Today's interview will be with the amazing Stacey Kade, author of The Ghost And The Goth. I appreciate you Stacey, for taking the time out to answer my questions. I've already reviewed this book and I really enjoyed it. If you want to check out my review, go here. It's a cute, fun read you should run out to buy and plus that cover is gorgeous!
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As an award-winning corporate copywriter, Stacey Kade has written about everything from backhoe loaders to breast pumps. But she prefers to make things up instead. From her first childhood scribbles about a magical necklace that would turn people into cats, Stacey has long been fascinated with what happens when the “ordinary” bumps up against “out of this world.” What if aliens landed on Earth? What if the afterlife is really just another dimension? She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Greg, and their three retired racing greyhounds, Joezooka (Joe), Tall Walker (Walker) and SheWearsThePants (Pansy). When she’s not reading or writing, you’ll likely find her parked in front of the television with her Roswell DVDs, staring rapturously at Jason Behr.
For more info on Stacey, visit her site(s):
-Website
-MySpace
-Twitter
-GoodReads
-Facebook
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Summary: After a close encounter with the front end of a school bus, Alona Dare goes from Homecoming Queen to Queen of the Dead. Now she’s stuck as a spirit (DON’T call her a ghost) in the land of the living with no sign of the big, bright light to take her away. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total loser outcast who despises the social elite. He alone can see and hear (turns out he’s been “blessed” with the ability to communicate with the dead), but he wants nothing to do with the former mean girl of Groundsboro High. Alona has never needed anyone for anything, and now she’s supposed to expose her deepest, darkest secrets to this pseudo-goth boy? Right. She’s not telling anyone what really happened the day she died, not even to save her eternal soul. And Will’s not filling out any volunteer forms to help her cross to the other side. He only has a few more weeks until his graduation, when he can strike out on his own and find a place with less spiritual interference. But he has to survive and stay out of the psych ward until then. Can they get over their mutual distrust—and the weird attraction between them—to work together before Alona vanishes for good and Will is locked up for seeing things that don’t exist?
Now Available in Bookstores!
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Author Interview:
As an award-winning corporate copywriter, Stacey Kade has written about everything from backhoe loaders to breast pumps. But she prefers to make things up instead. From her first childhood scribbles about a magical necklace that would turn people into cats, Stacey has long been fascinated with what happens when the “ordinary” bumps up against “out of this world.” What if aliens landed on Earth? What if the afterlife is really just another dimension? She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Greg, and their three retired racing greyhounds, Joezooka (Joe), Tall Walker (Walker) and SheWearsThePants (Pansy). When she’s not reading or writing, you’ll likely find her parked in front of the television with her Roswell DVDs, staring rapturously at Jason Behr.For more info on Stacey, visit her site(s):
-Website
-MySpace
-GoodReads
______________________________________________
Summary: After a close encounter with the front end of a school bus, Alona Dare goes from Homecoming Queen to Queen of the Dead. Now she’s stuck as a spirit (DON’T call her a ghost) in the land of the living with no sign of the big, bright light to take her away. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total loser outcast who despises the social elite. He alone can see and hear (turns out he’s been “blessed” with the ability to communicate with the dead), but he wants nothing to do with the former mean girl of Groundsboro High. Alona has never needed anyone for anything, and now she’s supposed to expose her deepest, darkest secrets to this pseudo-goth boy? Right. She’s not telling anyone what really happened the day she died, not even to save her eternal soul. And Will’s not filling out any volunteer forms to help her cross to the other side. He only has a few more weeks until his graduation, when he can strike out on his own and find a place with less spiritual interference. But he has to survive and stay out of the psych ward until then. Can they get over their mutual distrust—and the weird attraction between them—to work together before Alona vanishes for good and Will is locked up for seeing things that don’t exist?
Now Available in Bookstores!
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Author Interview:
1) When did you first consider yourself a writer?
SK: Hmm. I've always written things down. Scraps of story, character ideas, that kind of a thing. But I don't think I considered myself a writer until I finished my first manuscript. Which, by the way, is totally a trunk manuscript. One I never sent out. But I learned a lot from it, which was important. (Also, for any aspiring writers out there, the light bulb didn't really go on for me until I read The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler and GMC by Debra Dixon--two fabulous books about writing).
2) What inspired you to write The Ghost and the Goth?
SK: A few things, I think. I'd been reading a lot of YA at the time and loving it so much. My sister, who reintroduced me to YA, was getting ready to graduate from high school, and I wanted to try to write something she'd really like. Also, I'm a huge Jane Austen fan, and I'd read a quote from her that intrigued me. It was something to the effect of: "Everybody likes to see the pretty girl fall." It was in reference to her book, Emma, I believe.
As for why G&G specifically, it happened for me the way it usually does--I "heard" a voice, a few words that popped into my brain out of nowhere. They went something like this, "Staring up at the undercarriage of a bus is a sucky way to spend your afterlife." That line didn't actually make it into the manuscript, but it was definitely the start of who Alona turned out to be.
3) If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in The Ghost and the Goth?
SK: Actually, no. I'm really happy with how it turned out. :)
4) If you had to describe your book in one word, what would it be and why?
SK: Entertaining. I hope! Reading has always been an escape for me. Something to get my mind off of whatever is bothering me, a doorway to somewhere else for awhile. I hope that G&G does that for those who read it. A chance to get lost in someone else's worries, so you can temporarily forget about your own!
5) Do you have any other projects you're currently working on?
SK: I just turned in the sequel to The Ghost and the Goth (tentatively titled Princess Poltergeist), and this summer, I'll be working on the third book (no title yet). I'm also working on a couple of unrelated ideas--all of them YA. I love writing YA, and I hope to be writing it for a long time.
6) I see your a television junkie, like myself, which is currently your favorite TV show?
SK: Oh, that's a tough one! I think I'm going to have to go with Life Unexpected. It's been a long time since I've seen a show like this--I LOVED the first season of The O.C. for example--and I like the whole idea of family being what you make it, a mix of actual relatives and the people you choose to be your family. Plus, the writing is snappy, and I've been a fan of Shiri Appleby since Roswell!
7) What else do you like to do when you're not writing?
SK: I read like crazy, sometimes three or four books a week. Also, as you noted, I'm a television junkie, and I LOVE going to movies in the theater. During the summer, my husband and I will go about once a week, depending on what's coming out. I love chatting on Facebook and Gmail with my sister and my friends who live far away. And I have three rescued greyhounds and taking them for a long walk through the neighborhood is one of my favorite parts of the day.
8) What book are you currently reading?
SK: Just finished listening to FALLEN by Lauren Kate on audiobook, and I'm getting ready to start reading Julie Kagawa's THE IRON KING.
9) Do you have anything to say to all your readers?
SK: Thank you! Creating stories is my absolute favorite thing in the whole world, and I thank you for giving me the chance. I feel honored that you've trusted me with your reading time, which I know is hard to come by with everything else you have going on in your lives. I will do my best to continue earning that trust.
10) Tell us something about yourself that no one knows about.
SK: Though I'm talkative--and some might say loud--in person, I'm actually quite shy and nervous when meeting new people or talking to people I don't know well. So, I script conversations in my head. Hours or even days in advance, I imagine what I'm going to say and then what the other person might say back--in as many variations as I can think of, from normal to completely bizarre and horrible--until I feel comfortable and semi-prepared for whatever might be coming my way. Not only did that little quirk get me through many nerve-wracking moments in high school, I think it really helped me learn dialogue!
SK: Hmm. I've always written things down. Scraps of story, character ideas, that kind of a thing. But I don't think I considered myself a writer until I finished my first manuscript. Which, by the way, is totally a trunk manuscript. One I never sent out. But I learned a lot from it, which was important. (Also, for any aspiring writers out there, the light bulb didn't really go on for me until I read The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler and GMC by Debra Dixon--two fabulous books about writing).
2) What inspired you to write The Ghost and the Goth?
SK: A few things, I think. I'd been reading a lot of YA at the time and loving it so much. My sister, who reintroduced me to YA, was getting ready to graduate from high school, and I wanted to try to write something she'd really like. Also, I'm a huge Jane Austen fan, and I'd read a quote from her that intrigued me. It was something to the effect of: "Everybody likes to see the pretty girl fall." It was in reference to her book, Emma, I believe.
As for why G&G specifically, it happened for me the way it usually does--I "heard" a voice, a few words that popped into my brain out of nowhere. They went something like this, "Staring up at the undercarriage of a bus is a sucky way to spend your afterlife." That line didn't actually make it into the manuscript, but it was definitely the start of who Alona turned out to be.
3) If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in The Ghost and the Goth?
SK: Actually, no. I'm really happy with how it turned out. :)
4) If you had to describe your book in one word, what would it be and why?
SK: Entertaining. I hope! Reading has always been an escape for me. Something to get my mind off of whatever is bothering me, a doorway to somewhere else for awhile. I hope that G&G does that for those who read it. A chance to get lost in someone else's worries, so you can temporarily forget about your own!
5) Do you have any other projects you're currently working on?
SK: I just turned in the sequel to The Ghost and the Goth (tentatively titled Princess Poltergeist), and this summer, I'll be working on the third book (no title yet). I'm also working on a couple of unrelated ideas--all of them YA. I love writing YA, and I hope to be writing it for a long time.
6) I see your a television junkie, like myself, which is currently your favorite TV show?
SK: Oh, that's a tough one! I think I'm going to have to go with Life Unexpected. It's been a long time since I've seen a show like this--I LOVED the first season of The O.C. for example--and I like the whole idea of family being what you make it, a mix of actual relatives and the people you choose to be your family. Plus, the writing is snappy, and I've been a fan of Shiri Appleby since Roswell!
7) What else do you like to do when you're not writing?
SK: I read like crazy, sometimes three or four books a week. Also, as you noted, I'm a television junkie, and I LOVE going to movies in the theater. During the summer, my husband and I will go about once a week, depending on what's coming out. I love chatting on Facebook and Gmail with my sister and my friends who live far away. And I have three rescued greyhounds and taking them for a long walk through the neighborhood is one of my favorite parts of the day.
8) What book are you currently reading?
SK: Just finished listening to FALLEN by Lauren Kate on audiobook, and I'm getting ready to start reading Julie Kagawa's THE IRON KING.
9) Do you have anything to say to all your readers?
SK: Thank you! Creating stories is my absolute favorite thing in the whole world, and I thank you for giving me the chance. I feel honored that you've trusted me with your reading time, which I know is hard to come by with everything else you have going on in your lives. I will do my best to continue earning that trust.
10) Tell us something about yourself that no one knows about.
SK: Though I'm talkative--and some might say loud--in person, I'm actually quite shy and nervous when meeting new people or talking to people I don't know well. So, I script conversations in my head. Hours or even days in advance, I imagine what I'm going to say and then what the other person might say back--in as many variations as I can think of, from normal to completely bizarre and horrible--until I feel comfortable and semi-prepared for whatever might be coming my way. Not only did that little quirk get me through many nerve-wracking moments in high school, I think it really helped me learn dialogue!
3 comments:
I just received an ARC of this book in the mail. I can't wait to read it. Thanks for the interview!
I read Ghost and the Goth and posted my review. I loved it. Also, I met Stacy at RT Booklovers Convention back in May and she signed swag for me! Oh yeah and she talked about doing kick-boxing! She's AWESOME
Such a great interview!! I loved "The Ghost and the Goth" - I am quite happy that she's made a sequel to it (even though I am interested in what could happen in the next book). Wonderful!
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