, knowledge, and acceptance are like a guiding light, and he is a true confidant. We've always been there for each other, through the most intense growing pains, just like Hannah and Jack.
Q: What is your favorite scene? Why?
A: I drag my hands up his torso, feeling his ribs—our lips locked the whole time. I finally draw away and start unbuttoning his shirt. I stop at the stubbly patch on his chest, the hair having just started to grow back after being shaved in preparation for his tattoo.
"What's your favorite movie?" I trace the heart and my initials in it with a finger.
"What?" he snickers.
"Your favorite movie. Of all time. Tell me right now." I let my heels slide off and try to figure out how to slip out of my pants.
"The Usual Suspects," he replies.
I want to believe in destiny—that everything happens for a reason and that we each have some predetermined path we're supposed to tread; that as much choice as we think we have in where we live, who we're with, and what job we have, there's really a greater power that controls our fate and we can't do anything to change it. I want to believe that all the decisions I've made with men so far all happened for one reason: to lead me to this. And that as rushed and wrong as this feels in some ways, that Christian is The One.
This scene out of Chapter 23 is definitely one of my favorites because I've toiled with the notion of destiny often in my life. If you believe in destiny, it is almost like a calming effect, because you have this sense that things will unfold as they are supposed to; so maybe you're less angry about something not working out exactly how you thought it would. But maybe believing in destiny is a cop-out, and you should have just worked harder or tried something different. I'm still not sure…
Q: What's up next for you?
A: I am really looking forward to working on the last book in the Sex, Life, & Hannah series. This is the first time the palette has felt so bare, the journal entries have felt so used, and the story options have felt so tremendous. I am interested to see what my imagination will come up with for the finale.
Thanks, Dorota!
Join the Treasure Hunt!
Collect the quotes from all the participating blogs. The quote from TRR is below. To check out the other blogs, here's the link: http://www.sexlifeandhannah.com/summer-season-virtual-book-tour/
"I love him. And that's what love is about, right? For better or worse, through thick and thin, in sickness and health. You don't just ditch someone because they've changed."
Join the Treasure Hunt!
Collect the quotes from all the participating blogs. The quote from TRR is below. To check out the other blogs, here's the link: http://www.sexlifeandhannah.com/summer-season-virtual-book-tour/
"I love him. And that's what love is about, right? For better or worse, through thick and thin, in sickness and health. You don't just ditch someone because they've changed."
3 comments:
Very fun interview. Did you have as much fun reading this as I did??
Thanks for the interview and for being part of my book tour! Can't wait to start writing the Autumn Season:)
Fantastic interview! People can simply improve their sex life through these tips!
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