Let’s give a warm welcome to Abby Fabiaschi! Today is the launch of her debut, I LIKED MY LIFE and we’re excited to be able to share this amazing day with her.
First, a little about I LIKED MY LIFE according to Goodreads: In the tradition of Jodi Picoult and Where’d You Go, Bernadette? comes a story from debut author Abby Fabiaschi that is “as absorbing as it is illuminating, and as witty as it is heartbreaking.”
Maddy is a devoted stay-at-home wife and mother, host of excellent parties, giver of thoughtful gifts, and bestower of a searingly perceptive piece of advice or two. She is the cornerstone of her family, a true matriarch…until she commits suicide, leaving her husband Brady and teenage daughter Eve heartbroken and reeling, wondering what happened. How could the exuberant, exacting woman they loved disappear so abruptly, seemingly without reason, from their lives? How they can possibly continue without her? As they sift through details of her last days, trying to understand the woman they thought they knew, Brady and Eve are forced to come to terms with unsettling truths.
Maddy, however, isn’t ready to leave her family forever. Watching from beyond, she tries to find the perfect replacement for herself. Along comes Rory: pretty, caring, and spontaneous, with just the right bit of edge…but who also harbors a tragedy of her own. Will the mystery of Maddy ever come to rest? And can her family make peace with their history and begin to heal?
Abby stopped by to take our Tall Poppy Q&A, where she talks about what’s making her happy these days, where the idea for the book came from, and the perks of this writing life …
Where did the idea for your debut, I LIKED MY LIFE, come from?
What’s your favorite time to write and do you have any writing quirks, because, you know, inquiring minds?
What’s one thing that’s making you happy right now?
What is the best perk of this writing gig?
I once heard the boss of my boss say that the worst part of being rich is hanging around with other rich people. In contrast, the coolest part of being a writer is hanging around with other writers. This year I had the chance to get to know Lisa See, Karen White, Beatriz Williams, Diane Chamberlain … my heart races just typing their names. As an avid reader, I did not play it cool at all.
What have you learned about yourself during the writing and publishing process?
My second novel, tentatively titled WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LUCY BISCARO?, should be out with St. Martin’s Press in the winter of 2018. It explores the polarizing hold that memories have on us, and how every decision we make is layered with our past experiences.
ABBY FABIASCHI is a human rights advocate on the board for Her Future Coalition, an international nonprofit organization with a unique prosperity model that uplifts victims from human trafficking and extreme abuse. In 2012, Abby resigned from her executive post in high tech to pursue a career in writing. I Liked My Life is her first novel. She and her family divide their time between West Hartford, CT and Park City, UT.
Can’t wait to read this one. Congratulations, Abby!