Exclusive interview with Alison Cherry!

What if you lived in a town where redheads reigned supreme? That's the premise of Alison Cherry's satirical new novel Red, set in the fictional town of Scarletville. Felicity St. John has hair to die for - rather to dye for. You see, her mom has been getting Felicity's strawberry blonde hair dyed since she was little, determined to make her daughter popular and powerful. Now Felicity's in high school, about to participate in the Miss Scarlet Pageant, much to her chagrin and her mother's delight. Then a series of anonymous notes appears in Felicity's locker: someone knows the truth about Felicity's hair and is threatening to reveal all unless she does what they say. How far will Felicity go to protect her roots? Will she do what her mother wants, or will she finally be able to just be herself?

Author Alison Cherry, a natural redhead, stopped by my blog Bildungsroman today. Check out our discussion about society, conformity, and individuality, as well as the writing process.

Caroline B. Cooney Interview

Caroline B. Cooney has a published author for over 3 decades. For many, the Cooney book that they'll never forget is The Face on the Milk Carton, which introduced readers to Janie, a teenager who realizes she was kidnapped as a child. The success of that book led to a sequel, Whatever Happened to Janie? Then came The Voice on the Radio and What Janie Found, following the protagonist's story through the rest of her high school career. In 2012, the author released a short eBook entitled What Janie Saw. In January 2013, her story will finally be resolved with the publication of the final book in the line, Janie Face to Face.

I recently interviewed Caroline, and we spoke of Janie, Pilgrims, Egyptian queens, and everything in-between. We hope you enjoy the interview! Here's a teaser:

What about writing makes you happiest?

Writing is work and I love work. I love how an amorphous thought, paragraph by paragraph, turns into a thriller or a mystery. I love going back and chiseling yesterday's writing into something better. I love waking up in the middle of the night, struck by a new thought, and racing to the computer.

 Considering your early works - Among Friends, Family Reunion, Twenty Pageants Later, that era - do you have any sentimental favorites?

I love them all! Among Friends is still a joy to me, because friends are crucial to a good life, and one must also be a friend to have them.

Read the entire interview at Bildungsroman!

The Summer Blog Blast Tour, Shirley Vernick and "The Blood Lie"

If you love writing, reading, and reading interviews with writers, make sure to follow the Summer Blog Blast Tour (SBBT) all week long. Organized by Colleen of the blog Chasing Ray, the SBBT is now in its fifth year of fun. Click here for the full schedule.

Today, I posted my interview with author Shirley Vernick at my blog, Bildungsroman. Here's a sneak peek:

In 1928, a little girl from New York disappeared, and a young Jewish boy was thought to be her murderer - but he was truly innocent. This real-life tragedy inspired Shirley Reva Vernick's debut novel, The Blood Lie, which will be available September 1st. Shirley's relatives were directly victimized by the real event, and she grew up in the town where it happened, yet she didn't know it until she was a college student. In her own words:

Shirley Vernick: I was already in college when I first learned about it. I came home for fall break my sophomore year with an assignment for a sociology class. Students had to identify a local community conflict – past or present – and write a paper about it. I remember thinking, I'm screwed – no juicy controversies ever happen in my dinky little town of Massena, New York. So I asked my dad, who also grew up in Massena, if he had any ideas. That's when he told me, for the first time, about the blood libel that happened in Massena when he was a high school senior. It was just before Yom Kippur, and a little Christian girl disappeared while playing in the woods near her house. The next thing you know, the local Jews – including my dad's family – were being accused of kidnapping and murdering that little girl and baking her blood in their "holiday foods." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. In America? In the 20th century?


To read the full interview, please visit Bildungsroman!

Video Interview: Meg Cabot

Wondering what Meg Cabot thinks about the Twilight movies? Check out this video interview, in which the bestselling author of The Princess Diaries talks to rgzTV host Little Willow about movies, TV shows (Meg Cabot loves Glee!), and her typical writing schedule.



If you can't see the video above, click here.

Make sure to check out the December 2008 issue of readergirlz, when we spotlighted Meg's book How to Be Popular.

Cherie Priest Loves Steampunk

Last month, the postergirlz recommended Cherie Priest's novel Boneshaker alongside our feature pick for March, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. I recently interviewed Cherie for my blog, Bildungsroman, and wanted to share a piece of our conversation here:

Little Willow: How were you introduced to steampunk?

Cherie Priest: I've always really loved the Victorian aesthetic, particularly the fun tech aspects of it -- so as steampunk has come into its own I went right along with it. Though it's been around for a long time (in movies, TV shows, video games, books, and more) it feels like the last five or ten years have really seen it gain serious pop culture traction.

I guess one of my earliest "awareness" moments was probably the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride at Disney World, which has since been revamped to a "Finding Nemo" themed ride -- much to my personal horror. The 20K LUTS had the whole nine steampunk yards going for it -- the look, the sound, the tech, the villains, the heroes ... all of it. The first time I ever went on that ride I was a kid (early to mid 1980s), and I remember thinking that one day I wanted a house decorated just like the Nautilus.

Click here to read the entire interview!

April: Tanya Lee Stone

A special note of thanks from author Tanya Lee Stone, author of A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, one of this month's postergirlz recommended reads. (See the April issue of readergirlz for more!)

I'm so psyched that A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL is a recommended read for April, and not just because it's National Poetry Month (all hail National Poetry Month!). This YA novel in verse first came out in 2006, but teen readers still write to me all the time and say stuff like: "Hey, how do you know exactly what my life is like?!"

Nothing makes an author more excited (well, almost nothing) than hearing from readers, and readergirlz readers are an especially special crew! So, if you've ever been played by a guy, gotten in over your head, or been the shoulder for a girlfriend who loved and lost, see what Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva have to say about the bad boy in this book -- and how the choices you make affect the path you'll take. Three girls, one guy -- who comes out on top?

And for you Judy Blume fans out there (and let's face it, who ISN'T a Judy Blume fan?), FOREVER has a cameo role in this story.

Here are a few "extras" for you -- a sneak peek excerpt, an interview with the ever-fabulous Cynsations, and a FREE Reading Guide.

Readergirlz ROCKS!

~ Tanya Lee Stone

Winter Blog Blast Tour (WBBT)

For the past two years, Colleen from Chasing Ray has organized series upon series of author interviews. These blog tours, hosted and posted at various blogs, have been dubbed the Summer Blog Blast Tour (SBBT for short) and Winter Blog Blast Tour (aka WBBT). Each event is one week long and involves a multitude of authors, bloggers, and readers.

Many authors whose works have been mentioned here at the readergirlz blog will be participating, as will four out of the five postergirlz - Shelf Elf, Miss Erin, HipWriterMama, and moi. (I'm sure Jackie will be following, too!) I conducted five interviews for WBBT, one of which will posted at my book blog, Bildungsroman, each weekday morning this week. I kicked things off this morning with author Courtney Sheinmel, who has posted here at readergirlz about hope and family.

Visit Chasing Ray for the master list for this year's WBBT. I also posted the full schedule at Bildungsroman.

Interview: Jim Rugg

Jim Rugg, the artist behind a multitude of comics, newspaper graphics, and book and magazine covers, is possibly best known in the YA book blogging community for his artwork for The Plain Janes and Janes in Love, this month's featured titles at readergirlz. I recently had the opportunity to interview Jim one-on-one.

How did you come to know Cecil, and get involved with Minx/DC Comics?

We met through our editor at DC Comics, Shelly Bond. Shelly and Cecil began working on the PLAIN Janes, and when they started looking for an artist, my work was among the samples that Shelly showed Cecil.

How long did it take to complete The Plain Janes?

I think it took me about 6 months to draw.

How did you divvy up the work? Was your contribution strictly art and hers the text, or did you share various duties?

For the most part, this is how my involvement went: Cecil wrote the script, our editor went over that with her, when they were happy with it, our editor would send it to me. I would do small drawings of each page, send those small, rough drawings (called breakdowns or thumbnails) to Cecil and Shelly. We would all talk about them, make revisions if necessary, and then I would draw the final artwork.

Sounds like a good process, where everyone was informed and involved. What does ART SAVES! mean to you? Do you consider yourself to be an activist?

I'm not an activist. However, I believe that having an outlet to work out personal problems is essential. I wouldn't say it has to be art, but throughout my life I definitely relied on comics and movies and books and drawing to help me cope with emotional difficulties.

Which of the Janes is the most like you?

I think Main Jane is the most like me. When I was in high school and college, I began questioning the values I grew up with.

Who is the least like you?

The least like me is probably Theater Jane. She's a lot more demonstrative and outgoing than I tend to be.

When did you decide to do Janes in Love? Did you and Cecil pitch a second volume, or did Minx ask you to write another one?

Shelly began talking about it while I was drawing the first one.

Do you have plans for future volumes?

Not at this time. We had begun work on volume 3 [Janes Go Summer] before the Minx line was cancelled, and we had discussed a volume 4, but that looks unlikely now.

What was your first published work?

The first graphic novel/comic book series I did was a book I co-created with Brian Maruca called Street Angel. Slave Labor Graphics published it. Through that book, I met the Minx editor that I worked with.

How have you changed as an artist since that publication?

I'm sure I have, but I'm not sure how I'd articulate those changes.

You've been tapped to create artwork for book covers, magazine covers (most recently, that of LA Weekly), newspapers, even something special for the commencement exercises of Center for Cartoon Studies. What type of commission project do you like most of all?

My enjoyment of a job usually depends on 2 things – my schedule and whether I can comfortably fit the job into it (unfortunately, jobs come up when they come up, not when it would be most convenient), and the vision of the editor/art director. If the person with whom I'm working has a clear idea of what they want, it makes my job much easier. As for subject matter, I tend to like drawing a lot of stuff from animals to sci-fi, action, romance, girls, caricatures, still life. So the subject's pretty wide-open.

Can you tell us anything about your upcoming comic in Dark Horse Presents?

It's written by Zack Whedon. It features Penny, from Dr. Horrible. And it takes place before the events of Dr. Horrible. It's featured in July's Dark Horse Presents. You can read it at the Dark Horse MySpace page.

That must have been a fun project to work on. Which classical or modern artists inspire you?

I haven't been following anyone specific for a while. Over the years I've gone through a lot of phases from Frank Miller to Jack Kirby to Dan Clowes, lately I've been reading manga a lot. I enjoy film as well, Martin Scorcese, Wes Anderson, Hitchcock . . . the usual candidates.

What are your ten all-time favorite books?

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Eightball by Dan Clowes
Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
The Coffin Jones and Gravedigger detective series by Chester Himes
Deadeye Dick or Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Sideswipe or the Shark Infested Custard by Charles Willeford
Yummy Fur by Chester Brown
Woman in the Dunes by Kobe Abe


Jim was kind enough to share a great deal of artwork with me, including never-before-seen pages from Janes Go Summer, along with panels from The Plain Janes and Janes in Love. View the complete gallery in the July 2009 issue of readergirlz.

Visit Jim's website and LiveJournal.

Do you have your own questions for Jim? Next week, you may chat live with both Jim Rugg and Cecil Castellucci right here at the readergirlz blog TOMORROW, Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 6 PM PST / 9 PM EST. The chat is open to the public and will last for about an hour.