Nikki Bannister, Local Author, Explains She's "Some Kind of Jersey Girl"

A: This is my first book! It's difficult to answer the question of how I became a writer because I'm still adjusting to the concept. I suppose the simple answer is that I became a writer the moment I picked up my computer and holed myself up in a room away from the kids. And that was simply an act of self-preservation, if I'm honest. But really...that's too simple. I've always loved to read - never any particular genre. I was the type of kid who reads the cereal box at the breakfast table and walks to school with their nose in a book...no thought whatsoever to the oncoming traffic while crossing the street. Writing seemed the natural progression, though it took me a very long time to accept that fact. Fear has always been a motivating, or more accurately, a non-motivating factor for me. However, I found that after having my children, my thoughts often turned to what I wanted for their futures. Like most parents, I want to instill in my children the belief that their dreams and ambitions are worth striving for and that they are capable of achieving those dreams. But I also found that I was a hypocrite because I had never once attempted to follow mine. And so began the work of many years.

Q: What was your inspiration for this book? What is it about? Any of it based in real life?

A: Some Kind of Jersey Girl is a contemporary romance. I began writing it quite a few years ago, sometime in 2008. Facebook was really just becoming mainstream and I thought, Now there is a story! It seems a little cliché today, which is, in some part, why I chose to self-publish - I just wanted to get it out there. But the story is more than just rekindling a romance. It's about overcoming our fears, of facing the inevitability of aging, of loving others the best that we can and accepting them on their terms.  The story itself is not based on my life. However, there are littlereal-life bits sprinkled throughout. Clearly, one theme is New Jersey, as evidenced by the title. I've been a Jersey girl my entire life, and I think it's one of those things where, as a native, you're allowed to feel the passionate love-hate relationship, but no one else is. You know, we all detest the high taxes and the congestion, but just let an outsider make a disparaging remark and watch out...suddenly we're all Jersey Strong. And, though I never name the town in which the book is set, anyone living in Metuchen need only read the following lines to understand my inspiration for Jenny King's hometown.