Lit Chat Interview with Jessica Hatch

Completely Booked - Official Podcast of the Jacksonville Public Library

Author Jessica Hatch is a professional freelance editor and novelist with more than a decade of publishing experience. She worked her way through the slush pile at New York-based literary agencies like Writers House, New Leaf Literary & Media, and Fox Literary Management, and learned what attracts readers to a book at St. Martin’s Press. Jessica’s editorial clients have gone on to receive partial and full manuscript requests from agents, to earn Kirkus starred reviews and placement on Best Book of the Year lists, and to win national awards. As a writer, Jessica has won pitch wars; attended juried workshops in Aspen, London, and Rome; and has been published in The Millions, Writer’s Digest, Fast Company, Burrow Press, and Babes Who Hustle, among others. Her debut novel, My Big Fake Wedding, debuted at #1 on Amazon's Humorous American Literature charts.

Interviewer Michelle Lizet Flores is a graduate of FSU and NYU creative writing programs. She currently works as a teacher and co-hosts the What's in a Verse Poetry Open Mic in Jacksonville, FL. She has previously been published in magazines and journals such as The Miami Rail, Chircú Journal, and Travel Latina. A finalist for the Juan Felipe Herrera Award for Poetry, she is the author of the chapbooks Cuentos from the Swamp and Memoria, as well as the picture book, Carlito the Bat Learns to Trick or Treat. Her short fiction can be found in the anthology, Places We Build in the Universe through Flowersong Press. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Invasive Species, is forthcoming through Finishing Line Press. Find out more at michellelizetflores.com.

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Check out Jessica’s contemporary romantic comedies in our catalog!

JESSICA RECOMMENDS

Places in Jacksonville mentioned in my novel: The Volstead (though under a different name), the Main Street Bridge, James Weldon Johnson Park, The Jessie, and the Main branch of the library!

Film/TV inspirations: The Big Chill, anything and everything John Hughes in the '80s, New Girl, Parks & Recreation

Book inspirations: Beth O'Leary's The Switch

Music inspirations: Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

Important organizations doing work related to a subplot in my novel: Ability Housing Jax, the JAX Rental Housing Project at UNF, HabiJax.

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