Jacqueline Simon Gunn Talks the Hudson River Series

Does the Hudson River Series have any parallels that could be drawn from your life?

Most of the Hudson River series takes place in the towns of New Jersey that are right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Forever and One Day (book 1) takes place in both New Jersey and New York City.

I grew up in a town called North Bergen in New Jersey, which sits right on the Hudson River. It’s a unique area of the state, because it’s so close to New York City. It’s almost more like a suburb of Manhattan. We have accents that sound almost identical to New York accents. It’s crowded. It’s intense. It’s diverse. The river and the view of the New York City skyline really make it special.

I wanted to capture aspects of New York City and the Hudson River towns in New Jersey in the series. Several characters went to the same high school as I did. Many of my friends from childhood had read my thriller series which takes place in Manhattan. I wrote the Hudson River series in the area we grew up in, for them, so they could recognize locations. I have had many old friends tell me that they loved the books, particularly because the setting was familiar and brought back many fond memories.

What did you enjoy most about writing Chasing Kat?

I loved writing the entire story. I felt all of the complex emotions between Kat and Bax. The book goes back and forth in time so readers get to see not only what happens when they meet again, but also the history of their close friendship and what caused the abrupt ending. I really enjoyed writing the scenes when they were in high school and college. Kat was a strong, spirited young girl, who had a sense of courage and conviction that I lacked at that age.

Kat and Bax meet their freshman year in high school in English class. One of Bax’s friends, Zipper, is talking about having sex with a girl in a disrespectful manner. Kat, overhearing the conversation, confronts Zipper, telling him he sounds insecure. When Zipper responds with a nasty comment, Kat gives it right back to him. Bax eventually stands up for her which is the moment when they first notice each other. This is just one example of a scene written when she is a young girl. It was liberating to write a character who was strong in a way I wish I had been at that age.

About Jacqueline Simon Gunn

Jacqueline Simon Gunn is a Manhattan-based clinical psychologist and writer. She has authored two non-fiction books and co-authored two others. She has published many articles, both scholarly and mainstream, and currently works as a freelance writer. Gunn is now writing psychological fiction, love stories and thrillers. Always in search of truth and fascinated by human behavior, her fiction writing, like psychology, is a way for her to explore human nature — motivation, emotions, relationships.

In addition to her clinical practice and writing, Gunn is an avid runner and reader, a serious cat lover and a coffee connoisseur. She is currently working on multiple writing projects.

About Chasing Kat

Chasing Kat Hudson River Book 3 by Jacqueline Simon Gunn
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

It’s been twelve years since Kat laid eyes on Baxter Adams, her first love, her best friend, the boy who broke her heart. Though Bax shied away from commitments, Kat was the one girl he wanted to know forever, someone he would do anything for. Except date. Then in a moment that ripped both of their hearts out, they ended a friendship they thought would last a lifetime.

Now, Kat believes her past with Bax is finally behind her… until he’s hired at the magazine where she works. At first, they slip easily into their close camaraderie, ignoring events of the past. But is rekindling their old friendship enough? Or is something deeper still between them?

While Bax wants nothing more than to earn back Kat’s trust, blaming himself for the way things ended between them, he has no idea that Kat still harbors guilt for breaking a promise that changed the course of his life. And she never had the courage to tell him.

In an emotional story about long-lost friendships, passionate love and the bonds that endure, will the past that ties them together also tear them apart?

This is book three in the Hudson River series but can be read as a stand-alone.

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