As resident Sunday BuzzGirl, I got the mega-honor of interviewing Monday Blog Mom Tina Ferraro. Tina is the incredibly talented author of Top Ten Uses For An Unworn Prom Dress (which gets the BuzzBlog longest title award) and the just released How To Hook A Hottie. If you haven't read these two, then get to a bookstore or click over to Amazon and put them in your TBR pile. You won't regret it.
TLC: Mark Wahlberg knocks on your door. Why is he there and what do you do?
Tina: He’s there because someone-knew-someone-who-knew-someone, etc., and the Buzz Girls sent him as a birthday surprise. He hands me a rose, kisses my cheek, and then saunters off while I scream for my kids to bear witness to what just happened, to assure me that I haven’t lost my mind.TLC: You would just let him go? I'm disappointed. Then again, you're the girl who passed up a chance to meet him... I shouldn't be surprised. What is the worst thing about being a writer? The best?
Tina: The worst is when I get my first revision package from my editor, and I am in a cold sweat that the book has completely disappointed her. (So far, my fears have not come to fruition, thank God.)
The best is...well, every day when I wake up and get to “go to work” in my family room, wearing a sweatsuit and dorky glasses.TLC: I think we need to see a picture of those dorky glasses. How has being a short story writer helped/hindered you as a novelist?
Tina: I am a self-learner, so writing short stories was my classroom to teach myself about story structure and follow-through.TLC: Describe your typical day. (Or, if there is no such thing, you dream day.)
Tina: Typical starts at 5:45, get the family up and out. I write, go out to the supermarket or errands, write some more, pick up a kid or two, usually read or write, make dinner, take an evening walk with my husband, do some writing or reading, asleep by 10:00. Not a very exciting life, but I like it!TLC: Yes, but you get to do plenty of
exciting things. As a native East coaster and an adopted West coaster, which suits you more?
Tina: I think I’ve found a comfortable blend of both at this point, and don’t have a preference for either coast or lifestyle.TLC: Sounds like me. How do you get from idea to The End?
Tina: Nervously, worried that the story won’t hold up, and constantly going back and strengthening the plot points.TLC: Well, if
Top Ten Uses For an Unworn Prom Dress and
How To Hook a Hottie are any indication, you can stop worrying. If you could write anything in the world and know it would sell (market trends and demands aside) what would you write?
Tina: But the question is: would it be good and sell well?? Um, I’ve long had a time travel idea about a family driving cross-country. Suffice to say, the family would have teens, but it would probably be marketed as adult fiction.TLC: Intriguing. I'm picturing Back To the Future in a station wagon. Where do you see yourself and your career in five years? In twenty-five?
Tina: Rich and famous and still alive. No, really, I don’t plan that far ahead. I just live inside whatever book I’m presently writing and hope there are more in me.
Tina signing copies of Top Ten Uses For an Unworn Prom Dress at the RWA Literacy Autographing in Dallas last year. Note: The RITA flag on the table belongs to Caridad Ferrar, but Tina is predicted to have her own flag this year.TLC: If you weren’t a writer, what would you do?
Tina: I wanted to be a flight attendant, but they wouldn’t take me! Actually, I’m a natural organizer, so probably running conferences or a bustling office, like I’ve done in the past.TLC: As terrific of a flight attendant as you would have been, I think we're all glad that wasn't your destined career path. Name one thing you don’t like that most people love.
Tina: Cheesecake.TLC: Really? And you're from New York? Name one thing you love that most people don’t like.
Tina: Eating orange rinds.TLC: Um, ew. Disneyland or Walt Disney World?
Tina: Disneyland, although I’ve never been to Disney World, so I have nothing to back this answer up.TLC: Which three writers or works most influenced your writing?
Tina: Stephen King, Sue Grafton, Harlan Coben
Tina with fellow BuzzGirl Stephanie Hale, both glitzed out at the dessert reception following the 2007 RWA RITA awards ceremony.TLC: Finish this sentence: Never under any circumstance...
Tina: Believe anything I tell you about someone I only very casually know. Especially if it’s someone whose path I cross on a regular basis, like another parent at school or a checker at the supermarket. Because I have this habit of embellishing their characteristics based on a sentence or action, and a week or a month later, I forget that I made it up and pass it off as truth.
“No, really,” I say, “she’s putting her house on the market. I know because I saw her reading the real estate section.” Once. When the kids were late getting out of school. And she’d finished the rest of the paper. And I was bored, too. And noticing her, and wondering about her... “Okay, maybe she’s not. And uh, maybe don’t mention this conversation to anyone, either.”TLC: [
Mental Note: Never trust anything Tina says about other people.] What one question do you wish someone would ask you? (And answer that question.)
Tina:
Q: How do you stay so young looking?
A: By having such gracious friends as you!TLC: Aw, how sweet. Thanks for answering all these bizarro questions! That wraps up my interview of Tina and the BuzzBlog interview series.
Tina Ferraro is the author of
Top Ten Uses For an Unworn Prom Dress and
How To Hook a Hottie, both from Delacorte. Her third novel, The ABC's of Kissing, will be out in 2009.
Hugs,
TLC
OH. MY. GODS. -- Dutton, May 2008
teralynnchilds.com
Pay no attention to me sliding in here...oh wait, DO pay attention because I'm here to announce the winner of my HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE giveaway from Saturday. As chosen at random by my hubby...
THE WINNER IS:
Emily
Who said the best way to keep your hooked hottie is to "keep laughing. A sense of humor will get you through SO... much!"
CONGRATS to Emily!! Please e-mail me at
marley_gibson @ yahoo.com (no spaces) with your snail mail addy and I'll get the book sent off to you.
What a great week we've had here with the launch of Tina's new book, HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE! If you haven't run out to get your own copy, keep reading as I'm doing a giveaway today.
We've had a lot of great advice on hooking your own hottie, so I thought I'd help wrap up with some tips on keeping that hooked hottie.
1. Keep in Touch: What's better than walking down the hallway at school hand in hand or with your arms around each other? Keeping in touch with your hottie churns up feel-good hormones and keeps the affection alive and kickin'.
2. Keep Talking: Don't monopolize every conversation. Sharing what's on your mind is the best way to keep the relationship going. Let him tell you what he's thinking.
3. Keep it Real: Neither you nor your hottie are perfect in every way, although we'd like to think so. (LOL!) Don't look at his flaws or quirks or things that might annoy. Realize it's those things that make him real...human.
4. Keep Who You Are: While you've got that hottie hooked, don't forget your friends. They're just as important as he is. Make sure you still have lunch and shopping outings with your friends and don't completely abandon them just to spend time with him. It'll make your time with him all that much better.
5. Keep Being a Good Date: Don't get in the dinner and movie rut. Keep dates fresh. Plan secret things for you and your hottie. Try an extreme sport. Take in a museum. Go to a hockey game. Think of fun and creative things you can do together that keeps the relationship fresh and alive.
So, for today's giveaway of Tina Ferraro's HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE, post your advice on how to keep your hooked hottie. Winner will be announced on Wednesday!
Hugs,
Marley = )
SORORITY 101: Zeta or Omega? (May 2008, Puffin Books)
SORORITY 101: The New Sisters (May 2008, Puffin Books)
GHOST HUNTRESS Series (Begins May 2009, Houghton Mifflin)
What I'm reading: Well, what else? HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE
Recently we’ve become aware of a new influx of readers (like you?) who are just joining us here at the Buzz Girls blog. So we thought we’d reintroduce ourselves--and encourage you to ask questions or add in any little fun facts you’ve learned about us through our blog.
I am Tina Ferraro, a southern California chickadee and author of four contracted Young Adult novels with Delacorte Press.
In Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress (March, 2007), 16 year-old Nicolette is a brave survivor of every girl's teen nightmare--being dumped by her date. Even though it happened last spring, she can't fully get over the fact that the most popular guy in school ditched her when his equally flawless girlfriend popped back into town.To help her cope, her mom has ordered her to compile a list of ten alternative things she can do with a prom dress. Through school stresses, boy dilemmas, and parental problems, her prom dress gives her something beautiful to hold on to.
17 year-old Kate, the heroine of How to Hook a Hottie (to be released on January 8, 2008) is determined to become a millionaire before she’s 20, and sets forth making money by hooking up people in her high school with their secret crushes. The fact that she doesn’t exactly know what she’s doing is only a minor deterrent, as is the fact she’s suddenly looking at her best buddy, Dal, through totally different eyes...
My third book, The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, is expected to hit the stands in Spring of 2009. It’s about a high school junior and the crazy-but-just-might-work scheme to get her moved up with all her soccer friends to Varsity, which includes learning everything she can about the art of kissing so she can kiss the socks off the prom king at the Sports Fair Kissing Booth…
The fourth novel is slated for Spring, 2010. With a back-drop of family issues, it features a 17 year-old and her search for the perfect summer fling.
Now, a bit about me:
I have been writing since I was 7. I sold upwards of 100 YA and adult short stories to national magazines before my first contracted book. But YA is my one true love. In fact, since I'm the mother of teens myself, I sometimes wonder:
--If I missed a stage of maturation;
--If I am giving myself the happy teen years now that I had too much attitude to enjoy then; or
--If it is simply more fun to be teenaged when you're not!
So now it’s your turn. Ask questions or tell us something you have learned about me through this blog. (Like my favorite TV show and who I consider the hottest hottie?)
What I’m Reading Now: Bloom by Elizabeth Scott
Tina
Tina Ferraro
www.tinaferraro.com
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
Author: Tina Ferraro
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0385733682
ISBN-13: 978-0385733687
Nicolette “Nic” Antonovic is going through a lot in her sophomore year. Her mom and dad have split up, Dad’s got more time to devote to Nic’s “replacement” her new stepsister, her mom is in danger of losing her home, the guy she was going to go to prom with dumped her for his ex-girlfriend and she’s stuck with one perfectly lovely vintage prom dress. Her mom is trying to keep her head above water and be cheery at the same time so she comes up with a list, Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress that make up the chapters of this book.
Nic’s life is spinning out of control but she thinks she has a handle on it. She tries to fix things for her mom by asking her Dad for the money for the mortgage and that causes some unexpected problems. Then there’s her friend’s brother she’s starting to have feelings for and that’s causing problems with her best friend who is weirded out by the situation.
Rod, the guy that ditched her last minute for the prom is hitting on her and she’s a little confused about that too. Nic’s a smart girl though and a strong one. I liked her. Even though she has some confusing feelings for Rod, her brain does tell her to back off, to not let him take advantage of her attraction. Nic’s nobody’s fool and she’s real enough to be liked and we all can related to being attracted to the bad boy.
There’s a lot of heart in this book. When I first picked it up, I thought it would be a piece of fluff. Surprisingly, I was caught up right on the first page and it kept my attention till the end. I loved Nic and her way of dealing with things. She’s smart, funny and real. The issues she has with boys, friends, high school, rumors and family problems all ring very true. She’s just a very likeable, normal teenaged girl with her share of problems.
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress is a smart, funny and down to earth book that teenaged girls are going to love.
Tina signing copies of Top Ten Uses For an Unworn Prom Dress at the RWA Literacy Autographing in Dallas last year. Note: The RITA flag on the table belongs to Caridad Ferrar, but Tina is predicted to have her own flag this year.
Tina with fellow BuzzGirl Stephanie Hale, both glitzed out at the dessert reception following the 2007 RWA RITA awards ceremony.
Orange rinds? Yuck. My mother-in-law makes candied orange rinds...want some?
Love your books, Tina!
Great answers, Tina!
Enjoyed reading this post.
Christie Craig
Thank YOU, TLC, for coming up with these fun questions, and taking the time to interview me! (And I especially loved the link to the Ocean's 13 guys!)
Simone, yeah, my love of orange rinds often gets a rise out of people. But you know what they say about "the story being in the details"!
Thanks for joining us, Christie!
Hi Tina,
You've intriqued me with your time travel idea. Maybe someday you will write it. And as for orange rinds...that is a bit weird!
Great interview, TLC. I can't wait to read your book.
Janie
Yeah, the orange rinds thing threw me, too. It has to be a totally naked orange for me. I can't even eat orange slices because I might get a taste of rind. But we love you anyway, Tina.
Fun interview, ladies. Tina, I so hope we can surprise you with Marky Mark someday! :) And I totally agree that Tina will have her own Rita flag at the signing this year! :)
Janie, TLC hit it pretty well when she called my time travel idea "back to the future in a station wagon".
Steph (and TLC!), thanks for the good vibes about possibly earning one of those Rita flags. Yeah, wouldn't THAT be cool...especially if my fellow eligible Buzz Girls, Simone and you--Steph--were sitting behind them, as well!
I'm sorry to go off topic but I wanted to make a request to all of the authors. Would you please consider publishing your books in Amazon Kindle format? There aren't enough YA books and I'd like to change that. Please let me know if there's anyone I could write to in order to get your books and other good YA authors' books available for Kindle.
Hey Sarah,
I'm not sure how to go about getting published on Kindle but I'll say something to my editor about it. :)
Hi Sarah,
Random House is starting to use the Amazon Kindle format for YA books. In fact, HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE will be released that way in the near future. Keep an eye open! :)
Tina
Another great interview! I'm loving these. I really need to try Starbucks for writing and get away from the fridge and laundry.
Thanks, Kwana! I've actually never tried writing in public, but later this year I'm getting a laptop, and I'm going to give it a go, too!
What a fun interview! Love your books, Tina! And here's wishing Rita flags for all the eligible Buzz Girls!!! = )
Aw, thanks, Marley! :)
Fun interview, but Tina -- cheesecake? Not even chocolate cheesecake?
If only I could change your mind on that one. Unless you are lactose-intolerant and thereby totally-cheese free, that is... :)Then you so have an excuse for not loving one of the main food groups. ;)
Heather