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 1. How did you get the idea for The Center of the Universe (Yep, That Would Be Me)?
In the book, I actually blame my mother for forcing the idea on me by asking me to come clean out some old boxes I'd left at her place post-college. And, when I grudgingly went to do so, I found a box of my old high school journals, SAT workbooks, a shoebox of notes my friends and I passed in classes and scads of poetry. It was all there. I just had to fill in some blanks (it took me, like, twenty minutes) and voila! a finished manuscript. My editor did most of the work. But that's what Simon & Schuster pays her for, right?
2. What brought you to write for the YA genre? Do you think you'll continue to write more teen books?
My first book, How to Heal the Hurt by Hating, told the story of how my boyfriend, Mitchell, of three-and-a-half years dumped me for a woman named Heather and, to get even, I decided to devote my entire career to humiliating him in public. When Mitchell dumped me, we had been living together, I was in my late twenties, well out of high school and college and working at temp jobs to make money. On the surface, it didn't seem that there was anything in the story that would attract young adult readers. But, for some reason, they were attracted. High school students have flocked to the book, even going so far as to use excerpts in theater classes for monologues and in nationwide interscholastic poetry and dramatic competitions. I guess there's something about my writing that resonates and feels familiar to a high school audience. Knowing that this audience for my work was out there, I guess I wanted to give them a book of their own with stories and experiences to which they could relate even more. So I did. Is there anything else anyone in my audience wants? Back rub? Money? Pizza? 'Cause clearly I'm willing to deliver.
And write more teen books? Heck, yeah. I do like telling the story of Anita Liberty, so I do want to do another "chapter" of her life as well ¬ Anita Liberty: The College Years or Anita Liberty Procreates or Anita Liberty's Revenge Poetry for Pre-Schoolers.
3. Courtesy of Marissa Doyle, who asked me this a while back and I now can't get it out of my head and must ask people now, what is your favorite jelly bean flavor?
Toasted marshmallow. (How's that for specific? And truthful? And gourmet?)
4. What are some of your favorite YA novels? Who are some of your favorite YA authors?
My absolute favorite YA books are the Philip Pullman series, His Dark Materials. I love Lyra and the fact that her journey through these strange worlds so beautifully echoes the transition from childhood to adulthood. I'm also a huge Harry Potter fan. I read every single one the minute it came out. Other favorites are I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend (I've only read the first of that series and in writing out this list, I realized that I want/need to read the rest of it). And when I was a kid, I loved anything by Judy Blume.
I also have to digress to a different medium to mention the YA television series to which I've been addicted 90210, Party of Five, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars. (Is that okay? Or are all you YA readers too snooty for television? Sorry. I don't want to fight.)
5. What is your writing process like? Do you have any special rituals or anything?
I get up at about 4:30am, do about a half-hour of yoga, make myself a green tea, go into my sparely-decorated office with my ergonomic chair and uncluttered desk and write for six to seven hours straight. I then clean the house, knit an afghan, make a complicated and nutritious dinner for my family, put my child to bed (after telling her a fantastical and compelling story I made up on the spot), make beautiful and imaginative love to my husband, go back to my sparely-decorated office and write for another couple hours before bed. HA! In reality, my writing process is haphazard and piecemeal. I write when I can. I respond well to deadlines. I always think that everything I write is crap (until it's published and then I think it's brilliant). I'm best on my first cup of coffee. I like to eat sugary snacks. I bite my nails relentlessly. I rarely write for fun. My favorite moment when I'm writing is the moment I'm done. That's the best. Just being able to say I'm a writer is so much more fun than actually doing the work. And, yet, I continue to feel compelled to do the work.
6. Are you working on anything now? Can you tell us anything about it?
I'm not currently working on another book. Between books, I write television scripts. I think of an idea for a series, go into a network, pitch the idea and, hopefully, the network agrees to pay me to write the script for the first episode. I also recently wrote some minisodes for a series produced by MTV and Dove (the soap, not the chocolate) called FRESH TAKES. It starred Alicia Keys and was about three women in their twenties who live in New York City and help each other to cope with the pressure of their daily lives. Each new minisode premiered during The Hills starting at the end of March and then lived online. It was a lot of fun. I was on set for all the episodes (filmed on location in New York and Los Angeles). I got to meet Alicia, who was incredibly nice, and also Nick Lachey, who played Alicia's work nemesis in one of the five minisodes. He was also really nice. And I particularly enjoyed pretending that I was checking his wardrobe by running my hand across the thin cashmere sweater he was wearing. I mean, of course I had to check his wardrobe. I wrote the part! I needed to weigh in on every single aspect of production. What? A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. |
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