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Twitterview: Trish Doller

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Trish Doller, author of SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL (reviewed here), stops by to play along with our Twitterview series, which celebrates being two years old today (and you can read the full archive of Twitterviews here). Along with talking about the Marine back story, her favorite moment in the book, and, of course, her favorite ice cream, you have a chance to win a finished copy of the book at the end of the post. Without further ado, Trish.

 

Pitch SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL in 140 characters
A young Marine’s struggle with adjusting to life–family, friends, love, death, and post-combat stress–after Afghanistan.

What inspired SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL?

In 2003, I interviewed a Marine home from Iraq. Couldn’t get over how someone so young had seen and done so much. That stuck.

You wrote through the eyes and with the voice of a male main character. How did you get into the mindset/perspective? 
My son’s friends spent hours at our house. I paid attention to what they did, said, and — more importantly — how they said it. 

Travis is a Marine, and he’s inspired by those who do serve. Care to talk about the influence?

Without the Marines who patiently answered my questions, there would not be a SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL. They are everything.
In Something Like Normal, Travis is suffering PTSD — how did you handle incorporating such a huge thing without making it the central plot?
I read the memoir of a real marine who dealt with PTSD. For many Marines and soldiers, it’s a part of life but not the central plot.

What’s your favorite moment in the book? 

When Travis is recalling Charlie’s story of why he became a Marine. I know I wrote it, but it never fails to make me laugh. (Kelly’s note: I loved this scene too).

What should readers walk away with from Something Like Normal? 

Knowing that Travis isn’t an extraordinary Marine and that his struggles aren’t unusual for the real Marines who’ve inspired him.

What was the road to publication like for you? 
Bumpy. My first book was cancelled by the publisher, so my second book is now my debut. Seems to have turned out for the best, though.

Who or what do you write for?
I write because to not write would be unimaginable. I’ve just been very fortunate that others think there is value in what I write.
What was your most influential read as a teenager? 
S. E. Hinton. She was a huge step away from middle grade favorites like George and Wilder into something more unsettling and raw.

Who are your top three writing influences?
Kirsty Eagar, Melina Marchetta, and Cath Crowley. Wonderful voice, wonderful writing, and a bar set very high.

Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?
Steve Brezenoff and Nova Ren Suma are doing really cool things that make me want to be a better writer.

What’s the best writing advice you ever received? 
I asked Maureen Johnson when you know your book is ready. She said sometimes you just have to jump. I think that applies to all things.

What’s your best writing advice to give? 
Trust your instinct. So many times I’ve second-guessed a scene that’s already written as it’s meant to be. Don’t fiddle too much.

What is your writing routine?
Fly-by-the-seat of my pants. Some days I’m on fire. Other days, I spend the entire time on twitter and tumblr. I really need a routine.

What gets you jazzed to write? 
An empty house, plenty of Coke & snacks, and the right music. Since that’s a rare and perfect storm, housework avoidance works, too.

You use visual inspiration for your stories. Give us a peak at your Something Like Normal inspiration. 

I do!

Do you have a writing soundtrack? Share a bit?

My favorites from my SLN soundtrack are This is Letting Go by Rise Against and Bullet by Mat Kearney. The whole list is here.

What’s next for you?
Writing, writing, and more writing.

Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate almond chip.

Want to win a copy of Trish’s book? I’ll pick one winner at the end of the month. 

Twitterview: Amy Reed

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This month, we’re interviewing Amy Reed, author of Crazy (released yesterday), as well as Clean and Beautiful, both as part of our monthly Twitterview series and as part of the Summer Blog Blast Tour — check out the entire schedule for the SBBT for more author interviews. 
Amy’s here to talk about the inspirations behind her story, her choice in setting, and the experiences that led her to write about teens who don’t always have it easy or don’t always come out unscathed. You can enter to win a copy of Crazy, too, at the end of the interview. 
Pitch Crazy in 140 characters.
A bipolar love story.
What inspired Crazy?
My own experiences with depression and trying to understand what it’s like on the other side of the relationship.
Izzy succumbs to a dark bout of depression without becoming a cliche. What sort of research did writing her story require?
The best sources were my own experiences and relationships with amazing people who suffer from mental illness.
You write from both Connor and Izzy’s perspective. Did you find one easier/more exciting to write than the other?
Writing Izzy when she was manic was the most exciting because I got to feel it too. But I got to leave and she didn’t.
Crazy is set up as an exchange of emails. Why that format?
I was inspired by two of my favorite YA novels: The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Punkzilla, which are both brilliantly told in letters.
Seattle is the setting (at least in part) of all three of your novels. Any reason?
That’s where I grew up. When I think about life as a teenager, I picture it happening there.
Why do you write YA?
I want to write the books I needed when I was a teen but couldn’t find.
Who or what do you write for?
I write for everyone, but especially teens who might be a little bit lost and need help finding their path.
What was your most influential read as a teenager?
The poetry of Anne Sexton and the book Girl, Interrupted.
Who are your top three writing influences?
Anne Sexton. Richard Russo. Margaret Atwood.
Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?
If a genre called “Literary YA” exists, John Green and Laurie Halse Anderson are the king and queen of it.
What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Figure out what your character’s biggest fear is, and then make them confront it.
What’s your best writing advice to give?
Show, don’t tell.
What is your writing routine?
Take notes all week, then sit down to write Friday and Saturday. Wake up early and really think of it as going to work.
What gets you jazzed to write?
Believing that my characters need me to tell their stories.
Do you have a writing soundtrack? Care to share a bit?
Silence. Music influences my emotions too much. I want to let my characters have all my attention.
What’s next for you?
Just sent Book #4 to my editor, so I’ll start edits for that soon. Starting writing Book #5, which will be done next spring.
Favorite ice cream?
Anything chocolate

As I was preparing this post, I stumbled across Amy’s very personal blog post about the inspirations behind Crazy that is worth reading. She talks a little bit more in detail about some of what she mentions in this Twitterview. 

Want a copy of Crazy? Fill out the form below. I’ll pick a winner June 30.

Twitterview: Blythe Woolston

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This month’s Twitterview victim is none other than Blythe Woolston, the Morris Award winning author of The Freak Observer. She’s here to talk about her recent release, Catch & Release (reviewed here), as well as what inspires her stories, what she listens to while writing, and her favorite kind of ice cream.

We’re also giving away a copy of Catch & Release and I also have an audiobook of The Freak Observer to share.

Pitch Catch & Release in 140 characters.
It’s a buddy movie——except 1 of the guys is a Vagina American. “A flesh-eating bacteria road novel with a pink cover.” #whyIdontpitchbooks
What inspired Catch & Release?
Indexing this book
+Book IX of The Odyssey, bad TV, and a trip to the emergency room.
Why MRSA?
Leaving aside grue and danger, MRSA is an intrepid little life form. It is proof life goes on despite adversity. #environmentalscreedbonus
Catch & Release weaves science into the plot and grounds it firmly. Want to talk about science and fiction?
We are all born scientists, testing the edges of the world, figuring things out——fiction makes a play for the brain #Iwillrecruityoursynapses
Define Polly and Odd.
This is how I first saw them.
Then I got to know them. Polly makes the female hero’s journey…

Odd is both Odysseus and Odin.
Fishing — something not usually seen in YA, either as sport or as pastime — plays an integral role in the plot. Why choose fishing?
Fishing is actually pretty normal behavior, both in fact and in fiction. It’s time to think, biology happening, and the great journey.
Setting works as a character in both Catch & Release and The Freak Observer. Talk about your use of rural and (if I may) depressed locations.
Those places made me. There are more stories than people in rural places, probably. More stories than money, for sure.
The Freak Observer won last year’s Morris Award. How did that feel?
Shocking. I was a stunned bunny. It happened when I wasn’t sure I should be writing at all. The Morris tipped the scale. #librarianpower
Who or what do you write for?
1st I write for myself, to watch the story unfold. 2nd I hope for other readers to give it a home in their brain. 3rd to change the world.
What was your most influential read as a teenager?
Very difficult question. It depended upon the day and hour, but Sutcliff, Bradbury, LeGuin, Vonnegut——and Thorstein Veblen.
Who are your top three writing influences?
My editors: Liz Bicknell, Andrew Karre, Leah Wilson. BTW Influence=to stream ethereal power from the stars acting upon character or destiny
Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?
I’m going to dodge the bullet on this one and say only this: YA is the Cambrian Explosion literature-wise.
What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
“This is the most depressing sh!t I’ve ever read. Don’’t ask me to read any more of it.” (Moral: Not everyone is my audience.)
What’s your best writing advice to give?
Don’t try to bend the story to your will.
What is your writing routine?
My life is chaotic. When I really need to write, it often happens in the middle of the night. I never sleep for 7 hours straight anyway.
What gets you jazzed to write?
I don’’t know if it’s endorphins or what, but writing gives me a serious buzz. The same is true of reading…
Do you have a writing soundtrack? Care to share a bit?
I’m too stupid to listen to lyrics while I think, so I listen to things I don’t understand like Scandinavian roots



and Deadmau5
What’s next for you?
Black Helicopters, the story of a suicide bomber born in Montana, comes out early in 2013.
Favorite ice cream?
I am for equal justice. I love all ice cream. (NOTE: I haven’t eaten raw horse ice cream, so that might be…awful.)

Blog Tour: Q&A with Aaron Karo

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We’re thrilled to welcome Aaron Karo to the blog today for a stop on the Lexapros and Cons blog tour! This hilarious book was released this past Tuesday, April 10th, and here Aaron talks a bit about his inspiration behind the book, his writing and research process, and…why YA?

1. Your previous work has been in comedy and writing humor for adults. Why did you decide to write YA and how was that transition?

My three previous books were also nonfiction. I really wanted to move into fiction. But the market for male-focused adult fiction is pretty limited. I realized there was an entire world of YA that I had yet to explore and that was hungry for an awesome dude book. So the short answer is: money.

2. What kind of research did you do to portray a teen struggling with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

Well, Chuck Taylor is basically me. All of the OCD symptoms in the book I have suffered from at some point. I actually counted how often I masturbated for an entire year (luckily that was in ninth grade and I don’t do it anymore!). All of the stove checking and the obsession with hand sanitizer – those are all things I do now. So writing about OCD was very personal and really required introspection rather than research.

3. Your book seamlessly melds a quite serious disorder with hilarious, often raunchy details. Did you find it hard to achieve this balance?

I think that just comes from being a stand-up comedian. A lot of the topics I talk about onstage could be considered serious, but you still gotta make the crowd laugh. I actually don’t think the book is that raunchy. Sure Chuck drops the F-bomb a lot, but that’s just how kids talk. Though maybe my view of “raunchy” is quite different than the typical YA reader!

4. Speaking of comedy, what are a few of your favorite funny books and/or movies?

I love David Sedaris. He is one of the few authors who really makes me laugh out. Movie-wise, I like all the classics: Major League, Anchorman, Zoolander, etc. There was a time not too long ago when I watched Zoolander every week for a year. I needed to get out more.

5. Do you have a specific writing routine? Anything you NEED to be productive?

I’m a big outliner. I outlined the entire story in Excel first, one sentence for each of the 60 chapters. When I’m actually writing, I need total silence and large blocks of time. Like I can’t sit down for 20 minutes and bang out a paragraph, I need like 6-8 hour stretches where I really get immersed. I can’t have any music playing or anyone around. I am very easily distracted. Once I get in a groove though, I can write FAST. Not counting outlining, I wrote Lexapros in a month (and then spent a year editing it). I just cranked it out. Generally speaking though, I can only crank if I really feel inspired. Chuck was a very inspiring character to write though. It flowed.

6. How did you come up with the protagonist’s name, Chuck Taylor?

The main character was always going to have OCD and the book was always called Lexapros and Cons. It wasn’t until halfway through brainstorming the story that I realized that Cons could not only be “negatives,” as in “pros and cons,” but also Cons as in Converse. And then I thought it’d be interesting if one of the things the main characters was OCD about was Converse. And then I just needed a reason why he would be obsessed with that particular brand. And then the light bulb hit – his name should be Chuck Taylor!

7. Who are some of your writing inspirations and why?

In my writing, as with my stand-up, I wouldn’t say I am inspired by anyone in particular. When I first started doing stand-up, I consciously avoided studying other, famous stand-ups because I didn’t want to copy anyone’s style. I took the same approach when I started writing YA. I didn’t study the genre too thoroughly; I honestly just pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and started writing. I figured I would inspire myself…and luckily it worked!


Thanks to Aaron for a great interview! Find him on Twitter at @aaronkaro and find out more about the book at Lexaprosandcons.com. Thank you, also to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for offering a copy of Lexapros and Cons for a giveaway!

To enter, please fill out the form below. One entry per person, US addresses only. You must be at least 13 years old to enter. Entries will be accepted through Sunday, April 22 and I’ll draw one winner on Monday, April 23rd. I will share the winner’s information with the publisher who will send the book. Your information will be deleted after the contest is over.

Twitterview: Antony John

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This month’s Twitterview guest is none other than Antony John, author of the forthcoming Thou Shalt Not Road Trip, as well as Five Flavors of Dumb, Busted, and the Fall 2012 title Elementals. He’s here to talk about road trips, brother relationships, music, and more. I give Antony some huge props for tackling this Twitterview with his signature charm and humor — this is his first time “tweeting,” and I think he has the hang of 140-characters down pat! 

As a bonus, there’s a giveaway of Thou Shalt Not Road Trip at the end of the Twitterview.

Without further ado, here’s Antony: 
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Pitch Thou Shalt Not Road Trip in 140 characters.
Luke’s on Route 66 to promote his book, Hallelujah. His ex-crush is hitching a ride. It’ll be life-changing. Just not in the way he expects.
What inspired Thou Shalt Not Road Trip?
A spiritual connection with Route 66 & vivid recollections of some weird theological discussions from my youth.
What should readers walk away with from Thou Shalt Not Road Trip?
Two lessons (it’s vital to communicate; you can’t please everyone, and you really shouldn’t try) and several laughs.
Faith and conviction are big themes in the story (not just spiritually, but in terms of relationships, too). Talk a bit about that.
It’s hard to keep faith in someone (or something) during rapid and unexpected change. I wanted to explore that from several angles.
This is a book set on the road — did you have a favorite place to write about in Thou Shalt Not Road Trip?
Maybe Devil’s Elbow, an old Route 66 river crossing. It’s totally neglected now, but you can see why people used to stop for the view.
Why the choice to set this story on the road?
I love road trips—in which literal and metaphorical journeys collide—and Route 66 runs through Missouri, which is where I live!
Sibling stories are growing in the YA world. How would you describe Luke and brother Matt’s relationship?
Complicated. They want to believe in each other and remain close, but circumstances make that difficult. True for a lot siblings, I guess.
Who or what do you write for?
I write for teen me: the quintessential reluctant reader. I needed drama, and flawed characters, and lots of plot twists. Still do actually!
What was your most influential read as a teenager?
THE OUTSIDERS, hands down. It was so far removed from my own experience growing up in England, and the voice was just electrifying.
Who are your top three writing influences?
For how they affect my writing, it’d be: my wife, Audrey; my agent, Ted; and my editor, Liz. They’re my A-Team.
Who do you believe is breaking ground in YA right now?
Too many authors to count. Meg Rosoff, Sara Zarr, John Green, Suzanne Collins, etc etc. This is a great time to be in YA.
What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Read your work out loud. It’s the true litmus test. If it sounds right when you read aloud, it’ll work when read silently.
What’s your best writing advice to give?
Enjoy the process of writing. Whether you write for fun or as a career, you have to enjoy it. Otherwise, find something you like more.
What is your writing routine?
Drop the kids at school and get writing immediately. After lunch, attempt to deal with everything else. Fail. Make a cup of tea instead.
What gets you jazzed to write?
Everything. I never lack for motivation. I have so many books I want to write. I just need more time!
Music is your background. How does it influence your writing?
I tend to obsess over structure – making sure the sections of the book feel balanced—and pacing (even down to the rhythm of a sentence).
Do you have a writing soundtrack? Care to share a bit?
Depends on the project. Classical mixes for fantasy (very atmospheric) and rock for contemporary. But my tastes are very eclectic (i.e. weird).
What’s next for you?
ELEMENTAL – a fantasy adventure set on the Outer Banks, featuring teens who control the elements . . . all except one. Coming fall 2012.
Favorite ice cream?
Haagen-Dazs Pralines and Cream, although I haven’t had it in ages. Too long, to be honest. Actually, I’m off to get some right now.