Author Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway ~ THE SHOE DIARIES by Darby Baham

The Shoe Diaries (The Friendship Chronicles, #1)
by: Darby Baham
Series: The Friendship Chronicles
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 25, 2022
Publisher: Harlequin Special Edition
Amazon | Paperback | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Goodreads

It’s never too late to put your best foot forward

From the outside, Reagan “Rae” Doucet has it all: a coveted career in Washington, DC, a tight circle of friends and a shoe closet to die for. When one of her crew falls ill, however, Rae is done playing it safe. The talented but unfulfilled writer makes a “risk list” to revamp her life. But forgiving her ex, Jake Saunders, might be one risk too many…

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

“Reminiscent of Sex and the City and the Shopaholic series in the best possible way. Her stories are a lot of fun and yet she still tugs at your heartstrings.”--Gail Chasan, Special Edition Editor

Hi Darby. Welcome to Read Your Writes Book Reviews. Congratulations on the release of The Shoe Diaries. Please tell us about your main character, Reagan, and who inspired her.
I wanted to tell a story about a woman that tries to overcome the idea of always reaching for the things she should be doing vs. what she actually wants to be doing. That’s what Reagan is struggling with in the book. As a person, yes Reagan is a perfectionist, but she’s also so much more. She’s an amazing friend, she’s strong and she’s juggling a lot all at once. I definitely pulled inspiration from myself for that. I like to call myself a recovering perfectionist. When I was in my late 20s, I didn’t feel fulfilled and why was that? It’s because I was going through a checklist and was so focused on what I was supposed to be doing as opposed to what I actually wanted. It felt like most women I talked to could relate to this, which is why I made it a focus for the main character, Reagan, to be struggling with this.

Physically, Reagan is 5’3, has freckles on her face, double D breasts, thick thighs, wears size 8 shoes, a size US 10 in clothes, and has a small star tattoo on the top of her right foot. She normally wears her hair straightened with a slight curl from a curling or flat iron, but occasionally, she won't straighten her hair, and it has big, wavy curls when she wears it naturally. She dresses like a mixture between Carrie from Sex and the City, Mary Jane from Being Mary Jane, and Sutton from The Bold Type.

She is a writer, originally from New Orleans and now living in Washington, D.C. after going there for college. In college, she meets 2 of her now best friends, and together with her best friend from back home (who also went to college with them) and a woman from work who she instantly connected with -- they form the backbone of the book and of Reagan’s life. Reagan is also a shoe fanatic who loves laughing, hates crying, and has a shoe closet and shoe diary that she marks important moments in her life by.

Do you listen to music when you’re writing?
No, I typically need it to be pretty quiet. I will sometimes read or listen to music right before I start writing to get myself in the zone, however.

Do you have any phobias?
All bugs and failure (although as a recovering perfectionist, I at least logically understand that failing can be an important lesson… still a pretty big fear of mine, though).

Do you ever read your stories out loud?
Yes! Not the whole thing, but there are times when I need to really see if the dialogue in a scene feels natural, for example, and reading it aloud helps me to see if I believe it.

That I can completely understand. Thank you for answering some questions for me.

Love of Shoes

October 28, 2019

“It was barely 7:00 a.m. when I heard my alarm blasting the sounds of Nicki Minaj’s “Pound the Alarm.” “Not yet, Alexa.” Groggy and yearning for at least five more minutes of sleep, I stretched my arm over the length of my bed and pressed down on the snooze button with my eyes still closed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get up, necessarily; it was just that the cocoon of my comforter in my queen-size bed felt so much better than whatever could have been waiting for me outside it. I pulled the cover over my head as an extra protection against the sun.

“Pound the alarm!”

“Agh!” I screamed out as it went off once more. “Fine, fine. I’m up now.”

The music still blaring, I finally acquiesced and rolled myself out of bed, one leg coming free from my cover cocoon, then the next, and made my way to my closet for what had become my daily routine: pick out shoes for the day, figure out the outfit that goes best with them, take a shower and then, of course, post my #shoeoftheday photo to Instagram before heading to work. Conveniently, I passed right over the red pumps that spelled disaster for me the night before. “Hmm, now what do I feel like wearing today?” I questioned, dancing to my closet and scanning all the shoes I own with my eyes, from my flats to my heels, boots to sneakers, in every color one can imagine. They were all intricately displayed on the shelves—heels facing out to show the length and style of the pump, flats facing forward to make it easier for me to see if it was a peep toe, curved toe, pointed toe, or square. “Oooh, these!” Something about my deep red, almost maroon peep-toe heels from BCBG caught my eyes, and I knew they were the ones for the day. The shoes were adorned with a silver buckle on the side of each peep toe and would go perfectly with my red-and pink floral blouse, black pencil skirt and peplum blazer to match. It was amazing how the rest of an outfit could come together for me once I picked out the shoes, and today was no exception. These might even be the ones to help me finally convince my boss to let me do the article I’d been pitching to him for months. Excited about my choices, I laid them out on my bed and hopped in the shower, continuing my best rap impressions as my playlist toggled through my favorite female rappers.

*

It was 9:00 a.m. when I walked into work at Washington, D.C.’s premier political news online magazine, my heels clacking on the linoleum floors they must have purchased just to make it that much easier for women to alert everyone of their comings and goings in the office. Seated at her desk already was my always-early, no-holds-barred freckle twin, and the best IT specialist in the office, Rebecca, her reddish-blond hair pulled up into a loose bun and a smile on her face the size of a kid in a candy store. “So…” she said, dragging out her first word. “Tell me about last night.”

Purchase The Shoe Diaries from:

Amazon | Paperback | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Goodreads

The Friendship Chronicles Series:

Bloom Where You’re Planted releases May 24, 2022

Darby Baham (she/her) is a debut author with Harlequin Special Edition and a New Yorker of five years who sometimes desperately misses the sprawling shoe closet she had while living in Maryland. She’s had personal blog posts appear in The Washington Post’s relationship vertical and has worked in the communications industry for more than two decades. The New Orleans, LA native is also a lover of big laughs and books that swallow you into their world. Her first book, The Shoe Diaries, debuts in 2022.

Darby Baham’s Washington Post bylines:

I had the perfect date dress. Why did it hang in my closet unworn for more than a year? – March 2016

When it comes to relationship advice, sometimes it’s best to ignore your friends – February 2016

I’m the oldest sister in my family and I’m single. And that’s okay. – March 2016

I was afraid to say ‘I love you.’ Here’s how I found the courage. – April 2016

Places to find Darby Baham:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Amazon Author Page

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Darby's book will be included in the January edition.

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