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Please help me welcome Pamela Spradlin Mahajan…

Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets? 

I am originally from Springfield, Mo., in the Ozarks and about an hour from Branson. Currently, I live in Kansas City with my husband and our two young children.

Tell us a little about the book and your writing

This is my debut novel, though I have written and queried a novel and a novella before, plus written lots of short stories and unfinished ones.

One thing that stands out about writing “Skye, Revised” was the struggle to get it done. I got restless and resistant at times and even paused once to write an entirely different manuscript (a beachy romance novella). 

However, I don’t know if I could have or would have done it differently. During one of my so-called non-productive periods, I decided to write some of the book from my antagonist’s point of view. That inspired me to get back to the story. So I guess it was actually a productive break. Not sure I would have come up with that if I would have plowed ahead. That said, I hope to get more efficient with each subsequent book.

What book have you read that you wish you had written?

“The Dovekeepers” by Alice Hoffman or “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte. 

What was your first job?

My first job was at Heritage Cafeteria, an eatery many elderly people frequented. I was 17. I bussed tables and worked behind the buffet. It was fun because most of the other people who worked there were in high school, like me. It was also tiring work and my hair would always smell like the back kitchen after I left.

What do you want readers to come away with after they read your book?

I want readers to feel transported and as if they escaped from their normal lives, if only for a bit. 

 Would you rather have a bad review or no review?

I’m good with reviews that aren’t five stars, of course—but a truly bad one? I’d prefer no review.

What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?

I would love to write a thriller or suspense. I have some ideas and I think it would be really interesting to experience writing one and learn those particular beats.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have 3 (inanimate) objects, what would they be?

My phone and Kindle (hope we have Wi-Fi) and one of those water bottles that makes any water safe to drink.

Have you written any other books that are not published?

Yes, I have an unpublished manuscript about a woman who follows her NBA player boyfriend to Miami and all the drama that ensues. I also have a few unpublished novellas, including that beachy romance I mentioned earlier. I put it up on Radish for a while, but have since taken it down.

Who is the most famous person you have ever met?

I met and shook hands with Jimmy Carter on an international flight. He was lovely and walked through the plane meeting everyone.

How did you come up with the title? 

The title for the book was originally “Life, Revised”— it fit the theme and I probably had the term “revision” floating around in my head. I tweaked it to “Skye, Revised” later because I liked it better and it was a bit more specific.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? 

Appreciate what you have, even if it seems “less than” from the outside. You never know the truth behind someone else’s surface. I hope the book inspires people to look at their lives a bit differently.

What if you got the life of your dreams … and it turned into a nightmare?

Excerpt:

“Skye, Revised” Excerpt

By Pamela Spradlin Mahajan

Chapter One

Skye

“Really? You’re going to wear that?” I said.

Teddy gave his outfit a once-over. “Yes…” The corner of his mouth inched up into a smile. “Is there something wrong with it?”

I wrinkled my nose as if a reeking can of fly-ridden garbage sat rotting nearby. “Khakis, Teddy? Pleated khakis?” I hadn’t even mentioned the cheap tucked-in polo shirt. “It looks like the uniform you wear on the show.”

Teddy swiped his jacket from the coat rack by the door and slipped into it. When it was sixty-one degrees in Los Angeles, you wore a jacket. “And, again, I ask: what’s wrong with that? Come on, Skye. We’re gonna be late.”

I exhaled an exasperated gush of air.

“You look great, by the way. The black really makes your blonde hair stand out.” Teddy lifted my knee-length coat from the rack and slid it over my form-fitting dress. I glanced down at the sheer cutout stretching across my collarbone.

“Well, it’s a nice place. I want to make a good impression—to look like we belong there.”

Teddy’s outfit did not demonstrate that we belonged anywhere worth being—especially not somewhere like The Hibiscus. It attracted A-list, red carpet fixtures the way spandex boy-cut underwear attracted wedgies. I was quite certain pleated khakis would be nowhere in sight, unless they were being worn ironically.

I side-eyed his chain-store-salesman look once more. It never failed—no matter how many slim, trendy trousers or jeans I picked out for him from Banana Republic or Asos, he still reached for the very same familiar item in the bowels of his closet. The very one I was trying to direct him away from. Honestly, what was the point?

My body ached with the exhaustion of defeat as I slid into the passenger seat of Teddy’s hatchback.

“Are you excited? You’ve been wanting to go here for years,” he said as he maneuvered out of the parking lot.

I’d be more excited if your outfit didn’t embarrass me.

I mumbled a nondescript response and we sat in silence for several minutes. As we pulled onto the 101, Teddy grasped the leather-wrapped steering wheel with one hand and rested the other on my bare knee. I glanced at his hand, watching the tendons move beneath his tan skin.

Then I gazed out the window as decrepit buildings morphed into sleek, glossy high-rise apartment complexes. Los Angeles was forever an unsettling contrast between seedy and superior, sad and spoiled. The only consistent thing was its palm trees. As I studied a tree outlined against the sky, my stomach knotted into a mixture of excitement and dread. We had never been to The Hibiscus before—we’d never been anywhere close. Teddy considered Red Lobster a classy establishment, for God’s sake. In my opinion, anywhere you have to wear a bib while eating is definite no no.

I took a measured inhale. The thought of Teddy’s stale outfit being scrutinized by L.A.’s hippest wasn’t the only reason for my frazzled nerves. I was replaying a conversation between us from several days earlier, searching it for hidden meaning. For clues.

Buy links:

Amazon – https://a.co/d/ipsLAcp

Barnes & Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/skye-revised-pamela-spradlin-mahajan/1144560416?ean=9781509254002

Apple – https://books.apple.com/us/book/skye-revised/id6476150175

About the Author:

Pamela Spradlin Mahajan is the author of “Skye, Revised,” a women’s fiction novel with a delicious dash of magical realism and romance. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and creative writing from Missouri State University and a Masters from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Her recent short stories have appeared in the online literary journal “They Call Us” and she has been honored in the WOW! Women on Writing Flash Fiction Contest. A native of Springfield, Mo., Pamela lives with her family in Kansas City, where in addition to writing women’s fiction, she also works as a copywriter, journalist, and reseller.

Sign up for her author newsletter at https://pamelamahajan.com