The fantabulous Alexa Young agreed to do an interview with me, and here it is. ^^ Her novel Frenemies, which earned an astounding 10/10 from me, comes out May 13th. I'm also having a drawing for an autographed ARC of Frenemies - you have until noon tomorrow to enter!
According to your website, you were inspired to write Frenemies after talking to an editor-friend about two besties who turned into worsties and that you had the first chapter written within a few hours. Did you just drop everything and go right to it, or did you place it all down carefully, or did you just kind of knock everything down and dive bomb for your computer/notebook/chalk and cave wall?
Oh, jeez…I just looked back at the email correspondence from that fateful time and realized I might have been exaggerating…um…a lot? (Hey, c’mon! I write fiction!) The almost-totally-true-story is that the moment I started discussing the concept of Frenemies with an editor closely connected to my editor friend (!), I began having major flashbacks to middle-school-moi. But, to make sure I was in the absolute best writing headspace (like, say, the headspace of a teen from sometime after the eighties—a decade in which we had no cell-phones…no Internet…no—gasp!—email or IM), I rushed out and bought the latest issues of TeenVogue, CosmoGIRL! and Seventeen, among others. I spent a couple days immersing myself in les teens du jour and then, when I sat down at my computer, I hammered out a nine-page chapter in a few hours. (See? It was my first chapter and it was written within a few hours). My husband loved it, the editors loved it and eight days later, my new agent was negotiating my four-book deal. (How crazy is that?!) A small part of what I originally wrote can be found in chapter three of Frenemies. (The chapter entitled “Cute Boy Alert.”) Sadly, a lot of the original first chapter wound up on the cutting room floor. But you never know…some of it may make it into one of the next books. Perhaps.
Editors cut a lot. It's there job. ^^ If you could turn into any mythical creature, which one would it be? My personal preference is anything with wings…
Well, my geektastic interviewer (I say that affectionately—I totally love mythology), living in Los Angeles—where traffic can be brutal—being a winged creature of some sort would definitely have some benefits. I mean, why bother driving when you can elevate, right? More specifically, though, I’d be a dragon—like the female one in Shrek. Then, not only could I fly, I wouldn’t have to search for matches when I needed to light the coals for dinner (we barbecue a lot around these parts); I could just breathe on them! Plus, my son would be seriously impressed. (Whenever we listen to the Shrek soundtrack, he begs me to play the instrumental track that underscores one of the dragon scenes and keeps asking for the “dragon song.”) He’d probably even bring me to his preschool for show-and-tell.
I loved that dragon! ^^ And those little dragonets that her and Donkey had.Who are you more like fashion-wise, Halley or Avalon? Personality-wise?
Uhhh, the short answer is Avalon for both. The long answer is that, fashion-wise, I’ve usually been a little on the preppy side (like Avalon)—although, in the years since middle school, I’ve also been known to wear a lot of black and I love boots (like Halley). Honestly, I’m probably more like the fashion victims that both girls rip on in the book; I buy most of my clothes at Target or the Gap with a very occasional visit to the racks of Trendville. (No, that’s not an actual store—just a collection of places I made up in my head where cool people shop.)
As for personality, I’m pretty much a type-A, hyper-organized, neurotic perfectionist, which is Avalon all the way (and makes me a delight to be around, let me tell you!). I also tend to put on a tough, sarcastic front when, deep down, I’m a sensitive little lamb who just wants to be loved and accepted. (All together now: Awww!) That dichotomy is certainly manifest in Avalon, but it also shows up in Halley. I think it’s pretty universal: Don’t we all pretend to be unaffected or to have it all together so nobody will detect our fear and vulnerability—at least occasionally? (Please tell me someone other than me does that!)
No, I know people who do that, Alexa, never fear. :P You have a husband, a dog, and a son. There has got to be a funny story somewhere in there… care to share any?
The funny stories happen daily. A lot of them have to do with Jack’s my obsession with Napoleon Dynamite and certain other pop culture phenomena (which I’ve blogged about, of course). Another thing that seems to entertain people (especially baristas) is how obsessed Jack is with coffee. Every morning, when the husband and I have our morning caffeine fix—or the moment we enter the local Peet’s or Coffee Bean—Jack screams, “I WANT COFFEE!” (Well, of course you do…you woke us all up at 6am…again.) Initially, we just poured a bit of milk in a coffee mug for him, but he caught on pretty quickly…so now we add a few drops of coffee to make it more convincing. I’m sure there are some funny stories about Sydney (our first child…a hilarious Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix)—but, um, I can’t think of any right now. Sorry, puppy. You will always be our special little gal. (OMG, I love her so much I’m imagining her sitting at my desk, reading your blog and becoming upset that I didn’t say more about her! She’s actually sitting on my lap right now…um…farting. EW!)
Um... ew. Did you have something like Halvalon when you were their age?
It depends on which aspects of them you’re referring to. I did have several close friends in middle school and we all tended to be a bit snarky and sarcastic (what I call “snarkastic” in Frenemies). In fact, much as I hate to admit this, I feel like I was the total mean girl back then. Of course, when I eventually realized that was such a pathetic way to mask my insecurities, I transformed myself into the nicest person on the planet! (Really.) As for the fashion-obsessed thing, two of my closest friends were sort of the attached-at-the-hip trendsetters of our middle school. One of them was my BFF, off and on, practically since birth—and she recently joked that she suspects Frenemies is about us (yup, we’re still in touch). Truth told, she did hassle me on a regular basis for being a “granola nerd” and for wearing way too much pink and purple back in the day. (But I still maintain my baby-pink Nikes were the coolest shoes of the early eighties. I was awesome!) Also, I had a few frenemy-like situations—friends I broke up with—throughout my teens. It almost always involved a guy (of course)—specifically, my friends would get boyfriends and, since I never had a boyfriend let alone a date, I would accuse them of being ho-bags. I think that was fair, don’t you?
Yup, that sounds like my teenage friends and I, though I think we called one a book burner once. She was seriously offended. ^^ Your book rated a ten out of ten from me, the highest possible score an author can achieve in my blog. Do you have any ten out of ten novels that you’d like to recommend to me (and the people reading this)? (And no, you can’t say your own book. :P But you’re so modest you wouldn’t anyway.)
Oh yeah, you want me to recommend books to you? You’re the ones clocking a book a day, while most of what I read has lots of pictures and uber-catchy rhyme schemes. So, I give a ten to The Ugly Pumpkin, Diary of a Worm, Stick Kid, and Snowmen at Night. (These may be children’s books to you, but to Jack they’re novels…so can we count them?)
But seriously…one of my absolute favorite novels ever is Jennifer Weiner’s Good in Bed. It’s funny and smart and just made me want to try my hand at fiction…one day (and it’s not as racy as it sounds). As for YA novels, the last one I read was Class Favorite by Taylor Morris and I loved it! The protagonist is so beautifully flawed, inspiring and strong—and there are so many hilariously embarrassing moments. I mean, the book opens with the protagonist getting flowers from her mom on Valentine’s Day—at school—and not just because it’s V-Day but to congratulate her on finally getting her period. Hello? That’s funny stuff. That’s Schadenfreude right there, my friends. I also absolutely love The Clique series by Lisi Harrison and the Pretty Little Liars books by Sara Shepard (TOTAL tens!). And I’m hoping I’ll be able to give a ten to…the Violet series by Melissa Walker; anything by Louise Rennison; and The Queen Geeks books by Laura Preble—all of which I cannot wait to read (man, I wish I had more time to read!).
I resent that. I do not clock a book a day! I clock around twenty books a month. That's a lot less than a book a day. :P You’ve worked for quite a few magazines – without making the editors mad, which was your favorite to work with?
That’s really a toss-up between HITS and JUMP—which probably aren’t familiar to any of your readers…so I shall elaborate (as I do): HITS is a music industry trade magazine, and the staff at the time was a hilarious, dysfunctional family—seriously twisted people who helped me realize just how bizarre the music business can be (and how bizarre I can be!). I started as a coffee-making peon, but was eventually promoted to assistant editor. By the time I left, I’d interviewed at least a dozen recording artists and was reviewing two CDs a week. I got free music and concert tickets and my coworkers actually seemed to appreciate my ideas and sense of humor. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and it set the wheels in motion for me to make a living as a writer.
JUMP (which was only around from 1998-2001) was the first consumer publication I worked for (meaning I could go to the supermarket and actually find a magazine with my articles in it!). I got to write and edit a lot of entertainment stories and so much more. The greatest thing about JUMP was that we were on a mission to empower and celebrate all kinds of girls—especially the smart/unique/not-your-typical-teenage girls. We weren’t doing tons of boy band and how-to-be-popular stories; we were writing about the greatest female rockers throughout history, why you don’t need a boyfriend and how it’s cool to make your own clothes or start your own business. So, between those two magazines, I honestly can’t pick a favorite. They were both life-changing and incredibly fulfilling and I miss them both dearly.
You can always balance magazine writing with writing the Frenemies sequels. (This was the 'Make Your Own Question' Question. Alexa choose...) What have you loved most about working on Frenemies?
Oh my gosh, where do I start? It’s been the most fun I’ve ever had writing anything—including all the magazine work I talked about before. I mean, working on articles definitely fulfills a certain need, but fiction—especially YA fiction—inspires me in a completely different way. Also, the editors at Alloy and HarperTeen are the most incredible writing teachers I’ve ever encountered. These people really know what they’re doing and it’s been such a collaborative process. The ideas and suggestions they come up with blow me away constantly (they occasionally tell me the same thing about my ideas…but I’m still not sure I believe them!). And finally—sycophantic as this may sound—I am so stoked to be connecting with YA readers again (like in the JUMP days). This is a community of incredibly talented, enthusiastic, supportive and brilliant people and everyone has embraced me so wholeheartedly—and my first novel isn’t even out yet! Dude…I’m gushing. I should probably stop now. Especially since my dog just farted again and I really need to go get some fresh air!
... I wouldn't want to be her or her dog...
Enjoy, and happy reading!
~Nicole
PS: The Book Muncher - I will respond to that meme soon, I promise. Three posts is enough for one day... ^^"