Interview with Mark A. Cooper

http://markacooper.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 started making up stories for my son when he was about three. It went from there, once he was twelve his grades improved after he read the ‘Harry Potter’ series. However once that was finished he could not get into a book that would hold his attention, he wanted an action adventure boys book. So I wrote Fledgling: Jason Steed, for him.

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

I originally self-published Fledgling: Jason Steed, it was just intended for my son and immediate family. It was listed like all books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble; there were all sorts of rumors circulating to who actually wrote the book, I was stunned by the book's success. One afternoon out of the blue an agent called me, I have since signed with her and we now have a contract to publish two more Jason Steed novels.

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?

The publishers are going to re-publish and edit Fledgling: Jason Steed. I have completed Jason Steed book two; ‘Boudica’. In this Jason is on the run from a ‘Triad’ gang across Europe, he travels on trains, planes and even a ski lift. I feel this is by far the best book I have written, the action is non-stop, yet we still have the emotion that we had in Fledgling. I know my readers who enjoyed Fledgling will devour it.

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

In 1939 a fourteen year old British cabin boy was killed when a torpedo from a German U-boat shot it. Raymond V Steed was the youngest recorded service dead of the Second World War.

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

My son is my biggest fan; I have often found him peeking at my notes and computer to see what’s happening to Jason Steed.

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

That’s easy. I am an Ice Cream aholic.

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

After I stop myself from throwing the alarm clock out the window, it’s straight into the shower, followed by a glass of ice water. This wakes me up much faster than coffee.

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

My wife keeps our home immaculate, if we don’t have a need for it, she gives it away to charity, so you would be so surprised how organized it is. Our attic must be the cleanest in America.

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 Blue, like the warm sky on a summer’s day.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Bart Simpson.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Apu from The Simpsons. I don’t work in a 24 hour Kwik E Mart but I am a workaholic, working seven days a week.

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?

Beam me back to May 14th 1944 to Auschwitz with a modern high powered machine gun. I would love to spray the Nazi’s with bullets as they tried to gas the poor Jewish people.

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 music most of the time, the list of artists are too many to name. The style of music, ranges from classical composer Rossini, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley right through to Queen and my favorite rock band AC/DC.I do listen to music while I write, but I often write the next chapter in my head while driving, eating and much to the annoyance of my family when they are trying to talk to me….Sorry!

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?

Favorite TV shows: 24, and American Idol, last movie I saw at the theatre was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Movies I will watch over and over are Rocky, Rambo and my favorite movie of all time are the ‘Scrooge Christmas Carol movies, they are all similar but I am a sucker for a happy ending.

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

At some point in your life someone; maybe your parents, boy or girl friend, will let you down and hurt you. Get over it; no one is perfect not even you. We all have a fault, that’s who we are. Love them for their good points and bad points.

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

The Jason Steed novels are set for at least eight books. We will see Jason come across the very worst our society has to offer. We may lose some of the other characters along the way.

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

Interview with A.S. King

www.as-king.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?

When I was fourteen. I was standing in the lunch line at school, and I got this brilliant idea that I wanted to write books that would somehow help teens and adults understand each other better. That idea died pretty quickly when an adult in my life suggested I become a newspaper journalist, which was not at all what I had in mind. In high school and college, I wrote in journals non-stop, but I didn’t really think about writing books again. The real want—the serious sit-my-butt-down-and-write-novels want—only happened when I moved to Ireland at age twenty-four.

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

It was really, really long. I started writing novels when I was twenty-five. Seven novels, three hundred rejections and a lot of poetry and stories later, I got to see one of my novels on a shelf…when I was thirty-nine. I know, right? That’s long. But now that I’m here, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Every novel I wrote made me a better writer, and during those fourteen years, I had a lot of groovy life experiences that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

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?

PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ is coming out in October 2010. It follows the struggles of Vera Dietz, high school senior and full-time pizza delivery technician, who has a very big secret about her ex-best friend, who happens to be dead. It also has flow charts, which would convince me to buy any book.

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

History is a huge part of my day-to-day reading. I’m fascinated by new parts of history every year and I become obsessed with certain events and read as much as I can about little-known things. I don’t try to work those into my books on purpose. Usually it just seeps in. Also—history never gets old. There is an endless supply. Outside of history, I’ve just realized that my teen characters are often dealing with things similar to what I dealt with as a teen. Gossip, rumors, bullies. So, I guess part of my inspiration is my own past.

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

I have an awesome family. My husband and I have an amazing history, and have been together for twenty-three years. He watched me write all that time—saw every rejection letter arrive in the post, and helped me stay strong when I considered quitting. He is my rock. My kids are awesome and the one who isn’t trying to bite my leg all the time has started to brag about me at school, even though I’ve told her not to brag. My sisters and parents have always been massively supportive. Moving back to the US a few years ago was a great step for me, because I am now physically closer to them. Family has always been immensely important to me. Even my non-immediate family has been so positive and supportive. I don’t think they realize how important their support is. But it is.

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

Mike and Ikes, hands down. Outside of that, I could live on breakfast cereal.

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

Drink coffee, tell my daughter to brush her hair, then tell her to brush her hair again.

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

My office is in my basement. You’d probably be surprised that the ceiling is so low, I can’t actually stand up down there. You’d probably also be impressed by how many mouse traps I’ve got.

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. Because red is the best color for boots.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Daffy Duck.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Daffy Duck mixed with Lisa Simpson. (Call me Daffy Simpson.)

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?

Difficult question alert! Wow. Being a history lover, I have about a million answers to this. So—I will answer most realistically. If I *really* had the chance to beam somewhere, I’d go back to my first year of marriage, when Mr. King and I would sit on a blanket by the river at the local park and read books every day after work until the sun went down. Why? I’d never want to go anywhere without him, I could sleep late on weekends, and because it was just so nice and peaceful and no one was biting my leg or yelling “Mom!”

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

I have only started to listen to music (occasionally) when I write, since I work in the basement and have kids running over my head and sometimes need to drown out the noise. I usually listen to the same album over and over again for each book. PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ was OKGO’s Oh No. THE DUST OF 100 DOGS was a lot of Bob Marley and the Wailers, which would be a long time favorite of mine. If I want to clear my head, I stick in one of the three Jimi Hendrix Experience studio albums.

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 haven’t seen a film in a theater in a long time. Might have been Star Wars II. I love and own a lot of movies that I watch at home, though. Deer Hunter and The Shining are two old favorites. Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are two newer favorites. I gave up TV in 1994. Now, I turn it on to see the weather or for PBS for the kids. (Or cool stuff, like the Olympics.)

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

Please be careful. Life is short.

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

I just finished a novel called EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS. I hope to have more news on that in the coming months. It’s a story about a kid who turns to his missing grandfather for help with a lifelong bully.

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

Interview with Amy Reed

www.amyreedfiction.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 knew I wanted to do something creative since I was very young, probably around 13 when I first read the poetry of Anne Sexton and started listening to indie music. Sometimes I wanted to be a writer, sometimes a musician, sometimes a filmmaker (I even ended up getting my bachelors degree in film). I tried pretty much everything, but I’d always come back to writing. Words were always my favorite materials to work with.

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

I started taking my writing seriously when I decided to get my MFA in my mid-20’s. I published a couple of short stories in small literary journals, one of which ended up being the inspiration for Beautiful. The first half of Beautiful actually ended up being my MFA thesis, and I finished it less than a year after graduating. Then I started the agent search, but I wasn’t thinking of it as a YA novel yet because I really had no idea the genre existed. Just as I was starting to get discouraged from so many “I really liked it, but it’s just not a good fit” emails I was contacted by a very high-profile agent who read my short story “Under the Wall” in Fiction Magazine (this also happens to be the short story that inspired Beautiful). He asked to see my manuscript, and ended up saying that he really liked it but he doesn’t represent YA, but that it was exactly the kind of gritty, realistic novel that editors are looking for. That was really my big “Aha!” moment—I started researching the YA genre and devouring all the books I saw recommended. The books I remember that blew me away were Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Story of a Girl by Sarah Zarr, and Luna by Julie Anne Peters. This may sound cheesy, but I felt like I found my home. So I queried a couple YA agents, quickly got an offer from the marvelous Amy Tipton, and within a month had two offers from big time publishers. I decided to go with Simon Pulse because they wanted to publish it in hardcover, and not only did they seem to care that it would sell, but they really seemed to believe in my book and in me as a writer. I feel so grateful to have found a home at Simon Pulse because they’re a bunch of great, talented folks who really believe in my work.

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?

Beautiful is my debut novel about a new girl at school who decides she’ll do anything it takes to fit in with the cool, dangerous crowd. I guess I’d say it’s a very raw, gritty story of a girl’s descent into a living nightmare. Intrigued?

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

Honestly, most of my stories are inspired by my own experiences as a teenager. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of material. My life now is pretty boring in comparison.

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

I think thrilled is an understatement. Although my dad made his living in business, he always had a dream of being a musician, so he’s incredibly proud that I followed my dream and succeeded at what I love doing. My mom says she knew I was creative at a very young age, so she put me in every art, dance, theatre, etc. class she could find, and I guess writing’s the one that stuck. I think she’s convinced half of Seattle to buy my book, including her doctor, hairdresser, and dog groomer.

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

Homemade mac and cheese, cheeseburger and fries, ice cream--pretty much anything full of cheese, carbs, sugar, and grease, which of course are all the things I’m not supposed to eat.

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

When I’m being good, I exercise first thing. Otherwise, it’s just the boring stuff like brush my teeth, take a shower, and get dressed. And playing with my dog is usually in there somewhere.

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 a ton of camping supplies in my basement. My husband and I are very outdoorsy.

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?

Probably green, because that’s the color I associate with life and growth.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Definitely Lisa Simpson. I’m an obsessive, high strung know-it-all. But add a few tattoos and more interesting clothing.

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?

Probably Paris during the French Revolution. I have such a romantic view of this period being full of passion and new ideas and the birth of democracy.

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 all kinds, mostly of the indie variety. I’ve heard the kind of music I like referred to as Freak Folk, which is a pretty stupid name if you ask me. Basically, I like pretty melodies with an indie feel and deep lyrics that tell a story. A definite plus if you add a non-rock instrument like a cello or accordion. Some of my favorite artists of the past and present are Elliott Smith, Cat Power, Iron & Wine, and Ida. I don’t listen to music when I write because it effects my mood too much, and I want my mood free to go wherever it needs to go with the story.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

My favorite shows tend to be ones that get canceled, like Arrested Development, Freaks & Geeks, and My So Called Life. I don’t usually like reality TV, but I have a strange love for Project Runway and So You Think You Can Dance. The movie I’ve seen more than any other movie is Heathers. I know every line by heart. If you haven’t seen it, you must stop everything you’re doing and watch it now! The last movie I saw in the theatres was The Lovely Bones, which is based on one of my favorite books. I was disappointed because I found it to be nothing like the book—I thought the main character was totally cast wrong, and the mood was just not right. Speaking of movies made from my favorite books, I thought the movie Precious, based on the amazing book Push, was brilliant because it completely captured the heart of the book, and the casting was just perfect.

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

Above everything else, stay true to yourself. Don’t let anyone take your power from you.

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

I’m three chapters away from finishing the first draft of my next YA novel, tentatively titled The Walls, which is the story of five teens in rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.

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

Thank YOU!

Interview with the Authors of BO'S CAFE

John Lynch
As a great communicator and writer, John Lynch is a vital staff member of the Truefaced team. In addition to speaking nationally with the Truefaced team since 1997, John has co-authored a number of books and resources with Truefaced, including the bestseller TrueFaced and the popular TrueFaced audio-video message.

John also serves as teaching pastor at Open Door Fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona, a position that he has held since 1985. The authenticity, longevity, and playfulness of these two flawed communities, Open Door and the Truefaced group, brings real-world reality and potency to this Truefaced message of Bo’s Cafe.

John used his love for writing and performing as the co-founder and playwright for Sharkey Productions, a theater troupe focused on Gospel-anchored theater productions for those still seeking Jesus. John and his wife Stacey are passionate parents to their three children Caleb, Amy and Carly.

Bill Thrall
As a leader of leaders, and a co-author for the TrueFaced team since 1995, Bill’s genuine desire is to see relational health in those he works with, has been vital in setting the tone of the organization. His eloquence and integrity have given him opportunities to teach TrueFaced’s principles internationally. His wisdom has been penned throughout the entire series of The Ascent of a Leader, Beyond Your Best, and TrueFaced Experience books.

Prior to joining the TrueFaced group, Bill founded and pastored the influential church, Open Door Fellowship, for over 20 years. While there, he developed an effective character development training program, which has influenced thousands.

In his spare time, Bill can be found fishing, golfing, crafting furniture for his family in his wood shop or cultivating fruits, vegetables and herbs in his beautiful backyard garden. Bill and his wife, Grace have three grown children Wende, Bill, and Joy and nine grandchildren.

Bruce McNicol
Bruce is a master at helping people experience the freedom of grace through metaphors and stories, which fill the best-selling Truefaced resources he and his friends have co-authored. These include TrueFaced, The Ascent of a Leader, Behind The Mask, Beyond Your Best, The High Trust Cultures, and others.

Bruce’s degrees in finance law, theology, leadership, and organizational development help hone his gift to speak into the lives of others, which continues to draw international audiences.

As co-founder and president of Truefaced team, Bruce’s passion is to see tens of thousands of safe places like Bo’s Café growing around the world, whether they be families, businesses, schools, hospitals, churches, organizations, sports teams, military or governments.

Bruce enjoys the beach, sports, and observing cultures through history-makers, emerging leaders, mass media, and comedians. His constant interest is his wife Janet, who is a homemaker, nurse and mentor. Together, they absolutely enjoy their three children, Nicole, Chad and Ryan.



First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.

Thanks. It’s a cool deal to be on here with you all!

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?

John: I’ve been a storyteller, actor, playwright, director, most of my life. But we learned we had to write to get these truths of grace out to a larger audience. So whalla, three years later, we’re fiction writers. It’s been a tremendous experience.

Bill: God has given me the ability to put wisdom in statements that will help others, so even thought I don’t write much, I craft statements and insights that have been used by many things.

Bruce: I have been writing stories and crafting metaphors for several decades. I first knew this was an area for me to focus on when a high school English-speech teacher named Mrs. Bandonis told me I could “see things in pictures and stories” and she encouraged me to keep writing and speaking. It’s important for all of us when we’re in those teen years to be open to those around who might see gifts and abilities and traits in us long before we see them in ourselves.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing Bo’s Cafe?

Bruce’s wife, Janet, and John’s wife, Stacey, told us that we should ask Paul Young (The Shack author), who we didn’t know, to look at Bo’s Cafe. After waiting several months, Janet pressed Bruce one late Friday evening to email Paul. Bruce did and Paul called back in 20 minutes! What we didn’t know is that Paul and his family had been encouraged by one of our previous books, TrueFaced. Paul asked to look at our Bo’s Café manuscript and then he and co-publishers, Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings, ended up asking if we would be open to publishing with them. They helped us in the editing process and now we have the privilege of Paul endorsing Bo’s Cafe. This all has been a crazy, rare ride. For crying out loud, our book is in Walmart! Go figure!

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?

We think each of us, no matter what our age, find ourselves in this story of Bo’s Cafe. The journey of Bo’s Café gives us hope that we can find real, authentic, safe places in this world. Places where the worst of us can be known and we discover we will be loved more not less. We don’t know what any of us could need more.

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

The characters in Bo’s Café are based on the stories of real people scattered around the world. Those we’ve known as friends, with all their warts and pain and goodness, and those who have loved us with all our warts and pain, inspire us. These characters in Bo’s Café are composites of stories and lives we’ve walked with for a long time.

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

Yep, our nine children have lived through this business of having a husband or a father become an author before, but it never gets old.

John & Stacey have three kids-24, 21 and 16. Bruce & Janet have three children—25, 23, and 14. And, Bill and Grace have three children (you have to have three kids in order to co-author with us!) and the Thrall’s also have 9 grandchildren. John and Bruce have a lot of catching up to do in this category.

All nine of our children absolutely love Bo’s Cafe but they have always been underwhelmed that their dads are speakers and authors. They just know us as the guys who hang out with them, do random humor, go fishing and golfing and concerts and tripping with them. (You should know that John has a Golden Retriever who he loves more than his co-authors, and we think maybe more than his family).

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

John needs more comfort than Bill and Bruce.

John: All Mexican food, Singapore rice noodles, those buttermilk bars that you rarely see anymore, egg custard, bread pudding and cheesecake. Crunchy peanut butter, he thinks this will be the official food of heaven.

Bill: Licorice candy.

Bruce: Steak and fine wine. Bruce eats fruits and vegetables for six days straight, just so he can BBQ steak once a week.

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

John: 1-I feed the cat and dog, 2-I make coffee, 3-I check our book’s ranking on Amazon

Bill: 1-I go to the bathroom, 2-I put on my walking clothes, 3-I break open the diet coke on my walk, I can’t stand hot drinks.

Bruce: 1-I feed Yoda, our Yorkipoo, 2- I take Ryan to cross country practice @ 4:45am, 3-I check out our newest Phoenix mountain—Piestewa Peak.

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

John: The absence of any tools or almost anything that could fix or make things. I am inept at all such endeavors. I have all the mechanical aptitude of a blind Pomeranian.

Bill: The amount of fishing gear I have everywhere.

Bruce: The absence of a basement. Phoenix has tons of swimming pools, but less than 1% of its homes have basements. This is totally stupid, except for the air conditioning and electrical companies who make a ton of money off of people who need their services to stay cool on the ground floor. You can kiss attics goodbye, in the Valley of the Sun attics are good for one thing, insulation. (I can vouch for John on the blind Pomeranian thing).

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?

John: Blue. Who doesn’t like blue? But there is very little blue food in the universe. Even blueberries are more purple than blue.

Bill: Blue.

Bruce: Vermilion.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

John: I loved “The Tick”. I don’t think he’s on anymore, but I thought he was incredible! He was one of the lesser super-heros. He could do great stuff but had a great sense of humor while doing it.

Bill: Mr. Magoo

Bruce: Wile E. Coyote

Which cartoon character is most like you?

John: I hope to eventually grow into the old man in “Up”. He ends up learning some of the greatest magical truths this life can teach.

Bill: Superman

Bruce: The Tortoise

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?

All three of us would say: Right here, right now. These are the days! Never been a better time to be alive. Every other time had weird diseases and bad plumbing. We would have enjoyed seeing Babe Ruth swing a bat, the Beatles at Shea Stadium, Jesus in front of Pilate, or Dostoyevsky writing…But mostly here, in real time, standing with those who are courageously learning to believe they can live authentically in love.

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

John: I always have “Pandora” on when I’m writing. Right now I’m listening to Mindy Smith and Patty Griffin. I’m a Bruce Cockburn fan, along with David Crowder.

Bill: Frank Sinatra, no I don’t listen to music while I’m writing.

Bruce: Symphonies and bands of the late 20th century. I like from Denyce Graves and Andrea Bocelli to Bob Dylan and Jack Johnson and Bruce Cockburn, and anything Pandora can get to me, yep I listen to music while I’m writing.

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?

John: If I don’t get to see “The Office” I can’t face the next day. My daughter is getting me hooked on “House”. Their season opening episode was incredible! Surprisingly, they have also got me watching “Grey’s Anatomy.” Some pretty good writing for a weekly show.

Bill: Old-movie re-runs and ESPN.

Bruce: Sports Center, Bear Grylls, Stephen Colbert, John Stewart, and some of the Comedy Channel (I hope you will still read our books after this).

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

John: Don’t buy into the cynicism all around you. There is incredible life to be experienced. Somehow I stumbled into it. Find those who are safe and know how to love and keep them for your entire life. There is a real God who knows everything about you and is absolutely crazy about you. Let Him love you. If you allow these things, you will have a life beyond all telling.

Bill: Learn to trust somebody with who you really are.

Bruce: Trust God and others with you, the real you, and give them access to your life.

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

We may find ourselves doing a follow-up to this story, following the life of one of the other characters from Bo’s Café. There’s so much more to come.

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

This has been a great experience for us. Later friends. Hope you deeply enjoy Bo’s Cafe and find yourself in it, with great hope.

Interview with Susan Vaught

www.susanvaught.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 writing since I was a kid, starting with poetry and short stories, then limping toward novels (with brief explosions of journalistic pursuits—features, straight news articles, and so on). I knew from the time I was about eight that I’d like to write for a career, let myself lose sight of that or belief in it for a number of years, then recaptured the dream about ten years ago.

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

I published in high school and college literary magazines and won a few legitimate writing contests in my teen years. Then I drifted away from writing during graduate school—writing for fun, anyway, as I was up to my eyeballs in research papers. I tried briefly to write some genre fiction when I was on internship and fellowship, had some minor success, but no publications, and once more, I let the dream drift away from me. About ten years ago I started writing again in earnest, this time determined to keep improving my craft until I succeeded.

I started writing novels and sought critique from other aspiring writers. I went to conferences and got professional critiques. Then one of my critique partners got an agent and referred me, and the agent accepted me. She made my first sale within a few months.

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?

Oathbreaker: Assassin’s Apprentice and the second volume of the same story, Oathbreaker: A Prince Among Killers are epic fantasy full of adventure, danger, and a whisper of romance. I think it can satisfy even the most easily bored reader, and that the tale and the characters and the world grab hold and never let go.

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

There’s a long list for this one, mostly filled with classic fantasy and science fiction writers such as Octavia Butler, Andre Norton, Marion Zimmer Bradley, T.H. White, and John Christopher. I could make the list a lot longer, but I’ll stop there for now—the longer I sit here, the more names fly through my mind!

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

Well, my son wrote Oathbreaker with me, so I’ll mention him first. He’s an inspiration, because he’s visually and physically impaired from cerebral palsy, and has to do all of his writing and reading on tape. He did an amazing job, and I treasured working with him. My daughter lives in Tennessee for now, though we have moved to Kentucky, and she’s an avid reader. I’m fortunate in that all of my family is supportive and understanding, and invested in my writing. I disappear and shirk chores to get stories finished, and nobody’s killed me yet, so, I’m lucky!

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

Mashed potatoes.

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

If I’m being virtuous, yoga, shower, and uncovering my parrot so I can talk with her before I have to go to work. If I’m not being virtuous, I bang on the alarm for extra time, fall into the shower, and still talk to the parrot as much as I can.

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 parrot shouting at you and making fire-alarm-screech noises because she knows you’re not supposed to be here poking around in my junk. If your ears don’t fall off from all that noise, you’d probably be surprised by my comic book collection, the number of cats who got past you as you peered through the door and hid before you could find them, or maybe the large amount of t-shirts with obnoxious expressions and slogans. Oh, oh—maybe all my Tennessee Titans or University of Tennessee Volunteers gear.

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?

Yellow (today), because it’s bright and awake and alive.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Scooby-Doo. That’s a no-brainer.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Uuuum…yeah, that’d be Scooby-Doo, too, I think.

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?

England during the time of King Arthur, because I want to know what it was really like, and what really happened—and I want to talk to Merlin and Morgaine.

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

The first two are absolutely impossible to answer. I’m music-obsessive with literally 10 solid days of music stored on my computer, and I listen to it all. Right now I’d say my favorite is Harper Simon, and his dad Paul Simon is a long-term favorite. I think I tend to like Alternative best, and yes, I listen to music when I’m writing, sometimes the same song over and over and over again.

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?

Favorite TV shows—right now, Medium and Criminal Minds. I watch Lord of the Rings, Star Trek IV and VI, Twilight, Harry Potter (all of them), Air Force One, Independence Day, The Fugitive, Day After Tomorrow, Men of Honor, Shawshank Redemption, Miss Congeniality, Con Air, and Hunt for Red October incessantly. The last movie I saw in the theater was, I think, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

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

Keep reading. Read everything you can find, no matter what reviewers or anyone else says. Read, read, read!

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

I’m working on a contemporary piece and a young adult fantasy piece with strong romantic elements right now—they don’t have titles yet, or anything else! Sorry…

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

Interview with Daniel Kraus

http://danielkraus.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?

First grade? That’s when I started writing stories featuring a reoccurring cast of heroes and monsters, each of whom had his own crayon-colored picture carefully stored in two folders labeled “Good Guys” and “Bad Guys.” I started writing longer works (a full notebook or two or three) in middle school, and finished my first proper novel in high school. It actually wasn’t bad; I still toy around with the idea of going back and revising it.

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

In my 20’s, I took a long detour into filmmaking. I wrote scripts, a few of which were optioned in Hollywood but never made, and I directed several feature films. At the same time, I made my living freelancing for magazines like Cosmopolitan, Playboy, Maxim, and Salon. At some point, I started to loose interest in Hollywood, and that’s when the former passion of my life—fiction writing—began to bang its fists against my brain. I sat down and banged out The Monster Variations. I got pretty lucky in landing an agent who sold the book pretty quickly to Random House. Now I’m a household name. Right?

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?

THE MONSTER VARIATIONS (my recent release): It will make you cry, then scare you, then make you cry again.

ROTTERS (my upcoming release): It will scare you, then scare you, then make you cry, then scare you, then scare you, then scare you, then really scare you, then make you cry again.

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

From about sixth grade through high school, I inhaled every single thing Stephen King wrote. As I got older, my reading became much more expansive, but there are elements of King that have become imprinted on my DNA. I don’t think I could escape it if I tried.

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

I’m the only so-called artist in the family, so my filmmaking and writing has always seemed a bit strange to them. The person who would’ve been most excited about the books, my mom, passed away a few years ago. But she was the one who traumatized me at a young age with late-night viewings of Twilight Zone and Night of the Living Dead. She’s really to blame for my whole career. Thanks, Mom!

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

Saltines.

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

Sing the National Anthem, do 500 push-ups, gather rabbits to feed my pet alligator.

Real answer: Shower, shave, dress.

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 countless giant bags of dog food. My wife stockpiles it as if preparing for nuclear fallout.

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?

Gray. A nice gray color would allow me to slide by unnoticed.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Ren.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Rowlf. Look, I know he’s a Muppet and not a cartoon, but you’re just going to have to deal with it.

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’m afraid of old-timey medical practices, so I really wouldn’t want to go back in time. Can I go into the future? Can I beam myself to an alien planet? That sounds like more fun than having leeches stuck all over me in order to cure a cold.

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

I do listen to music while I’m writing (see this post).

I’m all over the map when it comes to music – free jazz, indie rock, death metal, psych-folk, soundtracks, they’ve all got a place on my iTunes.

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?

The Twilight Zone will always be my favorite TV show. I’m too embarrassed to tell you what the last movie I saw in a theater was, so let’s just pretend it was something critically acclaimed starring Kate Winslet. Okay?

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

Take classes with practical applications! I have utterly no use for the calculus I took, but always wish I would’ve taken some shop and automotive classes. That’s the stuff that will help you when you break down on a Chicago interstate at three in the morning.

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

I’ve just finished an epic called ROTTERS that will come out in year or so. It’s terrifying, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s totally insane. Get ready.

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

Interview with Shelby Hiatt

www.shelbyhiatt.info

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?

Thanks for the interview, Jen. It's always good to connect with readers. As for first writing, I remember at 10 writing poems and a 'novel' - 22 pages about a chicken farm (!?) Go figure. My dad was an executive of a public utility company in a small town in Indiana, Tell City. I liked riding my bike and drawing and reading. No chickens anywhere. Guess I hadn't heard about "Write what you know."

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

I was on General Hospital and started writing screenplays between run-throughs. But they didn't sell and after about 8 of them I decided to write a book and did. I wrangled an excellent NY literary agent and he sold it to Oliver Stone in a bidding war. Stone didn't get it made even though it was greenlit but I made a lot of option money and realized novels are the way to go. What I do is write four hours a day, six days a week. I love it. I don't get writer's block. I've done it for years. It pays off because you get better as you write, all of us do I think. I contacted tons of agents and just never gave up. That persistence was and is my path. I don't have contacts and I'm not very good at socializing other than my close friends so for me it's about the work and getting better and sticking with it.

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 log line (one sentence wrap-up) for PANAMA is: Sex trumps culture clash. There should be a warning though: Don't try this at home, it's purely fiction. The story is this: A tomboyish girl comes to exotic Panama from Dayton, Ohio - culture clash. She love it, wants to meet the workers, hear the foreign languages. She encounters a Spanish aristocrat working in the Cut and she's love-struck at first sight. But as you know this is not a bodice ripping romance. Far from it. It is erotic but discreet. The context, the construction of the canal, is the backdrop and the real events provide atmosphere and excitement. It amazed me what went on in the Canal Zone just in the last year of construction, 1913. I think (I hope) it will also amaze the readers.

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

History. Real human accounts found in diaries or nonfiction books. I don't start writing until I have sections marked in various books that I think would make great scenes then I start arranging and creating a story.

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

My brother and his family are very pleased - that's my real mother and dad in the story. In fact the opening scene on the train is an incident that happened to my mother who at one point in her life rode a train to school each morning. The banana peel incident happened on one ride, she told me. My cousins are happy too. They see much about our Midwestern life reflected in the novel.

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

Do I dare admit this? I have little interest in food. I forget to eat. And when I do I eat it's like an athlete, very healthy stuff, not vegan or anything, just healthy food. I turn to reading for comfort.

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

Go wee-wee. Check my email. Pull up the file of the book I'm working on and go to work. Food etc is for later.

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

Maybe my roller-blades. I haven't found anyone to skate with in a long time so they're gathering dust.

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?

Pale blue I think because I like the sky on a a brilliant sunny day.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Homer Simpson - his whole family. Little Maggie!!!!

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Little Maggie. Just watching things happen. (Then writing about them.)

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?

Biblical Palestine because the book I'm writing now is set there and it's not what we think it is, not rosy Bible stories. It was a tough time for people and I've had to do some serious digging to find out about their daily life.

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

Never listen to music when I write but I really like African or West Indian music. And just discovered Peolo Nutini! Hot stuff from Scotland! YouTube him on Graham Norton, a Brit show.

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?

You know, I saw "The September Issue" about Vogue and high fashion and found it very entertaining. Anna Wintour seemed deep though what she does is superficial. A lot is going on under her stylish exterior. I like political movies and love Pirates of the Caribbean, watch it when it's on TV. Watch HOUSE and THE SIMPSONS of course. I was sorry when THE RICHES ended. I'm an Eddie Izzard fan.

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

Find out what you like to do and can do well and then try to do it. That's a rewarding life and it's not following the crowd. Find out who you are. You're individuality is what you've got that nobody else has. Nobody. If you want to write, your own story can come out in all other stories because it's what you know and what makes you and the story authentic - real to the reader. Be a person with character, do the right thing even when nobody is looking. That's what lets you sleep at night, gives you peace of mind - probably the most important thing of all.

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

Aha! Thought you'd never ask. Well, the book I mentioned is about a runaway boy in biblical Palestine - what life was like at that time, his conflict with the Romans and with bandits and the various rebellious sects. He even knows the famous preacher. It's a big adventure.

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

Interview with Jennifer Brown

www.jenniferbrownya.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?

Well, I've always written for fun. Literally, as far back as 2nd grade, I was writing to blow off steam and explore my imagination and all that. I did some writing for the school paper and so forth in high school, and kept very detailed journals. But every time someone would mention that I should consider writing for a living, I always shied away from the idea.

It wasn't until my middle child was on the way and I knew I'd be quitting my day job and staying home with the kids for a few years anyway that I considered trying to get some things published. I never really thought it would all come together like this, but I'm so happy it has!

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

I started off by writing short stories, poems, little essays and so forth. Then I got the idea that I would write women's fiction novels. So I wrote a couple of those, and actually signed with my agent for one of them. That was 2006. The book never sold, but I still kept writing. Wrote another women's fiction novel, which wasn't all that whippy, and then dove into writing HATE LIST. At the time, I was also doing a ton of writing for online magazines and also writing my weekly humor column, and I wrote most of HATE LIST during the wee hours of the morning.

I never told anyone (except for my husband) about what I was writing, because it was such a departure from what I normally write. But when I was finished, I sort of casually mentioned it to my agent, who responded immediately with, "Let me see it!!!" She started trying to sell it that day.

Within a few days, several publishers came back asking for full manuscripts, and next thing I knew I got an offer! And then another offer! And then a third! There was a week or so of haggling back and forth, and I finally signed with Little, Brown & Co., which has turned out to be an awesomely supportive and wonderful house.

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?

HATE LIST takes place in the fictional town of Garvin, where the community has just been rocked by a school shooting. But the story isn't about the shooting, so much as it's about the emotional journey of a girl, Valerie Leftman, as she tries to piece her life back together. You see, Valerie's boyfriend Nick was the shooter, and he used her "hate list" to choose his targets.

HATE LIST will make you think. Will make you re-assess your life and your role in other people's lives. It is not a light and happy book, but it is full of hope and has an underlying drumbeat of friendship and positivity.

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

My husband, Scott, who has supported me through more than one human deserves. He's amazing, and if it wasn't for him, I'd have never even considered that I could one day be a published author.

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

My mom and dad are super-proud of me, as are my step-mom and step-dad. My step-mom has probably put in as much PR for HATE LIST as I have! I have one sister and one brother, both older, and three step-sisters and three step-brothers, and a niece who is very much like a sister to me.

I'm happily married to the love of my life, and we have three beautiful and amazing kids. I have a 17-year old daughter, a 9-year old son, and a 6-year old son. Also, I have two 11-year old long-haired spoiled cats (George and Gracie), and a pair of 2-year old dogs (a basset hound named Ursula and a boxer named Aragorn). It's a busy house!

My husband and kids are over the moon with HATE LIST's success. My daughter has read the book twice! The cats don't really care.

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

Soup! I love soup. Any kind of soup. I eat soup year-round. I eat soup every day while I'm writing. I love places where I can buy soup. And I love winter because I can get away with making soup for dinner every night. Soup rocks!

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

Start the coffee, fire up the laptop, and open the blinds.

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 books! I have this delusion that someday I'm going to have a house with a library in it, and I've never gotten rid of a book because of that delusion. Instead, I just stockpile them and there are literally hundreds of books in the basement. Also in each of our bedrooms, under my bed, and several large moving boxes full of them in storage. BOOKS!!!

And I'm afraid of the attic. It's empty.

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 a rainbow, baby!

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Mickey Mouse.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Donald Duck -- grouchy and impatient. But I wear pants.

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 totally be at Woodstock.

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

I don't really have a favorite type. I don't really get into country too much, and I really dislike jazz (I don't know why), but I'll listen to almost anything. My favorite artists are The Beatles, Green Day, Justin Timberlake, and Daughtry.

Yes, I do listen to music while I'm writing, but I'm so easily distracted it has to be music either sung in a foreign language that I don't understand, or music with no lyrics. So I'll write to African music one day and Ray Lynch the next and Mozart the next and Chinese music the next, and so forth. I've found that the 99-cent bin at Vintage Stock is a treasure trove of really cool foreign 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?

My favorite TV show, maybe of all-time, is "The Office." I also watch a lot of cooking shows and reality TV and, yeah, even soap operas. I don't have a lot of time for re-watching movies, but if it's a Disney movie I'll watch it every time it's on. Also I'll watch Forrest Gump any time it's on, and My Best Friend's Wedding. And I can never seem to watch Polar Express too many times.

The last movie I saw at the theater was Where the Wild Things Are.

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

You will never regret reaching out in friendship to someone who really needed a friend.

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

More YA stories, for sure! I'm just finishing one up, in fact, and hopefully you'll see it on shelves in spring 2011.

Interview with Karl Mecklenburg

www.studentathlete.us

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?

Being a writer was not part of my plan as a young person. I have dyslexia so writing has always been a challenge for me. There are good parts about having this issue even though it made school a challenge. Having dyslexia means you think differently. Coming up with different ideas and solutions is a great advantage once you get out of school. Dyslexia also means that I have very little feel for left and right, I’m ambidextrous. This allowed my NFL coaches to move me around in order to put me at the point of attack. There were games when I played all 7 defensive front positions because of this “learning disability”.

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

I have been a motivational speaker for many years with a desire to inspire long term positive change in teams and individuals. There are a limited number of people who will hear me speak so the book allows me to inspire a much larger audience. The long term piece of my desire has always been a challenge to me. When I give a speech the audience leaves with great ideas and inspired to change but I didn’t have a way to follow up. With the release of my book months or even years later an audience member can read my stories and be reminded of the concepts that will lead to success.

One of my keys to success is having the courage to try new things. Writing Heart of a Student Athlete was a five year process full of starts and restarts but I stuck with it and am very proud of the result. Success is overcoming obstacles on the way to your dreams and now I have a way to reach more people in a new and lasting way.

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 you look at the areas of your life where you have been successful, and at the successes in the lives of those you respect, you will find six universal unchanging keys to success. You decide the direction and the depth of your life experience. In a series of interesting and sometimes humorous stories about my life both in and out of sports, Heart of a Student Athlete gives you these keys and teaches you their value.

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

My experience has been the driving force behind telling these stories. So many people don’t believe that they can accomplish the improbable. I am a professional speaker who spent years in speech therapy for a lisp. I am a published author with dyslexia. I am a slow white kid from the suburbs who had a twelve year NFL career including 3 Super Bowl and 6 Pro Bowl appearances. Dream extravagant dreams and pursue them relentlessly. The NFL is full of men who came from desperate backgrounds but something in their character allowed them to persevere and overcome.

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

My dad is a doctor and my mother was Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Reagan administration. I was raised with the understanding that I would do something socially significant with my life but I ended up playing a game for a living. Heart of a Student Athlete, the Karl Mecklenburg’s REACH Foundation, and my speaking business are my ways of being socially significant.

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

I love fruit. We have a peach tree in our back yard and in the odd year when late Colorado frosts don’t freeze the blossoms those peaches are heaven on earth.

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

My schedule is crazy so I don’t have a regular pattern but when I’m home and there is time I let the dog out, eat breakfast, and do my Bible study.

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 be surprised by all the hunting and fishing stuff I have collected through the years. I am a fly tier and I’ve got all kinds of crazy stuff in the basement for that: Australian opossum skin, guinea fowl feathers, the pelt of a shrew, moose mane, feathers from the foot of a prairie chicken, it’s kind of like witch craft.

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 white. White is all the colors of light put together. I believe that God has given us all more talent than we can possibly use in a lifetime but along with that talent he has given us free will. That means it is up to us to go out and have the courage to try new things and then work hard and develop those talents. I decide what color I want. I decide what I do with my life.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

My eleven year old son Jeff says I’m like Schnitzel on Chowder. He is grumpy, grumbles Radda, Radda, Radda, and lifts everything 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 be beamed to Colorado back in the mountain man days. The mountains here are still pretty wild but I would like to have seen the Buffalo herds, the plains Indians, and the foothills where I live in their natural state.

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 old country music. Don Williams, George Strait, Chris LeDoux. No, I don’t listen to music while writing.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows?

I like watching sports on TV. I’m interested in seeing how players react in pressure situations. One thing that surprises me is when announcers glorify players who play at a higher level in the big games or playoffs. If the players have that capacity where was it the rest of the year? If you want to know what you’re capable of you need to give full effort, not some of the time, all of the time.

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

I would encourage your readers to be honest and forgiving with themselves. This is the most difficult key to success. Some people won’t be accountable while others blame themselves for bad weather. We all make mistakes but the successful learn from those mistakes, forgive themselves and move on. If you can’t be honest in self evaluation it is impossible to be an effective leader, to be decisive, to be dedicated, or to set goals that will move you toward your desires.

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

I think my next book will be a series or stories about leadership.

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

Interview with Anne Osterlund

www.anneosterlund.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 published my first chapter book sometime around the fifth grade. The Pirate Queen. Quite dramatic. And deadly. The cover is made out of red tissue paper.

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

Tissue paper novels aside, I had written a lot of wonderful beginnings that lay filed away on notepads all over my apartment, but in 2004, I finally dedicated myself to completing something I could submit for publication. Aurelia volunteered for the position. By the time I finished the first draft, I had decided to take a year off from teaching and naively thought that by writing full-time, I could finish revising within about a month. Yikes! I attended classes and conferences and joined a critique group, all of which taught me that I had a lot more work to do. Ultimately, however, Aurelia had her way. In January of 2006, I sent her manuscript off to Angelle Pilkington, who I had met at the SCBWI-Oregon Fall Retreat, and a year and three months later, Penguin accepted the story! So do not give up!

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?

Academy 7 is the story of Aerin and Dane.

Aerin is a scarred fugitive in search of a better life. Dane is a self-destructive rebel seeking revenge. Despite her defensiveness and his pent-up anger, they form a tenuous bond as the top new students at the most prestigious school in the universe. But they must tear down their inner barriers and brave the scalding secrets of the past in order to meet the true challenge of Academy 7.

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

Oh! Louisa May Alcott; Laura Ingalls Wilder; Tamora Pierce; James Barrie; Ann Rinaldi; Sally Watson; S.E. Hinton; Eloise Jarvis McGraw; L.M. Montgomery; Richard Peck, Elizabeth George Speare, Esther Forbes, Avi, Sharon Shinn . . . I could go on and on.

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

My cat, Dance, is stubborn, protective, and terrifying to all the local tomcats. She enjoys sleep, camouflaging herself in the dirt, and going outside three times a day. And, yes, she much prefers when I stay home writing on the couch to working elsewhere, though she worries that I sometimes get carried away and should remember that dinner is at 4:30 p.m. sharp.

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?

Open drawer beside bed. Grapple for alarm clock (hidden in drawer because cat likes to knock it off the nightstand which causes havoc with the battery). Press snooze button.

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

Scary. Very scary.

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?

Sky blue. Because I would like to be a more calm color than I am.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Wendy Moira Angela Darling.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

The quiz at Disney World said “Cinderella,” but my mother thinks “Belle” because I am constantly walking around with a book. You can’t leave one behind! What if you get trapped in road construction on the way to work!

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?

Egypt. I am a tremendous Mara, Daughter of the Nile fan. Though seeing the country now would be just fine. History is fascinating, but I like toilets that flush and beds without fleas!

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 the song Unlimited from the Wicked! soundtrack. And I also like the version of Come On, Get Higher on Sugarland’s new CD. Forever’s As Far As I’ll Go by Alabama. Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts and Astonishing from the Little Women soundtrack. But I never listen to music while I’m writing. Not even without lyrics. The characters are vocal enough.

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?

Oh, very long answer: Little House on the Prairie, Homefront, Jericho, Prison Break, Smallville, American Dreams, Judging Amy, The Mediator, Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Gone With the Wind, While You Were Sleeping, Pride & Prejudice, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, The Princess Diaries 2, Ever After, North and South (by Elizabeth Gaskell). The list goes on . . .

The last movie I saw in a theater was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I also saw the play, All’s Well That Ends Well, not once, but twice, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this summer, both because it was wonderful and because I was so amazed they could make that play believable.

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

Dare to dream.

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

Well, I am very very excited! And I think my readers will be too, but I can’t say about what yet because nothing is official. So I promise to announce the news in my newsletter when I can, and if anyone wants to sign up to receive it, they are welcome to e-mail me at the contact address on my website.

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

Interview with Hannah Friedman

http://hannahfriedman.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?

One morning when I was five I wrote a humorous poem conflating school with drool or something like that, and was somehow able to persuade my parents to allow me to stay home for the day. After that I was pretty much hooked.

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

In 2004 I was published in Newsweek for an article about the college application process, and since then I’ve been fascinated by the hysteria that surrounds academia, and teenagehood in general. When I found out that my publishing company was looking for a teen memoir, I jumped at the chance to share my stories, both hilarious and heartbreaking, with an honesty I hadn’t encountered in other YA fare.

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?

Everything Sucks includes everything I wanted to know about, but was way too afraid to ask about growing up—everything from dieting disasters and Ivy league scandals to experimenting with drugs and Googling blowjobs to living with a real live monkey. That’s right- my older sister is a Capuchin monkey.

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

The greatest inspirations for my stories are other stories - everything from The Princess Bride to Bride of Chucky. I’m a huge movie geek, a television addict, a book hoarder, and even a conversation snooper—stories are everywhere! So who knows, maybe my next great story might even be inspired by yours!

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

My Dad’s a musician, my mom’s a monkey trainer, and my brother steals my socks before going off to play virtuosic jazz piano. My sister is a monkey.

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

Reeses cups and Chicken Tikka Masala. Hands down. But not together. Although that combination does sound pretty intriguing…

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

Press the snooze button, dream a little dream, stretch stretch stretch.

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 an alarmingly large collection of outlandishly ornate novelty hats. Like giant, Las Vegas, feathered, marching-band, sequined explosions of sparkle and poof. The alarming part is that I’ve never purchased any of these hats for myself… people just seem to think my head is bare if not adorned in neon feathers and rhinestones. I don’t know whether to be offended or flattered.

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?

Is Rainbow Sherbet a color? I love all those swirly patterns… I’m a huge fan of art in all of its forms, and I like to fill my days with as much reading, writing, music-making, and window-shades-closed boogying as possible. I’m a mess of contradictions and can be indecisive in addition to passionate about creating and learning, so I like the idea that I’m more than one color wrapped into one.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Gotta love Bender from Futurama and Cartman from South Park. They say all the antisocial, selfish, and hilariously awful things I’d never say aloud.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Probably Lisa Simpson. I’m a nerd and proud of it.

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 beam myself into the future, write down some choice Mega Millions lottery picks, then come back here and win the lot so that I could open up amazing education centers for kids all around the world. Young people have the capacity to bring about amazing change, but most rarely have the resources required to inspire and foster their talent. Education for all!

I’d also like to beam myself to sites of historical mystery and figure out what the heck was going on. I mean, Easter Island? Wtf?

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

I love musical theater, jazz, rock, and folk - pretty much anything with soul and everything with a rockin’ horn section.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again?

I’m a huge fan of Arrested Development, Weeds, The Office, The West Wing… some of my favorite movies are Eternal Sunshine, Being John Malkovich, anything by Hitchcock or Woody Allen. I also must admit that I know the entire My Little Pony’s theme song. By heart. With key modulation.

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

Cool people are the ones who like you for you. Everyone else doesn’t matter.

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

Definitely check out all the songs, collaborative projects, and skits on my YouTube channel, and all the fun updates on my blog.

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

Interview with Caroline Barnard-Smith

http://carolinebarnardsmith.co.uk

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?

It feels like I’ve always known I wanted to be a writer. I was about five or six when I wrote my first manuscript – a plagiarized version of Grease (my favorite movie at the time), badly typed on my mum’s electric type writer and barely filling one side of A4. Needless to say, it took many more years of practice before I finally wrote a story that was good enough to be published.

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

I became an On Writing devotee (Stephen King’s book about the craft of writing) at university and followed the excellent advice about trying to get short stories published before branching out with a full-fledged novel. My first published story (a dark vampire tale set in sunny Spain called Alessandro’s Legacy) found a home in the pages of small press magazine, Hungur. After years of wanting to see my name in print, I think that getting that first acceptance was even more exciting than finding out my novel was going to be published (if that’s possible!)

My first novel, Dunraven Road, took me over three years to complete in-between a variety of boredom-intense office jobs. I did a ridiculous amount of research on which publishing route to try and after looking at agents, publishing houses, ebook publishers and even print on demand companies, decided to submit my novel to Immanion Press. They appealed to me because they’re dedicated to keeping the books they publish in print, unlike most of the large publishing houses who can pull a novel from the shelves in a couple of weeks if they feel it’s underperforming. Luckily for me, Immanion liked my work and agreed to publish it.

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?

Dunraven Road could be called a dark, Gothic vampire story, but essentially it’s about a group of friends living in a small town. Their relationships with each other are complicated and often intense, only serving to fuel their addiction to a hallucinogenic drug called red. The group’s leader, a sadistic egomaniac called Zach, is obsessed with the idea of becoming a vampire – little does he know that real vampires have arrived in the town, intent on feasting upon the drug addled population.

One of the things I wanted to achieve with Dunraven Road was the creation of a truly monstrous vampire. I feel that too often, vampires in modern fiction are too slow to reach for their fangs. They want to be your confidante or your boyfriend. They don’t usually want to bite your neck and feast on your blood. The evil vampires in Dunraven Road are called The Ancient Order, a secret sect of vampires who delight in the taking of life and thrive on the chase. I’ve tried to make vampires scary again, the way they were in Bram Stoker’s imagination.

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

I have too many inspirations to name just one! Many writers have helped to shape my imagination. Stephen King showed me how really great dialogue should be written, Anne Rice excited me by delving deeper into the psyche of a vampire than anyone had done before and Poppy Z. Brite took my breath away with the sheer beauty with which she describes the most grotesque images. I’m also a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan. The Lord of the Rings truly transported me to Middle Earth and his descriptive passages are amazing.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Whedonverse (i.e. shows created by the mighty Joss Whedon) in general have also been huge inspirations, both in life and my writing. Whenever I’m feeling low, I take out my DVDs and listen to the wisdom of Buffy.

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

My family have been fantastic, particularly my husband and my parents. I dedicated Dunraven Road to my mum because she’s the poor woman who gets to read my work first and tell me if it’s terrible or not. She’ll go through entire manuscripts with a red pen, marking out all the sentences that need attention or the paragraphs that need some work. She’ll also nag me if she thinks I’m not writing often enough – which can be intensely annoying at the time but is actually just the kick up the behind a committed procrastinator like myself frequently needs.

One of the nicer surprises I had once the novel was published was discovering how excited my wider family were, even though we’re spread all across the UK. My sister in Bournemouth convinced many of her work colleagues to buy a copy and helped me design my website. Both of my grandmothers have read the book, as has my uncle (who told me some parts were so gross he needed a walk in his garden to calm down) and my cousin, Charley (who accosted her school librarian and demanded to know why they weren’t stocking it!) Then there’s my aunt in Kent who has recently had an operation on her eyes. She was so upset when she couldn’t read my book straight away, she ordered special glasses to speed up the healing process.

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

Pizza, definitely. Large, stuffed crust, extra cheese. It’s all about the cheese.

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

1) Hit the snooze button on my alarm clock.
2) Make a very large, very strong coffee.
3) Check my email/Twitter/Facebook – Try to tear myself away from email/Twitter/Facebook.

I’m hideous in the mornings. It takes me forever to wake up, stop procrastinating and knuckle down to tackle a decent amount of writing. I can write quite quickly once I get started, but for some reason the thought of starting is worse than actually doing it.

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

Probably the ridiculous amount of yarn. I taught myself to knit a few years ago in an effort to keep my hands busy and stop chewing my fingernails. My nails are as bad as ever, but I can knit a wicked pair of gloves to cover them up.

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 a nice, rich purple because it’s my favorite color. It’s not quite pink and not quite black, neither too girly nor too dark – just like me, in fact.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

The king of propane: Hank Hill. He may not have the most exciting adventures, but he always makes me laugh (which is more than Family Guy’s been doing lately!)

Which cartoon character is most like you?

I’d like to think I’m like Futurama’s Leela. She’s intelligent, kicks ass and looks good in boots. Unfortunately, I’m probably more like Selma from The Simpsons.

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?

After much contemplation, I think I’d have to choose the legendary kingdom of Camelot in the time of King Arthur. Wouldn’t you love to find out if the stories were true? If there really was a wizard called Merlin and a magical lady in the lake? Plus, there were a lot of very fit knights running around jousting and the fashions for women were out of this world. I’m just not sure if I could acclimatize to the lack of decent sanitation.

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

I always have music on when I’m writing. I often find it influences the mood of the current scene I’m working on or inspires me in some way. I’ve been listening to a lot of symphonic metal lately: dark, decadent bands with stunning vocalists like Sons of Seasons and Epica. I’ve also loved Placebo since I was a teenager – I don’t think they’ve ever produced a bad album.

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?

Well, I’ve already mentioned my ongoing love affair with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (by the way, I’m definitely on Team Angel - I want Spike all to myself). At the moment I’m really enjoying True Blood (naturally!), Dexter and Californication, both of which are ridiculously addictive.

One of the movies I watch over and over is Interview with the Vampire (I can’t help it, Brad Pitt as a vampire just does something to me). I also love The Crow, the Blade trilogy and The Matrix. Strangely enough, I’m also addicted to chick flicks but I’ve yet to see anything that beats The Wedding Singer, My Best Friend’s Wedding or Muriel’s Wedding (hmm, they all seem to be about weddings for some reason…) See, I really am a ‘purple’.

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

Never forget the importance of dreams. If you never try, you’ll never get – It’s really as simple as that.

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

I’m currently working on a sort-of sequel to Dunraven Road called Jinn Nation. I say sort of sequel, because it’s designed to work as a standalone novel but it stars Dylan, one of Dunraven Road’s vampire characters. This is very much a global book – Dylan and his new friend, Christa, have trekked all over the United States and as I’m nearing the end of the novel, they’re branching out to Mexico, Hawaii and London. Let’s just say the research has been challenging. Did I say challenging? Obviously, I meant rewarding. Either way, it’s been a really fun book to write and is completely different in tone from the intense, often claustrophobic world of Dunraven Road.

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