Featured Interview With Irene Woodbury
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Pittsburgh. We lived on a cozy, tree-lined street with lots of other families and children. The perfect place for a budding writer. As an adult, I have lived in several cities, from Honolulu to Chicago to Los Angeles. Denver has been home since 1994. It’s a beautiful, dynamic city with many wonderful people. No pets at this time, but my husband and I both want to get a dog someday.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
At age four or five, I was pulling encyclopedias off the bookshelves in the living room. I would sit on the floor and open them and leaf through the pages. My mother taught me to read at age five. I started writing poetry at nine or ten. That went on for quite a long time. During high school, I kept a journal for a couple of years. It was on 8″ x 11″ paper and swelled to 750 pages! There must have been quite a lot going on. I’ve always loved books and going to the library.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love classics by Henry James and Edith Wharton. Their novels are a fascinating glimpse into the era they lived in. They both used language in an original, exquisite way. I also love contemporary authors like Elizabeth Jane Howard and Nora Ephron. And Maya Angelou of course. In general, I love fiction, biographies, and autobiographies.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Pop-Out Girl is a dramatic novel chronicling the life of a 23-year-old showgirl in Las Vegas who pops out of cakes at special events for a living. She’s a beautiful, sweet girl, but she had a difficult childhood that has left her with some insecurities. She meets a cute, successful systems engineer from San Jose and they begin an exciting long-distance love affair. Everything is bliss until her ex-boyfriend, Zane, comes back from prison and tries to win Jen back. When she tells his she’s with someone else, he goes off the deep end. He eventually starts stalking and terrorizing her and her boyfriend. It escalates into violence. Zane kidnaps Jen at gunpoint and forces her to marry him in Reno. A few months later, there’s a horrific drive-by shooting and the wrong person gets shot. Jen’s life and the lives of many others are dramatically altered by the shooting. Pop-Out Girl is a riveting look at love, jealousy, and the vulnerabilities and insecurities that drive people to make huge mistakes that have lifelong consequence.
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