Author Spotlight - Meet Andrea J. Stein

This interview is from a new feature in my newsletter. You can check out the full newsletter with Andrea’s interview here. And if you’d like to receive future newsletters, just scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your email address. Happy Reading! 📚

Hi, Andrea! Please tell us a little about yourself & your book.

I’m an avid reader and professionally, I’m a book publicist. Typecast is my first published novel. It’s women’s fiction, and is the story of Callie Dressler, a 31-year-old preschool teacher in suburban New Jersey who lives alone in the house she grew up in, her parents having relocated to Florida. Her life is about to be upended when her Type-A pregnant sister, brother-in-law and niece move in with her while their house is being renovated. Then Callie finds out that the big new movie that’s about to come out is written by her college ex-boyfriend—and seems to be based on their breakup. I like to describe Typecast as full of sister drama, romance, humor, regrets, forgiveness, roads not taken—along with 80s and 90s pop culture!

What was the inspiration or spark behind writing Typecast?

The spark for Typecast came when I heard about a guy who’d made a short film about his college girlfriend, ten years after graduation. It got me wondering how that ex-girlfriend would feel if she knew she was the subject of a film so many years later. From there, I started thinking about who that woman would be—would she be single or married? Why did the college relationship end? That was how Typecast was born.

What do you hope readers take away from Typecast?

I hope that readers of Typecast come away thinking about the power of forgiveness—and especially self-forgiveness. It’s so important to recognize, and truly internalize, that the choices you made in the past were probably the best ones you could make at the time—with the information you had, and who you were as a person. I also hope they come away with the desire to read more from me!

What has been the most rewarding experience of publishing your debut novel?

Wow. It’s hard to pinpoint just one—but I’ll narrow down to two. 

One has been all the support I’ve gotten—mostly from unexpected sources. For example, people I don’t know very well who have gone out of their way to share their love for the book on social media or to invite me to their book clubs. 

The other is how people beyond the audience I originally thought I was writing for have enjoyed the book. I’d anticipated that my readers would be women aged twenty to fifty or so. But I’ve gotten such great feedback from seniors who read it as part of book groups they’re in, and from husbands who read it at the suggestion of their wives!

That’s so wonderful! Did you always want to be an author?

When I was a kid, I imagined I’d be an author or illustrator, and when I went to college, I intended to major in creative writing.  Unfortunately, I never actually took a creative writing class there because I was intimidated by the other students who were writers—I wasn’t comfortable enough in my own skin to share my own writing. But, over the years, I continued to write, and doubt I’ll ever stop.

Can you share what you’re working on now?

I have an idea for my next book percolating in the back of my head, but my focus is largely on my next novel, Dear Eliza, which will be published in October 2024.

Congratulations! And where can readers find you?

I love to hear from readers!  Aside from following me on Instagram and Facebook , they can sign up for my newsletter at my website:  https://www.andreajstein.com/   I send it out once or twice a month and it includes all my news. 

Thank you, Andrea! Friends, if you’d like to check out Andrea’s novel, Typecast, just click on the photo above. 💕