(I had real ones, too!) We also overlap in pursuing journalism– I graduated from journalism school thinking I would be a broadcast anchor, but life pulled me towards book publishing instead.

I was a kid with an outsized imagination, including a very vivid imaginary friend for a time.

I made myself write something like 5,000 words a day and when that was finished I got the bug and haven’t stopped writing fiction since.ĬP: I came to writing much later than Jo– when we started our book together, actually– but I’d always been passionate about story-telling. I didn’t come back to fiction until about ten years later when I wrote my first novel (I like to call it a practice novel) while on vacation. But I veered in the direction of nonfiction when I went to college and started working as a journalist. My first one was about three knights (who happened to be fat brown toads) who rescued a princess from a lily pad. Jo: I’ve been writing stories since I could write the alphabet. When did you both know you wanted to become authors? JP: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri, Fates & Furies by Lauren GroffĬP: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Let’s Take The Long Way by Gail Caldwell Let’s get to know Christine and Jo as they talk about their writing partnership, crafting the novel, key takeaways and much more! She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two small children. She is also the author of Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, How to Be Married, The Knockoff, Fitness Junkie, and If Nuns Ruled the World. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, TheWall Street Journal, CNN, Marie Claire, Glamour, and other notable publications.

Jo Piazza is an award-winning journalist, editor and podcast host. As a freelance editorial consultant, she does select editing and proposal/content development, as well as teaching and coaching, and pens a regular column-“Race Matters”-for Cup of Jo. As an editor, Christine has published a range of books, with a special emphasis on inspirational stories and memoirs, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. She’s held editorial posts at many different trade imprints, including Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, Hyperion, and Simon & Schuster. This is one of the most impactful stories I’ve read in a long time-highly recommend it! I’m so thrilled to feature a Q&A with the authors Christine Pride and Jo Piazza.Ĭhristine Pride is a writer, editor, and longtime publishing veteran.

Christine pride we are not like them