AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Holly Cupala

Holly Cupala is the author of TELL ME A SECRET, a contemporary YA novel released by HarperTeen on 22 June 2010!

Tell me a secret, and I'll tell you one...

In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own. 

Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears. Stripped of her former life, Miranda must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister’s demons and her own. 

In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her future. 

1.  Mindi Scott:  At age eight, what did you want to be when you grew up?  And at age eighteen?  And while you’re at it, what about at age twenty-eight?

Holly Cupala:  A writer…a writer…and a writer! I know, boring. No career angst in there. Though there was some question as to whether or not I would have to be a teacher in order to make the writing happen. In fact, I was just about to finish my Masters in Comparative Literature and start a teaching assistanceship when I realized I had made a huge blunder and forgotten my first love—that, and I cringed at the thought of standing up in front of people and having to actually…talk. So I finished the degree and started investigating how to write. It took classes, critique groups, life, and especially good friends to help me bring a novel into existence.  

 

2.  MS:  Which Breakfast-Club-style label would have best fit your teenage self?  (Clever Examples:  The Bad Ass, The Athlete, The Hottie, The Dork, The Genius, The Psycho, The Social Butterfly, The Band Geek, The Drama Queen/King, The I Wish I Were a Vampire, The Entirely Something Else.) 

HC:  A little of each, I think! Well, maybe not The Bad Ass or The Athlete. Everybody else—sure. Though I was mostly a combo of Drama Girl, Dork, Brainy, Social Butterfly, and maybe a little bit Hottie. Somebody called me “Legs” in my yearbook, anyways! But I kind of wanted to be The Psycho. For a minute or two.  
 
3.  MS:  What are some of your superstitions and/or phobias?

HC:  I’m a bit concerned about earthquakes in the Northwest. I don’t like insects that sting. I think eschatology (the study of the end of the world) is quite fascinating.  

4.  MS:  Without giving away too much from your book, which character or scene are you the most pleased about having created, and why?

HC:  I think I’m most pleased with the second-to-last chapter—the hardest to write! It’s where the conflict launched in the first couple of chapters comes to fruition, and Miranda faces her ultimate adversary. It took me a while to get into the antagonist’s head until I realized she had a secret, too, and how it colored everything she did throughout the novel. It was cathartic to write, and I hope satisfying for the reader.   

5.  MS:  Was there any certain music that inspired you while you were writing this book, or is there a song that could serve as your protagonist’s theme song?

HC:  Definitely. Our friend Kasson is a music producer in several bands and a certain extremely popular music-related band game, and he always sends us mixes of good stuff and music from the bands he’s been involved with, including Splashdown, Universal Hall Pass, and Symbion Project. One mix in particular played a huge role in my inspiration, and I have most of those songs in a playlist on my site (www.hollycupala.com). Lyrics from a Splashdown song appear in TELL ME A SECRET, and the upcoming trailer will feature a different Splashdown song! I’m excited to get to share their music.

6.  MS:  What’s up next for you as a writer?

HC:  My second novel (tentatively titled STREET CREED – Fall 2011) is about a suburban girl who runs away from home to live on the streets of Seattle. She has secret reasons for leaving, and she hooks up with a band of homeless kids—including Creed. It’s gritty and romantic and there are lots of secrets. It’s about what it means to love. 

7.  MS:  And, now, the most important question of all:  Beatles or Elvis?  Please support your answer.  ;-)

HC:  Ack. I don’t know. Both? I think the Beatles are probably a little closer to the style of music I like, but then Elvis’ story is inspiring to me.

8.  MS:  Okay, your turn.  Do you have a question you’d like me to ask my Magic 8-Ball on your behalf?  (I’m telling you, this thing is scarily accurate!  Well, except for when it’s lying.)

HC:  Okay, 8-ball. I wrote the first book in four years. The second book in four months. Will I write the third in four weeks?!? Inquiring mind is dying to know! 

 

MS:  Kind of hard to read, but it says "It is certain."  Which is one of the first positive responses this 8 ball has given for ages!  Thank you so much, Holly! 
 

HC:  Thank you, Mindi, for inviting me to visit your blog—and I can’t wait for FREEFALL! 

Holly is doing a live chat TODAY, June 23rd, at the Harper Inkpop forums at 2pm PST/5pm EST about blogging and the writing process!  (http://www.inkpop.com/forums) 

My Friday 5 - on Saturday, of course.

1.  I've been reading some awesomeTenner books in the last couple of weeks!    The first is Tara Kelly's HARMONIC FEEDBACK, which is already out in stores and online.  "When Drea and her mother move in with her grandmother in Bellingham, Washington, the sixteen-year-old finds that she can have real friends, in spite of her Asperger’s, and that even when you love someone it does not make life perfect." .

2.  I also read Karen Kincy's OTHER which also takes place in Washington State.  It comes out July 1st and is currently available for preorder.  "Seventeen-year-old Gwen hides a dangerous secret: she’s Other. Half-pooka, to be exact, thanks to the father she never met. Most Americans don’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for Others, especially not the small-town folks of Klikamuks, Washington. When a pack of werewolves chooses the national forest behind Gwen’s home as their new territory, the tensions in Klikamuks escalate–into murder."

3.  The third book I read was Shaun David Hutchinson's THE DEATHDAY LETTER, which was released this week.  "After receiving the letter that says he will be dead within twenty-four hours, fifteen-year-old Ollie and his two best friends, Shane and would-be girlfriend Ronnie, set out to fulfill as many of Ollie’s hopes as they can."

4.  Also, Allie Larkin answered my Magic 8 questions here last week.  This week, she was in the Seattle area for a signing at Third Place Books.  My sister and I made it down for the reading and spoke with Allie afterward.  When we tried to take a picture, I discovered that the batteries in my camera were dead!  My sister took this one of Allie and me using Allie's phone.  I added the "Old Photo" effect just, you know, for fun.

 

5.  My Seattle book launch party for FREEFALL is now arranged with Third Place Books!  It will be Sunday, October 17th at 5:30pm.  That's still four months away, but I just wanted to put it out there to make sure people will be able to plan for it if you want to come.  I'm very, very excited!

Flag Day.

Twelve years ago today, I got married. 

I was twenty.  He was twenty-two. 

We had our wedding and reception at a church.  We went back to our apartment and opened all our gifts and watched BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S.  When we went to bed, I wore a really long, white nightie with a sheer robe--an ensemble that I've since used as an angel costume.

Thirteen months later, our divorce was finalized. 

He didn't show up for the hearing.  He didn't have to because in Washington, legally ending a marriage requires the physical presence of only one of the parties involved.  Still, I will never forget being in that court room with my mom beside me and realizing that he really wasn't coming to see it through. 

Whatever happened between us is exactly that to me most of the time:  whatever.  But it still stings--just a little bit--when I remember that he chose to make me end it on my own. 

An email I sent four years ago -

I've written exactly one fan-girly email in my life.  It was on July 12, 2006, and it said this:

 
John,

 

I recently took that quiz thang on LJ and got LOOKING FOR ALASKA as my result.  I decided to read it.  And now I have.

 

I want to tell you that you are a beautiful writer... but what I really mean is that you write beautifully.  Truly.  What an amazing story.

 

Thank you,

Mindi

*sigh* 

Wasn't I just the cutest thing?

John did write me back, which was really cool!  (This was several months before Brotherhood 2.0 began.)  But it would have been okay with me if he hadn't written back.  Because, really, all I'd needed was the opportunity to tell him how I felt.  It didn't matter as much what he thought about it. 

(Oh, and the quiz I was referring to is something E. Lockhart put together: "Which Young Adult Novel Are You?"  I can't find that quiz now.)

(Also, I'm getting the weirdest feeling of Déjà vu.  Have I posted this before?)

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Allie Larkin

Allie Larkin is the author of STAY (Dutton Adult, June 10, 2010).

Savannah “Van” Leone has loved Peter since the day they met. The problem is, Peter has loved Van’s best friend, Janie, since the moment they met. And now they’re walking down the aisle, with Van standing nearby in a Halloween orange bridesmaid dress, her smile as hollow as a jack-o-lantern. After the wedding, Van drowns her sorrows in Kool Aid-vodka cocktails and reruns of Rin-Tin-Tin, and does what any woman in her situation would do: She buys a German Shepherd over the internet...

The Magic 8:

1. Mindi Scott: At age eight, what did you want to be when you grew up? And at age eighteen? And while you’re at it, what about at age twenty-eight? 


Allie Larkin: At eight, I wanted to be a pig farmer. By nine, I’d learned that pig farmers didn’t get to just hang out with pigs for fun, so that dream was totally squashed. At eighteen, I was a theatre major. I think at that point I’d realized I loved working with characters, but I hadn’t found my medium yet. By twenty-eight, I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I also knew that I wanted it badly enough to actually make it my goal.

2. MS: Which Breakfast-Club-style label would have best fit your teenage self? 


AL: The Space Agent. I was a serious daydreamer!

3. MS: What are some of your superstitions and/or phobias?

AL: In second grade, my teacher told the class that it’s bad luck to leave the closet door open at night. That is, unfortunately, what I chose to take away from second grade. It’s not even that I think anything bad is going to happen if I leave the closet door open, it’s just an ingrained habit. If I don’t close the door, it bugs me and I can’t sleep. It drives my husband crazy.

4. MS: Without giving away too much from your book, which character or scene are you the most pleased about having created, and why? 


AL: I love my main character, Van, to the point where I wish she were real and we could be friends. But I also love Diane, who possibly falls a little into the love to hate category of characters. Diane and Van have such a complicated relationship. It was interesting to write their shared scenes, and watch Diane evolve from one draft to the next. She has a lot more layers than I’d originally thought she would.

5. MS: Was there any certain music that inspired you while you were writing this book, or is there a song that could serve as your protagonist’s theme song?


AL: Van is a HUGE Boston fan, so I listened to a lot of Boston while I wrote STAY, and it always helped to get me in her mindset. I had a playlist of songs just for STAY. It was a combo of bands Van would like (Scandal, Journey, The Breeders, Counting Crows, REM), and songs (like On Your Side, by Pete Yorn) with lyrics that seemed to fit perfectly with things that were going on in the story.

6. MS: What’s up next for you as a writer?


I’m working on something completely new with completely new characters, but I’m not really ready to talk about it yet. And someday, I’d love to get to check in with Van again. I have ideas. :-)

7. MS: And now, the most important question of all: Beatles or Elvis? Please support your answer. ;-)

AL: Elvis. One of my friends from high school is an Elvis impersonator. I don’t think the Beatles ever inspired anything as awesome as Lady Elvis (http://www.ladyelvis.com/).

8. MS: Okay, your turn. Do you have a question you’d like me to ask my Magic 8-Ball on your behalf? (I’m telling you, this thing is scarily accurate! Well, except for when it’s lying.)


AL:  Will I ever get to go to the Galapagos Islands?

MS:  Well, apparently, that was a hard one to answer today!  Thanks so much, Allie!

AL:  Thank you, Mindi!!!

To learn more about Allie Larkin and her novel, STAY,visit http://allielarkinwrites.com/