Gina Mak started writing fiction when she was in approximately her eighth year of practicing law.  Writing briefs to present to the court, she learned to love the process of putting thoughts and arguments on paper.

I loved, most of all, putting together a “story” that worked to persuade the judge one way or another.  Writing gave me a gratifying feeling of accomplishment, and I just wanted to take that a step further and see if I could tell a story to a wider audience.  Creating a fictional tale full of anecdotes from real life felt like a natural extension to what I was already doing, and it held the potential to reach the kind of audience I was looking to entertain — an audience made up mostly of mamas who’ve gone through the roller coaster ride of becoming a parent, keeping a career going and maintaining a healthy marriage.

I suppose when I published my book, what I actually did was create a home-based business.  This was not exactly my goal, but in today’s internet economy, if you’ve got something to market, you’ve got to be on the web, and so that’s where I spend much of my time exploring new avenues to sell my book.  It’s the perfect job for a busy mommy of three (a.k.a. an unpaid chauffeur), as I market my book whenever the kids are settled and I have spare time (which is very rare, but it happens).

Gina was inspired to write Frozen Pancakes and Fake Lashes by her own experience of becoming a mother.  Before children, she had near zero domestic ability.  She’d never been around children much, wasn’t even sure she liked them.  Certainly, I had no idea what to do with a newborn.  But when I held my baby in my arms for the first time, I fell completely in love with her and the feelings she created in me.  Suddenly, I found myself rising to the occasion, though rather ungracefully at times.  I turned from a full-fledge career girl wearing Manolo’s to the office, to a nursing, walking pacifier for my baby, and it amazed me how quickly the transformation became complete.

Naturally, having fully immersed myself into my new roll as lactation machine extraordinaire, I lost touch with my feminine mojo, and my best friend (bless her heart) forced me to take a good look in the mirror one day.  I hardly recognized the woman staring back at me — her baggy old white t-shirt was wrinkled and stained with breastmilk and whatever the baby had upchucked, and her hair was tied into a simple, styleless ponytail with three inches of roots showing.  Worst of all, were the dark lines under the eyes developed from sleepless nights spent caring for a newborn.

My story was too comical not to share with other women.  I knew that this was not just my story, but the story behind many women.  Plus, it seemed like more and more often, my women friends were becoming either the main breadwinner or a substantial contributor to the household income, and, like me, we were all grappling with trying to balance the whole career, motherhood, and marriage act.  So I set out to turn our story into a novel that would hopefully be funny, relatable and somehow compelling at the same time.  After all, there’s no better feeling than knowing that you are not alone in your suffering!

Aside from readers posting positive reviews on Amazon, Gina’s favorite experience as an author came when she and her husband were on vacation in Hawaii recently.  While leaving the pool area at our resort, her husband noticed that a woman lounging under an umbrella by the pool — a complete stranger — was reading her book.  Thank goodness she looked amused by the material.  Catching her in that moment gave me a great feeling.

Gina hopes to find the time and energy to start writing another novel soon!

Visit www.gperalmak.com.  Pasadena, California

Tags: author, career, marriage, motherhood, novels