Tuesday, June 4, 2013
How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come Trueby Sarah Strohmeyer
Published: 4.23.13
From Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Smart Girls Get What They Want, comes this romantic comedy about one girl's summer job from hell. Think The Devil Wears Prada set in Disney World.
When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?
Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.
Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?
and.......
The Boyfriend App
by Katie Sise
Published: 4.30.13
In The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can’t wait to get out of high school. Her father’s death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring.
But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler—and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she calls the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she’s the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?
1) I’m in awe of all of the amazing books you’ve written. What have you learned since you were in my shoes with a first novel? What advice would you have given to yourself back then?
Sarah: I had a good friend tell me to
celebrate every minute and I did. That was important because I don’t
feel as though I missed out on the magic of being published. I
suppose if I had to do it all over again, I would have taken more
time with each book instead of letting the journalist in me obsess
about deadlines.
I’ve learned that sometimes you have
to make a choice between commercial success and personal
satisfaction. Often those two are not only different, but they are
antithetical. That’s why you see the occasional comedic writer or
actor try something dark. You have to keep the pump primed by
reading. But also – and I don’t think this is stressed enough
–living. For me, the muse is not solely in my head. That might have
worked for Emily Dickinson…
2) Do you have a favorite among the novels you’ve written?
Sarah: I love BUBBLES UNBOUND and THE
CINDERELLA PACT and I think SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT will
always be near and dear to my heart because it was my first young
adult and my first book edited by Alessandra Balzer who is such an
amazingly talented and positive person. I guess you always love your
first children the best!
3) What is your writing schedule like?
Sarah: It used to be Monday thru
Friday, nine to five. Like clockwork. But now that I’m a town clerk
(talk about living!) I write on Fridays – my day off – Saturday
and Sunday. I’m too tired to write after work plus I have a
teenager at home who seems to be in constantly one athletic event or
another. Maybe after he leaves the house I’ll have more time.
4) How many months does it take you to finish a first draft? What about revision?
Sarah: It used to take me about nine
months to finish a first draft and about two months for a revision.
Now, I’m doing a revision in about 6 weeks which might seem like
splitting hairs, but, seriously, without those extra two weeks it
feels like a hard press.
5) How do you stay fresh?
Sarah: That’s why I took the Town
Clerk job. For twelve years while my kids were small I wrote from
home which was perfect. Then I started describing in pathetic detail
the habits and whims of our cat and dog to my husband when he came
home and I realized I was drying up.
Now, not a day goes by where I don’t
come home with a good story. We have a murder mystery in town and a
drug bust. There is the saga of a troublesome pig. A mean widow.
Generational feuds. I help all sorts of people – the elderly, the
illiterate, the poor, the wealthy, the kind, the nasty and the
greedy. And dogs. OH, the dogs. I love every single minute.
6) What’s the best writing tip you’ve ever learned?
Sarah: It was from Sara Paretsky. In
response to a woman who complained she didn’t have time to write,
she said carve a space – even if it’s by the boiler in the
basement – and write. Just five hundred words a day. (I think I
wrote that much in this interview.) Do that, and you’ll have a book
in six months. So, I did.
Quickfire questions!
Favorite time of day to write:
late afternoon/evening. When I have to make dinner!
Favorite place to write: the
“red room,” aka “the library” aka “The TV room” on our
first floor.
Favorite way to brainstorm: on
paper or on a computer? Paper. Mos def.
Favorite snack while writing.
Whole roasted unsalted almonds.
Favorite way to procrastinate. I
will not lie – basset hound videos.
Twitter - Website
Sarah Strohmeyer is a bestselling and award-winning novelist whose books include The Cinderella Pact (which was made into a Lifetime Original Movie called Lying To Be Perfect), The Sleeping Beauty Proposal, The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives, Sweet Love, and the Bubbles mystery series. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Plain Dealer and the Boston Globe. She lives with her family outside Montpelier, Vermont.
1) Okay, before we go any further, we have to talk about this jewelry business. Kate Winslet as a client? Your jewelry featured on Gossip Girl?!!! I don’t mean to get distracted, but I have to know….who was the most temperamental client you’ve had to deal with? Who was a dream?
Katie: Sarah you little stinker! You KNOW I
can’t tell you who was the most temperamental!! (Maybe if you ply
me with your famous maple syrup…maybe, just maybe, I’ll tell you
on our tour!) But the nicest, most dreamy celebrity I’ve ever
worked with is Michelle Monaghan. Kindness and generosity just roll
off of her, and she’s hilarious!
2) The Boyfriend App is a great idea. An app to find a guy. Bingo! What was the inspiration? Do you think a “real” Boyfriend App could work?
Katie: The Boyfriend App came out of many
brainstorming sessions with Brenda Bowen and my agent, Dan Mandel. We
loved the idea of pushing the envelope with such scandalous
technology…and seeing what would happen if a teenage girl uncovered
it. As my main character Audrey says, “Everyone wants to fall in
love.” I think that motivates so much of who we are as people, and
it inspired me to write a story about what we’ll do to get it. I think The Boyfriend App 1.0 could
work…but what Audrey creates for The Boyfriend App 2.0? Look out:
we’d all be going wild!
3) You have small children, right? And you live in New York City. Two facts that right there would eat into my precious writing time. How do you work within those confines?
Katie: I write while my son naps! Thanks
goodness he’s an amazing napper. He does a solid three hour nap
right in the middle of the day. So my writing schedule goes like
this: 6-7:30 am while my husband gets up with our son and they have
breakfast together and read books. Then I write again during his nap,
from 12-3. After he goes to bed, I write some more! I find I’m
fresher this way, anyway, rather than writing in one 5 or 6 hour
chunk. At 9 pm I put the computer away, and crash with my husband on
the couch for some TV!
4)What was the best writing advice you’ve ever received? Did you take it?
Katie: An author friend of mine told me stop
worrying so much during the first draft: to just get it down on paper
and revise later. I try to take that advice! But I’m such a
“revise-as-you-go” kind of writer! So I usually revise the
previous day’s writing every morning. Still, I’ve learned to be
better about just writing: getting words down on paper every day and
not worrying if they aren’t perfect.
5) I’ve found that once you step into the public eye either by writing, running for office or even being pregnant, people feel like they suddenly have the right to make the most outrageous comments. Has this been true for you, too? If so, do tell.
Katie: Ha! Yes! Let’s start with pregnancy,
when people touch your stomach and ask if you plan to breastfeed. Um,
excuse me, are you asking me about my boobs? While nine months
pregnant, I also once had someone tell me that she thought I was
having a girl. And I made the mistake of asking, “Oh. Why?” And
she said, “Because your face has changed so much.”
And writing, yes. I think I’ll need
some of your advice on this, because you’ve written so many amazing
books, and this is my first. But the criticism is tough! I keep
telling myself it’s all a part of writing novels, and if that’s
what I want to do for a living (and it is!) then I’ll have to get
used to it.
6) What would you tell anyone who’s been rejected, who feels there’s no hope in being published by a “traditional,” as they say, publisher? And, along those lines, what was your lowest low in this whole journey and how did you get yourself out of it?
Katie: JUST. KEEP. WRITING. There’s a saying
that “published writers are the ones who never stopped writing.”
I believe that entirely. You may publish your first book at 22, or at
42, or at 82. The end goal doesn’t even have to be publication. The
goal is writing a novel you believe in, with characters you love and
a story that needs telling. The Boyfriend App is technically my debut
novel, but I’ve been writing fiction for years and years. That
makes it all the sweeter—and it makes me so grateful and
appreciative of every little thing.
The first novel I wrote was a supernatural romance. I poured everything I had into that book, but it didn’t sell. It went to acquisitions meetings at a few houses and my agent and I got great feedback, but in the end, it didn’t sell. I remember getting the call from my agent during a meeting at Lucky Magazine, where I was interviewing a fashion editor for a nonfiction career guide I was writing called Creative Girl (which came out in 2010). When my agent told me that the editor we thought was going to buy the book wasn’t going to, I held back tears throughout the entire meeting. I remember getting into a cab and sobbing so hard. (And I never take cabs. I love the subway. But I had to this time!) I had a good cry that night, too. It was the first time I’d cried myself to sleep since I was a teenager—that’s how much I wanted it. But fate had other plans for me. And a couple of years later I ended up at HarperCollins Balzer + Bray with Alessandra Balzer, which is a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for anything better for my writing career, and I feel so grateful to have the team at HarperCollins behind me.
So now I look back and feel grateful. And I’ve learned to trust in timing. That’s the biggest thing I could say to anyone in any creative field. Trust that where you are right now is exactly where you’re supposed to be.
The first novel I wrote was a supernatural romance. I poured everything I had into that book, but it didn’t sell. It went to acquisitions meetings at a few houses and my agent and I got great feedback, but in the end, it didn’t sell. I remember getting the call from my agent during a meeting at Lucky Magazine, where I was interviewing a fashion editor for a nonfiction career guide I was writing called Creative Girl (which came out in 2010). When my agent told me that the editor we thought was going to buy the book wasn’t going to, I held back tears throughout the entire meeting. I remember getting into a cab and sobbing so hard. (And I never take cabs. I love the subway. But I had to this time!) I had a good cry that night, too. It was the first time I’d cried myself to sleep since I was a teenager—that’s how much I wanted it. But fate had other plans for me. And a couple of years later I ended up at HarperCollins Balzer + Bray with Alessandra Balzer, which is a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for anything better for my writing career, and I feel so grateful to have the team at HarperCollins behind me.
So now I look back and feel grateful. And I’ve learned to trust in timing. That’s the biggest thing I could say to anyone in any creative field. Trust that where you are right now is exactly where you’re supposed to be.
7) Most embarrassing moment in your life in four (4) words. Go!
Katie: Wet. Pants. On. Date.
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Twitter - Website - Facebook
Katie Sise is an author, jewelry designer, and television host. Lucky magazine has called her a “Designer to Watch,” and her company has appeared in most major fashion magazines, including Vogue, W, Elle, Self, and many more. Katie is also the author of Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career.
Are these ladies so much fun or WHAT?
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And with that awesome before you....have a fantastical day! XOXO,
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