| Interview with Simone Elkeles |
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?
I first knew I wanted to be a writer after I had my second child. I was never an avid reader before, but got
sucked into reading while taking care of my infant. After reading about 100 books, I thought, “I can write a
book, too.” So I sat down to write my first book and got addicted to the story and my characters. I’d never
written a book before…it really is an amazing process, unlike any other job in the world.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started writing adult historical novels first, then switched to YA books because I loved my teen years and
had a story in my head that had to come out. I love reliving my teen years through my characters. I wrote
for five years and had two YA novels completed before an agent signed me. My agent sold three of my
YA books within a few months. This business is not for the weak hearted, I’ve seen great writers having
the toughest time getting published. I feel very lucky to have succeeded and am thankful for the
opportunity to share my work with the world.
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?
Upcoming release: How to Ruin a Summer Vacation - It’s a funny story about an American teen who takes
a journey and, after stumbling into one hilarious disaster after another, discovers things about herself she
never knew.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My dad, who died when I was twenty-four. He told me I can do anything if I just work hard at it.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My daughter is adorable and brought an advanced copy of How to Ruin a Summer Vacation to her
school. Nobody believed that her mom actually wrote the book and I think she got in a fight with a girl over
that. My son, for his birthday wish, wished that I’d sell my book. I just about died right there from love. My
husband…well, he just wants to know when he can retire on my royalties. Not for a long time, honey!
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Spicy tuna sushi rolls.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Pee
Take the dogs out
Check my email
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 kept all my old letters from old boyfriends. Even cassette tapes from one boyfriend telling me how great I
am. Who can throw away those???
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’ve always been partial to turquoise. It’s not blue, it’s not green. Just some beautiful shade in between.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Bugs Bunny. Because he never takes life too seriously and actually makes fun of people who do.
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?
This is easy. I love reading about Regency England, so I’d love to beam into that time. But I’d want to
make sure my father was either a duke or an earl so I’d live among the ton…I’d love going to balls and
living the good life.
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 Pat McCurdy a lot. He’s a local artist who plays in Wisconsin and Illinois. Pat is totally politically
incorrect but a genius artist. Other than that, I love 80’s music and top 10.
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 could watch Cutting Edge forever, I love that movie. Give me Sixteen Candles and I’m happy. Did you
ever see The Notebook? Love that movie. I just saw The Break Up last weekend. Kind of depressing so it
wasn’t my favorite. I cried like a baby at Forrest Gump. I can go on forever and ever. I was obsessed with
First Blood when it came out, I thought Rambo was the toughest guy I’d ever seen.
Favorite TV show: Dare I tell you I’m a reality junkie- Real World/Road Rules Challenge and Survivor are
my favorites.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Don’t take life too seriously and smile as much as possible. In fact, make other people smile – it makes life
so much easier to look at.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Ohh, I love this question. Murder, intrigue, comedy, angst… I have it all. After How to Ruin a Summer
Vacation, I have two more books being released in 2007. The first is Leaving Paradise and the second is
How to Ruin my Teenage Life. There is no release date for Zero Tolerance as of yet…but I’m hoping to
post one soon. Take all of those books, and you have all of the above. I try and write different novels,
some are vastly different from the others. It drives my agent and editor nuts, but that’s me!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
I loved these questions and am always available to answer them! My website is www.simoneelkeles.com if
you need me…
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?
I first knew I wanted to be a writer after I had my second child. I was never an avid reader before, but got
sucked into reading while taking care of my infant. After reading about 100 books, I thought, “I can write a
book, too.” So I sat down to write my first book and got addicted to the story and my characters. I’d never
written a book before…it really is an amazing process, unlike any other job in the world.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started writing adult historical novels first, then switched to YA books because I loved my teen years and
had a story in my head that had to come out. I love reliving my teen years through my characters. I wrote
for five years and had two YA novels completed before an agent signed me. My agent sold three of my
YA books within a few months. This business is not for the weak hearted, I’ve seen great writers having
the toughest time getting published. I feel very lucky to have succeeded and am thankful for the
opportunity to share my work with the world.
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?
Upcoming release: How to Ruin a Summer Vacation - It’s a funny story about an American teen who takes
a journey and, after stumbling into one hilarious disaster after another, discovers things about herself she
never knew.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My dad, who died when I was twenty-four. He told me I can do anything if I just work hard at it.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My daughter is adorable and brought an advanced copy of How to Ruin a Summer Vacation to her
school. Nobody believed that her mom actually wrote the book and I think she got in a fight with a girl over
that. My son, for his birthday wish, wished that I’d sell my book. I just about died right there from love. My
husband…well, he just wants to know when he can retire on my royalties. Not for a long time, honey!
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Spicy tuna sushi rolls.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Pee
Take the dogs out
Check my email
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 kept all my old letters from old boyfriends. Even cassette tapes from one boyfriend telling me how great I
am. Who can throw away those???
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’ve always been partial to turquoise. It’s not blue, it’s not green. Just some beautiful shade in between.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Bugs Bunny. Because he never takes life too seriously and actually makes fun of people who do.
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?
This is easy. I love reading about Regency England, so I’d love to beam into that time. But I’d want to
make sure my father was either a duke or an earl so I’d live among the ton…I’d love going to balls and
living the good life.
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 Pat McCurdy a lot. He’s a local artist who plays in Wisconsin and Illinois. Pat is totally politically
incorrect but a genius artist. Other than that, I love 80’s music and top 10.
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 could watch Cutting Edge forever, I love that movie. Give me Sixteen Candles and I’m happy. Did you
ever see The Notebook? Love that movie. I just saw The Break Up last weekend. Kind of depressing so it
wasn’t my favorite. I cried like a baby at Forrest Gump. I can go on forever and ever. I was obsessed with
First Blood when it came out, I thought Rambo was the toughest guy I’d ever seen.
Favorite TV show: Dare I tell you I’m a reality junkie- Real World/Road Rules Challenge and Survivor are
my favorites.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Don’t take life too seriously and smile as much as possible. In fact, make other people smile – it makes life
so much easier to look at.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Ohh, I love this question. Murder, intrigue, comedy, angst… I have it all. After How to Ruin a Summer
Vacation, I have two more books being released in 2007. The first is Leaving Paradise and the second is
How to Ruin my Teenage Life. There is no release date for Zero Tolerance as of yet…but I’m hoping to
post one soon. Take all of those books, and you have all of the above. I try and write different novels,
some are vastly different from the others. It drives my agent and editor nuts, but that’s me!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
I loved these questions and am always available to answer them! My website is www.simoneelkeles.com if
you need me…