Author Interview with Alanna Martin!!

I want to thank Alanna Martin for joining me for an interview!

Kayla Reads and Reviews: Are there any tips about writing a book you wish someone told you before you wrote HEART ON A LEASH and PAWS AND PREJUDICE?

Alanna Martin: I wrote a lot of books before HEART ON A LEASH, but the one lesson that I need to relearn every time is that all books are different. Even when the books are connected in a series the way these two are, no two books can be written the same way. And every book feels insurmountable at first.

KRAR: Was there anything as a Jewish person that you didn’t know about the culture/religion or relearned as an adult while doing research for your main character/novel?

AM: So much! Most of it doesn’t show up in my books anywhere, but I’m trying to incorporate what I’m learning into my life. I like to say my understanding of my Jewishness exists at about a preschool level, because my mother used to run a Jewish preschool, so most of what I learned came from the lesson plans she put together for the kids. We were not a religious family at all. My father is not Jewish, and my mother was raised with the mindset that we needed to blend in. So we didn’t have a lot of traditions when I was growing up. And now I live far away from my family in an area that doesn’t have a large Jewish population, so I feel my memories slipping away, and I don’t want to lose that part of myself. So I’m constantly trying to learn/relearn what I’ve forgotten.

KRAR: Why was it important to you to have your main character be Jewish?

AM: I’ve been writing books for a long time, and it never really occurred to me to make my characters’ backgrounds explicitly one way or another until the 2016 election. That was a real wake-up call for me that we need more Jewish representation, especially stories of explicitly Jewish characters just living normal lives. I also wanted to show different types of representation. The way my hero in HEART ON A LEASH experiences being Jewish is different than how my hero in PAWS AND PREJUDICE does, and he’s different than his best friend. Finally, it was important to me to show interfaith couples in both my books, because that was the type of household I grew up in.

KRAR: Has the current political climate/antisemitism made you hesitant in any way to publish novels where the main character is Jewish?

AM: A little, but mostly it makes me angry, and being angry makes me more determined to do something. This is one small thing I can do.

KRAR: Are there any specific instances of antisemitism that you have experienced in your life that have translated into your work?

AM: I’ve been very lucky to not have experienced a lot, but having a common and non-stereotypically Jewish last name has led people to say antisemitic things around me that they probably otherwise wouldn’t have. There’s a scene in HEART ON A LEASH where my hero, whose last name is Krane, recalls having experiences like that, and that was directly drawn from my life. Also my characters in both books experience some trepidation around people they don’t know or know well, and that’s because of their Jewishness, which is also true to my life.

KRAR: Do you have a favorite thing about being Jewish?

AM: Is it cliché to say the food? Because we do food really well! But more seriously, I love that sense of community when you discover someone else is Jewish.

KRAR: Do you have a favorite Jewish holiday?

AM: Maybe Hanukkah, because I love lighting the Menorah. It was also such a quiet holiday when I was growing up. For all the other holidays, we got together with my extended step-family, but at Hanukkah, it was just me, my mother, my brother, and my grandfather who would come over most evenings. It feels like the warmest, coziest holiday because of that.

KRAR: Do you have any tips for Jewish writers who want to write about Jewish characters?

AM: Please do! Sometimes I doubt myself for talking up how my characters are Jewish because it’s not very on-the-page, at least not in HEART ON A LEASH (it’s definitely more so in P&P). But a lot of that is taken from my experience, and I can’t be the only one with that background. And representation of all experiences matters. I think just the act of identifying a character one way or another is a great reminder that we exist.

KRAR: Growing up, was there ever a book that made you feel “seen” for your Jewish identity?

AM: There really wasn’t any that I can remember. I read plenty of books that dealt with the Holocaust, like probably every other Jewish kid, but “seen” feels like the wrong word to use there. This is why I’m so excited to see so much Jewish representation of all kinds showing up lately. And not just representation, but joyful representation.

KRAR: Can you tell me a secret about HEART ON A LEASH or PAWS AND PREJUDICE that no one else knows?

AM: I’ve shared a bit of this before, but not the whole story. The town of Helen where my series is set is named after my maternal grandmother, who died when I was very young. She was raised Reform and my grandfather was raised Orthodox, and his family forbade him from marrying her. So they eloped! Naming a town after her, where love wins in the end, just felt like a fitting way to remember her.

KRAR: If your characters had instagram accounts, what would they be posting? Inspirational quotes? Cute baby animal photos? Mood boards? Photos of their friends? Or something else?

AM: From HEART ON A LEASH, Josh would only be posting pictures of his dogs, and Taylor would probably be sharing photos of the food she made and his dogs. In PAWS AND PREJUDICE, Ian would use Instagram to promote his brewery, and I can’t tell you what Kelsey would be using it for because that would give away her secret!

KRAR: Is there anything you want people to know about your book before they start reading?

AM: I just hope people enjoy the story, and that maybe it helps take their mind off of any real-life worries for a while!

I hope you've enjoyed getting to know Alanna as much as I have! Her debut novel, HEART ON A LEASH is coming out on April, 27th from Berkley!

A pack of rescue huskies inspires love and romance in a coastal Alaskan town fractured by feuding families—but can young pups really teach frozen hearts new tricks?

Taylor Lipin has made it her life's mission to leave her hometown and its ridiculous, century-old feud with the Porters behind. But when her sister needs help running the family inn, Taylor agrees to return to Helen, Alaska on a temporary, definitely not longer than two weeks, basis. Or so she thinks, until she's quite literally swept off her feet and into enemy territory by three happy huskies and their drool-worthy owner, Dr. Josh Krane.

Though Josh didn't grow up in Helen with the rest of his Porter cousins, he's heard the stories: Porters rescue huskies. The Lipins are cat people. Keep to your pack. But Taylor is too tempting to give up—plus, his dogs love her.

As Taylor and Josh grow closer, tensions in the town escalate and the need for secrecy starts taking a toll. Soon they'll need to decide whether their newfound love is just a summer fling or if they've found their forever home. (taken from goodreads.com)