Romantically Challenged

Keeping up with the theme this week will be about love (among other things). So what better way than to continue with another author I recently met with a delicious read on her hands titled Romantically Challenged (along with some other fun titles).

Think your love life is rotten? Meet Julie Burns, an L.A. entertainment lawyer who after being dumped and disgraced by her ex-boyfriend is now re-entering dating hell. All because she wants to find that one elusive commodity: a decent guy…who steals her heart, of course.

When Julie becomes convinced that finding The One is “just a numbers game,” she sets out to increase her numbers by any means necessary. From chance meetings and blind dates to dating services and the wonderful world of the Internet, Julie Burns will try anything to meet her man. And in the process, she discovers a secret or two about the single life: Sometimes love sneaks up on you when you least expect it—and even the worst first impressions can lead to surprising results…

Thanks for chatting with us Beth Orsoff!

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I bought my first “How to Write a Novel” book a month after I took the California Bar Exam. I was 26 years old. But I think I knew I wanted to be a writer long before then. I just didn’t have the self-confidence to try.

2. How did you choose which genre? Or did the genre choose you?

I think the genre chose me. I was taking a creative writing class at UCLA Extension and our final assignment was to write a story about a true experience. I wrote about a date I had gone on with a pilot who couldn’t land the small plane he had taken me out in because the airport was blanketed in fog and he wasn’t yet instrument-rated. When I read the story out loud it received a ton of laughter and I realized I’d found my writer’s “voice.” A fictionalized version of that story became a chapter in my first novel, “Romantically Challenged.”

3. How did you find the one (agent/publisher)?

I’m still not sure I’ve found The One in the publishing world. I found my first agent (and my second, and my third) through the torturous query process. My first agent submitted “Romantically Challenged” to a handful of publishers and Penguin/NAL bought it six weeks later. But that was after having written seven drafts of the book and being rejected by over fifty agents.

4. Do you come up with the fun & funky titles?

Yes. “Romantically Challenged” was originally titled “Confessions of a Serial Dater” but another book was coming out with that title so my publisher insisted I change it. I submitted a list of potential alternate titles and “Romantically Challenged” was the one my editor liked best. Now I can’t imagine the book with any other title.

I came up with “Honeymoon for One” early on in the writing of that book.

The original title for “How I Learned to Love the Walrus” was “The Summer of Green, Or How I Learned to Love the Walrus,” but when it came time for cover art I realized it was too long. Hence the shortened version.

Fun & Random Questions:

Favorite beverage: Diet Coke
What's your addiction: It’s a toss-up. I’m addicted to both pizza and ice cream, and I rarely eat one without feeling the need to consume the other.
Favorite book: There’s no way I could possibly choose one. Even if I limited it to just books in my genre, I couldn’t choose one. But two of my favorite chick lit books are Emily Griffin’s “Something Borrowed” and “Something Blue.”
Bear or Lion: Lion
Writing by the beach or mountains: Beach
Favorite time to write: Late afternoons because I’m a horrible procrastinator and that’s usually around the time I panic and realize the day is almost over and I’ve accomplished nothing so I kick into gear.

A girl after my own heart! Love chick lit and is addicted to pizza and ice cream?! What's not to love!!!

To find out more about Beth you can find her at her website, find her books on Amazon and B&N along with touching base with her on facebook! You won't regret meeting her!