Interview with Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm

 

Jennifer Holm.com

Matthew Holm.net

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 today…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.

Ha, ha! I know that line—I was a waitress (I mean, “server”) in college. “Today’s specials include a lovely broiled salmon with a lemon-dill-butter sauce.” Actually, the most interesting thing I learned waitressing was that whatever was on “special” was the oldest food laying around—they just wanted to get rid of it!

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?

I recently found something I wrote when I was in second grade which amused my husband. It said “I want to be an arkealagest, actor, artist.” Oh, and I also made a point of mentioning how many freckles I had at the time (12).

But, seriously, I was a huge reader when I was a kid. I still am, and my taste in reading hasn’t changed much (I still read a ton of comics). Becoming a writer was very much an unattainable sort of dream to me back then. I came from a practical family. My mother was a nurse, and my dad was a doctor. I don’t think I ever seriously considered becoming a writer. Some days I still hardly believe I’m allowed to wear my pajamas to work.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

It was not a very dramatic-overnight-success sort of thing. It took me several boring years to write my first novel, OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA. And then after it was written it took at least another year or so of rejections to finally get an agent. And then after my fabulous agent sold it, it took about three years for it to be published! So, the first lesson I learned about publishing was that nothing happens fast.

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?

BABYMOUSE: MONSTER MASH will be published in September 2008. Buy it because it’s (get this!) black and …..ORANGE! the very first Babymouse that’s not pink!

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

My family. Go directly to the next question for more details.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

If I had one word to sum up my family it would be: boys. I have four brothers (no sisters), and so that has been a real influential force in my life. Also, my dad is a lover of historical fiction and he really sparked that love in me. Thanks, Dad! And my mom, of course, has been hugely supportive. She’s always barging into bookstores and telling them to carry my books!

MATT: Hey, what about ME? You'd think drawing 800+ pages worth of Babymouse would get you SOME kind of recognition ... (grumble grumble)

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Pretzels. (I’m a salt junkie.)

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Feed the baby.

Drink coffee.

Check my email.

(wow—this sounds really boring now that I’m writing it down!)

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 collect antique photography and have boxes of the stuff.

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?

Yellow. It’s a happy color. I’m a pretty happy person most days.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

JENNI: Matt drew this funny little alien character and hairball creature when he was in middle school. I don’t even know what his name is.

MATT: His name was "Zug." (Which was the name of the library at our brother Jon's college.) Zug's head was like two eyeballs on a stick. Very muppety-looking. He had a surly, furry sidekick named "Zurph" that was just a hairball with two eyes. (What do you expect? I was in seventh grade.)

JENNI: I love that hairball guy.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Babymouse. (she is me!) Well, a pink mousy version of me.

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?

1840’s New York City. It was such an interesting time. Probably a pretty stinky time, too.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I make a playlist for every book I write, so it changes constantly. Lately, I’m finding my best music from tv shows (songs on Grey’s Anatomy, etc.) Right now I have Maroon 5, A Fine Frenzy, Ingrid Michaelson, and James Blunt on my ipod. (Yes, I am a Mac girl all the way.)

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’m addicted to THE WIRE, even more so now that I live in Baltimore. My guilty pleasures are THE HILLS and THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY. They’re like traffic accidents; I can’t stop watching!

The last movie I saw was BEOWULF in 3D. I thought the script was an interesting interpretation of the legend, but found the animation off-putting.

I used to produce commercials before I became a writer, so I have a lot of opinions on special effects. I hate realistic 3D people.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Don’t worry about what anyone thinks of you. You’re cooler than you know.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

I’m working on a historical novel that, at the rate it’s going, will be done by the time my new daughter’s in kindergarten! Ugh!

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!

No, thank YOU! :)