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 pretty much always knew that I wanted to be a writer, from the moment I was old enough to understand being read to. My mother is a huge reader, so I think I got that from her. She still has the first “book” I wrote, back when I was five or six. I should send it to my agent—she probably doesn’t get many submissions written in crayon!
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
It was all very straightforward. In high school, I worked on the literary magazine and read voraciously, and in college, I was one of the editors of our daily newspaper. I interned at various newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses. I wrote a short novel as my senior thesis project (which is incredibly overwritten and melodramatic and causes me no small amount of embarrassment these days).
After I graduated college, I went to work as an editorial assistant at a big publishing house, working on big, serious, adult non-fiction books. Unfortunately, I am not a very big, serious adult person, and it wasn’t long before I found my way into YA publishing. I was lucky enough to have a boss who was incredibly supportive of me, who hired me to do a little work-for-hire writing for her on the side. Work-for-hire lead to original fiction, which lead to my fabulous hardcover debut. So I think it was a mix of being in the right place at the right time, and being willing to work and meet my deadlines when opportunities presented themselves.
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?
EMILY GOLDBERG LEARNS TO SALSA is the story of a half-Puerto Rican, half-Jewish girl who, after her grandmother dies, travels to Puerto Rico and must contend with a family—and culture—that she hasn’t known until now. She finds that her relatives have just as many preconceptions about her as she has about them, and over the course of a summer, she learns about herself, and her roots.
It’s hard to talk about why one coming of age story would be more compelling than another—especially when you’re talking about your own work—but what I like about EMILY is that her background is so diverse. My editor talks a lot about Emily’s voice, which is somewhat more restrained than your average teen protagonist (or so she says). To me that has to do with Emily’s insecurity, and reluctance to make herself vulnerable, but perhaps her unwillingness to seek out conflict or drama sets her apart from other teen literary characters?
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I don’t think I have any specific influences, but I’m constantly inspired by great writing. MT Anderson’s FEED floored me—I think it’s everything a book should be. I also love Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Ned Vizzini, David Sedaris, Barbara Kingsolver, Patricia Cornwall, Samantha Schutz’s I DON’T WANT TO BE CRAZY, Judy Goldschmidt’s RAISIN RODRIGUEZ series—anything that moves me and/or keeps me turning pages makes me want to continue to challenge myself as a writer.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Almost everyone in my family is a doctor or a lawyer, so I think they get a special kick out of the fact that I write. They’re very supportive. I love when I come home for the holidays and find my brother—a 27-year-old architect, reading something like my last romantic comedy, 30 GUYS IN 30 DAYS.
We’re actually a very boringly normal family. Or as I like to describe us, “functionally dysfunctional.” We definitely have our dramas—my dad and I in particular are famous for our quick tempers—but most of the time we get along. My brother and I are actually currently working together on a graphic novel project—keep your eyes peeled!
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Cheese. Chocolate. Things that are fried. Sometimes all three together.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Check my clock and reset the alarm for another hour of sleep.
Spend at least fifteen minutes feeling guilty about going back to sleep instead of going to the gym. Then get over it and fall back asleep.
Wake up an hour later and spend another thirty minutes playing with my dog, who gets INCREDIBLY excited when it is time to wake up.
As you might guess, I am not known for my punctuality at my day job.
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 have a freakishly prolific collection of flip flops. You might wonder what a person would do with so many pairs of flip flops. But I assure you that they are all special to me, and all get worn.
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?
Huh. Maybe purple. It’s bright and cheery, and can usually pull me out of a bad mood. Yeah, purple.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
When I was little I was OBSESSED with “Tom and Jerry.” My parents’ names are Carmen and Jerry, and I thought Tom and Jerry were named after them (it doesn’t make sense, I know). Of the two of them, I am probably more like Jerry. He is quite a sneaky little mouse.
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?
I’ve always wanted to go back in time and meet Laura Ingalls Wilder. And maybe even be her for a little bit.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
The Wrens! They are the true unsung heroes of New Jersey indie rock. Seriously, if you haven’t heard of them, go out and get a copy of “Meadowlands.” And then “Secaucus.” And then “Silver.” I’m such a groupie for the Wrens, it’s a little bit embarrassing.
As for what I listen to when I write, it really depends what I am writing. Most of the time I like to have something mellow on in the background. But
