You know, step back and ask myself: what are the secret, special words that my main character and his family use? So thank you, Jo, for the inspiration! That leads me to ask what were the challenges of writing about this family’s life from the point of view of Fern? I’m excited to bring that lens to my work in progress. But in revision, of course you go back and make sure each voice is distinct, and that each person’s role in the family is clear, yet subtle enough not to be too obvious. Even though they aren’t very much like my own family on the surface, the bonds are similar, and I think their banter is rather familiar. The family came to me in such a powerful way. I wasn’t truly aware of it as I was writing. Did that just flow out of you organically or did you intentionally construct a special vocabulary for them? You just did an amazing job, too, of showing how the family lexicon changed with the addition of Charlie. I thoroughly enjoyed the peculiarities of how Fern and her family talked with each other. Your book really got me thinking about how every family has its own lexicon, built from years of living together. I always try to be extra nice to the staff and I’m a big tipper. Now that I finally don’t have to, I have great sympathy when I dine out.

I lived in a touristy town so most summer jobs involved working in the food industry in some way. Waitressing, bussing and doing food prep. Even after my parents moved on to other things, I still worked in restaurants. Thanks Gigi! I don’t think you ever forget how much work it is. That’s the kind of detail in your book that I just adored because it’s soooo true! Hey, do you ever get the restaurant business out of your system? I did pick out any that looked dirty, but I still feel a bit guilty over that to this day! So… in my bitterness, I scooped up the onions and put them back in the bin. I was both embarrassed and terribly upset that all that hard work just went down the drain. In my rush, I pushed open the heavy door and slipped and cut my knee open the minute I stepped inside. I was 18, working at a fancy restaurant in my hometown while I was home from college and had just been yelled at by the chef to hurry up. Did you ever make out in the walk-in like Fern’s sister Sarah did?Īlas, the most action I ever got in the walk-in was dropping a HUGE container of sliced onions I’d just spent an hour with, crying my eyes out.

The scenes depicting Harry’s are awesome! I waited tables in college and, while I never got busted making out in the walk-in, I definitely took advantage of the, uh, privacy offered therein to sneak in some smooching.

Jo, See You at Harry’s draws from your own experience of working in a family restaurant.

Jumping off swings by jo knowles