Hey guys, it’s time for anther interview to get you ready for TeenBookCon. This morning we’re talking with the always bubbly Lauren Myracle! Can you believe you’ll all get to meet her tomorrow at TeenBookCon right here in Houston, Texas at Alief Taylor High School from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.? We at TeenBookCon can hardly believe it ourselves! Anyway, how about some questions?
TeenBookCon: Do you prefer writing books for tweens or teens or does a book that you're writing have a particular audience when you first start writing it?
Lauren Myracle: I like to alternate. Books for teens tend to delve into deeper topics, and they can be emotionally grueling to write. Shine, for example, was heart-wrenching to write because of the bigotry, the homophobia, the drug addiction...yeah, you see what I mean. That's not to say that tweens don't face real and heart-wrenching situations, too. But, as a forty-one year old (wh-hoo!), I have the perspective to see that losing your treasured bobble-head turtle isn't the worst hardship life is going to throw at a person, so it's easier to write my tween books with a light and goofy sensibility.
TBC: Who wore the PaJants after you (http://75.126.21.145/blog-o-love/2011/03/i-done-it-i-done-it-i-wore-the-pajants/)?
 |
| Lauren in the traveling PaJants. |
LM: My beloved friend, author Sarah Mlynowski, WHO WAS VERY NAUGHTY AND *WASHED* THE PANTS AFTER WEARING THEM! Yes, unbelievable, I know! Anyone who has read the Traveling Pants books knows that the first (albeit disgusting) rule is 1) NEVER WASH THE PANTS. But Sarah did, I suppose because she didn't want the next wearer to think she stunk the pants up or something, and the extremely beautiful and sparkly unicorn I drew on the PaJants disappeared into the cycling tides of her washing machine. Here is a picture of the unicorn before its untimely death:
I hope you will join me in mourning its departure into other realms. And this is a BEE-YOO-TEE-FUL unicorn author and illustrator Daniel Kirk drew for me to help me get through my time of pain.
Daniel Kirk rocks!
TBC: Cool! Another of our TBC authors this year has weird ideas about washing pants (hint: he wrote Carter Finally Gets It and Carter’s Big Break). So, what are your top three "Books to have if stranded on a desert island"?
LM: To Kill a Mockingbird (fine, call me boring, but you can't say I don't have fab taste!), the Bible (cuz it's long, and juicy, and I really should get around to reading the whole damn thing), and...hmmm. Ooo! The Collected Works of Flannery O'Connor (and don't tell me it doesn't count, or I will bite my thumb at you).
TBC: Do you have any upcoming book projects you can tell us about?
LM: Well, the thing is, if I told you, I'd have to kill you... Ah, I'm teasing. I haven't killed a single reader yet. Only characters. How 'bout I tell y'all about new projects--and ANYTHING else you want to know--when I see y'all? And will there be cookies at TeenBookCon? I really like cookies. And Dr. Pepper. Mmmmm....
Cheerio, friends! I'm so psyched about getting to hang with y'all!
TBC: We’re psyched, too! And we’ll see what we can do about the Cookies and Dr. Pepper. :) Thanks so much, Lauren, for speaking with us this morning and letting our teens get to know you a bit before meeting you tomorrow at TeenBookCon!
Lauren Myracle is the author of Peace Love and Baby Ducks, Bliss, ttyl, ttfn, l8r g8r, bff, Joyride, Kissing Kate, Rhymes with Witches, Eleven, Twelve, The Fashion Disaster that Changed My Life, How to be Bad, Thirteen, Winnie's Journal, Luv Ya Bunches, Thirteen Plus One, and the upcoming Shine and Ten. Find her on Twitter.
Lauren will be speaking on the A Walk on the Dark Side panel with Gail Giles, Ellen Hopkins, and Elizabeth Scott.
As a super-special get-you-ready-for-TeenBookCon treat, we’ll have one more interview today, so keep your eyes peeled! And we’ll be seeing you Saturday!
No comments:
Post a Comment