Interview with Betsy Franco

www.betsyfranco.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 thought I wanted to be a painter, but when my two oldest sons were babies, I couldn't set up my paints very often. At that point, I knew I had to do something creative, but it would need to require less equipment. So I did an experiment: I transferred all my creative energy to writing, and it worked!

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

It took a long time for me to break into the trade book world; in other words, to get a book that was sold at a bookstore. I wrote many fun educational books to make a living, and on the side, in the wee hours of the morning, I wrote my own picture books and poetry. Mathematickles (rhymes with "a barrel of pickles") was my first trade book. After that, things got easier. Now I write the occasional educational book but mostly YA novels, picture books, and poetry books.

The years 2008 and 2009 were my best ever. I had seven books come out: the novel Metamorphosis, Zero Is the Leaves on the Tree, A Curious Collection of Cats, Messing Around on the Monkey Bars, Pond Circle, Falling Hard: 100 love poems by teenagers, and Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails. BTW, Falling Hard: 100 love poems by teenagers, is one of four of the teen-written anthologies I've compiled and edited.

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?

Metamorphosis: Junior Year is my first YA novel, but I've already written the sequel and am on to other YA novels as well. My artist son Tom Franco illustrated it and my actor sons James Franco and Dave Franco read the audio book. I've been told that it's very honest. It's about this charming, quirky guy named Ovid, who records all his high-school friends' dramas as modern-day mythology. Oh, BTW, it's not about any of my sons.

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

My sons have been my biggest inspiration, mainly because they are fearless in their creativity and they spur me to try new genres and stretch myself. They even got me to take drama, which helps my writing tremendously. That led to my writing and acting in sketch comedies for a comedy troupe called Suburban Squirrel, writing and acting in a funnyordie video, and joining an improv group. Oh, and I also took a course in screenwriting and wrote a screenplay from a novel I'm working on.

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

I've said a lot about my family above, but we're very supportive of each other's creativity. Tom is a sculptor and illustrator who started an art collective in Oakland/Berkeley to give a sense of community to artists. James is a well-known actor who also directs and writes books and screenplays. Dave is an actor on Scrubs and also writes screenplays. He'll be in the movie Greenberg.

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

Geez, that's hard to say. I guess I'd say peanut butter. Popcorn and cheese on crackers come in second.

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

I feed my two cats, Frida and Jada, who inspired A Curious Collection of Cats, meditate a little (a little because I'm pretty hyper), and eat a whole wheat bagel. Then I start working.

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

Well, everywhere you look, it's pretty cluttered, with books and papers and my sons' artwork, and file cabinets filled with my manuscripts and ideas all over the place.

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 don't look good in yellow but I like it because it represents the sun to me. I feel best when the sun is out, so I get up really early to get as much sunlight as I can. Lucky I live in California, but I grew up in Ohio.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

I guess that would be Spidey since James was in the Spidey movies.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

There aren't that many female cartoon characters, so it's hard to say. My kids used to say I was like Hermione, who isn't a cartoon character, but, oh, well. But I'm not so much like that anymore.

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 like to swing dance when swing first came out. My husband and I swing dance in our living room and take lessons from a friend every once in a while.

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

I can't concentrate on writing when music is on because it's so absorbing. I like Green Day and Maroon 5 and Eminem.

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 see a LOT of movies with my husband. Scrubs is my favorite TV show because my son Dave is on it. I love Harold and Maude and Woody Allen movies and The Hangover and The Reader and Blade Runner. I'm all over the map.

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

It takes a lot of hard work and stubbornness to be an artist of any kind, but it is possible. You have to be as creative about making a living as an artist as the art itself. Also, take risks in your creative work. Experiment, go out on a limb, try new things. If you're not afraid to fail or have someone say no to you, you can do anything. If you want to be an "artist," find someone who will support you.

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

More YA novels are on the way. Also a follow-up to A Curious Collection of Cats. It's, of course, a dog book from Tricycle Press.

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