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.
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 always loved writing. In Middle School and High School, I wrote plays and short stories (and some SUPER bad poetry). But my first passion was always acting. It wasn’t until I was in my late twenties, after I had moved on from acting, that I realized how much I loved writing.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I got really lucky. I met my book agent at a cocktail party in Los Angeles. I told him about my experiences working in film production and development and he encouraged me to write a young adult novel based in that world. He sold my first novel, GIRL IN DEVELOPMENT, to Dutton just a few months later.
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?
Being succinct has never been one of my strengths…that’s why I became a novelist! But if I can only say one thing about my latest novel, CAMP RULES, it’s that there’s simply no place like camp, where you can actually become best friends with someone you would never sit at the same lunch table with at school, and you are encouraged to embrace your inner dork on a daily basis!
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I would have to say that the greatest inspiration for my stories has come from my friends and my family…and now, my husband! But inspiration comes in many forms…when I was writing GIRL IN DEVELOPMENT, I could walk down the street and be inspired by a building, or a bird, or anything around me as the story all took place in LA, so, Los Angeles itself was a character in the story. But for CAMP RULES, I relied heavily on my cousins Laura and Amanda and their friends as they were much closer in age to the camp experience.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My family is the best! They’re all on the east coast, so I do miss them, but I try to get back there as much as I can.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Pasta with tomato sauce from Nicola’s in New York City and coconut gelato from Al Gelato in Los Angeles.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Coffee, coffee, coffee…and I make two hard boiled eggs for my husband. And then more coffee.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?
Just the utter disarray and disorganization of it all would surprise anyone! But if you looked in the closet of my childhood bedroom at my parents’ apartment in NY, you would find my extensive eraser collection which I refuse to let my mother throw out.
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?
Who is everyone? I’ve never heard this tree question! I feel like I’ve been missing out. But, ok, I’ll answer the color question. I don’t know what color I’d be perse, but I know what colors I like…I like beige and green…not necessarily together (although they do look nice together).
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
I love Eloise. She was such a brat with a heart of gold and I loved that about her. Not that I’m a brat or that I’m condoning brat-hood in general, but I always loved Eloise…and I always loved The Plaza where she lived (which is now condos!), so I would definitely want to be Eloise.
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 go to Israel and South Africa in the 1970’s when my husband was a child. I love looking at baby pictures of him, but there is no video of him at that age. His mother says that he was allergic to everything and that he was a bit high maintenance. He is still allergic to everything, but he’s definitely not high maintenance (that’s my territory)…anyway, I would love to see what he was like as a child.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
I have very eclectic music taste. I like some mainstream/pop-py kind of music, and then I also like reggae, soul, R&B, etc. Right now, I am obsessed with the song “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Lick the Tins.
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?
My favorite TV show is The Office. I just can’t get enough of it. Other favorites are: Flight of the Conchords, Rescue Me, Entourage, The Wire, and Weeds. My favorite movies are Annie Hall, Broadcast News, Say Anything, Heathers, and more recently: Borat. The last movie I saw in the theater was Knocked Up…which I loved.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
You’re all going to hate me for saying this, but enjoy this age as much as you can…I mean, why do you think all of us weird adults write for you guys? Because we don’t want to grow up!
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Well, I hope to turn my new novel, CAMP RULES, into a feature film…and hope that GIRL IN DEVELOPMENT will be a tv show. In the meantime, I have a new *secret* idea for a tv series which I hope to pitch to networks this year…please stay tuned and visit me at www.jordanroter.com for any updates!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thank you for having me!
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