First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
Writing has always poured out of me, often splattering all over the floor! Usually I can’t write or type fast enough to get my thoughts down. It’s a very messy process for me – I often feel like an artist with paint smeared all over my smock; instead my clothes are stained with words and punctuation. Growing up, teachers either loved my work or thought I was nuts – so I figured I was destined to write in some capacity. It seemed to be the only thing that came naturally to me.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
It has been a long, winding, hilly road with lots of pit stops. While raising my children I freelanced here and there writing for a local newspaper, some magazines, etc. In the back of my mind I knew that some day I would write a book.
Then one morning in 1999 I read about a tween novel that had won the previous Delacorte Press contest for first time writers.I checked the winning book out of the library and thought to myself (don’t we all?), “Hey, I could have written that!”
I went online and found I had just 3 weeks until the next Delacorte Press contest deadline. So I dashed off a book. Of course it didn’t win anything, however I did receive a handwritten note from the editor asking that I send her any future work. (In the publishing world that’s a huge green light to keep writing.)
So I brushed up that manuscript and got an agent named Pema. Not surprisingly Pema didn’t sell my book and eventually suggested I toss it aside and try another. Feeling discouraged I put it all out of my mind for a few years until I felt inspired by a story in the news. Consequently I wrote my next book in about four months and was able to get a wonderful top-notch agent named Susie.
However Susie had one condition: I had to write a third book before she took me on. Ugh. As it turned out she felt my first two books showed promise but weren’t quite good enough. And she was right! The third book, FROM ALICE TO ZEN and EVERYONE IN BETWEEN, was the one that finally sold (to Lerner Publishing in 2006, released in 2008).
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Well if you’ve recently been diagnosed with gluten-intolerance then you will love my non-fiction book, GLEE! An Easy Guide to Gluten-Free Independence, coming out at the end of March!
However, if you’re a girl between 9 and 12 I think you’ll enjoy FROM ALICE TO ZEN – I hear from girls all over the country insisting they go to school with the characters. It’s a funny, upbeat book that empowers kids to be true to themselves. At book signings I usually inscribe: “May you always march to the beat of your own drum!” And every girl wants Zen for a best friendJ
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I cannot write about anyone or anything too close to me – I need distance from a situation/personalities so that I can fill in all the blanks with my imagination. I often base characters on people I’ve read about in the news. Right now a character in my upcoming novel is based on a real woman, named Sally Ann, who writes hysterical editorials in our local newspaper. I don’t want to meet Sally Ann because I’ve formed my own image of her.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My mom is definitely thrilled because she has always been my biggest fan! My husband has been very supportive and I think my kids are proud (although they’re teens and think everything I do is weird). Most of my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews have read FROM ALICE TO ZEN and have really enjoyed it.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
That’s easy since it’s been the same my whole life – hot, salty, buttered popcorn and lots of it!
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
(Apres la toilette) I pet my dog, turn on the morning news, then wake up my son, Nate, who is in HS (my daughter, Madeleine, is away at college). On weekends my husband and I love to sleep late.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?
I answered this question in my 2/16 blog J -- http://elizabethatkinson.com/blog/?p=258
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Moss green. I’m most at home in the green mossy woods as every forest is enchanted to me…filled with secrets.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
I would have to say Bobby Hill from King of the Hill, one of my favorite middle school characters.
Which cartoon character is most like you?
Betty Rubble, Wilma Flintstone’s best friend.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?
I would love to travel to France in the early 1900’s, the Belle Epoque period (known in English as the Golden Age). Paris was thriving aritistically and socially at the time. And on a personal level, my grandmother was a girl in Brittany on the coast of France during this period. It would be wonderful to know her as a girl! My grandmother, who was an artist, had a great influence on me.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
I am hugely influenced by music – music can completely alter my mood. I love to listen to classical (Bach, Chopin) in the morning, good rock and soul (John Legend, Jason Mraz, Joss Stone, Bonnie Raitt) during the day, and old jazz (Charles Mingus, Betty Carter, Thelonius Monk) in the evening. I also run on my treadmill everyday as well and blast my Ipod (bad for my ears I’m sure). However I need silence when I write. That’s why I often go up to my cottage in the mountains of Maine to work. It’s very quiet.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
I love to hear people’s stories so I enjoy shows like Inside the Actors Studio, Larry King, and Charlie Rose. But I also like good sitcoms such as The Office and 30 Rock. I have to confess I also dabble in some reality TV like What Not to Wear, American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars! Movies, like books, must be character driven for me to like. I’m a huge Woody Allen fan. I don’t get to the movie theater that often – last movie I saw at a theater was Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen).
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Find ways to keep writing. Everything hones your craft. I knew a very successful writer who started her career writing obituaries for the newspaper. And secondly, relax. When you’re ready to write a book you’ll write it. It could happen when you’re 20 or 80 … that’s the wonderful thing about writing. It’s ageless.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I’m very excited about my next book THE FREKE FAMILY REUNION! Susie (my agent) said it’s a terrific companion book to FROM ALICE TO ZEN. Unfortunately it’s been held up due to staffing changes at my publishing house, but hopefully it will be out next year!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thank you!! ea
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