The Fangirl interviews Jennifer Bosworth author of STRUCK

Jennifer Bosworth is the debut author of STRUCK. Earthquakes, doomsday cults, a teenage lightning addict, and the end of the world. May 8 2012, FSG/MacMillan.

The Fangirl found another great author on Twitter!  One day I saw that Jennifer was following me on Twitter, so I checked out her profile and then soon found that EVERYONE was talking about STRUCK.  Thus, I knew I had to snag a Fangirl Friday interview!

Fangirl: For those who haven't heard of STRUCK, can you tell them what it's about?


Jennifer: Here’s my newly extended synopsis:

Mia Price is a lightning addict.

She’s been struck so many times she’s lost count. She can’t sleep, she’s covered in veiny red “lightning scars,” and repeated strikes have even stopped her heart on occasion. Still, Mia can’t resist a storm.

That's why Los Angeles, where it never rains, is the perfect place for her to find peace . . . until a massive earthquake devastates the city.

Now Mia finds herself struggling to hold her family together in a strange and terrifying new version of Los Angeles. The beaches have become massive tent cities populated by millions of homeless. Downtown is a wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the attendees drawn to the destruction by a magnetic force they cannot deny.

The blind prophet of a doomsday cult called the Church of Light, who predicted the earthquake with frightening accuracy, says a storm is coming to usher in the end of days, and only his Followers will be saved. Mia’s traumatized mom has become obsessed with the Church of Light, while her younger brother Parker is desperate to join a second doomsday cult called the Seekers. But Mia is the one both cults need.

The Seekers are recruiting people with an energy-based power they call the “Spark,” and Mia has it stronger than most. They claim the false prophet of the Church of Light will bring about the end of the world, and they are the only ones who can stand against him.

But without Mia on their side, they will fail.

Mia’s lightning addiction is both the key to saving the world . . . and destroying it.

Fangirl: How did you come up for the idea for this novel?

Jennifer: It was one of those perfect storms where two ideas collided. I was reading some book I can’t even remember the name of, but it mentioned a fault nearly ten miles deep that runs beneath downtown Los Angeles. If an earthquake ever originated from this fault, L.A. would be in big trouble, because most buildings are not built to withstand more than a 7.0 earthquake. That fact haunted me. Then I read a book by Alice Hoffman called “The Ice Queen,” which was about a woman who is struck by lightning and loses the ability to see the color red. The book included a lot of fascinating factual information about lightning and what it can do to people who are struck, and also mentioned that people who are struck by lightning are far more likely to be struck again.

Struck.

Earthquakes. Lightning. I put the two together, started thinking about how a fault line creates friction, and friction is energy, and lightning is attracted to energy. I came up with the idea of lightning causing an earthquake. Then I needed a character. A human lightning rod.

Or . . . even better, a lightning addict. And that’s how STRUCK and Mia Price were born.

Fangirl: Did you have any pitfalls on the path to publication? How did you get through them?

Jennifer: Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes. It took me quite a while to find my voice. I started out writing adult dark fantasy. My first two books were 800 pages long because––I didn’t realize this at the time––I was trying to jam at least four books into one. I was taking everything I was a fan of and trying to stuff it into a single book. It wasn’t until I tried my hand at screenwriting that I learned what “high concept” meant. After that, things started to fall into place.

Fangirl: Is STRUCK going to be a stand alone or should we expect more from this world?

Jennifer: Right now I’m working on a book what has crossover elements with STRUCK, but I’m completely open to doing a sequel. The characters have started talking to me again lately, so I feel like it might be about time to start giving them voice.

Fangirl: May 2012 is a long time to wait for this novel, what can us readers do to pass the time in anticipation of this novel?

Jennifer: Well, there are so many fabulous books out there right now, YA and otherwise, so I know I’ll be passing the time reading my friends’ books. But . . . in regards to STRUCK, I’m working on a short origin story of the book’s villain, which will most likely appear on Tor.com next spring. And my husband and I are working on an insane book trailer that, I can promise you, will be nothing like any book trailer you’ve ever seen. Minds will be blown.

Fangirl: If any part of your book could play out in your real life, what part of it would you want to and why?

Jennifer: I’ve always wondered how I would fare in a disaster situation. I’d like to think that I’d be calm and collected and know exactly what to do. So, just out of curiosity, I’d go for the apocalypse.

Fangirl: Did you have any sort of a musical playlist while writing STRUCK?

Jennifer: I actually made a playlist that tells the story of STRUCK, but I can’t reveal it to you, otherwise I’d give away the ending. I’ll tell you three songs that are on the playlist, though, in no particular order.
Danger! High Voltage, by Electric Six

Kill Me Now, by The Chapin Sisters

Too Hot to Sleep, by Eilen Jewel

Fangirl: If STRUCK were to be made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?

Jennifer: I’d have to time travel some younger/older versions of these actors:

Mia Price – Ellen Page. She manages to be cute, smart, and snarky at the same time.

Rance Ridley Prophet – Cillian Murphy. Those eyes . . .

Jeremy – Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Have you seen “Brick”? Wow. That hair. Those glasses.

Katrina – Eliza Dushku, for the sexiness factor.

With the exception of Eliza, I’d just steal the cast of “Inception.”

Fangirl: Favorite book, movie, and food?

Jennifer: The Gunslinger, by Stephen King; Flash Gordon, the 1980 version (It’s my favorite bad movie. Does that count?); and kettle corn. I’ve gone through lone stretches of time where I hate kettle corn for every meal.

Fangirl: Words to live by?

Jennifer: Don’t let other people do your thinking for you. That’s also the subliminal message embedded in the pages of STRUCK.

Fangirl Friday interview with Paul Schumacher

Paul Schumacher is a fantasy fiction writer who lives with his fiancée and cat in an apartment in Normal Illinois. After getting out of the Army, in 2007, he went back to college at Illinois State University and got his bachelors degree in English Literature. A life time of video games and Dungeons & Dragons have filled his head with stories, and it is these stories which he writes into novels.  You can read more about his adventures in publishing and everything else, here.

With the highly anticipated return of Fangirl Friday, I decided to interview debut novelist Paul Schumacher.  Paul is actually someone that I know personally from an early writer's group that I was in about a year ago.  I actually read an early draft of his debut novel and loved the concept plus the humor that Paul was able to weave into this hauntingly beautiful tale.

 Can you tell us about your upcoming debut novel?

Paul:   Little Red Wolf is a fairy tale reimagining in which many of the female characters of these tales are empowered with modern ideals. Little Red Ridding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf team up with Goldilocks, to rescue Rapunzel from her tower. Along the way they meet Prince Charming and find out he is sort of a useless jerk... but he IS royalty.

I created this story as a stand alone novel but I plan on linking it into a series of serial novels which I have divided into nine main story arcs. My publisher has asked me to keep the page count below 400 pages so only time will tell how many actual books this will make. Like a weekly soap opera, where the episodes end but the story goes on, I will try to find good cut-off points.

What inspired you to write this story?

Paul:  When I was taking a class on prose, I was assigned a book called, “The Energy of Delusion” by Viktor Shklovsky. This book echoed the bard, saying the great stories have already been told, but if we can put a fresh words to old tales, and delude ourselves into believing it is new, then the energy of that delusion can be focused into our stories.

I decided to take this statement literally, and use stories and characters from our past to generate my own. In this first book, I have almost no original characters. While my portrayal of these characters is my own, nearly every one of them is easily recognizable, and most American audiences will be able to figure out which fairy tale or legend inspired them. Personally I would like to play a game with my audience called, “Which story is this part of the book from?”

The challenge of writing a series this way is I must continue to find tales to parody. Over 9 books I have created plot arcs which are of my own design and I have been trying to find other classic tale which mimics them closely enough that I can honor the original tales and still write my own. Some stories are flexible enough that something as simple as a gingerbread house is all the parody I need. In other stories, only people who have an interest in certain specialized mythologies will catch the reference. Also, I will admit, I have been reading a LOT of old stories in order to find inspiration.

What was the road to publication like for you? Did you have any bumps along the way?

Paul:  My road to publication has been a dream. Upon reaching the end of my college career, a former class-mate called me to let me know she was working for a fledgling publishing company called The Little Things Publishing which would likely like to publish my book. She was correct.

The bumps I have hit, so far, have been so minor they are barely worth mentioning. My contract gives me more freedom than most bigger companies would allow, my editor is a dream, and even the artist for the cover art took his marching orders from me. The smaller company may not have to power to project my book into the market, like the larger ones do, but they have made a point of giving the artists more attention and more control over their work. As one of those artists, I appreciate all of the attention and freedom they have given me.

I know this story started out one way and you ended up taking a different path than you originally intended. How did you decide to change certain aspects and is there anything that you would have liked to keep in the story?

Paul:   During my first class at Illinois State University, back in 2007, I began writing a novel about a boy wizard. I worked on this practice novel for two years before I discovered a massive plot hole I could not fill.

During this time I had been taking writing classes which gave me the skills I needed to become a writer and I wrote many short stories on the side. One of these was a perverted Little Red Ridding Hood story which I then kept writing because the characters were much too interesting to let go of. When my wizard novel died, I was in an Ernest Hemmingway class in which my professor mentioned all of Ernest Hemmingway's stories may have been connected in some way. I decided at that moment to create a novel which would connect to my wizard story and fill the plot hole.

Thus, I took the character and setting of my Little Red Ridding Hood story, removed the sex, and started over. The world I have created for this character is the same world I created for the boy wizard. I also decided Red Ridding Hood's story begins about 80 years before the boy wizard's story. Thus, I know where the story is going but there is a lot of time between now and then.

As for what I would like to have kept... hmmm... there are several secondary characters which were cut, including Dew Drop the pixie and the three goblin brothers. I miss them, and I hope to find ways to introduce them into future tales.

What do you want people to take away from this story?

Paul:  I want people to think about their dreams before they leap head first after them. Our dreams are important, but we have been deluded to think they are right in front of us for the taking. Our dreams require hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and a little luck to achieve, but with good friends and good networking skills, we can achieve them.

 As a male writing a female main character, how did you channel your inner angsty teen girl?

Paul:   When I was growing up, I became obsessed with the legend of King Arthur and the idea of Chivalry. I created this fantasy that women were akin to living goddesses and needed to be worshiped and protected like sacred beings. Naturally this belief was brutally bludgeoned by the real world, but I never lost my fascination for the feminine ideal. Thus I studied women, read girly magazines, watched romances, and listened to my female friends when they talked.

Then, when I was 17, the internet came into our homes. On line, I discovered I could act as a female and be much more successful than I could ever be as a man. Several social experiments later, I discovered women in the United States have more power than men. Thus, I role-played as women, and when it came time to write a book, I found my female characters more interesting than my male characters.

Also, I have many female friends who I can always turn to when in need of advice. A woman's period, for example, was something I needed to ask about. While I have a pretty good grasp on physiology, sociology, and the over all quirks of women... there are some physical aspects which I have needed to go to my female network to discover.

 Did you have any sort of a musical play list for a novel or if you had to create one, what would it include?

Paul:   I had a variety of tunes which I played at different parts of the book in order to give it a certain feel. Generally I went to www.Pandora.com and set up a classical movie tune list. But there was one song in particular which I used to write one of the darker scenes toward the end, “Day Sixteen: Loser” by Ayreon.

If your novel was to be made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

Paul:   I would have to insist that Selena and Cynthia be played by husky “normal looking” women and then Ellora would likely be one of those obnoxiously hot beauties. I would love to use one of the Twilight boys for Prince Charming (as uselessly pretty as he is) and the Babas would need to be played by veteran Hollywood actresses.

 Favorite book, movie, and TV show?

Paul:  I was obsessed by the original Star Wars trilogy while growing up. I also love the Lord of the Rings movies, and detective shows like “Lie to Me,” “NCIS” and “Bones.” Then there is “Burn Notice” which is a modern day MacGyver. Basically, I love watching people be clever.

Words to live by?

Paul:  Blessed be the dreamers, for they breathe life into the Earth.

And if you are a dreamer, be sure to create a safety-net before you go on your adventure.

Also, NETWORK!!! I got to where I am today because I know I cannot get there on my own. By networking, and making friends, I managed to build the contacts that helped me to achieve my goals. Without these precious people, my books would be less interesting and might never have been published. I owe them everything. I hope I can honor their efforts with a magnificent collection of best selling books.

Fangirl Friday

Fangirl Friday with 2012 Debut Author:  Jill Hathaway

Jill Hathaway grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Having earned her BA in English Education from the University of Northern Iowa and her MA in Literature from Iowa State University, she now teaches high school English and dual credit courses through Des Moines Area Community College. She lives with her husband and young daughter in the Des Moines area. SLIDE is her debut novel.

I heard about Jill, ironically, through Twitter when she gave me advice about getting my beloved Snoogle. After talking on Twitter, I found her blog and became hooked on http://jillscribbles.blogspot.com/

M:   Can you tell us about your debut novel SLIDE?


Jill:  SLIDE is a paranormal thriller about Sylvia Bell, a girl with narcolepsy who randomly slides into other people's heads, witnessing things she'd rather not see--like her Spanish teacher coming on to her psychology teacher in the paper closet. When she finds herself in the head of a killer, standing over the murdered body of her sister's best friend, she is beyond freaked. She is the only one who knows the girl didn't kill herself, and she's terrified her sister might be next. Suddenly, everyone she knows is a suspect, and she must find the truth before it's too late.

M:   What inspired you to write this novel? With it being YA did you take anything from your own life experiences?

Jill:  I came up with the concept last year when I was brainstorming with a colleague. I was writing a novel along with my students and needed a cool premise. The idea of witnessing a murder through the killer's eyes was fascinating to me; from there, I just had to figure out how to make it work. Obviously, I've never jumped into the body of a killer, so the actual plot is completely fabricated. I think the emotional experience of being a young adult is similar for everyone, though, so I channeled the anxieties and concerns from my teenage self in order to make Vee authentic. The voice comes pretty easily to me, as I walk the halls of a high school every day.

M:   What was the hardest part about writing SLIDE? Did you ever feel like giving up?

Jill:  The hardest part for me was the revision process. I queried earlier than I should have, and though my plot and voice were strong enough to win me an awesome agent, I had a LOT of developing to do. Sarah wrote a brilliant editorial letter, and I spent months rewriting SLIDE, fattening it up and fixing a few character issues. I remember shedding some tears, but all the hard work was totally worth it.

M:   Did you have any mentors or people who helped you along the way?

Jill:  I have some awesome crit partners. Sara Raasch and Shayda Bakhshi were my earliest readers, and they really encouraged me and kept me going. I also got great feedback from Megan Miranda and Susanne Winnacker (both agency sisters), Amber Johnston, Rebecca Rogers, Stephanie Kuehn, Kate Walton, S. Kyle Davis, my sister, and my mom.

Sarah Davies, my agent, really helped me to bloom as a writer. She recognized that my work had potential, but really pushed me to roll up my sleeves and dig deeper. She is so awesome.

M:  I read that you are also from the mid-west, do you feel that your location helped or hindered your writing process at all?

Jill:  I think it's helped by providing a great backdrop for my stories. It would be hard for me to write a story set in... say, NYC because I've never been there before.

M:   What was the querying process like for you? Did you find it difficult?

Jill:  It was difficult in the sense that SLIDE was not the first novel I queried. I've got a couple of trunk novels, as many writers do. I've been writing for years, but it only took about a month to get an offer of representation for SLIDE--and there were several agents interested. I just had to persevere until I had the right story at the right time.

M:   Best and worse parts about the journey to publication?

Jill:  Submission.. it was the best of times, it was the blurst of times... I mean worst! Sorry, little Simpsons moment there. I won't go into details, but about two weeks after we sent SLIDE to editors, I was SUPER HAPPY. That lasted all of a weekend. Then I was SUPER DEPRESSED. Then I just tried not to think about it for a while. Then we got an offer. Then we got a pre-empt. And I was over the moon! So, yeah. Total roller coaster ride.



M:  What was your soundtrack while writing SLIDE?


J:   I'd love to share the soundtrack for SLIDE:

Just Like You Imagined--Nine Inch Nails

Porcelina of the Vast Oceans--Smashing Pumpkins

Alive--Pearl Jam

Fade Into You--Mazzy Star

Welcome to the Black Parade--My Chemical Romance

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)--Green Day

Hey Jealousy--Gin Blossoms

So Like a Rose--Garbage

Glycerine--Bush

Gravity--A Perfect Circle



M:   Favorite book, movie, and food?



Jill:  Book... so HARD! My favorite adult books are SHE'S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb, THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt, and pretty much anything by John Irving. My YA faves are THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins(of course), SOME GIRLS ARE by Courtney Summers, and THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson.

Movie... Definitely LABYRINTH. I get crazy when my students tell me they've never seen that movie! It's a classic!

Food... I know it's not a food, but I'm addicted to Diet Pepsi. And I can't have Oreos around. They have to be responsible for at least 85% of my post-baby weight gain. But I do love them so.

M: Famous last words or quote?

Jill:  Not sure if this is supposed to be a quote from me, but I love this quote by Sylvia Plath: "The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."