Reyna Marder Gentin

Author Interview - Reyna Marder Gentin

Author of Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away

Jessica Harmon has spent her life in an emotional tug-of-war—yearning for her mother’s attention while bracing for the rejection that always followed.

At thirty, Jessica’s love life is a wreck, her confidence is shot, and she’s adrift in New York City, stuck editing other people’s novels at a vanity press while too paralyzed to write her own. She blames her failure to launch on the woman who raised her: Cynthia Harmon, a legendary poet and scholar, who dazzles her students and readers alike…but leaves her only child cold.

When Cynthia wins yet another major literary award and asks her daughter to assist her on the tour, Jessica decides to give their relationship one last chance. When a crisis upends Cynthia’s triumphant moment, the power dynamic begins to shift between the two women, and cracks start to show in the story Jessica has always been told—about her mother, her family, and herself.

Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away is a sharp, emotionally layered novel about mothers and daughters, long-held secrets, and understanding where we come from so we can choose who we become.

Author Interview - Reyna Marder Gentin

Author I draw inspiration from:

I love the books by Elizabeth Strout; the focus on character, the clarity of the language. For the same reasons I love the books by Kent Haruf. I want to get to know the characters without the author telling me what to think and feel. It's the human condition and the interpersonal relationships the characters find themselves in that interests me.

Author Interview - Reyna Marder Gentin | Author I Draw Inspiration From

Favorite place to read a book:

On my couch with a soft blanket over my legs and a good cup of coffee. Maybe a bowl of grapes.

Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:

I would love to get stuck in elevator with Olive Kitteredge from the Strout novels. I imagine she'd start out super grumpy, jamming the buttons of the elevator and muttering. Eventually, she'd warm up to me, and she'd want to talk about the precariousness of modern conveniences, how she should have taken the stairs even though she was going to the 15th floor, how she's getting hungry. When she finished complaining, she'd ask me what I was doing there, and she'd have some sage advice about how to get through whatever was troubling me.

Author Interview - Reyna Marder Gentin | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With

The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:

I would sometimes have dreams about writing a book, but I never thought I'd do it. I knew I really wanted to give it a shot after I took a memoir writing class and began to consider transforming some of the pieces I wrote about actual people in my life into fictional characters.

Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:

I read paperbacks almost exclusively. I don't like to carry around a hard back, and I don't lie to pay for a hardback. I don't read ebooks because I already spend a ton of time on the computer and I don't want to read more on screen. And I don't listen to audiobooks because I lose focus and it is too difficult to try to go back and listen to what I've missed. I like a book in my hands. It makes me feel content in a way nothing else can.

The last book I read:

I'm almost finished with Nicola Kraus's book "The Best We Could Hope For". I think she did a masterful job exploring issues of family dysfunction and the possibility of sexual abuse. I especially enjoyed the depiction of the sibling relationships in this very complicated family. also enjoyed that New York City is a character in the book.

Author Interview - Reyna Marder Gentin | The Last Book I Read

Pen & paper or computer:

I write on the computer, a desktop Mac that sits in my kitchen. Sometimes I use my laptop and write in the library or in a coffee place, but I'm most productive and comfortable at home. I wish I were more disciplined in how I go about my writing, but the truth is that I write when I feel inspired to write, whether it is for a few hours in the morning, or in between errands or cooking dinner. I'm in a writing group that, when we are up and running, meets every two weeks. I rely on the deadline for having pages done to move my projects along.

Book character I think I’d be best friends with:

This is a little different, but I could be best friends with Dan Finnegan, the love interested in Annabel Monaghan's new beach read "It's A Love Story." Dan is thoughtful, smart, creative, good with kids, family-oriented, forgiving, and downright fun. Is he also sexy? Yes, for sure, but that's not something I would look in for a best friend (other than my husband!) BTW, I couldn't be best friends with the main character, Jane. She grows into her character and is appealing by the end of the book, but for most of the story she is self-centered, a little whiny, not terribly thoughtful, and sees herself as a victim. As I said, she gets past a lot of this by the end, but I'm not sure I'd have the patience to be her best friend while she grows up. (She does have a very patient best friend in the book.) But, Dan! I'd like to be his friend.

Author Interview - Reyna Marder Gentin | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With

If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:

I would be a criminal appellate attorney, as I was for twenty years. The stories were fascinating, the stakes were high, and the work was very challenging.

Favorite decade in fashion history:

I love those flapper dresses from the 1920s!

Place I’d most like to travel:

Someone once told me that the island of Anguilla was a paradise. I've always had that stuck in my head, even though it isn't the most historical or culturally interesting place I could visit. Something about it seems romantic and beautiful to me.

My signature drink:

I don't drink much alcohol, but I love a nice glass of Merlot. Otherwise, I'm a coffee girl.

Favorite artist:

I love James Taylor. I also love Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Elton John.

Number one on my bucket list:

I don't keep a bucket list. I try to figure out how to be grateful for my blessings each day, and how to embrace whatever opportunities come my way.

Anything else you'd like to add:

I appreciate being part of a supportive writing community which includes all the people, like you, who make it possible to reach readers.

Find more from the author:

• instagram: @reynamardergentin

• my website: reynamardergentin.com

About Reyna Marder Gentin:

Reyna Marder Gentin

Reyna Marder Gentin grew up on Long Island and attended Yale College and Yale Law School. A former criminal defense attorney, she is the author of two prior legal romances, Unreasonable Doubts and Both Are True, as well as a middle grade novel, My Name Is Layla. Reyna’s personal essays and short stories have been published widely in print and online, and she is currently working on a collection of linked short stories entitled Open Twenty-Four Hours. Reyna lives with her family in Westchester County, New York. Please find out more by visiting reynamardergentin.com.