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. She offered me $50 for it, and later marked it up to $250. 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. At an estate sale more than twenty years ago, I bought what I thought was a majolica piece, for a dollar. After we moved to Atlanta, I continued my junking ritual. That’s where I met pickers, and later antique dealers. With no money and a tiny apartment to furnish, I started going to estate sales. Savannah was the first place my husband and I moved as 22-year-old newlyweds. 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.

Also, my mother was a junker, and I inherited that trait. 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. There’s a book giveaway at the end, so don’t go anywhere! So, get comfy and let’s have a chat with Mary Kay. I’m about half-way through it and it’s highly entertaining. This one is interesting and an easy fun read. There’s nothing better than chick lit on the beach. 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. We junkers just understand each other on a very basic level. I can imagine how fun that would be! Thrifting with Mary Kay. Pssst, Mary Kay, are you listening? 🙂 Let’s go to Scott’s! In fact, now that I’m back in Atlanta, where she lives too, I hope to do that again sometime.

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. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting author Mary Kay Andrews on a few occasions and she is just a funny, witty lady.

Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews