{Giveaway is Closed}
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting author Mary Kay Andrews on a few occasions and she is just a funny, witty lady. And she loves junkin’ like I do, so I know she and I would hit it off if we got to hang out more often. In fact, now that I’m back in Atlanta, where she lives too, I hope to do that again sometime.
Pssst, Mary Kay, are you listening? 🙂 Let’s go to Scott’s!
I can imagine how fun that would be! Thrifting with Mary Kay. We junkers just understand each other on a very basic level.
Today, we’re talking with Mary Kay about her love of junkin’ and her brand spankin’ new book that has just been released this summer, just in time for a good beach read, Summer Rental.
There’s nothing better than chick lit on the beach. This one is interesting and an easy fun read. I’m about half-way through it and it’s highly entertaining.
So, get comfy and let’s have a chat with Mary Kay. There’s a book giveaway at the end, so don’t go anywhere!
Q: So. What’s with you and junk?
Mary Kay: I grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, which some people refer to as “God’s Waiting Room.” It’s where elderly Yankees with good taste retired, and then never unpacked all that wonderful old china, crystal, linens, etc, which meant it ended up being sold at estate sales or donated to charity thrift stores. Also, my mother was a junker, and I inherited that trait. Or curse.
Q: In your Savannah series, Savannah Blues, Savannah Breeze and Blue Christmas, your protagonist, Weezie Foley, is first an antique picker, than an antique dealer. Have you followed her career path?
Mary Kay: In a way, yes. Savannah was the first place my husband and I moved as 22-year-old newlyweds. With no money and a tiny apartment to furnish, I started going to estate sales. That’s where I met pickers, and later antique dealers. After we moved to Atlanta, I continued my junking ritual. At an estate sale more than twenty years ago, I bought what I thought was a majolica piece, for a dollar. I took it to a majolica dealer at the old Elco Antique Market in Atlanta, who promptly told me it was an antique French majolica asparagus dish. She offered me $50 for it, and later marked it up to $250. I took the money and became a picker. Then, four years ago, a friend on Tybee Island, where we have a second home, asked if I wanted to rent space as an antique dealer. I dove in, and haven’t looked back.
Q: Your newest book, Summer Rental, like many of your other novels, including The Fixer-Upper, features an old house just begging to be restored. Why that recurring theme?
Mary Kay: Old homes, like antiques, seem to tug at my heart. They have tales to tell, secrets to whisper. They have a patina and a grace and energy that speak to me. I find that most of my stories do revolve around a woman’s search for home, whatever that means to her.
Q: I see your blog posts and your Facebook pictures of the junk you buy. What on earth do you do with all of it?
Mary Kay: We have a really big basement. But actually, I have a selective catch and release system. Some things I keep. We have a 1920s Craftsman house in Atlanta, and I’m always adding to my collections or upgrading my décor here. And then there’s The Breeze Inn, our Tybee Island home. Plus I have two adult children, who often become the recipients of my steals and deals. And now, of course, I buy for my antique booth at Seaside Sisters, on Tybee Island.
Q: What kinds of things do you buy for yourself?
Mary Kay: I’ve collected blue and white English transfer-ware for more than 30 years. I love Ironstone. I’ve got a soft spot for quilts, and I love to buy antique oil paintings—especially rural landscapes. My daughter calls me a linen whore, and I really can’t resist gorgeous old tablecloths and sheets and pillowcases. I love the whimsy and nostalgia behind vintage tin-litho children’s sand-pails and watering cans. And being a native Floridian, I’m a sucker for anything that screams retro Florida—that stuff ends up at The Breeze Inn.
Q: What do you buy to sell at your antique booth at Seaside Sisters?
Mary Kay: Beachy, shabby chic stuff sells really well, because we’re at the beach. I only buy stuff I really love, because if it doesn’t sell, it’s probably coming home with me! I try to buy smart so I can keep my prices low enough that my readers, who seek out my booth, can have the fun of taking home something they know I hand-picked for them. I usually have Depression-era quilts, ‘50s chenille bedspreads, rattan or wicker furniture, McCoy pottery, vintage children’s toys from the ‘20s on, fun black and white beach snapshots, anything quirky or amusing.
Q: Describe your perfect day.
Mary Kay: Right after Matthew McConaughey wakes me up with a tender, wet kiss, I throw on my size four jeans, toss back a Diet Coke, and saddle up with my girlfriends, who I call my junk posse. We roll up to an estate sale at a spooky mansion in Buckhead, and the hearse is just backing out of the driveway. The deceased’s daughter-in-law is standing in the driveway offering to give it all away. I load up my Ford F-150-longbed truck with a king’s ransom in English antiques, French linens, 1950s barkcloth drapes, and the entire contents of a 1940s-era small-town five-and-dime store, including crates of Shiny-Brite Christmas ornaments. Then we stop for lunch at Souper Jenny, where I take a call from my agent informing me that Hollywood wants to option the rights to ALL my books. And Tina Fey is going to write the screenplay, star and direct.
Q: That’s not a real day. That’s a fantasy. C’mon. For reals.
Mary Kay: Oh, for real? I struggle into my faded black yoga pants, spill my Diet Coke all over the console of my ten-year-old mini-Suv. I find an estate sale at a crumbling mid-town bungalow, and I wade through a mildewed basement full of stained Tupperware and forty years worth of Readers Digest Condensed Books. I finally find a 1950s Dick and Jane reading primer and some stained 1940s luncheon cloths. When I get upstairs to cash out, the snooty daughter gets off her cell phone long enough to tell me she’s seen the Dick and Jane listed for $50 on eBay, and, oh yeah, the luncheon cloths aren’t actually for sale after all. That’s reality.
Q: Ever thought of quitting the famous author business to get into the highly lucrative business of being an antique dealer?
Mary Kay: Much as I adore dabbling in the world of junking, I have finally realized that I don’t have the smarts or the desire to work as hard at that business as it takes to be a success. On the other hand, I’ve been a working writer my entire adult life. I know how blessed I am to be able to make a living at writing fiction. So I hedge my bets—I write for a living—because I can’t imagine not writing. And I junk for fun, and every now and then, I get lucky and turn a profit at it. And then I go out and buy more junk. Because I can’t not.
Mary Kay Andrews is the New York Times bestselling author of The Fixer Upper, Deep Dish, Blue Christmas, Savannah Breeze, Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies, and Savannah Blues. A former journalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
That Mary Kay is a hoot! That was fun reading. Mary Kay’s latest book release, Summer Rental just hit the shelves on June 7th, just in time for your summer reading schedule AND Mary Kay is giving away to TWO of my readers a signed copy of your very own.
Mary Kay has her own family cottage at Tybee Island, GA called the Breeze Inn that is adorable as can be and she rents it out, so check that out.
For more beautiful pics of the Breeze Inn, go visit Layla. She and Kevin stayed there!
Leave a comment and tell me about YOUR summer rental. Do you go to the beach and rent a place or what sort of summer vacation do you have planned this year?
Do tell!
As you know, if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, I just LOVE the beach and there is nothing better than a beach vacation to me. Sun, sand, and seafood! The BEST!
Now if these pics don’t make you want to jump up and head to the beach to your own summer rental, I don’t know what would!
{All photos from Breeze Inn website}
Today, I’m also thrilled to be over at Beth’s participating in her How to Decorate for the DIYer Series. Hop on over to see what I’m talking about! 🙂 She made this cute little button just for me!
Norma says
I love her books… We normally rent on condo for a week in the summer on Pensacola Beach but this year my husband and I are going to make a trip to Yellowstone. I will really miss our beach trip.
Jess says
Summer rentals in Phoenix entail anywhere we can get the heck out of the crazy heat! Up to the mountains of Arizona, out to San Diego, Denver, or my favorite-house on the lake in the Pacific Northwest!
Tee says
We rent a place at Edisto Beach, which is about two hours north of Savannah and Tybee. I’m actually packing to head out now, and my MK Summer Rental is already in the bag. I’ve read every one of those books up there – loved them all!
And thanks again for, well, you know.
Jane @See Jane Learn says
Thank you for the chance to win Mary Kay’s new book. I just saw an ad for it in a People Magazine and was hoping to order it soon! What fun to see her home and get connected to her blog.
I have a few more weeks here with my youngest daughter in the Pacific Northwest and I love walking downtown in the Harbor looking at Mt. Rainier, boats and glistening water, smelling the beach smell! Hopefully some friends will take me out on the Sound in their boats!! My husband & I are driving down to Napa over the 4th of July. When I head to my home near Chicago in July I hope to visit a lake or two! On Saturdays we like to visit the French Market in Wheaton for fresh produce, do chores, then drive around with the top down. I love following your blog-so glad God has blessed you with so many friends!
Jan says
Luved the interview with MKA, I know I would like her and want to hang out or go junkin. Just finished reading The Fixer Upper and enjoyed it very much. Now I want to read all her books starting with Summer Rental. Enjoyed the pics of the Breeze Inn and it reminded me of my fav summer at Ocracoke Isl., N.C. We drove on the beach, fished and layed in the sun, ate lunch and played fetch with the dog in the ocean all day. Then cooked our catch of the day at the retro cottage we rented. I want to go back now!
Trish says
Hi There, I have this book on my request list at the library but I’m so far down, I don’t think I’ll get it until fall! Going to rent a house in Cape Cod in August with my nieces and sister-in law. Can’t wait! There is something so restorative about being near the ocean.
Deb says
So jealous! Love MKA and just downloaded book to my Kindle. Hope to start it this weekend!
Linda from Georgia says
I love Mary Kay’s books. They are delightfully funny! We have a place in the mountains so don’t get to the beach often. Lately though we’ve been discussing a beach trip. It would be fun to spend some time in Mary Kay’s rental.
sue s ellsworth says
the books seem wonderful – and all the blog and info regarding the beach houses – have long been wanting to plan a entire family beach trip – hopefully some day
my daughter-in-law and family vacation every year at hilton head
would love to start the books – thank you
[email protected]
Nicole says
LOVE all of MKA books:) Have read them all this past year and just got my reserved copy of the lastest SUMMER RENTAL from Amazon and I can’t wait to dive in. Recently bought a house built in the early 1900s outside of Atlanta and started antiquing…that’s where I found her first book. We normally go to St George Island in FL for a week each year and we also spend at least 2 weekends a year in Savannah/Tybee. One day I hope to finally get to stay at the BREEZE INN for a vacation…it’s beautiful:)))
Terry Pitzer says
Can’t wait to read Summer Rental! What better way to get in the mood for our family’s August vacation on Hilton Head Island. With 5 children, college and weddings, a family vacation is LONG overdue! Can’t wait to trade the corn fields of the heartland (Illinois) for the sun, sand and surf for a week of fun and relaxation. All 16 of us together for a whole week – it doesn’t get any better than that!
Glenda Harder says
My daughter and I love to go ‘hunting’ for treasures. Her M-I-L lives in northwestern Iowa. We went to visit her a few years ago and discovered a whole new world. I found a complete set of 1940’s china at the Goodwill store in a cardboard box for $5.00! It was the kind of deal all you bloggers brag about, but I never can find in the D-FW area. We are going back in a few weeks and I am anxious to see what kind of ‘trophies’ we can bring home to hang on the wall.
The first MKA book I read was Hissy Fit and I was hooked! I usually read and pass on my books, but not my MKA books! I’m afraid I won’t get them back. Call me selfish, that’s okay, I claim it.
Lori @ Lori May Interiors says
Love her! I met her at Lavish last December. She was so nice and hilarious.
What a great q and a, Rhoda! Really enjoyed it!
Take care,
Lori
Kim says
I have never read one of her books, but would love to have the opportunity to do so. My family and I just returned from a vacation on the bay in Fairhope, AL. It was so relaxing! Would love to have this book to read this summer!
Christine "LM" says
Holy Cow, I feel like I’ve been in the dark! Where have I been that I don’t know Mary Kay? Her love of junk makes me want to know her more!! Think I’ll go to the bookstore and look up her books!!
Jane-Ellen says
Love Mary Kay! I grew up in Atlanta and went to Druid Hills, so when she writes and talks about my old stomping ground… well what can I say. Her beach reads are the best! I’ve been beaching it and hitting the Goodwill and thrift store on the other side of 98 between 331 and Sand Destin. Our family has had a place on 30-A for 26 years. Can’t beat the white sand and the blue water at Seagrove! Keeping my fingers and toes crossed to win…
bella says
I would love to win a copy of Mary Kay Andrews book. We are going to Charleston, South Carolina for a few days and then to the beach for a few more days. I am off work today for the summer. I work with children during the year at a Christian school so enjoy my summers off and plan to do alot of reading. I love your blog so much even though I don’t live in the south.
Elizabeth Petry says
I just started reading Mary Kay’s books a few months ago, and fell in love with them!
One of my favorite retreats, (other than renting a small house/condo at Redondo Beach, CA)—Is to go to my Great Aunt’s Cabin in West Virginia. It’s been around for several decades, and is a old log cabin. I stayed there as a child, with my parents & relatives, and never had more fun there in my life!! It is quiet, secluded, and very quaint.
I would love to go back there, and revisit the place that made me so happy in my youth—and will still bring back those happy memories of staying there with my relatives.
Sometimes, the best things in life, are cooking in the small kitchen, and curling up on the couch….and having the crickets conduct their own opera, & the lightning bugs creating a glow in the night.
Mary Lou Lamberson says
I read The Fixer-Upper and loved it! I had a wonderful first visit to a North Carolina beach with my mom and sister 5 years ago. I could have rooted myself in all that lovely sand just listening. I’m hoping to convince DH that he really needs to check it out too. His idea of vacation is sitting in a jon boat fishing all day on the river.
Kelly W. says
Timeshare at Gulf Shores is the standard vacay but we usually get in a few short trips during the summer too.
I LOVE MK and hope to win the new book! I can’t wait to read it!