Friends, I read a thoroughly adorable contemporary romance this week. THE DATING EXPERIMENT by the lovely Elodia Strain (and yes, of course I asked her when I met her several years ago, “Is that your real name?” and yes, of course it is her real name, and yes, of course I’m jealous that she has such an awesome real name).
Elodia has graciously consented to give us an interview here on the ol’ blog space. And since I am a person who loves listy things, she has listed things for our benefit.
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First off, I just have to say I am thrilled to the moon to be visiting the blog of an author who is everything good in this world: Gracious, funny, kind, and bright. I thought I’d include a list of 17 random facts you might not know about me:
- The first scene in my new book was partially influenced by my experience working as a palm reader in the Girl Scout booth at a carnival when I was in 6th grade.
- My first job was at Carl’s Jr.
- One of my earliest memories is of my kindergarten teacher asking our class to describe an apple with adjectives starting with every letter from the alphabet. When she got to Z, I said, “Zesty!” I knew the word from reading the label of Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing.
- I come from a very large Mexican-American family on my dad’s side, and grew up with the last name Saavedra and the nickname Dia. Sometimes on Facebook one of my dad’s cousins will post something about my books and there will be tons of comments from other relatives asking, “Who is Elodia Strain?”
- I lived right on the border of Kirkland and Bellevue, Washington (circa 2008) and fell in love with Bainbridge Island.
- I’m so Mormon that I worked as a hostess at a restaurant when I was 18, and the first time I took down a drink order it said, “Ginna Tonna.” The bartender laughed and said, “You mean a Gin and Tonic?”
- I’ve been terrible at organized sports since elementary school. But I always won a blue ribbon on Field Day for hula hooping.
- I co-wrote a song for my high school’s graduating class with now lead-singer of the punk band Survival Guide. Clearly, she was the more musical one.
- I used to be really afraid of bugs. Then I lived in Texas for a few years. Now I have a much higher tolerance.
- I’ve never finished a piece of black licorice.
- In high school and college I drove a red 1967 Mustang.
- My first live concert was Third Eye Blind. 90s forever, man!
- Whenever I hear a first responder siren, I say a quick prayer for the people those sirens are headed to.
- I met my husband in the Cannon Center cafeteria at Brigham Young University.
- My parents took me to a fancy lunch at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco to celebrate my grades, and I saw Courtney Cox and David Arquette’s wedding (mostly just cars and a lot of people) at Grace Cathedral across the street from the hotel windows.
- I’ve been a Webelos leader. It was pretty awesome.
- The fact that anyone reads anything I write astonishes me.
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Well, I read what she writes, and I find it adorable. in THE DATING EXPERIMENT, Gabby Malone suffers through a ridiculous job as a telephone psychic as she deals with the fallout of… all the parts of her life. Then an opportunity arises for her to join an online dating study, complete with the danger of crossing paths with her ex. There is a vast array of swoon-worth dates (along with the cringe-worthy ones), a sassy and awkward heroine, a gaggle of elderly quilters, spunky teens stuck in a hospital, and the return of a secret crush. It’s a sweet, funny, charming read. Go give THE DATING EXPERIMENT a try.