It’s been a difficult year for Marta Zinsser and her
11-year-old daughter, Eva. Marta relocated with Eva from New York
City back to the Seattle neighborhood where she grew up (and
couldn’t wait to flee from), mainly because Marta’s
mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s. There was also an old
boyfriend who Marta wouldn’t mind being away from. But
settling in is proving to be harder than both Zinsser women
anticipated. Eva yearns to be part of the popular crowd in her
middle school and bemoans the fact that Marta is not like the other
mothers. Other moms don’t wear ripped jeans, go without
makeup and ride a Harley. Other moms look impeccable, wear
perfectly applied makeup and revel in the numerous committees their
kids’ school spits forth. Eva so wants to belong, and Marta
thinks if she tones down her own distinctive personality, things
might go easier for her daughter.
 
“Toning it down” was the last thing Marta would have
considered back in her Tribeca neighborhood a year earlier. She
loved her fast-paced life as an advertising executive and single
mother to her daughter. Too bad her professional success
didn’t trickle over into her private life. After a painful
breakup with a married boyfriend, Marta decides that although love
might not be in the cards, why should she give up her dream of
being a mother? One artificial insemination later, she’s the
proud parent to a baby girl, who she happily raises amid the hustle
and bustle of New York City. But when Marta’s mother is
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she decides that a move back to
Seattle is needed and accepts a position out west.
 
Shortly after beginning the new job, she realizes that being her
own boss would suit her rebellious personality far better and
starts her own advertising firm. She sets up shop with a small
affable staff in the carriage house behind her own: a perfect
solution for a working mother. But now, her sweet daughter reads
wedding magazines obsessively and dreams of hanging with the
popular kids. As much as Marta stresses the joy of being your own
person to her daughter, it falls on deaf ears. Eva wants to be like
all her peers --- and desperately wishes that Marta could be like
all the other moms.
 
Much to her chagrin, Marta tries to assimilate, for Eva’s
sake. But trying to run a successful company, organize a birthday
sleepover and volunteer at Eva’s school, Marta is left with
precious little time for a private life. That is, until she meets
Luke, who is tall, handsome, wealthy and (icing on the cake) loves
Marta for the quirky soul she is. But after being so horribly
hurt before, can she put the past aside and move forward?
 
ODD MOM OUT is a lively entry into the new “Mommy-lit”
lexicon (a subgenre that came after “chick-lit” and
“lad-lit”), where the reader can root for (and relate
to) the harried working mother, trying to balance work and home.
The novel’s pacing is quick and breezy. Like Jane
Porter’s previous book, THE FROG PRINCE, it tackles relatable
topics: Do you have to surrender your identity to get ahead? And
can an overworked, underappreciated, working single mom find love?
Readers hope the answers are “no” and
“yes,” respectively.