Sutton Layne is facing her 40th birthday, and she can’t help but wonder if she could have done things differently in her life. After she gets knocked unconscious in a pickleball accident at her birthday party, she wakes up in a magical portal with the opportunity to live out her 20s all over again. In addition to writing women’s fiction novels, Mack interviews other authors on her weekly podcast “Underline That.” Following the release of her traditional publishing debut “Twenty Something Else,” Mack has another book set to come out this fall titled “When We Blinked.”
What inspired you to write “Twenty Something Else?”
It was definitely looking at my own 40th birthday. I don’t care who you are, all women wonder, “What if?” I always wanted to write a magical realism book. It’s a Wonderful Life is my favorite movie of all time. I love exploring the notion that one choice from one person can impact countless other people. This was all brewing, and I was playing pickleball with my husband, and I got whacked in the face with a pickleball so hard. It was this moment of, “That’s going to be the inciting incident. Let’s do it.”
If you could go back in time to your 20s, is there anything that you would do differently?
I think I would have traveled more. As I was writing Sutton’s story, my characters tend to have minds of their own and just take me wherever they will. It was on her bucket list to go to the Matterhorn. She goes to Coachella. My husband and I got married at 21, and it’s the best thing I ever did. We were so hard working in our careers. We bought a house at 25. I wish we would have chilled a little more. It was fun to both explore from my own view but then let Sutton teach me new things.
What made you want to start your podcast?
It’s a niche podcast opportunity and theme, to talk to authors about the content of their books, but also their process. Publishing is a really tricky industry. I get listeners who are aspiring writers, but also people who just love to read and want to learn more about the author process. It’s called “Underline That” because I wanted to explore the things we underline on the page and in life. I wanted to give myself permission to talk about things besides books as well, from training for the Boston Marathon to motherhood.
Why did you decide to set your books in Orange County?
It is such a gold mine, and I feel so lucky that I live here. I am about to turn in book number four, which is also set here. That one’s on Lido. It is the best setting. It is so vibrant, it’s so sunshiney. I think it has enough of a media stereotype because of the shows over the years, people kind of have their thoughts about it, and it’s fun to poke fun at the things that are true. But it’s also just a really lovely place with wonderful people.
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