Visit with Susie Day

www.susieday.com



We're visiting with Susie Day, author of several titles for YA readers, the newest of which, MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND, was released by Scholastic on 4/1/10!

Heidi has the perfect solution to her popularity problems - a fake boyfriend. She's even made him an Internet profile that makes him look like a motorcycle-riding, poetry reading bad boy. *swoon* Heidi's friends are so impressed they start emailing Heidi's fake boyfriend with their problems . . . including their problems with Heidi.

As if that weren't bad enough, a delicious and possibly single person called "A Real Boy" emails Heidi to say he knows the truth. Can Heidi escape from her world wide web of lies? Or will her chance at romance disappear faster than you can type gtg?

I had the chance to ask Susie a few questions about her life, writing, and MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND, so I hope you enjoy her answers!

1) If you could bring any character from one of your books to life, who would it be and why?

Betsy from MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND. She’s Heidi’s boss at the Little Leaf Café, and sort of a surrogate mum to her – and everyone needs the kind of friend who knows when to be your cheerleader, and when to sit you down and say STOP BEING DAFT. (Unless that’s just me.) She also makes a mean lemon drizzle cake.

2) Your own six-word memoir.

She never could add up, poor thing.

3) Twitter your newest or upcoming release in 140 characters or less.

Heidi’s new beloved: poetic, charming, entirely imaginary. This can’t possibly go wrong.

4) What was your favorite book growing up as a teen?

THE CHANGEOVER by Margaret Mahy. It’s a supernatural romance, but the girl, Laura Chant, is the one with all the power. Laura’s baby brother is dying after an encounter with the sinister Carmody Braque, and she must tap into her undiscovered witchy skills to save him – aided and abetted by the fabulous Sorry Carlisle. Aren’t those brilliant names?

5) When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer! I’ve wanted to do this since I was 7, and realized all those books I was devouring in the library had to come from somewhere. I’m still quite surprised to meet people who haven’t always dreamed of writing.

6) Your favorite subject in high school – and your least favorite.

Oh dear, I’m so predictable: English was my favourite by miles, and I loathed PE. I was that nerdy kid who had tennis balls bouncing off her head because she was thinking about what might happen in chapter 12. But we did have to do cross-country in what were effectively nylon hotpants, in the pouring rain, and I’m not sure there’s a teenager alive who’d be all that keen.

7) The book you wish you had written.

HEXWOOD by Diana Wynne Jones (or, in fact, anything by Diana Wynne Jones!). She writes fantasy stories which are always rooted in a contemporary setting, so the real world around you feels full of magical potential – and they are incredibly intricately plotted. And funny too! She’s a genius.

8) The 2010 release you’re most looking forward to reading.

MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins. It’s the final book in THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, and I am itching to find out what happens next.

9) If your mom wrote the author profile for the jacket of your next book, what would she write?

“Dear Reader, This is what my youngest daughter has been doing instead of replying to any of my emails. Presumably this means it’s quite good, so you should probably read it. Love Mum”

10) You have the chance to go back and change a scene from one of your previous releases. What book would you choose, what scene would you change, and how would you alter it?

I actually got to do this with MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND! It came out in the UK and the rest of the world in 2009, under the title GIRL MEETS CAKE, but because there was a gap before the North American release I had time to come up with lots of little things I wanted to change, or add. Since we have to make lots of alterations anyway for North American readers (otherwise you’d be reading about jelly babies, and car parks, and KitKats, and be all confused), I did a bigger re-edit, so in some ways they are now different books. The first few pages are completely different.

11) You’ve invented a new national holiday. What is it called, and what does it celebrate? (Plus, would we get the day off of school and work??)

Naturally, it’s International Susie Day. You must spend the day having curly hair and sitting in a coffee shop.

12) Using the letters J L W (my initials!), create the title of your next bestseller. (For example, Jumping Love Walrus.)

Justice, Liberty, Waldorf Salad. It’s a thrilling adventure about a family of superheroic restaurateurs, who must juggle chopping onions with fighting crime. Think Batman in a pinny.

13) What is your ultimate vacation destination?

I hiked the Grand Canyon with my sister last summer, and… wow. I don’t think anything will ever top that experience!

14) The world has suffered from a one-day only loss of power. You have no cell phone, computer, lights, or anything else that requires a computer, cell battery, or electricity. What do you spend the day doing?

I’d spend the morning pointlessly switching the kettle on, and becoming convinced that there was the Most Important Email In History in my inbox, if only I could get to it. After that, I’d go for a stroll, share my thoughts on the likelihood of zombie invasion with the passers-by, and invite people back to my garden to hang out and toast things over my one-match fire. (I went on Girl Scout camp: I have blackout skills.)

15) If you weren’t an author, what job would you be doing?

As well as writing, I currently work in a boarding school (not one like the Finch in MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND, thankfully) as a resident warden – so I’m like the stand-in parent for a large group of teenagers. I love it – not just because they’re great inspiration – and I did nearly become a teacher. But I can’t imagine being truly happy doing anything but writing.

16) The paranormal genre is big in teen/YA literature right now. Most bestsellers feature vampires, werewolves, faeries, angels, or the like as a main character. In your opinion, why are teens currently fascinated with all things paranormal?

I don’t think it’s anything new: the successes just have more global reach now, and we have new ways of sharing our passion for them. Genre fiction is wonderful for teen/YA, though: it’s a way of approaching teen issues by an indirect, metaphorical route which avoids the risk of being too literal, too specific about a single ‘issue’ to engage with most teens – and skips over the danger of fiction turning into a lecture. Most of these myths are about transformations, often unwanted, or frightening, or secret - and it’s an ideal way to mirror that process happening in the reader’s real life.

17) You’re writing a book where you can change one major historical event. Which event do you change? (For example, Abraham Lincoln wasn’t assassinated, or Japan never bombed Pearl Harbor.)

Ahhh, time-travel: a risky business. I’ve just finished my next book, which will come out in 2011, and after writing that I’d be very hesitant to change anything! The book’s about a girl who, on her 14th birthday, realizes she’s completely failed to be ‘teenage’, so wishes herself back to being 13 again. But for every little thing she gets right, something else changes too, and before she knows it she’s messed up far more than she did the first time around. If Doctor Who couldn’t fix Pompeii, I’m not going to try.

18) Remember those “classics” that you were made to read in high school English class? What was your favorite, and which title should students never have to be subjected to reading?

Happy booknerd here: I never minded being made to read anything. Apart from TREASURE ISLAND. Zzzz.

19) Someone tells you that you’ll never publish another book that you write. Do you still keep writing?

Absolutely. You’re a writer because you write, not because you publish – and chances are, you become published because you can’t help but write.

20) A group of teens ask you the best way to become a published writer. How do you answer the question?

Write, read, repeat. Write because you have to (because there will be days when it’s miserable, and every word you type is awful, and you have to get through those, because the good days are worth it). Read for love, but read critically: ask yourself why your favourite books work. Find a voice, a genre, a story to tell that only you can tell right. Don’t throw anything away. Pluck up the courage to show people your work, and accept that if you ask people for an honest opinion, they’ll give you one. And don’t give up!

**Thanks so much to Susie for visiting with us! Be sure to visit her website, listed above, or you can also find her at her Blog or on Facebook, or email her directly at susie@susieday.com.