This week I am thrilled to be talking with Jacquelyn Mitchard, the New York Times bestselling author of 23 novels for adults and teenagers. Her newest novel is "A Very Inconvenient Scandal," and her first novel, "The Deep End of the Ocean" was the first selection of the Oprah Winfrey book club and has sold more than 3 million copies and been translated into 34 languages.

We covered:

- How losing her husband in her late thirties put her on a quest to publish a novel "to prove that I could have a second act"

- How, when Oprah called, she deleted the messages because she felt it must have been a friend pranking her

- How she would most definitely NOT write even if she didn't get paid

- How the hardest part of the work is coming up with the idea

- How Jacquelyn's dreams help her write her books

- How she writes her book one sentence at a time, from start to finish, like building a skyscraper

- The realities of being chronically sleep deprived

- The difference between copying and stealing

- Living on the Cape, yet hating the beach

- Why she only ever has one cup of coffee

For full show notes, with links to everything Jacquelyn and I discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you'd like to receive these episodes ad-free, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com.

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