Chick Lit/ Women’s Fiction
*(contains language)*
Date Published: June 6, 2017
Elle Martin has it all.
Handsome and successful husband. Check.
Daughter and son attending exclusive private high school. Check.
Privilege, status, and wealth. Check, check, check.
But there is more to Elle’s story.
Already struggling to keep up appearances in a social set full of pretension and ultra-competitiveness, Elle’s façade of perfection is threatened when her husband makes an announcement that will force her to confront a dark past she has successfully hidden for years.
What will happen when long-buried secrets are unearthed and haunting new revelations are discovered? Will Elle find the happy ending she so desperately seeks?
Toggling between the early nineties and the present day, Grannie Panties Are UnderRated captures the Gen X experience from latchkey kid to helicopter parent with keen insight and precision. A page turner full of surprising twists, it is a must read for anyone who has struggled to reconcile the chasm between the person they once were, the person they have become, and the person they long to be.
Praise for Grannie Panties Are Under Rated
"...a highly entertaining and thought provoking book!"
"Gayle Erickson is brilliantly gifted in telling this engaging, sometimes disturbing, yet compulsively addicting story of a woman in crisis due to the bonds of the guilt-filled lens of her past"
"It is visually rich and culturally expansive,"
"You will fall in love with each of these honest, imperfect characters and identify with their struggles, demons, and challenges. Exposing the raw truths we often try to mask..."
"Loved this book, could not put it down"
"A great retrospective of how we come to be who we are and where we are, often without intention or a road map. Like "Grannie's" characters, we all find moments of clarity or awareness, which give rise to change. All this and an accompanying playlist! A song for every chapter...what brilliant context!
Spotify Playlist by Author to compliment the Novel:
http://spoti.fi/2sgkyqQ
Interview
with Gayle Erickson
What inspired you to write Grannie Panties Are Underrated?
It is human nature to put forth one’s best self to the world. This instinct is taken to new extremes now with the use of social media, where we are barraged with constant images of our friends and acquaintances documenting their perfect vacation, perfect children, perfect marriage, and perfectly perfect lives on Facebook. I am intrigued by the differences between the persona that one portrays with reality and wanted to explore what happens to a woman forced to reconcile who she pretends to be with who she really is. In addition, I think at one point or another, everyone approaching middle-age has looked at their life and wondered if they recognize the person they have become and if it is the person they always wanted to be.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you have planned for the future?
I am currently working on another fiction book titled Double Fault which is about a former professional tennis player who is accused of sexual assault against a high school player he coaches. It is told from the point of view of the coach, the player, and the player’s mom. Part satire of the culture of competitive youth sports in America, the book explores just how far parents are willing to go to ensure success for their children.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Grannie Panties Are Underrated?
The main character of the book, Elle, is a wealthy stay-at-home mom approaching middle age. She is exhausted by the demands of her social set and is beginning to question whether having everything she has always wanted is really enough. The most interesting aspect of Elle’s character is that she is very superstitious and thinks that she is receiving signs from songs she hears.
The book toggles in time between the current day and Elle’s younger days as a wild-child in Tokyo. In her current life, Elle has a handsome and successful husband, Win, and teenage children ensconced in an exclusive private school. Her daughter, Brynnie eschews convention, while her son Four’s main interest is lacrosse.
Important characters from Elle’s days in Tokyo include, Mitch, her fun-loving best friend from Iowa, and Tak, her dashing and macho boyfriend. There is more to each character than appears on the surface, and the full truth of their stories are revealed through-out the course of the book.
You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
I love Jane Austen. She was a brilliant writer who captured the zeitgeist of her time with perfect insight and wit. (And just enough romance!) Her stories are so engaging and timeless, and her characters so fully developed that they still ring true to this day. I also admire her commitment to writing at a time when women were not considered equal in ability in writing to that of men.
If you could time-travel would you travel to the future or the past? Where would you like to go and why would you like to visit this particular time period?
As noted above, I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and would chose to go back in time to 19th C England. I would relish the opportunity to shake up the staid social conventions of the time!
Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?
I am a huge dog lover, and would be happy to take in every stray I could. As it is, I only have two dogs - a 110lb playful and active golden retriever and a 35lb sweet and spunky cocker spaniel/lab rescue dog. Both are spoiled rotten and get away with far, far more than they should.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us today.
About the Author
Gayle Erickson is a Colorado native and graduate of The Colorado College. She lived in Tokyo, Japan and taught English for several years after graduation. Upon her return to the United States she worked in the non-profit sector. Gayle currently lives in suburban Denver with her husband, twin teen-age children, and two dogs. Grannie Panties Are Underrated is her debut novel.
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