Internationally best selling author Sarah Pekkanen is back with These Girls, her third and best novel yet. Pekkanen chats with SheKnows Book Lounge about her secret to finding balance (being a mother of three), her favorite chocolate treats and gives us some juicy details about her next novel.
SheKnows: You’re active on Twitter @SarahPekkanen. Tweet us about your novel in 140 characters or fewer of course. 
Sarah Pekkanen: Three young women, each hiding a secret, share an apartment in New York City as they navigate life and love.
SheKnows: If you could see anyone reading your novel (alive or deceased) who would it be and why?
Sarah Pekkanen: Hmm… how about a big Hollywood director like James Cameron, when he just happens to be looking for a new film project?
SheKnows: In These Girls, we loved the central theme of the importance of friendship to women. What is your favorite thing about your novel?
Sarah Pekkanen: Thank you! You’ve hit upon exactly what I wanted to convey, that female friendships are so wonderfully textured, vital and healing. We can’t choose the families we’re born into, and sometimes they’re destructive or damaging — which makes it doubly important to form a second family that is made up of friends who will be with you through thick and thin.
SheKnows: We ask authors about balance often. You’re a mother of three, a successful author, active on social media and married. How do you do it all and find your balance?
Sarah Pekkanen: I know that I can’t do it all, so I focus on the most important things in my life: family, work and friends. My car is a disaster, I only cook the simplest of meals, and I’ve cut out almost all of my hobbies except reading (I can go through three or four books in a good week). I know that when this busy stage in life passes, time will open up again, but for now I’m pretty careful about prioritizing and letting everything else fall away. Oh! But I do make an exception for Reality TV. I’m currently trying to decide if Adam or Blake is hotter on The Voice.
SheKnows: What books are you reading to or with your children now?
Sarah Pekkanen: For my littlest guy, we’re reading (and re-reading, and re-reading!) The Little Red Caboose. And my oldest son is reading The Hunger Games. I don’t think the violence in it is any worse than in Harry Potter — and the themes of good versus evil are important to explore.
SheKnows: You’re a self-proclaimed chocoholic. What are your three favorite chocolate treats?
Sarah Pekkanen: Mmmm… now you’re making me hungry! Can I blame my next chocolate raid on this question? I’ll say bittersweet chocolate mousse, chocolate covered strawberries and the chocolate chip cookies my middle son makes from scratch (with Ghirardelli chips). He’s a better cook than I’ll ever be!
SheKnows: Can you give us any hints about what your next book is about? Please!
Sarah Pekkanen: Of course! I’m so thrilled to say that I’ve just completed my fourth novel and my manuscript is now in the hands of my editor. It’s the story of a group of friends from college who reunite for a vacation in Jamaica more than a decade after graduation. The book is told from the points of view of the four wives in the group, whose lives have turned in sharply different directions — and by the end of the trip, they’re questioning not only how well they know one another but also themselves. It should be in stores in about a year! Thanks so much for having me visit SheKnows today, and if any readers would like to find me on Facebook or Twitter to continue chatting, please do so!
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