How far would you go to follow your favorite author – especially if you thought he might also be your father? In Julie Buntin Famous menaspiring writer Wilhelmina “Will” Miles escapes from small-town Michigan to New York to find out.
But don’t think it is Snake in book form: Will quickly learns that Nathaniel Fellows is not his father – and the two get into something much more complicated. Or as Will calls it, “a deal” where a 62-year-old offers guidance, proximity to power, and financial security to a 23-year-old. That is, as long as she does everything he asks, a cost Will is forced to face when he stumbles upon information about Nathaniel’s past. We asked Buntin some questions. Here’s what she had to say…
Q: One place everyone should visit?
Buntin: I hate to say this because it’s already impossible to see in the summer, but the beach is on Empire, Michigan – near sleeping bears – in July and August is the best place on earth.
Q: Is there one thing you are an expert on?
Buntin: I know a lot about yogurt. It was an intense pregnancy craving for me. The best I’ve had by far White mustachewhich is scary, not distributed in michigan where i live. A perfect tart with the right fat content is the best. And their date version might be my favorite original food?
Q: What hill will you die on?
Buntin: I don’t think new moms should feel obligated to write thank you notes, and I don’t think people should expect someone who just had a baby to. If you send food or a gift and you wonder if they got it – they did. New mothers should work less.
Q: One thing everyone should watch?
Buntin: The first season Terror. It premiered on AMC in 2018. Based on the fictionalization of a real journey by Dan Simmons, it tells the story of Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition in search of the Northwest Passage – terrifying, beautiful and supernatural elements are perfectly placed within it.
Q: What’s the last thing you read that you can’t stop thinking about?
Buntin: Loved and missed by Susie Boyt. It’s about a woman whose daughter is struggling with drug addiction and what happens when she takes in her grandson. It’s very short – the kind of book that can be read in one sitting – but packs more emotional punch than novels four times the length. A perfect book in every way, but especially revealing of the mother-daughter relationship and the small joys of parenting.
Q: What is your favorite indulgence?
Buntin: A long restaurant meal with friends where we over-order—three pastas for two women, that sort of thing.
Q: What’s a corner of the internet you’ve discovered recently?
Buntin: This is going to be so funny because it’s been forever, but I didn’t start reading Reddit until I had my kids. Now I’m obsessed with Reddit and spend a lot of time in a few specific subreddits, mostly parenting related.
Meanwhile, on the internet…
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New Yorkers say if they fall this little word when talking about certain neighborhoods.
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FIFA athletes and Island of love stars have one thing in common: this health trend. If it works for them…
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You can think of your own way to warm up? Some women swear by it — and that’s where the whole industry cashes in.
