Interview with Becca Wilhite

www.beccawilhite.com/blog

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.

Thanks for having me, Jen. I’m hungry – what are you serving?

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 loved writing in college (where I didn’t take a single creative writing class). I knew I loved words - and books - always. And then, almost by accident, I realized that I could do words and books, too. So a writer was born. (Okay, and really? It was when I made people laugh out loud because of something I wrote that I really, really knew I was hooked.)

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

WARNING: Please don’t read this if you’re susceptible to hating Lucky People.
I am a slush pile success story. I sent in an unsolicited full manuscript, and it was plucked out, dusted off, maybe even ironed, and turned into a book. I know. Way lucky. And I’m way, way grateful.

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 RIDICULOUS ROMANTIC OBSESSIONS s a romantic comedy (could you have guessed?) and there is all manner of hotness, and some variety of comedy, and smoothie, and ice cream, and shopping, and roommate drama, and mixed messages and plenty of voices in the head. Also, it’s clean, which I’m all for.

The one thing? It will make you laugh. (DISCLAIMER: unless you have no sense of humor)

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

I have four amazing kids. And they EAT books. Okay, not literally, except for the last one, and we’re pretty sure we’ve cured him of that nasty habit. But knowing that my kids will read everything out there? That makes me eager to help get fun, happy stuff out there.

Also, life is funny. And I like funny things. So I write about them (but it’s hard to dedicate a book “to Life, because you’re funny”).

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

You know how some people have a family tree? I’m sort of a forest girl, myself. My kids have 25 aunts and uncles. I’m totally not making that up. They’re almost all respectable adults by now. And they think I’m fabulous, natch. Just ask them. :)

I have the greatest husband in the world, and all four of my favorite kids are actually my children, so I get to see them every day. Being the Mom is my first (and favorite) job, even though it doesn’t pay that much. But, on the upside, nobody fires me when I decide not to clean the house, or when there’s cold cereal for dinner. So it’s good work, and I recommend it if you can get it.

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

Popcorn. With a great deal of butter. Mmm. Crunchy things. Salty things.

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

Really? That’s sort of personal. :) (Brush teeth, get a drink, say a prayer). Then, after I leave the bedroom/bathroom, I sit down to write (most days). That lasts about an hour, till kids get up and I get busy doing Momness. Then I send the lovelies all off to school (!!) and I either write some more, exercise, or have a shower. Some days all three! (I know. I’m a marvel.)

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

There are such beautiful photos in our house. My husband takes amazing shots. So the thing that would surprise you is that we don’t actually look quite as glowy in person as we look in the pictures on the walls.

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?

Chartreuse. Because I can spell it. Also, I really do love green things (and chartreuse is green did you know?) like all the green things that are currently hiding under 18 inches of front-yard snow. Yes. It is March. Yes, that is, um, difficult. Yes, spring will come to the frozen mountaintops. Someday.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

For years, it was Pinky (of Pinky and the Brain, from the Animaniacs) but I’ve just become introduced to Phineas and Ferb, and so I’m going to go with Perry the Platypus.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Once again, I’ll have to go with Perry, since I spend a great deal of time in disguise, foiling the plans of Evil.

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 have the right figure for Regency England. And I can fake the accent. Jane Austen would have loved me.

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

I’m a huge Musical Theater nerd. My girls love that. My husband? Not so much. I have a pretty wide range of music that I like, but I can’t listen to any of it while I write. I don’t have enough character to stay focused. I’d end up writing lyrics into every scene (which isn’t as great an idea as it sounds like).

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 went years without watching TV for anything other than PBS kid stuff (I love me some Sesame Street – I think it’s got some of the best writing anywhere). Then my MIL introduced me to Pushing Daisies (which, apparently nobody but my MIL and me watched, because it was only on 2 seasons), which gave me dialog envy and made me laugh every episode. And now, I’m starting to watch MONK. I know. I’m only 8 years late, but what can you do?

Movies are a different story. I love movies. I watch lots of movies over and over. When I was in High School, it was Ghostbusters (I really am that old), and I watched it so often that I have (still) every line, every camera move, and every sound effect in my brain, taking up valuable space. I’m pretty varied in my movie tastes, too. I love sappy, cheesy romance stuff, artsy romance stuff, heist-style romance stuff, and action-romance stuff. See? I’m totally diverse.

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

Read many great books. Don’t know any? Ask your mom. Ask your English teacher. Ask your librarian. There are so many wonderful words (and worlds) out there, so get a taste of lots of them. Then go home and write your own. Because that? Is really fun.

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

I’m working on several (cause I’m disheveled like that), but I think I’ve found my mojo in the contemporary YA fiction/romantic comedy world. We’ll see how that changes when (if) I decide to grow up. Don’t count on it.

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