Guest Post + Giveaway: Elizabeth Rudnick (Tweet Heart)

Today is my tour stop for Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick, hosted by The Teen Book Scene. I reviewed this book yesterday and I absolutely loved it. It's innovative and fun! If you missed my review, go here. Elizabeth is one hysterical author and I'm sure you'll enjoy her guest post below. Also, if you're interested in winning Tweet Heart, a contest is featured below as well!
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Elizabeth Rudnick is a debut novelist who is also an editor. She lives in Connecticut with her dog, Jack Dyson.

For more info on Elizabeth, visit her site(s):
-Website
-Blog
-Twitter
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Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Pages: 272

Summary: Claire is a #hopelessromantic. Lottie is determined to set up her BFF with Mr. Perfect. Will wants his #secretcrush to finally notice him. Bennett is a man with a plan. Claire can’t believe it when her dream guy starts following her on Twitter. She never thought he noticed her, and suddenly he seems to understand her better than almost anyone. But the Twitterverse can be a confusing place, especially when friends act differently online than they do in person. Things get even more complicated when Claire realizes she’s falling for someone else, the last person she ever would have expected….

Available in Bookstores Now!

Want the chance to win a finished copy of Tweet Heart? Elizabeth has been kind enough to give away an awesome prize pack to one lucky winner. Look below for details!

CONTEST IS CLOSED.

::Contest Details::

Tweet Heart Prize Pack:

• Signed copy of Tweet Heart
• Tweet Heart water bottle
• Bookmark

-This contest is INTERNATIONAL!
-Deadline will be on August 15, 2010 at midnight EST time.

(Please enter through form and not comments, thanks!)
!! FILL THIS FORM OUT TO ENTER !!

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Guest Post:

First, I want to thank Elizabeth for taking the time out to do this guest post. Your book is refreshing and I look forward to your future works. Now, on to your YA novel, Tweet Heart, what inspired you to write it? Since your main character Claire uses twitter for romance gossip, have you ever told someone you liked them or broken up with a boyfriend over the computer or even through texting?

ER: So does this work like a TV interview? Should I say, “Thanks for having me, Eleni. It’s wonderful to be here!” If it was TV, I’d then blush like a maniac and that sentence would come out in a stutter--so thank goodness that no one can see me as I type this! Anyway, in all seriousness, thanks for letting me guest post and thanks for the great topics! I was going to try and answer just one but then I realized that they are actually sort of connected so I’m going to take a stab at both--starting with the second question (because that’s how I roll :) )

When I first read that question, I was like “oh, no! I would NEVER do something like break up with a person via technology. That would be wrong. And mean. And so impersonal.” And then, I remembered that I actually have done that. I’m not proud of it. I do think it is wrong. And mean. And impersonal. But hey, sometimes you have no choice. In my case, it came down to basic fear. The thing with e-mails, texting, even tweeting, is that while you can use it to open up your world and invite people in, you can also hide behind it. Just like Will hides behind Twitter in Tweet Heart when he wants to tell Claire how he feels. While that can be liberating, it can also be taken advantage of. As I did when it came to the relationship ending and as Will did when he toyed with Claire’s emotions. But as I said, sometimes the tech based break-up is necessary.

Back before computers, like way back in the age of handwritten letters--gasp at the thought--a letter wasn’t considered a weak way out. People were wooed and dumped by the written word so I guess things haven’t changed all that much. Except where those letters were long in coming because ponies carried them; nowadays, a letter is sent at the touch of the button so the reaction is all the more immediate--and sometimes can be sent in a fit of passion, rage, hurt and as a result, can be all the more damaging.

When I broke up with the boy-whose-name-shall-not=be-mentioned via e-mail, I will say, in my own defense, that I put a lot of thought into it. I didn’t want to just shoot the note into the interwebz and wash my hands of the relationship but I also knew that there were things that I could say better in a note than I could ever express in person. (I’m a writer, go figure) And I wanted to really be sure what I said was clear and to the point. Because I was breaking up with someone. Possibly hurting them in the process. I didn’t want confusion and I didn’t want room for the what-ifs. I hate the what-ifs and the maybes and the it-could-get-betters. (It usually doesn’t, at least in my experience.) And partly, I wrote the note with such care because, to answer your first question, I have also been on the receiving end of having a relationship end via technology. By the guy who sort of inspired Tweet Heart (see that long winded way back to the point?).

Said guy broke up with me on the phone, mere weeks after telling me I made him feel twitterpaited (a line I used in Tweet Heart because I needed to get *something* out of the relationship!). It was that one actual word that really got me thinking about Tweet Heart in an abstract sense. Because that word made me think about Twitter and how it has changed relationships in general and it occurred to me that if I had had to deal with things like texting, tweeting, Facebook or even e-mail when I was in high school, I probably would have had an even more confusing social life. And then, shortly after that realization, I was talking with a colleague about Twitter and I brought up this crush I had on a boy when I was younger and how I probably would have been texting him desperately and somehow, that conversation turned into another and then that turned into the idea of seeing what would happen if you fell in love with someone you didn’t know--someone who simply made you feel twitterpaited...in 140 character notes. The result was Tweet Heart which grew from a single word into a whole novel and which constantly surprised me as it took on a new life and characters grew and matured.

Now if only I could mature enough not to break up with boys via e-mail. But hey, one step at a time :)