Interview with Heidi M. Thomas

www.heidimthomas.com

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 like to say I was born with ink in my veins. I’ve always written stories, from the time I began to write and spell.

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

It’s been a long road. I started writing fiction in 1993 with a series of original fairytales that I still hope to get published one day. In 1996, I began my first novel, which will actually be the third in my series. The novel I’ve just had published, Cowgirl Dreams, was started in 1999. It’s taken ten years to finally get to this point.

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?

Cowgirl Dreams is based on my grandmother who, as a teenager, rode bucking steers in Montana rodeos during the 1920s. You don’t have to be “into westerns” to read this book. Dreams are the same, whether in the 1920s or today.

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

My grandmother, of course, for this book. And my dad who told me many anecdotes of family history, which are the basis for all of my books so far.

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

My seven-year-old grandniece recently asked her mom, “Is Aunt Heidi famous now?” and she took the book to school for Show & Tell. My husband and family on both our sides are my biggest supporters—I couldn’t have done this without them.

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

Chocolate!

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

Make coffee, read a Bible study, and either read manuscripts that I’m editing or read books about writing.

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 don’t have many pairs of shoes, and the only cowboy boots I have belonged to my grandfather.

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?

Red. It’s bright and courageous and confident, things I need to help me promote myself and my book.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Rose, in “Rose is Rose” (newspaper comic strip) because when she needs courage, she morphs from her quiet, nice-gal self into a motorcycle babe—strong and assertive.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Maybe the Roadrunner—because he never gives up!

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 back to about 1923 and watch my grandma ride those steers.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to?

I enjoy all types, depending on my mood, from classic rock to classical. Favorite musical artists? That changes with whatever song or piece I’m “into” at the moment—from Il Divo to Brooks and Dunn.

Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I do sometimes and sometimes I like the quiet while I’m writing. I’ll listen either to classical like Mozart because it stimulates the brain or, since I’m working on western stories, I might listen to country music to put me in the mood.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows?

I like music-related shows like American Idol, America’s Got Talent, or Dancing with the Stars. I also like the CSI or Law & Order and House TV shows.

Movies you watch over and over again?

I don’t usually watch movies over.

What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

My husband & I usually get our movies from Netflix, so the last one in the theater was Star Wars.

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

Dare to dream. Find your passion, set a goal and go for it. Learn, practice and persevere. For example, in my writing, I received 36 rejections before my first book was published. Many well-known authors have received up to 100 rejections before being published.

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

I have a sequel to Cowgirl Dreams, with a working title of Follow the Dream, and two more books in the series about strong, independent women from Montana.

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

Interview with Susan Troutt

Susan Troutt's Amazon Blog

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’ve always had a great imagination, and I’ve always loved to write. When I was a little girl, teachers encouraged me to write and hung my stories and poems in the hallway for others to read. As a teacher, I wrote along with my students and gained valuable insight into the kind of stories kids like. So naturally when I retired from teaching, I sat down at my computer and began writing, working at it eight hours a day, just like a real job.

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

I loved the first novel I created and wanted to share it. I did my homework and found out that most publishers take two to three years to publish a book. I guess I can wait, I thought, so I gave it a try. I sent out queries and received rejections saying my middle grade novel was very good, but historical fiction just isn’t selling right now.

What was I to do? I’d spent a year of my life putting this book together. I liked this book. I couldn’t let it die.

One day as I was thumbing through a writer’s magazine, I came across an ad for AuthorHouse. I sent for information, read it through, and made that first call to the AuthorHouse sales rep. He answered all my questions, gave me lots of advise, and arranged a conference call with patient, understanding designers who knew about publishing and worked with me every step of the way. I was thrilled with the results.

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?

As a sequel to THE CHILD PIRATE, my second book, PIRATES TO THE END, is a suspenseful page turner packed with trickery, masquerade, ghosts, and adventures that lead readers on a clue-filled treasure hunt.

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

I always think about what my former students would like to read. My readers were the ones who kept asking what happened next to my main character, Briney McDoogal, a 14-year-old pirate captain. They inspired me to write the sequel, PIRATES TO THE END.

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

I have a wonderfully patient husband and three grown children who are very excited to have an author in the family, but my most loyal supporters are my cat and two dogs who sit beside me (or on my lap) while I write.

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

That would have to be spaghetti!

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

Brush my teeth, kiss my husband, walk the dogs.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

You would probably be surprised that I’m so Artsy-Crafty. I am SO into scrap booking and card making that I’ve devoted a whole little studio room in our basement to it.

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?

I’d be RED! I’m vivacious, I have a vivid imagination, and I’m full of energy. Isn’t that what red is all about?

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Taz. It’s that energy thing again.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Although he’s not really a cartoon, the Muppet Gonzo is most like me because he finds good in everyone and tries to see the sunny side of things.

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’ve narrowed it down to three choices. My first is 18th century Europe. I love the quaintness of the dark, narrow streets—a perfect setting for mystery. My second choice is pioneer times in America which would lend themselves to stories of strife and hardship (which my characters would struggle to overcome). America’s Victorian period is my third choice. It’s more modern, refined, and filled with curiosities that would lend itself to quirky stories about interesting characters.

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

I love all types of music (except jazz, probably because it doesn’t have any words). I don’t listen to music when I write because I’d lose my train of thought. But there’s usually music going when I’m not writing. I sing along. It’s a great mood booster.

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 husband and I DVR All My Children. Sometimes we have All My Children marathons. I never get tired of movies like The Princess Bride or Romancing the Stone. The last movie I saw in the theater was Revolutionary Road, starring Kate Winslet. I became a great fan after seeing her in The Reader. I saw those two movies and Slumdog Millionaire all in the same week.

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

Keep smiling, because a smile goes a long way in life.

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

I’ve just finished one called THE HOW-TO JOKE. It’s about a little kid who doesn’t understand that jokes are supposed to be funny. He thinks they’re directions, how-to’s for something.

Hoping to see time fly, he throws his father’s alarm clock out the window. It shatters into hundreds of pieces. Maybe didn’t throw it right.

His cousin Clyde tries to explain jokes to him. “How do you make a bandstand?”

“How?” asked Jake, filled with expectation.

“Take away their chairs!”

“What’s so funny about that? If they didn’t have chairs of course they’d have to stand.”

After several tries, Jake thinks he has the perfect joke. What kind paper makes you itch? Scratch paper!

He grabs Clyde’ bare arm and scrubs it with scratch paper.

“Clyde pulls away. “Hey! What’re you doing?”

“You’ll see.”

Clyde looks at his arm. “It’s all red! Is that what’s supposed to happen?”

“Is it working?

Clyde pokes a finger at his arm.

“It is! It’s working!’ exclaims Jake. “Hooray! My how-to is working. I rubbed scratch paper on your arm. Now it’s itching.”

When that fails, Jake resorts to eggs, but after telling jokes to eggs all morning, they still won’t crack up. “What’s wrong with me?” he wails.

But when Jake is asked to tell jokes in the school’s talent show, he begins to see why jokes are funny.

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

Interview with Cheryl Renee Herbsman

www.cherylreneeherbsman.com

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?

I went to graduate school in psychology. It wasn’t until a couple of years later, after my daughter was born, that I started focusing more on writing. Even then, it took me a long time to think there was a chance I could consider trying to get something published.

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

I wrote a YA fantasy before Breathing and sent it out for about two years. I got lots of interest, but there was always some issue or another with it. Meanwhile, I was working on Breathing. I initially queried three agents. Two agencies asked for the full manuscript. One of those was very excited and said they thought it was great and wanted to help me launch my career. They made suggestions for a revision that were very helpful. After the revision, they rejected the manuscript, which was really upsetting. But a couple of days later, I sent queries to five more agents, got requests from three, and one of those took it within a week. That was Leigh Feldman, my agent. Three weeks later I had a book deal.

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?

I’d say it’s a sweet romance about following your dreams.

Here’s what my main character, Savannah, says about following dreams: “I know it’s only dreaming. But I reckon if you go on and act like something is real. Sometimes it just believes you.”

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

I guess my own adolescence has been my inspiration. I draw upon it to get a sense of how my characters feel. And I also draw upon my experiences, such as my relationship with my teen boyfriend, who became my husband.

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

My husband and I met young and will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in June. He has always been extremely supportive of my writing and of chasing this dream of publication. We have two kids, a girl and a boy, who are also remarkably understanding, supportive, and proud. My parents and four siblings have also always been there and encouraged me along the way. Plus I have a couple of really good friends that were total cheerleaders, never letting me consider giving up. I consider myself very fortunate to have such a loving and supportive group of people around me.

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

A fluffernutter

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

Shower, pee, put in my contacts

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

How disorganized I am.

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?

Dark purple. It’s mysterious, mystical, and moody

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Hmm, that’s a tough one, maybe Snoopy.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

I have no idea. But when my kids were little, they were really into superheroes. They had superhero T-shirts, even my husband had a Silver Surfer shirt. The kids really wanted me to get a superhero shirt, but I didn’t really relate to Wonder Woman or Supergirl. They ended up getting me a Mighty Mouse T-shirt, which I love

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?

Sometimes I think it might have been fun to live on an island, like Hawaii, when it was still a completely indigenous population. I’m attracted to the simpler lifestyle and the sense of community I imagine there was then.

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

I tend to listen to music that’s sad and mournful or at least heartfelt. It’s what moves me. My daughter has gotten me into Taylor Swift recently. But I like a pretty wide range of music. I often listen to music when I’m thinking about characters, plot, etc. But when I write, I do it in silence. Otherwise I get too distracted.

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 “So You Married an Axe Murderer” and “Moonstruck” and I could watch “Juno” forever.

The last movie I saw in the theater was “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

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

Follow your dreams.

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

I’m working on a YA novel that takes place at summer camp. It is, of course, full of romance and dreamers.

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

Thank you so much for having me!!

Interview with Jennifer Sturman

www.jennifersturman.com

When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

For me, that’s sort of like asking when I first knew I wanted to breathe! I’ve always loved reading books, and I don’t think it ever occurred to me that I wouldn’t one day be writing my own. And once I did start writing, I was incredibly lucky – I found a fabulous agent early on, and with her help I was able to get my first book published.

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?

My latest is AND THEN EVERYTHING UNRAVELED. It’s a mix of mystery and romance, but most importantly, it has a really pretty cover, guaranteed to complement any outfit and/or household décor.

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

Not to encourage plagiarism or anything, but I frequently take my inspiration from other authors. The basic idea for UNRAVELED came from one of my favorite books ever, AUNTIE MAME, by Patrick Dennis. It’s about a boy who’s orphaned and sent to live with his madcap aunt in New York in the 1920s, and it’s a wonderful read – comic but also moving without being cloying. So thinking about how a situation like that would play out today was my starting point, but from there I began throwing in other bits and pieces drawn from what’s going on in the world today (i.e., global warming, energy crises) and from people I know (i.e., my mother, who loves her label maker even more than Delia’s mother loves hers). And I kept adding and mixing and eventually I ended up with a story...

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

They are thrilled, though sometimes I worry that if you stripped out purchases made by relatives my sales numbers would be a lot lower...

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

All food is a comfort, but if I had to choose, I’d go with cheeseburgers.

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 set the bedroom clock ahead by a random and frequently changing number.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Pepé Le Pew, with Rocky and Bullwinkle tying for second.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Lisa Simpson.

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

I love music with a complete and probably embarrassing lack of discrimination. In the last hour I’ve listened to The Killers, The Cure, Talking Heads, Rilo Kiley, Elliot Smith, Madonna, Shakira, Van Morrison, The Shins, and The Strokes – I pretty much can’t write without something on in the background.

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?

On TV, Gossip Girl (of course!) and Mad Men. I’m still mourning the end of Arrested Development. As for movies, I’ll watch any romantic comedy, but I’m happiest if there’s a prom scene at the end. I also might know all of the dialogue in Valley Girl by heart, but that’s probably not something I should admit to in public.

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

I know it’s a cliché, but there’s a lot to be said for enjoying the moment, not that I’m very good at it myself. And I know it’s also a cliché, but seriously, wear sunscreen. Oh, and buy my books!

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

I’m currently at work on the sequel to AND THEN EVERYTHING UNRAVELED. It’s called AND THEN I FOUND OUT THE TRUTH, and it should be out next summer!

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

Interview with Amy Goldman Koss

www.amygoldmankoss.net

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?

Birth.

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

My original road to publishing has long since been reclaimed by the jungle. Gotta keep slashing new roads through the ever changing thicket. Watch out for those blood-sucking spiders!!!

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?

My latest book was SIDE EFFECTS, a teen cancer survivor story based on my daughter’s experience. (She’s fine now!) And rumor has it that my next novel will be out in May of 2010 and that it will be called-- THE NOT-SO-GREAT DEPRESSION In which the economy crashes, my sister’s plans are ruined, my mom goes broke, my best friend kisses Brad Pitt, my dad grows vegetables and I do not get a hamster.

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

Real life.

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

I’ve got all kinds of family but I wouldn’t say any of them are particularly thrilled to have a published author among them. My kids (teens) have never known the world any other way.

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

Bread.

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

Put on my glasses, pee, pat the dog.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

We have a massive, Cuban missile era bomb shelter (built by a true paranoid) that winds room after room under our house with two ladder escape hatches in the yard.

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?

Cobalt blue, my fave.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Bender.

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?

Right here.

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

My music varies wildly with mood. But I write in silence.

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?

We do not have a TV but when I’m in hotels I like The Daily Show.

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

Don’t take any one’s advice. Even mine.

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

I’m still doing final edits on THE NOT-SO-GREAT DEPRESSION so I’ve no idea what’s next.

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

Interview with Janni Lee Simner

www.simner.com

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've been telling stories pretty much since I learned how to write--before then if you count all those imaginary friends. I filled notebooks with poems starting in the second grade, and in fourth or fifth grade I had a short story published in my school newspaper. As I recall, it was about my teachers being kidnapped by giant rats and the kids having to rescue them.

It wasn't until I got out of college that I began wondering if I could really write professionally, though, instead of just dreaming about it. I spent the last of my student loan money on a computer (two floppy drives, no hard drive) and set myself the goal of at least writing something every day.

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

It took me six months after getting that computer to write (and rewrite, and rewrite, and rewrite some more) a short story I felt was strong enough to send out. That first story actually sold to the first place I sent it, an adult fantasy anthology edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley called Leroni of Darkover.

For a few weeks after that I went about under the illusion that this writing thing was going to be easy -- and then my first rejection slip arrived. I looked at it, realized I was going to have to work hard at this after all, and set about digging in and doing so.

Since then my career has had its share of steps forwards and back. It took me a couple years to sell my second short story, a much harder process than selling the first one. My first novels, the middle grade Phantom Rider trilogy, came out six years after I started writing; my fourth novel, Secret of the Three Treasures, came out ten years after the first three,

My fifth novel and first YA, Bones of Faerie, was released this past January.

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?

If it isn't cheating, I'd point them to the book's opening chapter (http://www.simner.com/bonesoffaerie/excerpt.html) and let them read it. That opening is what made me want to read the rest of the book -- only since it wasn't written yet, I had to finish writing it first!

But if that is cheating, then instead I'd probably just say "post-apocalyptic faeries" and hope that was enough to make readers want to find out more. :-)

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

I don't know that there's been any single inspiration. I tend to wander through the world asking lots of "what if" questions, and some of those lead to stories, but really anything can inspire a story for me -- from a stray bit of overheard dialogue to a lyrical phrase that won't let me go.

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

My husband, Larry Hammer, is also a writer, and his short stories and poems have been published in various anthologies and magazines. I know some people can't imagine living with another writer, but I love it -- we're one another's first readers, we bounce ideas off each other, and we both know that when the other is staring off into space, sometimes they really are working.

We also have a couple cats, Mogget and Mouse, but they're less interested in reading my stories than in sitting on them, alas.

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

Mashed potatoes with lots of butter!

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

Get dressed, turn on the computer, and check my email.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

A fencing foil! I've been studying fencing this past year, and while I'm not very good at it yet, I am having a lot of fun.

Also lots of dirty laundry, but I don't suppose that's surprising.

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?

I'd rather be a tree, because in my world (or the world of Bones of Faerie, anyway) trees are scary and powerful and can eat people.

But if I have to be a color ... how about green, in hopes that I can learn how to photosynthesize? :-)

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

My very favorite would be Fakir, from an anime called Princess Tutu.

But I'm also pretty fond of the Roadrunner. :-)

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Wile E. Coyote, who has this tendency to make things way more complicated than they need to be.

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?

Can I cheat again and go with the future, to the moon and Mars colonies we'll hopefully have then?

Failing that, I have a fascination with the Icelandic sagas, so I'd love to visit Iceland just after settlement, around 950-1050 AD.

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

I tend toward folk, but listen to a little but of everything. Current favorites include Richard Shindell and Vienna Teng, but that's subject to change without notice.

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 not much of a TV-watcher, but I have been enjoying Doctor Who on Netflix, especially since I was a Doctor Who Fan back in college, too. I can't remember when I last went out to see a movie--it might have been City of Ember. I'd already read and very much enjoyed the book, and it was fun to see that underground city created on the screen.

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

Don't be afraid to go for the dreams that mean the most to you, even if others tell you they're not practical. It might not be easy, and it might not work out exactly as you plan -- but that doesn't mean that it's impossible or that you can't get there. And wondering what would have happened if only you'd tried is way worse than trying and failing.

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

I'm working on several other possible YA projects, and I also currently have a story set in the same universe as Bones of Faerie online in the magazine Coyote Wild (http://coyotewildmag.com/2008/august/simner_invasive_species.html) I'll have another YA fantasy, Thief Eyes, out in summer 2010, and I'm also working on a Bones of Faerie sequel.

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

Thanks for inviting me to be here!

Interview with Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris

www.vivian-marie.com

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.

I’m so happy to get this opportunity! Thank you so much for your time.

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 don’t remember how old I was, but I was young enough that I still couldn’t actually write. I was cleaning my room and I had the door closed, and I was telling a story into a red tape recorder that I had borrowed from my sister. I also have some stories from kindergarten that are just a paragraph long that I have kept through the years. So I think I pretty much always knew!

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

It was filled with pot holes and wrong turns. I got lost a lot, just like I do in real life when I drive. I submitted to a dozen publishers and kept getting rejection letters, but I was always excited about them. I remembered hearing once that an author would get something like seventeen rejection letters before a manuscript would even get read, and so with each rejection letter I figured I was getting closer to achieving my goal. Once I hit fifteen rejection letters, then I started to get nervous, and I actually stopped trying for a long time. Big mistake! My major goal in life was to be published at twenty-four, so for my twenty-fourth birthday my dad published my book for me. I had no idea what I was in for, though… I had the manuscript written up in Microsoft Word, and when it came back in a PDF file and it was all formatted and perfect, it suddenly became very real. Then I started freaking out and began making revisions like crazy. It was worth it, though, when I got to hold the book in my hands for the first time.

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?

It’s a fantasy book. Not just fantasy in the sense that it takes place in a fantasy realm, but in the sense that it actually is a fantasy. There’s a hero, a heroine, internal struggles, fear, love, adventure, mystery. But it’s like a fairytale.

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

I’m a huge, huge manga and anime fan. I see pictures of anime characters and they inspire me. The stories manga writers come up with inspire me like crazy. They’re always willing to push the envelope of reality and when you read the stories, you expect a good, entertaining read that allows you to escape, but also has a good story and often a nice moral in it. Whenever I feel like I’m lacking in inspiration, I look on my shelves for my manga.

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

My family is the most amazing, supportive group of people that I have ever met. They encouraged me to write and were always supportive—I remember when my dad signed up for the internet back when I was a teenager just so that I could start posting my fanfiction online! I was sent to college for a degree unrelated to writing, because my dad knew how hard it is to make a living as an author, so he wanted me to have a good career foundation. I’m so grateful, because he continued to encourage me to write while helping me to have back-up plans. My mom, dad, sister, and then-boyfriend (but now husband) were all with me when I opened the first shipment of books that I received, and they all insisted on signed copies. We took pictures. It was a beautiful moment. They still continue to support me, all the time, pushing me to try harder when I start to falter. I’m a lucky girl!

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

McDonald’s French fries! I love them. Eating fries makes me happy.

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

The morning always starts by turning off the alarm clock. I even set it for the weekend so that I don’t mess up my sleep schedule too much if I stay up too late the night before. Then I usually wave my cat’s paw away from my face since she has a tendency to claw and I’m not really a fan of the stabbing. Then I say good morning to my husband and groan about how tired I am until he gets me a Coke. (I’m an avid Coke drinker… I drink it from the time I wake up until I go to sleep!)

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

That none of my closets look alike. One closet is meticulously kept, everything in order, another is stacked with boxes, another has the cat’s litter box in it, and then the fourth… Well, it’s just a giant pile of stuff heaped onto more giant piles of stuff. And all the closets are mine!

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?

I would like to think I’d be a dark green… One of those really dark greens. It’s such a strong, calm color, but it’s quiet, too. I like that.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

I love cartoons. Most of the shows I watch are cartoons! It’s so hard to pick favorites. If I have to choose, I would probably say Sailor Moon. I still have some of the old Sailor Moon dolls… And her locket… And her wand… And stickers… I’ll stop now.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Probably Kyle on South Park… He’s always the one pointing out why something is a bad idea, and he gets caught up in things pretty easily. He’s also a little behind on the trends, and I’m the same way. I never know what’s popular and when.

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 want to meet Joss Whedon when he first started writing. That man is a complete genius, and I’d like to have seen him when he started. I just want to watch him work. That’s probably creepy. (Sorry Joss!)

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

My favorite type of music is probably pop-punk. It always puts me in a good mood. I also really like alternative music. Bands like New Found Glory, Nickleback… I love them. I absolutely listen to music when I write, but I tend to listen to more new age music while writing. I have a list of songs that I was listening to when I was writing “The Quest of Dai.” A lot of Enigma, Enya, Lorena Mckennitt. There are certain songs that actually inspired scenes in the book, and whenever I hear them, I go, “Oh, this song resulted in this scene.” I love that about music.

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 watch entirely too much TV. I’ll admit it, I do. And I’m absolutely one of those people that will watch a movie 100 times. In fact, I have seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show so many times that I don’t actually know how many times I’ve seen it. Well over 100. I’m addicted to House M.D., General Hospital, Family Guy, Simpsons, South Park, Intervention, Dollhouse, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. For movies, I really like Repo! The Genetic Opera, Apollo 13, Twister, Cry Baby, Girl, Interrupted… I have quite the DVD collection. I think the last movie I saw in the theater was The Spirit. It was my dad’s favorite comic, so we took him.

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

Be true to yourself. Sometimes that means not following the fads, or not doing what the other kids are doing, but you’ll be better off for it because at the end of the day, you won’t have any regrets. I absolutely believe in living every day without regret, and to do that means being true to yourself.

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

So many! Most importantly is probably the sequel to The Quest of Dai. But I’ve got a number of books written that I’m just letting sit for a while before going back to edit them. A fresh eye is a good eye!

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

Thank YOU!

Interview with J. T. Dutton

www.jtdutton.com

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 think I might still be figuring that one out. I’ve had a lot of life plans, but I keep coming back to writing, maybe because I work things out that way when I’m feeling down.

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

I sent out a few short stories in graduate school, but never had anything score. I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. When I finished, I was afraid to do anything with the draft because I knew it needed more work. 15 years later, I got around to the job. Afterwards, I sent the book to agents, found one who liked it, waited three days and signed Freaked over to HarperTeen. I now think of Agent as Miracle Agent. I call her by her name though.

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?

Freaked isn’t for amateurs—though this sounds kind of smart ass, I’d like people to think of themselves as professionals as they read the book.

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

Huckleberry Finn—that rebel.

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

I have a great family—two children age 5 and 7 and a killer husband who knows how to spot comma errors. They are not happy living with a working author. They want me to be a free to kick around the playground or take long walks every day. They want a puppy. I like having lots and lots to do and enjoy their hostility about what sometimes makes me drift away.

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

A sandwich with cheese.

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

Let the cat out. Write. Sometimes play a word on Facebook Scrabble especially if there is a triple word score or a letter Z at stake.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

No drugs. No hippie paraphernalia. No shrines to Jerry Garcia. People seem to be surprised that I’m not (at least externally) a Dead Head. I wrote about one, but I’m not one—at least to the same intense degree.

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?

Hmmm. Blue—represents the peaceful I would like to be. Red—represents the work I want to do with my life. Orange and green are zany. Can I say tie-dye—as something to go along with Freaked.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Scooby Doo.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Thelma with occasional Daphne aspirations and Shaggy hair.

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 like the question, have answered it straight, and then afterwards changed my mind, usually based on whatever I was reading. For a while, I got really in to Russian novels of the 19th century.

Wouldn’t it be cool to see a Shakespeare play in its day—somehow not catching the plague while you were at it.

How about Star Fleet Academy. Woodstock?

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

Music is an important part of Freaked and I did research and paid attention to Grateful Dead lyrics as part of my writing process—it is beautiful stuff—very inspiring.

But I never listen to music when I write. I have to hear what’s running through me—the voices that are speaking in my head.

I like a broad range of stuff—Gin Blossoms, The Dead, U2, tons more.

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 looking forward to the X-Men. Love Wolverine (pant, pant) but I usually watch films at home so I can read subtitles. (I am pretty hearing impaired).

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

You can. You will. You should. Life is an oyster and you are the pearl.

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

My second novel, Stranded will be released from HarperTeen some time in 2010. It’s a very different book than Freaked, about two girls from the Midwest living in a town where a baby has been discovered abandoned in a field. It’s another edgy one though—not for amateurs—ha ha.

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

Thank you too. I’m absolutely honored to have this opportunity.

Interview with Lynn Montgomery

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 have been a writer since I was 6 years old and wrote the Stinko-pottamus!

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

I have about 10 children’s book that I have written over the years. My background is in television and I have written many hours of children’s and family TV. But I always knew I wanted to publish my children’s books as well. So when I left TV I knew it was time to turn my attention to my books. I started my own publishing company called, ZuZu Petals Books. My first book is BUTT UGLY and I just learned last week that it won a national writing award, called The Eric Hoffer award for best children’s books. http://www.hofferaward.com/

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?

BUTT UGLY is a picture book about the runt of the litter that needs a home. There are 6-8 million unwanted dogs brought to shelters every year. BUTT UGLY thinks he is unlovable. And the story is also
about all of us – about our own BUTT UGLY days when we feel all alone.

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

Of course, my parents, who always made books available. My mom is an avid reader and my dad is a musician. I used to love to sit at his knee and listen to the jam sessions in our house. I loved the sad songs because the stories were always so intense.

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

I am married to Richard who is far more famous than I am. (I hope he doesn’t read this because I don’t want that to go to his head!) Last week I was at the bank having a serious conversation about the state of the economy with the Vice President of the bank. When he realized who my husband is he got all googly eyed. Why? Because the banker is a serious video gamer and that is what my husband does – he is the Art Director for Call of Duty. Richard did all the Art Direction for BUTT UGLY. I told him that was his penance to pay for making video games and taking kids away from books. In fact, he will art direct all my picture books which is great because if I wasn’t married to him I never would be able to afford him!!

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

Anything spicy. Here in Santa Barbara, we call it mouth surfing, you know when you eat something so spicy that you get this wave after wave of heat.

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

1. turn off the alarm.
2. Look outside.
3. kiss my children (I would kiss my husband, but he is in Los Angeles all week, but if it is the weekend – I kiss him first.)

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

Too much stuff! The house is usually nice and clean but don’t look in the closets!!!!

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?

Green. I have always loved Green. And now Green stands for a whole movement to be a conscientious person and care for the planet. So I love Green more than ever.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Sponge Bob

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Wilma Flintstone

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?

The day in the future when we make contact with intelligent life form from another planet. But if it has to be history, I would like to hang out with Benjamin Franklin in Paris because he was so cool. And of course, any chance to go to Paris – I am there!

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

I like singer/songwriters from Austin, Texas. I subscribe to a concert series here in Santa Barbara. It is called Sings Like Hell. It is the best music nobody ever heard. Last year I heard Bret Dennen there. He is my current favorite. I also love Leonard Cohen and Antony and the Johnsons. And the Po Girls rock! I sometime listen while I write, but I find that I really need quiet to concentrate on writing. I envy those writers who can have the music blasting while they work. But that is not me.

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 husband watches True Blood, so I am going to catch up on last season and get ready for the new season. I only saw it a couple of times, but it is amazing TV. I love It’s a Wonderful Life. That is where the name ZUZU PETALS comes from. Remember the scene where the Jimmy Stewart character finds his little girl’s rose petals in his pocket? That is the moment he realizes that he really had been alive and life is worth living after all because he had made a difference in people’s lives.

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

Be smart with life and with drugs and being around boys late at night. (This advice is brought to you by Hannah, my 11 year old who just typed it.) I think it is great advice. I would just add – love life and really enjoy your time. I know it is a cliché, but hey – you are only young once – so dance like know one is looking!!!

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

BUTT UGLY LOVE and COOP COOPER AND THE ZOMBIES OF MONTE VERDE and HANNAH SMASHED BANANA

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

Interview with Susan Fine

http://susanfine.com

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 wanted to be a writer – even back in second grade when I wrote my first book – but the larger challenge has been admitting this. Even now when I’m asked what I do, I pause before saying that I’m a writer. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling self-conscious about calling myself a writer. Maybe if I sell one more book… then it can’t be a fluke, right?

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

I co-authored my first book, ZEN IN THE ART OF THE SAT, with Matt Bardin, and we published it in 2005 with Houghton Mifflin. Matt had been working on a book when we met at a mutual friend’s wedding. We started talking about what we did and found that we had some shared ideas about learning and standardized testing and young adults, so we started working together to take what Matt had already worked on and create a book proposal. Then we found an agent who helped us refine the proposal, and our agent, Laura Dail, sold the book to Eden Edwards who, at the time, oversaw the Graphia imprint at Houghton Mifflin.

This paragraph summary doesn’t do justice to all the work that went on, though. It was very satisfying and productive to collaborate with another person, although collaboration can be a lengthy project! Matt and I spent a lot of time together in person, online, and on the phone working on the book, but it was invaluable to have someone to go back and forth with on everything we wrote.

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?

INITIATION, my debut novel is very timely with its exploration of the drama that comes from technology trouble in a school!

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

It’s hard to identify one thing or one person. Getting accepted into Jim Shepard’s fiction workshop when I was in college was very important for me. At the time, it made me feel as though maybe I had something to write that would be worthwhile for others to read. He also gave meticulous feedback on his students’ writing and modeled for me what teachers can do for their students and how important teachers and mentors are.

I would also say that I’ve found inspiration in the books I love and in language that’s beautiful and original. Reading a short story such as “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an inspiring experience for me – although after the initial inspiration, I sometimes then have an overwhelmed feeling, knowing that I am reading the work of someone brilliant, whose sensibility to language is rare.

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

We are an all-female family at this point, so it’s sort of interesting that my novel features a fourteen-year-old male narrator! I have two sisters, one older and one younger. My mom still lives in the house where I grew up in Berkeley, California.

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

That’s hard… I like so many things! Perhaps a fantastic baguette from my favorite neighborhood bakery, the Medici in Hyde Park, where the folks at the counter where Medici t-shirts, which on the back say “Obama eats here!” They also make a fantastic apple pie.

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

Feel grateful that my husband loves to wake up early and spend time with our three-year-old; drink decaf coffee; make my eight-year-old’s lunch, which is almost always exactly the same thing: bagel and cream cheese, fruit, and a small treat such as Tings or Pirate’s Booty.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

We don’t have a lot of stuff! That’s the result of living in small apartments in NYC for many years. We have more space now in Chicago, but we don’t have tons of 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?

I would probably choose black, because it’s a color for clothing that looks good on everyone.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

I used to like Tweety Bird a lot, but I haven’t actually thought about him in a while.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Wow – I have no idea!

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?

This is a very hard question – I’d be happy to go to many different places and at different times. But, if I had the ability to bend time or change the normal course of affairs, what might be most compelling would be to bring back people in my family who have died – and my father, in particular – and just talk with them about all that I’ve learned about myself through being a parent myself. That wasn’t something I was able ever to share with my dad or some of my grandparents.

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

Wow – these days it’s mostly listening to my son play the cello! That makes me happy and proud! I don’t listen to music while I write. If my book were ever to become a movie, I would beg the producers to hire Josh Schwartz to determine the music (and maybe just to do the whole thing!). I loved the music that he featured in the OC. He’s the man for the job!

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 can’t even remember the last movie I saw in the theater, although I am sure that this summer I will see the new Harry Potter movie in the movie theater, and I’m hoping to do so on the day it’s released. One of my favorite movies of all time is THAT THING YOU DO. We don’t watch T.V. regularly, but I have managed to see such shows as THE OC and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS on the internet or DVD and liked them a lot.

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

Trust yourself! When you feel uneasy about something you are thinking about doing, listen to those feelings! Don’t push yourself to do things that make you uncomfortable. And, know that everyone has secret fears and insecurities, regardless of the façade presented in public.

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

I’m working on a second young adult novel with a female protagonist this time! It’s set in Long Island and takes up questions of high school athletics (mostly lacrosse) and folks outside of that world – in particular the kids who run the school newspaper.

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

Interview with Gayle Forman

http://gayleforman.com

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?

Not as soon as you might think. I have been writing, or maybe I should say composing, stories, since before I could write. And I of course wrote lots of Very Deep Poetry in my teens and then short stories in my teens and twenties. But it wasn’t until I started college (in my twenties; I took a few years off in between high school and college to travel) when I started studying journalism (this after pre-med didn’t pan out) that I started thinking about becoming a writer. And then it wasn’t as a novelist; it was as a journalist. Initially, the idea of writing fiction, when you could pluck your stories from thin air, without the parameters of fact, seemed too difficult. I was a journalist for ten years before I began writing fiction.

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

I spent my first five years as a journalist working at Seventeen magazine, first as a senior writer then as a contributing writer. I did the kind of “serious” stories that people (i.e. adults) never believed that magazines like Seventeen ran because they never believed teenagers read them or had interest in them. Of course, we know the truth. Teens are an amazingly engaged readership. Anyhow, from there I became a freelance journalist and eventually traveled around the world for a year and wrote a travelogue called You Can’t Get There From Here: A Year On The Fringes Of A Shrinking World. But it was only after that book was written and I had a baby that I wrote my first YA novel, Sisters in Sanity. Coming back to writing for teens felt like coming home.

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?

If I Stay is a story is about a seventeen year old girl named Mia who finds herself in the most devastating of circumstances and has to make the most profound choice of her life. But ultimately, it’s a book about love. And choices. And music. It’ll make you laugh and make you cry.

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

My husband. Music. And I think the teen girls I have met throughout my years at Seventeen have truly inspired. Meeting teen readers and bloggers again just reminds me again and again how much girls this age kick ass. And those girls inform my characters.

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

My four-year-old daughter Willa is probably the most into my books. She knows the names of all of them and of my characters. She knows If I Stay is about a girl named Mia who has to decide whether to stay with her family, which seems like an age-appropriate description.

My sister, Tamar, is my biggest cheerleader. She calls me every day (or I call her) and whenever any good piece of news comes about the book, she says it’s like getting a birthday present over and over again.

I think my parents can’t quite believe the trajectory this book has taken. I’ve written two other books and they were proud but no one much paid attention to those books, but this one, well, people seem to be paying attention. They have bought a zillion copies, single handedly upping the Amazon rating, I’m sure.

And my husband. He is into these really obscure Eastern European writers with impossible-to-pronounce last names and he was never that into the stuff I wrote. Until I started doing YA. Then he became a fan. That was a clue that maybe this was something I might not suck at.

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

Lasagna and black bean soup. But not together.

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

Get my kid ready for school. Make coffee and a smoothie. Turn on the computer.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

How all of my clothes come from Forever 21 and consignment stores. When I was 12, my mom gave me 100 bucks and said, “Here’s your back to school money,” and ever since I’ve been a budget-shopping queen. When the book’s movie rights sold, my friend Sean asked me if I was going to splurge and buy a Fendi bag. I laughed. That is so not me. I did, however, buy a pair of Fendi sunglasses. From Costco. They were $75. For me that is a HUGE splurge.

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?

Red. It’s power but also cheering and happy and seems to be a chatty color. It’s also a color that’s not very restful and I think I’m a lot of things but probably not a very peace-inspiring person.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes. And Enid and Rebecca, the two girls Daniel Clowes’s graphic novel Ghost World.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Bossy like Lucy in Peanuts. A little weird like Enid in Ghost World. Lost in my own fantasy world like Calvin.

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 kind of like being where we are now. In a way things seem pretty awful, but it’s usually times like this that give bloom to something amazing. I would not have said this a couple of years ago. Our times seem ripe with potential.

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

I listen to kind of dreamy indie pop. I seem to love the Icelandic bands like Sigur Ros and Mom. Also singer song writers like Regina Spekter and Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver, two of my favorites at the moment. I also love old school stuff from Jonathan Richman to the Velvet Underground. I don’t really listen to music while writing though I did have to listen to the song “Falling Slowly” from the movie Once before I started work on If I Stay. It always made me cry and put me in the right mood to write about Mia.

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?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Friday Night Lights. The Wire. Sex and The City. Battlestar Galactica. I could watch Cluless and Roman Holiday over and over. Also, I'm OBSESSED with Mad Men, having just watched season 2 on DVD.

As for last movie I saw in a theater? I just saw Julie & Julia.

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

Teen readers who want to be writers should just worry about writing and not getting published.

Teen readers, and I know this sounds dopey and hokey in general, but when things in life seem really crappy, think about the things in life that you are grateful for—your friends, good music, a sunny day, whatever. Write them down. Say them aloud. Or just think them to yourself. Feeling grateful actually feels really good. It took me a long time to realize that.

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

Lots more books. I wish I could tell you what’s next but I just spent the last six months working on a novel that I’ve realized isn’t meant to be, or isn’t meant to be at this point. It’s kind of becoming a joke with me that I have to write the wrong novel in order to write the right novel. I have an idea for the thing I want to do next, and that gut feeling that tells me it’s right (which I didn’t have with the other book). But it’s too soon to tell. But I’ll keep you posted.

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

Interview with Ann Haywood Leal

www.annhaywoodleal.com

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 can’t remember a time when I haven’t written stories. I was a real tattle-tale with my brothers, growing up. But I didn’t always tell on them out loud; I’d write long, tattling notes and leave them for my parents! Then when I got in trouble for something, I’d write extensive (not always heartfelt!) apology notes. My mom saved a lot of them, and they are really funny to look at now! The actual stories started when I was about six. I got a little red stapler for Christmas, and I used to staple books together for my stories. Sometimes my brother (who is now a graphic designer) would illustrate them for me. When I was in sixth grade, I wrote my first 100 page novel. It was written mostly on colored notebook paper. I was so proud of it. I told all my friends I was going to have it published!

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

Needless to say, I didn’t get that sixth grade novel published, which is a good thing for any readers out there! But I did keep writing. It’s also a very good thing that no one published my first manuscripts because they definitely weren’t ready. I got a ton of rejections at first, until I learned how to really revise. Then I started getting letters from editors that weren’t the usual type of form rejection. I knew (hoped!) I was getting close, because the letters were encouraging, and some people asked to see other my other work.

I think things really started to change for me a couple of years ago. I had written a first draft of ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER, and I knew that no matter what happened with it, I loved to write so much, I was never going to stop, even if I never got published. It was right about then that I ran across an interview with Dan Lazar, an agent at Writers House. I loved his honesty and his candor and I sent him HARPER. I was absolutely thrilled when he offered to represent me. Shortly after that, he sold my book to Reka Simonsen at Henry Holt. They are definitely a dream agent and editor.

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?

Harper Lee Morgan is an aspiring poet, named after her mama’s favorite writer, Harper Lee. When Daddy walks out, leaving them broke and eventually evicted from their home, life gives her a lot to write about.

With Mama scrambling to find work, Harper has to skip school to care for her little brother, Hemingway. Their lives have been turned upside down, which Harper could just about handle—if it wasn’t for the writing contest at school. Harper wants desperately to get back to school and read her poems out loud.

The story is about a real life situation; Harper brings hope to the stark reality of homelessness.

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

I have volunteered at my local soup kitchen for the last four years. Harper is a fictitious character, but some of who she is came from how I felt when I saw the faces of the children who stand in line with their families.

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

My family is really excited. They are a great PR group! My daughter, Holly, is in eighth grade. We just got our second degree black belts together! My daughter, Jessica, is an artist and lives in New York. I think my biggest thrill was seeing ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER in their hands! My husband, Andy, is an engineer and is mainly a non-fiction reader, so it has been really fun to see him talk up my book to his friends. My dad is flying out from Seattle in a few days for my book launch. I am going to wrap up a copy of the book for his 76th birthday; he has no idea that I dedicated the book to him.

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

That’s easy—chocolate with chocolate covered chocolate!

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

I am originally from Seattle, so I immediately get some espresso flowing through my veins, I grab my computer, and I read and revise what I wrote the day before.

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 still have all my old Barbies.

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?

Definitely purple, because it has character.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

The Charlie Brown character, Pigpen, because he is what he is and he doesn’t care what any one else thinks of him!

Which cartoon character is most like you?

I guess maybe Roadrunner, because I’m always on the go.

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’d love to go back to the thirties and talk to my grandma as a young woman. She was an amazing person, and I think I only started to appreciate that well after she died. She had such strength. The local small-town sheriff used to deputize her so she could take home the town vagrants from the jail and feed them a holiday dinner. She also taught school in North Dakota in a one-room schoolhouse. She had to spend the night there in the winter, to keep the coals going. Two of her children died of whooping cough before the age of four, but she had to wait out the winter to bury them, because the ground was frozen. I would love to go back and ask her how she kept going through all of this with such hope and such an incredible attitude toward life.

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

I listen to a little bit of everything, but jazz is my absolute favorite. My dad has one of the most extensive music collections of anyone I know, and he always had something wonderful on the stereo as I was growing up. He played the saxophone and his parents had a vaudeville act in the twenties called “Haywood’s Hawaiian Players”.

I love Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Chet Baker, and David Sanborn. I also like Indie Rock and more current artists like The Killers and Maroon 5.

I don’t usually listen to music when I write, because I end up losing my writing groove and paying more attention to the music!

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 Gray’s Anatomy and American Idol! Some of my favorite movies are Napoleon Dynamite, To Kill a Mockingbird, Bull Durham, and Almost Famous. I always have good intentions of going to the movies, but by the time I get around to it, they are out on video! I think the last movie I saw in the theater was Ghost Town with Greg Kinnear.

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

If you have something you love, never give up on it. Also, look for the hope and humor in all situations.

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

I just sent my editor the revisions for my second book, which is due out in 2010, also with Henry Holt. It is about two sisters who are dealing with a situation and a mother who I hope will bring out many conflicting emotions in the reader!

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

Thank you so much! I have enjoyed every minute of it!

Interview with Susan Gregg Gilmore

www.susangregggilmore.com

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?

Will it sound too trite if I say I knew I wanted to be a writer ever since I was eight years old?? OK, it does, but it's true. You see I brought this silly little paper home, and my mother thought it was brilliant. She said, "You should be a writer when you grow up."

And I remember thinking in that very moment that being a writer sounded just right for me. I knew that was my destiny. Now convincing most of my English teachers of that was another story.

I was a very average English student at best. In high school, I remember turning in paper after paper, thinking for sure the teacher would be so impressed with my writing only to find a big red "C" written across the top. And I wasn't a very good reader either. And yet I loved words, playing with words, trying to create music with words.

Finally in college one of my professors stopped me one day as I was walking across campus. He said, "Susan, wait, I've been meaning to tell you that you a very good writer!" I have never forgotten that.

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

It was a twisted road for sure. In college, I decided I wanted to be a journalist. I worked for my college paper and had a summer internship with a paper in Nashville. But it really wasn't until much much later that I landed my first newspaper job. My youngest daughter was about 6 months old when I went to work part-time for an afternoon newspaper in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That means I had to be at the office between 5 and 6 in the morning. But I was home by noon so it worked really well for me at that time in my life with three very young girls.

But about a year and half later my husband's job took him to California. I found myself at home full-time again. One thing led to another and I started free-lancing for the Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor, two very well-respected newspapers. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because it really forced me to become a better writer. And I got to do cool things like learn to surf and judge a rat show -- don't ask!

OK, now I am getting to the fiction part. After about three years of free-lancing I really wanted to try something new. We were living in LA so I figured I'd write a screenplay like everybody else in LA that wasn't acting. But I realized very quickly I wasn't well-suited to write a screenplay. It's obviously very dialogue driven with very little descriptive writing.

Friends kept telling me to write a book so, finally, I did. I had never written any fiction before Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. Very quickly, though, I realized that I had finally found what I was meant to do.

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?

I'm excited about the paperback release of my first novel, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. And I bet you didn't realize that you could find more at the Dairy Queen than just ice cream (and some of the best french fries in town!).

And it's the witty, sassy heroine of the story, Catherine Grace Cline, who goes to the Dairy Queen every week to think about life and plan her escape from her wonderful, quirky small town.

But if I can only tell you one thing (have I already done that??) then I would tell you to find out more about Gloria Jean, her loving neighbor who's been married five times and puts lighting bugs in her hair!

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

Definitely my father. My father was an amazing storyteller. In fact, some of my most vivid childhood memories are those special times when all of our family was together -- aunts, uncles, grandparents -- and my father would start telling our family stories. Some I'm sure I heard a hundred times, but I never, never tired of them.

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

Yes, they are. My husband, mother, sisters, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins are all very, very proud of me . . . very supportive, very proud. And they're a hard bunch to impress!

My daughters, although I know they're very proud, just think of me as mom, and I love that. I mean they've never known me any other way than sitting at my desk writing, so in their minds, well, what else would I be. And that's what's so special.

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

Potatoes -- fried, baked, mashed -- I love 'em all!

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

Kiss my hubby, pee, make coffee -- and always in that order!

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 have thought and thought about this -- even looked in my closet -- and I must be a total bore. There is nothing unusual except for the Christmas village I made out of cardboard one year. I got a little obsessed.

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?

Absolutely Lavender. If you mix red, passion, with some blue, for those calmer/down days, you would end up with purple. Then add a little white, for that part of me that loves a clean/orderly space, and you get lavender!

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Scooby Doo. Always has been.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

I'd like to say somebody cool and fun like Josie of Josie and the Pussycats fame but truthfully probably more like Wilma Flintstone.

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 think it would be in the United States around the turn of the 20th century to sometime in the early 1920s. I would love to have been an active, vocal participant in the Women's Suffrage Movement and have witnessed first-hand the 19th amendment signed into law. Besides, and this sounds totally vain, I love the clothes of that period!

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

Tough call -- I live in Nashville and am surrounded by great country music and country music celebrities -- have run into Taylor Swift several times at the mall. I think I am most drawn to artists that write their own songs like Natasha Bedingfield. But I I love, love, love COLD PLAY.

I definitely do not listen to music when I'm writing -- it's just too distracting for me. I need quiet. Besides, before you know it, I'm so lost in my story that the only noise I hear are the characters talking in my head!

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?

30 Rock! At the end of the day I love to laugh. And I think it's really funny.

My favorite movie, ok this is embarrassing, The American President. Don't ask me why, I just love it! It's almost like comfort food for my senses -- maybe because I went to high school in Washington, DC -- I don't know. I've quit trying to figure it out!

Last movie in the theater -- hmm -- oh yeah -- Step Brothers. Oh dear, you can tell my cinematic taste is not particularly discriminating!

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

Listen to yourself, always listen to yourself. If you believe you're meant to do something or be something, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm not saying there won't be hard, tough days ahead, but you have to honor yourself!

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

Next year, my second novel will be released, Bezellia Grove. It's about a young woman, from a wealthy Southern family, named, you guessed it, Bezellia Grove. It's set in the 1950s, in the South, when African-Americans were not treated equally.

Bezellia has to deal with a very alcoholic mother, not-so-dependable dad, and a little sister with lots and lots of issues of her own. And somehow, through it all, and with the unwavering support of the two black people who work for her family, Bezellia is able to find her own happiness.

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

Interview with Lauren Bjorkman

www.laurenbjorkman.com

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 have always loved reading and creating stories. The decision to write novels as an actual career didn’t come until much later. In high school, I lived for my English classes. In college, I worried about supporting myself, and majored in the oh-so practical International Agricultural Development. After working as a soil conservationist for almost ten years, I had my first child. That’s when I discovered how bad I am at multi-tasking. With the support of my husband, I quit my job and started writing.

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

I wrote two novels before the My Invented Life. The first one is still dear to my heart because it taught me a lot. I have no formal training as a writer, and had to learn many things the hard way. Workshops, critique groups, and reading have all proved invaluable to my advancement. In the end, I got a lucky break when an instructor at a novel-writing workshop offered to refer me to his agent.

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?

It’s about sisters, theater geeks, keeping secrets, the weird guy, xxl boxer shorts, and true love.

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

Books. I’m addicted to other people’s stories. I wanted to share mine.

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

I grew up on a sailboat with no electricity. My schoolwork took about two hours a day to complete, so I had a lot of free time. I sewed an amazing wardrobe for my favorite panda. My dad always encouraged me to write during those years. My sister inspired me to write about sisters. My husband told me to do it already. And my kids put up with it.

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

I like to nibble on very, very dark chocolate chips.

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

Squeak, roll over, and go back to sleep.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

The dust bunnies. I have the world’s largest collection. You might be impressed with my yarn bin, and how many pairs of skis it takes to feed a family of four.

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?

I would be orange. I’m kind of shy, and like to hide in the background. If I were orange, people would notice me, and I’d be forced to come out of my shell more :D

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Totoro. As a little girl, I had a crush on Pop-eye, even though he was kind of ugly.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Ack! I’m not flamboyant enough. I’m very persistent, though. I’d be one of those characters that gets flattened over and over, and then unfolds back into his original shape.

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?

Traveling is another thing I live for. I’ve been to Australia, Central and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. You could call it a passion. Since I couldn’t possibly decide, I’m going to try a different kind of answer. My mom died when I was little, and I barely remember her. I’d love to go back in time and see what she was like before and after I was born.

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

My taste in music is eclectic. When it comes to dancing, I love African, Latin, and Reggae. Otherwise I enjoy angsty music by old rockers like Tom Petty and Patti Smith, and most recently the Plain White Tees. I tend to listen to music before writing to get in the mood. I write best when it’s 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 loved My So Called Life. I enjoy soapy shows and funny shows, things like Desperate Housewives and Scrubs. There are so many amazing movies to choose from, so I rarely watch anything twice. I adore indies with a romantic angle such Charles Bartlett and Juno. And I’ve seen every version of Pride and Prejudice. I rarely go to the movie theater. The last thing I saw was The Secret Life of Bees.

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

To thine own self be true. William Shakespeare said that.

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

I’m working on a new YA novel about friendship, an advice blog gone awry, friendship, Mini Coopers, fake IDs, unplanned pregnancies, and fortune cookies.

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