Interview with C. J. Omololu

www.cjomololu.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 wasn’t one of those kids who wrote stories and kept diaries – in fact, I find writing about my own life pretty boring. Once I had my kids, I thought that someone should be writing more multicultural stories (my kids are biracial) and maybe that someone should be me. After all, how hard could it be? Um…turns out it’s plenty hard. I got lucky and had a picture book published last summer, and when a critique partner started writing YA novels I decided to give it a try. I had no idea how fun and amazing it would be, and now I can’t imagine doing anything else.

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

Oops. Kind of jumped the gun with that last question there. I do tend to go on. Dirty Little Secrets was actually the second novel I wrote – I think almost every writer has a practice novel sitting in a drawer somewhere. There are some writers that get it right the first time, but we’re not friends with them. Some publishers thought that a novel about hoarding was going to be too difficult to sell – I’m so glad that Walker disagreed.

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?

That it gives a realistic look into what it’s like to grow up as the daughter of a severe compulsive hoarder.

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

You’d think so. They’re not really impressed in general, although the other day we saw Dirty Little Secrets at a bookstore and my 12 year old whispered under his breath that he was proud of me. Probably the only time I’ll hear that, so I’m holding on to it.

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

Guacamole.

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

Wake up #2 son. Make coffee so strong you can’t see through it. Wake up #2 son again because he never gets up the first time.

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 we own very little because we have tiny closets, no attic and no basement.

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 because the shades run from spring to puke depending on your mood.

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

Okay, you’re going to laugh, but when I’m writing lighter/romancy YA I love listening to Taylor Swift. Puts me right back there in my angsty teen years. For Dirty Little Secrets, my agent sent me a Priscilla Ahn album which fit the mood perfectly. I can’t listen to anything while I’m actually writing – I need complete silence, and prefer it if I’m alone in the house, but I do listen to things while I’m planning to begin to write.

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?

Hoarders on A&E (of course), Toddlers and Tiaras, CSI (Vegas only, the others are cheap imitations) and What Not to Wear. I just saw Up in the Air with the hubs. It hit a little too close to home because he travels about half the time. Good though – Clooney good.

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

If someone tells you in high school that you should be a writer, listen to them. Otherwise you might waste a decade or two before you finally figure it out.

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

I’m working on something totally different – a little paranormal, a lot of romance and slightly dark. I love writing contemporary “issue” books, but I needed a break before I go back there again.

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