Author Spotlight: an interview with Elizabeth Scott

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Teen authors are some of the most generous people I've ever met. Elizabeth Scott is no exception. I started reading her blog around the same time as her first novel Bloom came out and was the lucky winner of one of her fabulous contests. A few months ago, we corresponded again and she offered to let me interview her. Her new book, Perfect You, is in stores next week and make sure to add Stealing Heaven, her third book, to your May wishlist.

Em: I really enjoyed your first novel, Bloom. How was it different writing Perfect You? Easier? Harder?

Elizabeth: First, thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked Bloom.
Perfect You was a hard book for me to write—it ended up taking me almost a year, and it's strange because I've written books that are more intense, but yet something about this one really got to me. I think a lot of it was Kate and Anna—writing about the loss of a friendship was difficult for me because I've had friendships end, and thinking about those losses made writing about Kate's situation painful at times.

Em: Recently you posted the cover for your upcoming book, Living Dead Girl and I see that Stealing Heaven will be released soon as well. Can you tell us anything about these books?

Elizabeth: Stealing Heaven will be out at the end of May, and here's a five word summary—with thanks to popgurls for getting me to do this in the first place—

thief meets cop: love? disaster?

A longer version:
Stealing Heaven is about Dani, a girl who has spent her whole life on the move—and as a thief. When Dani and her mother settle on the coastal town of Heaven for their next job, Dani finds herself feeling at home for the first time in her life. She meets people she likes, including a guy, but when things get tough—her new friend lives in the house they've targeted and the guy turns out to be a cop—Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known...or the one she's always wanted.

Living Dead Girl will be out in September, and I can't say much about it yet other than it's about a girl whose entire life—including her name—is a lie.

Em: Perfect You is the title of your new book as well as the name brand of the vitamins that Kate’s dad sells. Which came first - the title or the brand name?

Elizabeth: The title. I almost always get titles first, and as soon as I thought of this one, I knew it worked not only for the book, but would be the name of the vitamins that Kate's dad sells.

Em: We have something in common in that we both had a parent as a teacher (my mom was my art teacher for a few years). You went to a small high school and ended up having both of your parents as teachers. How did that influence your high school years? Any latent desires to teach?

Elizabeth: I wish I had some great trauma-filled stories about having my parents as teachers, but I don't. In an area as rural as the one I grew up in, I knew, from a very early age, that when I got to high school, I was going to have my parents as teachers. So it wasn't like it was a surprise to me or anyone else—I guess when you've known something was going to happen since you were five, it really negates the shock value! However, regarding influence on me and wanting to teach—well, that's a totally different story! After seeing how hard my parents worked, I never EVER wanted to be a teacher. Yes, you get summers off, but before that, let me tell you—you work your butt off! (The average high school teacher teaches at least three different sections of a particular class—for example, history, AP history, and remedial history—which all require different class preparations, and then also has things like lunch/detention/bus duty, plus is in charge of one or more school-sponsored clubs and/or events. And as for the summers off, there's always summer school, taking classes you need to in order to keep your certification, and, of course, more school-related activities—if you're coaching a sports team, for example, you can pretty much kiss your summer good-bye)

Em: Bloom was one of my favorite covers for 2007 and Perfect You is one of my favorites for 2008 so far. In fact, I just updated my profile with a picture of my shoes!

Elizabeth: Lisa Fyfe designed both the Bloom and Perfect You covers, and she is AMAZING! I've been really fortunate in my covers and every time I've see them, I've feel like they really capture what the story is about. (The shoes on the Perfect You cover, for example--as soon as I saw them, I immediately thought of the scene between Will and Kate at the party and thought, "YES!")
(btw, love your updated profile pic!!)

Em: What’s the coolest thing about being a published author?

Elizabeth: Hearing from readers. Hands down, that is the best thing ever. EVER.

Em: What are some of your favorite young adult books? Which ones influenced you while growing up?

Elizabeth: Right now, I've been reading a lot of young adult novels from the United Kingdom, and I have to say, I think they have some amazing writers. Kate Cann, Sarra Manning, Judy Waite, and Julie Hearn—all of these authors are automatic must-buys for me, even if I have to order all their latest books from amazon.co.uk! When I was growing up, there wasn't nearly as rich a range of YA as there is now—I remember a lot of books about two certain identical twins—but I adored Judy Blume. I still read Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself about once a year.

Em: Why did you decide to write young adult novels? (And trust me, we’re all thankful that you did!)

Elizabeth: It actually all started when I was on the phone with a friend. We were talking about young adult novels, which I've loved since they started getting totally fabtastic in the late 1990s, and I mentioned how I'd love to see one about a girl who had the "happily ever after"—the perfect boyfriend and etc. —and who wasn't happy with it because yeah, the guy was perfect...but she wasn't. And my friend said, "So write it!"And I did.

Em: I’ve heard all sorts of crazy stories about strange writing habits, such as wearing only one sock while writing or only using a lucky pen or, and this is the grossest, not showering during the last few weeks of writing a novel. Do you have any quirky writing habits that you’d be willing to share with us?

Elizabeth: I can't talk about what I'm working on while I write it.Well, okay, I could. But I don't. And it's so ingrained in me now that until I get that first draft done, I won't say anything about what's going on or what will happen—not even to the person who reads my first drafts! (Luckily, she's very understanding. Very!)

Em: And last but not least, if you had just one piece of advice for young writers, what would it be?

Elizabeth: Read. Read as much as you can, in as many genres as you can—not only to learn about what you like and don't, but because reading opens the door to so many amazing worlds. And who would want to pass that up?

Thanks for letting me interview you, Elizabeth! This was tons of fun and I can't wait to read Stealing Heaven. I hope everyone else enjoys the interview too!

Other Resources:
Elizabeth's website
Elizabeth's blog
The first two chapters of Perfect You
More info on Elizabeth's books

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott Book Review

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott
(HarperTeen, Hardcover)
Rating:

Danielle (Dani) has been stealing all her life. She and her mom move from town to town, sneaking into people's houses and taking their expensive silver. Then Dani and her mom move to Heaven and Dani starts making friends. Real friends. The kind that she can laugh and joke with. Soon Dani finds herself caught between the life that she's always known and the life that she wants.

This book was definitely a fascinating read. I was rooting for Dani the whole time. I loved it because, unlike a lot of teen novels, there was never a moment where she made a decision that she shouldn't have. Don't get me wrong...she did make bad decisions. It was just that she was always caught between loyalty to her mom and the more nebulous notion of "doing the right thing." This is compounded by the fact that one of Dani's new friends is a cute, young cop who she just happens to be crushing on.

Why did I wait so long to read this book? I loved Elizabeth Scott's previous books and this on has been sitting on my bookshelf for months. Well, to be honest, it was the cover. The girl on the front looks like she's 13 and I just wasn't into reading a book about a girl that young. It wasn't until I read several other reviews that I realized that it was about an 18-year-old. So, don't judge this book by its cover.

Favorite part: the title. It's so perfect on so many levels. And there's a fun little surprise at the end that had me loving it even more.

Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott Book Review

Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott
(Simon Pulse, Hardcover, 2009)
Rating:

Hannah's parents have always sort-of been the bane of her existence. Her dad is super famous for having a mansion full of girlfriends (think Hugh Hefner) and, to make matters worse, his whole life is filmed as a reality tv show. Hannah's mom used to be one of those girlfriends, but then she got pregnant and kicked out of the mansion. So now, she does live chats while modeling lingerie. Needless to say, Hannah pretty much tries to be invisible. She's succeeding until her crush starts paying attention to her, her dad wants her to come visit the mansion, and she suddenly can't stop thinking about Finn who is so not her crush.

Like so many of you, I became a fan of Elizabeth Scott when I read bloom. Her books are a nice mix of real life issues and odd scenarios. In Something, Maybe, Hannah wants what most of us want at some point in our lives - to not be noticed. I sympathized with her attempts at invisibility (big, baggy clothes and no make-up) and I laughed over her secret fear that she might turn into her parents and suddenly want to rip a guy's clothes off. Family issues are also often at the heart of Scott's books. No family is perfect, especially Hannah's, but we all have to reconcile how we fit into our family's tapestry. (Feel free to read that as a reference to Harry Potter...) Hannah's discoveries are heartfelt and poignant. Something, Maybe is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen.

Want to learn more about Elizabeth and her books?
Read my interview with Elizabeth from a year ago.
Read my review of Perfect You.
Read my review of Stealing Heaven.

Oh, and this cover totally makes me think of Blake Lively. I think it's the way that the cover model is pursing her lips. What do you think?