Visit with Barbara Shoup

www.barbarashoup.com

I'm excited today to be visiting with author Barbara Shoup, whose latest release, EVERYTHING YOU WANT, was re-released in paperback by Flux on 11/1/09!



Eighteen-year-old Emma’s trying to survive total humiliation and heartbreak after getting ditched and punched in the face by her (ex) best friend and crush-of-a-lifetime. Now she’s struggling with major post-high school stress, a lame social life, and tighter jeans from a few extra anxiety pounds.

Then one lucky lotto ticket comes along, and everything changes for the better--or does it? Now that she and her (mostly) functional family are fabulously rich, life is a bigger mess than ever.

Things piled up this summer and were making me kind of crazy, so I gave myself a vacation from blogging. I’d start up again during my trip to Italy in August, I promised myself. But it was so lovely just being there that the best I did was to post a single photograph (almost) every day on Facebook. Okay, I said when I got back. I’ll start September 1 with a post titled “Stuff I Meant to Blog about All Summer.” Not. The day after Labor Day, then. I’d blog about how the day after Labor Day was the first day of school when I was growing up and what the first day of school felt like to me then, how much I loved it. Uh, the day after Labor Day went by, too.

And here it is September 20. (Or thereabouts!) Thank God for deadlines, is what I say! Without having promised to guest blog for TEENSREADTOO, I’d be making and breaking promises to myself till the new year—and possibly longer.

I’ll answer the questions Jen sent in a bit, but first I think I’ll write a little bit about how important it is to make writing a habit—if writing is something that matters to you. The best ideas happen when you’re writing, not when you’re thinking. Thinking just gets you more and more in a muddle. Writing, even writing junk, sets the wheels in your head in motion. (Natalie Goldberg’s WRITING DOWN THE BONES is a great book to help you get your head around this idea; plus, it’s full of writing prompts to get you going.)

Just writing these few paragraphs, all sorts of ideas for blog posts have started bubbling up and they feel…possible. “Thank God for deadlines,” I just said. Guilt is a fair motivator, too, if you don’t have a deadline handy. (I know. Guilt is not a good thing. Still, it can be useful.)

So. You’re reading this right now—you and you and you and you. If I’m lucky, you’ll go from here and check out my website—about which I’m feeling guilty because I knew I was going to do this guest blog and meant to have more for you to read about what I’ve been up to lately.

But I have a plan—for which I need your help.

Check out my blog and leave me a message, a question, a wacky detail, a goofy idea (or a dead-serious one). Ask your fellow YA readers to do the same. I’ll blog back at you. I’d feel like a jerk if I didn’t. Ta-da! Useful Guilt.

I really, truly love to connect with readers, I actually love to blog (once I start writing instead of thinking and worrying about it), and sometimes a healthy little dose of guilt makes me stop procrastinating and do what I want to do.

Why do we avoid doing the things we love? That’s a whole other issue!

I think I’ll tackle Jen’s questions instead.

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

Lucas, from STRANDED IN HARMONY. He’s so earnest; he has such a large and honest heart. The real world needs him in it.

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

A boatload of money doesn’t give you everything you want, but helps you figure out what you need. (EVERYTHING YOU WANT)

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

I wanted to be a writer from the moment I understood what a book was and a teacher from the moment I entered kindergarten. Lucky me. I got to be both.

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

I loved history—when I had the kind of teacher who understood that “story” is a big part of “history.” I didn’t like history when I had the kind of teacher who was obsessed with memorizing dates of battles. I loathed math, especially story problems. I’d get side-tracked. “John has three apples, Bob has four.” I’d think, but why?

The book you wish you had written.

It’s impossible to choose The One. There are so many. Among them, in the YA world, are LOOKING FOR ALASKA, SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU, MY TIKI GIRL, and THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS.

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

I just finished and loved the 2010 YA release I’d been most looking forward to reading—John Green and David Levithan’s WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON. It is hilarious, smart, heartbreaking and triumphant. May Tiny Cooper live forever!

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??)

The International Day of Wonder. Everybody, everybody gets the day off just to look around them and be astonished by the beauty and complexity of the world we share.

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?

Reading—by candlelight, when it gets dark.

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

I’d be a baby nurse. Talk about wonder! Babies totally amaze me.

Your publisher has instructed you to write a new series based on an endangered species. What animal do you choose?

Humans, the most endangered species of all.

A movie is being made of ONE of your books. Which book is it, and who will star as the main characters?

EVERYTHING YOU WANT, because the characters are actually—well, sort of—my family. My daughter, Kate, whose voice is Emma’s, said, “Anyone except Renee Zellweger.” Jenny, who has a lot in common with Julie, went with Julia Roberts. My husband Steve/Mac picked Bruce Willis. As for Abby/me: Diane Keaton. What a trip that would be!

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.)

George W. Bush didn’t win the election in 2000. (Actually, he didn’t win. But I’m not going there.)

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?

I loved GREAT EXPECTATIONS, loathed—actually, I loathed most of what we read in high school English. What I really think is that it’s not so much about whether a kid should or shouldn’t be subjected to a certain title as it about how classics are taught. A good teacher can make kids love pretty much any book because they know how to make them see how it relates to their own lives.

You have the chance to spend the day with any character from one of your favorite books. Who would you choose and why?

Carelina from VERMEER'S DAUGHTER. I’d love to live in 17th Century Holland for a while and I’d really, really love to watch her father, Johannes Vermeer, at work on his painting “View of Delft.”

What was your favorite book growing up as a teen?

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.

The one book everyone in the world should read.

A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest Gaines.

Your five favorite reads from 2010 (books you read during the year; they do not have to have been published during 2010).

THE POSTMISTRESS (Sara Blake); WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON (John Green & David Levithan); MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND (Helen Simonson); THIS BODY OF DEATH (Elizabeth George); WHAT IS THE WHAT? (Dave Eggers).

Your family has the chance to describe you for an interview. What ten words would they say describe you best?

Serious, funny, honest, loyal, stubborn, worrier, driven, generous, curious, and sometimes annoying.

You’re going off your diet for one day and only eating food from restaurants. What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? (Include the restaurant each meal comes from.)

Pecan waffle and bacon from the Original House of Pancakes. Double cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake from Steak & Shake. Pepperoni pizza from Basbeaux Pizza.

You’re invited to a White House function, and you have the chance to give a 10-minute speech to the President and everyone else attending. What do you speak about?

Oh, boy. You don’t even want to get me started on this one. First I’d tell him something I just found out: that one of the ways prison capacity needs are predicted are by looking at fourth grade reading scores. Then I’d go in on the kill about education and how we really need to get our act together and make schools where all kids have the opportunities to learn what they need to know in a safe, stimulating environment. I would try to stay calm. But probably wouldn’t. I would try not to swear. But I might.

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

No brainer. Absolutely. I can’t imagine not writing, no matter what.

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

Accept that writing is a craft that must be learned. (Yes, even creative writing.) Learn to love the long, maddening, exhilarating writing process. Especially learn to love revision. Nobody, nobody gets it right the first time. Learn to live with rejection. I always remind myself that THE CATCHER IN THE RYE was rejected 22 times!

**Thanks so much to Barbara for visiting with us today (even though a wee bit late in getting this posted!). Be sure to visit her website listed above, and to also check out her Blog, IndianaWriters.org, her Facebook page, or email her directly at barbarashoup@aol.com.

Barbara is going to be sending one lucky poster today a set of her books that includes WISH YOU WERE HERE, STRANDED IN HARMONY, and EVERYTHING YOU WANT, so be sure to leave any comments or questions you have for her in the comments section!