Hobokenite Kate Rockland's Debut Novel Hits Stores Tuesday

Hobokenite Kate Rockland loves New Jersey. Need proof? Check out her debut novel, Falling Is Like This, in stores May 11th.

"I think of it as a love letter to NJ," says Rockland, 28. "I try to describe when you're on NJ Transit going to the suburbs from the city, which I used to do to visit my parents, and you see so many interesting things." 

As much as she loves the state as a whole, the bubbly Jersey Girl especially loves Hoboken. Rockland grew up in Morristown, is a 2003 graduate of Rutgers University and now resides in the Mile Square. Ask the self-described "scatterbrain" about her adopted hometown and she can't stop smiling.

"What's not to love about Hoboken?" Rockland, 28, asks over iced-tea at Maroon Café. "I love the community aspect of it and I love running into people I know all the time."

Falling Is Like This has been in the works for more than three years. The fictional novel chronicles a week in the life of 23-year-old Harper Rostov. According to a press release, Rostov "deserts her relationship of two years and falls head-over-heels for a punk rocker."

Rockland spent six months writing the novel at a café in Manhattan's East Village, where she lived before moving to Hoboken three years ago.

"The idea was that when you're very young a subtle change in your life can be huge," Rockland says. "You can meet a person and fall in love in a week. I think when you're in your early 20s, you don't realize it until you're older, but every new place you go can lead to meeting someone you marry or finding your forever home, or finding a job you love."

Her second novel, 150 Pounds, which is about a third of the way finished, takes place in the Mile Square, in an apartment above Empire Coffee and Tea Company on 4th Street. Writing at Empire is more challenging than it was in the city.

"I know so many people now in Hoboken, that when I'm sitting there typing I don't get as much work done," she says. " I used to feel very lonely. Even though there were people around me, still felt very lonely. Here, I get less work done but I'm a lot happier."

In addition to writing in Hoboken, Rockland teaches pre-school at the Brandt School and, for the first time this year, will help teach a sewing and fashion design summer camp at M. Avery Designs. She is involved with Project Play; and her cats are adopted from the Hoboken Animal Hospital.

In the past, Rockland has been published in the New York Times Style section, Time Out New York, Us Weekly, Spin and The Star Ledger. She worked for Rolling Stone for years, and was an assistant editor at Wenner Books. 

She found the inspiration – and the time – to write her debut novel after being laid off by Rolling Stone. She spent six months writing, relying on unemployment checks to pay the bills.

"I got the book deal the day I got my last unemployment check," she says.  

If you happen to know Rockland, there is always a chance you will pop up in her next book. Empire C&T Co. owner Abbie Rivers will be in 150 Pounds. Several characters in Falling Is Like This are named for her close friends and editors who published her first pieces.

There will also be pieces of Hoboken history throughout the novel. The main character, Shoshana, has a dog named Sinatra. Shoshana chooses the name because, Rockland says, "he pees on the Sinatra star in Hoboken when she adopts him."

As for her debut novel, it has received positive reviews from the likes of Courtney Love, who called it "saucy, sexy and well-written."

"It was pretty cool," Rockland says of the review, "because I was a huge Hole fan when I was younger."

But, as a true Jersey girl, Rockland was even more excited about another review: that of Greg Attonito, of the Jersey punk-band The Bouncing Souls. Attonito said, "I was drawn in completely right away... The story is full of real emotion and life."

"That was really exciting," Rockland says, "'cause he's from a Jersey band!"