Tour: Interview: Sweet Serendipity by Jenna Pizzi

Title: Sweet Serendipity

Author: Jenna Pizzi

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tour Host: Lady Amber's Tours

Synopsis:
Sometimes you need to let go of the past in order to open your heart to love again.

Not every marriage is perfect. Rebecca knew she’d have to make some sacrifices. What she didn’t realize is that it would cost her, her heart. After nearly twenty years of marriage and one heart break after another, will she find the strength to let go and move on? Will she allow herself to love again?
Rebecca lived everyday with the same routine of caring for the kids, the house, and her husband Jack. Until one night she finds Jack with another woman, and Rebecca’s world falls apart. With the encouragement of her two closest friends, Rebecca realizes that she can find the happiness she deserves.
Ethan is an artist who lost his will to paint. When he meets Rebecca, he once again finds the inspirations he had been longing for. He knows that she has built walls around her, but he’s determined to break them down brick by brick to prove to her that she is worthy of being loved.
This is a heartwarming story of friendship, love, and overcoming tragedy to find that there is always a new beginning.

Available on Amazon.com only.

Today Jenna joins us for an interview. 

*turning towards Jenna*

 Thanks for joining us today Jenna. Let's get started.

*picking up the stack of reader submitted questions*

Do spouses reap the rewards of your writing? 

 He stays away from the writing aspect of our relationship. He knows I use way too much of us in my stories...lol!

*laughs*
How long does it normally take you to write a book? 

A couple weeks to months. If the story really grabs me.....I don’t stop, only to eat and sleep. I think I have enough stories to last quite a few years..!

Do you write more than 1 storyline at a time? 

 Yes! I write when inspiration strikes. I have 6 different stories I am working on right now. Some days I want a little romance, some days I am cranky and need something moody, some days I just want a fun fantasy. 

Wow! How do you manage to fit writing into your daily life?

  Lately it seems to be a bit harder to find time. My kids are getting older and more demanding and I am exhausted by the end of the day. I just write when all is squared away for the day.

Do you listen to music while you write? 

I absolutely need music. If not, all I hear is fighting children. I need the music to awaken the muse.

Will you share with us what you listened to? 

For romance....Taylor Swift’s Fearless album helps a lot. For my moody side, I adore Korn, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, NIN. I depend a lot on Pandora One for a little mix.

That's the second or third time I've herd about Pandora one. I'll have to check that out when we are done here.
*picks up the stack of my questions*

Can you tell us a little about the book you are promoting? 

Sweet Serendipity is a story of a woman who after almost twenty years of marriage, must start over again. She has two lifelong friends who are family to her, and all of them must overcome life’s obstacles. Rebecca, the main character, doesn’t feel as though she is worthy enough to find a new happiness. She meets Ethan and slowly her heart begins to heal from the past. Ethan is an artist, who also has had to deal with some pain in the past. When he meets Rebecca, she stirs a part of his heart that he felt was long ago broken. He helps her heal, and waits patiently for her to find her way to him. 

Where did you get your ideas for it?

 I sat down one day and said.....at my age, if I had to start over....what would it be like...and poof....Sweet Serendipity was born. 

Was it hard to write or did it flow?

It flowed like water. I have so much of my own life and my closest friends in here that it literally holds my heart.

Did you always want to be a writer? 

 I have always wanted to write, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I actually felt ready to sit down and put words to paper/screen

Do you ever let family members read your books?

 No one has...that I know of. I have no problems with them reading it. I think they are afraid to find a character molded after them.

Can you tell us what other books you have that you are working on or will be releasing soon? 

I have Chance Encounters coming this fall. It’s a story about money doesn’t always buy you happiness. Sometimes you find it in the most unlikely of places.

Is there a certain teacher you would credit with igniting your love of literature?

*Not a teacher. My mother was a huge book lover. She had shelves full at any given time. She’d read a book a day and then write the title in a little notebook with the date she completed it...kind of like goodreads....long before they existed. I found her notebooks a few years ago. They stemmed back from before I was born. It was amazing. She also ran a bookstore when I was small. So I spent many summers surrounded by books.

That's really cool. What book did you encounter as a child that fed your imagination and shaped the person you were becoming? 

 I wish I could remember the name of the series. I just remember that I was about 9/10 and it was about werewolves. I was so wrapped up in this series that another friend and I would reenact the book in the woods behind my house. Ever since then I wanted books that made me want to live them.

What made you choose to write romances? 

I am a hopeless romantic. I believe that there is always a happy ending....it’s just everything else that gets in the way of it.

What is your favorite part of being a writer/author?

Seeing my thoughts and ideas in print in front of me.

Plotter or Pantser?  

I am a pantser. I cannot and will not plan out a book. It can start out one way and as I get going...turns into something completely different

 Do you plot, outline, or a mix of both? 

I start with an idea of what I want and take it from there.

What advice would you give new or aspiring authors? 

Do it. Just sit and write it out. The rest will fall into place. Do not let anyone tell you that it is a pipe dream. Dreams can come true, but only if you take that first step.

Author Bio:

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Jenna settled into America's hometown where she proudly calls home with her family. She is an avid book reader and collector with an entire room dedicated to her passion. At the age of twelve years old Jenna began writing, determined to be just like Stephen King or Dean Koontz.
For her it all starts with the flick of an image. From there a story is born. Being an eternal romantic, Jenna is a true believer in happy endings. It's the rest of the story that anything is possible. Writing is her passion. It is something that helps her unwind at the end of the day. She likes to tell stories that will pull at your heartstrings, or simply whisk you away even for just a little while. So grab your favorite blanket, and a hot cup of coffee and settle in for the ride.

Links:

Amazon Author Link: 

Facebook: 

Website: Jennapizzi.com

Twitter: @jaderayne

Excerpt:

Thank you for today, Becky. It means a lot that you came with us.”

“I didn’t have much choice, Jack. Adam damn near had a nervous breakdown. I’d appreciate it if you’d have a talk with him and tell him that even if we’re not together, we still love him.”

“Becky, you’ve got to know that it’s his enthusiasm that keeps me going. If he still believes that we can work it out, then I believe that we can work it out. Do you understand? As long as he has hope, then so don’t I,” Jack told her.

She turned sideways and looked into his grey eyes. “Jack, we had our chance and it didn’t work. You chose comfort in someone else’s arms. I know that after all this time, it’s hard to imagine a life without us together, but I think you need to realize that is exactly where we are headed. I loved you, Jack. Somewhere along the way the love stopped. Somewhere I stopped being the person you came to for talking, and sharing, and  laughing. We were broken before Brian died. His senseless death was just the final straw. I lost myself somewhere along the way. I stopped caring enough about myself to realize

how damaged we really were. I surrounded myself with the kids and you with your job. It hasn’t been a marriage in a very long time. The kids will be grown soon, and what will we have left?”

 Jack reached for her hand. “We’d have a new beginning. We’d have a chance to rediscover why we fell in love in the first place. We could travel; I could build that koi pond I always promised. We could have another baby.”

Rebecca laughed.

“I seriously hope you are joking. How is it that you go from where we are now to having a baby?”

“I have made many mistakes, but those kids are the only thing that I have done right. I’d be a better father, a better husband. You can’t tell me that you don’t look at Layla Grace and wish you had another one?”

“Everyone loves babies. It doesn’t mean that you and I having another one will fix us. I don’t know if I could ever trust you again.”

“How do you think I feel? Knowing your best friend works a few doors down from the man you’ve been having a fling with.”

“It’s more than a fling, Jack. He’s talking future plans.”

Jack downed his glass of wine and stood up.

“Then where is he?”

“He left town.”

“Ha. Why? He couldn’t handle the heat of competition?”

Rebecca stood up.

“That’s just the thing, Jack. To you, it’s a competition. I think the only reason you are even trying to do this is because you know someone else has feelings for me. If I wasn’t seeing someone, you’d still be running around with someone like Amber.”

He stood only inches from her, pulled up his sleeve, and pointed to his shoulder. What does each and every tattoo on my body represent? I have how we met and our first date. I have our wedding and the birth of the kids. Each tattoo flows into the next. It wouldn’t make much sense to someone else, but with you, you know each and every picture. You know what each one represents. It is our story; the story of us. I still have plenty of room to keep going. I don’t want our story to stop. I want to tell our grandkids our stories someday.”  

Rebecca started to cry. His words were cutting deep. He was telling her all the things that she wished he would have told her when it mattered the most. Jack got down on one knee. He held her hand in his and looked deep into her chocolate eyes.

“I have loved you for almost two decades, Becky. We were bound to hit a few snags along the way, but we can only learn to grow from our mistakes. I realize that you are the only one for me. I will never love anyone the way I love you. You are

my past, present, and future. You are my heart and my soul. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Marry me, again.” A tear fell from the corner of his eye. She felt as though she were going to pass out. She never imagined that he’d be sitting here now,

doing this.

Her tears were not tears of happiness, but tears of the past, tears of the years she had felt neglected and alone. They were tears for the years she had woken with the crying babies while he couldn’t be bothered. She cried for the years she felt like a single parent

because his work always took top priority to him. She cried for all the empty holidays when it felt as though he never wanted to be there. She fell to her seat and held her head in her hands.