Interview: Paula McLain, Author of The Paris Wife - Page 2

One of my favorite meals ever was in Savannah, Georgia with my two sisters. We were celebrating my oldest sister Teresa’s 40th birthday, and had this amazingly delicious crab boil dinner at a seafood place by the water. For dessert there was this enormous slab of key lime pie. It was absolutely ideal.

What are some of your favorite ways to relax?

I like to walk outdoors, though the weather’s not always fine enough in Cleveland. I really like to read cookbooks, and to cook — which feels very creative to me. Some people get stressed out in the kitchen or overwhelmed, but I’ve always found cooking very relaxing. It makes me feel connected to my day, my house, my kitchen, and my family.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I used to live in Vermont, when I taught at a private boarding school, and loved it there. I have a fantasy about going back and buying a great old farmhouse, with a big garden, and dogs, the whole bucolic picture. Winters can be hard there, but it’s so beautiful, I could almost forgive that.

Share with us a few of your dreams. Also whether they have been fulfilled or are still a work in progress.

I’ve always dreamed of being able to support myself as a writer, and at least for now, I’m actually doing that! So that’s fulfilled. I’d like to travel more, and perhaps learn a foreign language semi-fluently, and expose my children to other cultures and landscapes, and types of community.

What are some of your guilty pleasures?

I love to read cookbooks and watch cooking shows. I also love celebrity magazines when I’m in airports or doctor’s offices or the grocery store. I sometimes deliberately choose a long line at checkout so I can catch up!

If you could leave the world with one piece of advice, what would it be?

To persevere. Life is full of challenges — and I don’t just mean work-related challenges. There’s so much we can’t ever control, but we can try to face everything with some resilience and scrappiness, and adaptability — even when, or especially when, life doesn’t seem to be going our way.

Article Author: April Pohren

April lives in Iowa and is the stay-at-home mom of two young children. An avid book lover since she was able to hold a book, she has fallen in love with blogging and book reviewing. Her own little piece of the world is at Cafe of Dreams where she …

Visit April Pohren's author page — April Pohren's Blog