Interview with RITA Finalist Simone Elkeles

Simone Elkeles is an author of several young adult titles, including How to Ruin a Summer vacation, How to Ruin My Teenage Life, and this year's RITA finalist title Leaving Paradise.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name Simone comes from being named after my uncle who died in a war in Israel...his name was Shimon (pronounced Shee-moan) I was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago. I love my home state so much I graduated from the University of Illinois and got my Master’s Degree at Loyola University-Chicago. (can you tell I don’t get out much) I am a huge sports fan, and especially like watching the Chicago Bears play football. I love writing teen novels because I think the teenage years are the most fun. I have three young adult novels in print (How to Ruin a Summer Vacation, How to Ruin my Teenage Life, and Leaving Paradise) and Perfect Chemistry coming out in December. I talk to middle schools and high schools all the time, and really love hearing feedback from my fans, who are very dedicated. I love the fans!

2. How did you get the inspiration for your Rita-Nominated book?

A girl at the junior high school near my house stabbed a boy and went to the juvenile detention center. It just got me thinking about kids in jail and how it is for them when they’re released and have to go back to school with the person who was their victim. My story is totally different: Leaving Paradise is about a boy (not a girl) who was incarcerated and in the first chapter is being released and having to start senior year of high school and face the girl who he went to jail for hitting with a car in a hit-and-run drunk driving accident. He eventually falls in love with her, too. I went to the juvenile justice complex where I did research and the boys there read Leaving Paradise. I talked to them about the book for hours, and they had endless questions. They loved the book, too, and could definitely relate to my hero Caleb.

3. What authors do you read?

I read everything from Stephenie Meyer, David Levithan, Wendelyn Van Draanen, and of course my blog sisters books where I blog at www.booksboysbuzz.com. For adult authors, I’m a huge fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie and Julia Quinn.

4. Who is your favorite character?

Wow, that’s a tough one. I love Amy Nelson-Barak in my How to Ruin series, because she’s so funny and does the most outrageous things. For my RITA nominated book, I’d say Mrs. Reynolds. She’s a cantankerous old lady who I love, and let me tell you that I have definitely known my share of cantankerous old ladies. (I plan to be one, one day.) I also love Maggie for her ability to never give up and Caleb for his sensitivity to Maggie and for falling in love with her despite her physical limitations.

5. What five things are always in your purse?

Credit cards, old receipts I have to throw away, my cell phone, lipstick, and a gun. Okay, so I don’t have a gun but I used to have mace until it got confiscated at an airport twenty years ago. Am I boring?

6. What music are you currently listening to?

Higher by Creed. Pretty much anything 80’s or alternative.

7. Tell us about your pets?

Oh, don’t make me start to cry. I had two dogs up until two months ago when my 17 year old German Shepherd passed away in my arms. I thought I was ready for her to go, because she was so old, but I was SOOOO not ready. I was a total mess, and remembered when I saved her at the shelter over 13 years ago. She was my first “baby.” When she took her last breath, she took a piece of me with her. I still have to bury her ashes, but am afraid my puppy will dig her up. (I’ve heard horror stories). I do have an adorable Labradoodle who is very sweet except to dogs with shmushed noses like Boxers and Pugs. I have no clue why, so don’t ask. I used to have fish, but they died. One committed “fishicide” and jumped out of the tank. One piece of advice: scan the area around a fish tank before you walk near it barefoot.

8. One item of makeup you can't live without.

Liquid eyeliner by L’oreal.

9. First thing you drink in the morning.

Milk. I know, some people hate it. I love milk. The colder, the better. Warm milk grosses me out.

10. Best/worst prom/high school memory.

Best high school memory: Senior prom with my boyfriend Andy. And let me tell you I’m not falling for it when my daughter says “a bunch of us are renting a hotel room for prom” I’ll chaperone the entire night!

Worst high school memory: Getting yelled at by Coach Adams for talking in Driver’s Ed when I didn’t even say anything. (my friend said he rubbed her neck when he sat beside her in the car on the school driving range- thank goodness I had the other coach as my range instructor!)

11. If you could go back in time and talk to the teenage you, what would you tell her?

Big hair is not attractive. And don’t have Chrissy Broderick pretend she’s you on the phone and break up with Ron. Be a big girl and break up with Ron yourself. And Andrew Fitz will be the cutest guy at the 20 year high school reunion, even if his goal in high school is to be Frodo from Lord of the Rings.

12. What are you working on next?

I am totally excited that my book PERFECT CHEMISTRY is coming out in December. It’s about a gang member who makes a bet to sleep with the rich cheerleader at school, but the bet turns into so much more. It’s very edgy, so it’s definitely for older teens who don’t mind reading a book filled with profanity, sex, and drugs. I’m also working on a four book series about high school football players. And I have a bunch of other ideas for books, and can’t wait to write them. The next few years will be very busy for me!


Visit Simone:

SimoneElkeles.com

Fictionistas would like to thank Simone and all of our RITA finalists for joining us this week and giving us their time.

Interview with RITA finalist Maureen Johnson

>Maureen Johnson is the author of The Key to the Golden Firebird, The Bermudez Triangle, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Devilish, Girl At Sea, and Suite Scarlett. She earned her MFA in writing from Columbia University, where she also studied theatrical dramaturgy. Before she was published, Maureen had a number of jobs-including waitressing in a haunted house theme restaurant in New York, working with live tigers in Las Vegas, and being the token American employee at a comedy pub in London. Maureen lives in New York City, where she is part of the thriving YA community. She frequently reports on her exploits, both real and imaginary, athttp://www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com/.








1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m an author. I live in New York City. I love shiny objects.

2. How did you get the inspiration for your Rita-nominated book?

I had several major obsessions as a child—Pompeii and the Titanic being just two. I also love old musical comedies. When I sat down to write Girl At Sea, I had just watched It Happened One Night with Clark Gabel and Claudette Colbert—and I had this idea that I could combine the three things. I was obsessed with the scene of Claudette Colbert leaping off the boat at the start of the film, and ending up with a guy who thinks she’s spoiled. So I took that idea as a staring point and tried to make the first YA archeology comedy-romance. I think the genre will be huge.

3. What authors do you read?

All sorts. I’m useless at listing favorite writers.

4. Who is your favorite character?
Probably Bertie Wooster. Or Auntie Mame.

5. What five things are always in your purse?

My wallet, iPhone, keys, a small notebook, and a lip gloss. My purse is pretty boring, now that I think of it. I should start carrying brass knuckles or a severed finger or something.

6. What music are you currently listening to?

Let’s see . . . there’s always a lot of Abba, David Bowie, Aimee Mann, Grant Lee Phillips, Spoon, Super Furry Animals, and Roxy Music. At this exact second, it’s a combination of The Go! Team, Phantom Planet, and Justice with old Berlin cabaret songs mixed in. I have no idea what this says about me.


7. Tell us about your pets.

I wish I had pets, but I don’t. I live in the city and travel too often for that to be practical. Eventually, I will have about six dozen different animals.

8. One item of makeup you can't live without.

I wear foundation every day, since I was probably twelve. I just use nicer, lighter stuff than I did then—mineral makeup. Mineral makeup is genius.

9. First thing you drink in the morning.

It used to be eight cups of coffee, but now it’s just a cup or two of tea.

10. Best/worst prom/high school memory.

Well, I went to school in a convent—to an all-girls Catholic prep school. Which is kind of weird, considering that I’m not Catholic. So my high school experience was marked by a massive absence of boys, a lot of nuns, and a lot of rules I didn’t quite get. All in all, though, it wasn’t a bad time. I made a lot of good friends.

But my best friend and I did get stuck in traffic on the way to the prom, and the nuns who ran it were very, very serious about timeliness, and threatened to hold our diplomas if we were late, or left early, or did anything wrong like show up in a sleeveless dress. So when we got stuck six blocks away, my friend and I RAN in our dresses and heels to try to make it on time. We were two minutes late, and we had to face twenty-five nuns in a reception line. The reception area was mirrored, so it looked like that final scene in Star Wars where it looks like there are thousands of . . . whoever it is in the final scene of Star Wars. Basically, it looked like we were getting yelled at by two thousand nuns who were never going to let us graduate, even though we ran six city blocks in formalwear. They did, of course . . . but we BELIEVED they wouldn’t.

High school was weird like that.


11. If you could go back in time and talk to the teenage you, what would you tell her?

I would tell her to be more confident. I think I thought I was being very confident, but I think a lot of girls cut themselves down in ways they don’t even know.

12. What are you working on next?

I’m writing the sequel to my newest book, Suite Scarlett. The new book is called Scarlett Fever. My goal is to get it done in time to get to the opening of the Abba Museum in Stockholm.





The Girl: Clio Ford, seventeen, wants to spend the summer smooching her art-store crush, not stuck on a boat in the Mediterranean. At least she'll get a killer tan.

The Mission: Survive her father's crazy antics. Oh, and also find some missing underwater treasure that could unlock the secrets of civilization.

The Crew: Dad's wacky best friend Martin, his bizarre research partner Julia, her voluptuous daughter Elsa . . . and then there's Aidan, Julia's incredibly attractive, incredibly arrogant assistant. What's going on behind Aidan's intellectual, intensely green eyes,anyway?

As Clio sails into uncharted territory she unveils secrets that have the power to change history. But her most surprising discovery is that there's something deeper and more cryptic than the sea-her own heart.

Welcome YA RITA Finalists!

The Fictionistas’ Fabulous Fiction Giveaway has arrived!

In honor of the upcoming Romance Writers of America® national conference, the Fictionistas have interviewed all five RITA® finalists with Young Adult novels. For those not familiar, the 2008 RITA honors the top romance fiction published in 2007, and over 1000 novels and novellas were judged in 12 categories.

Winners of the awards will be announced August 2 at the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony to be held at RWA’s 28th Annual Conference in San Francisco, California.

Why should you read these interviews? Other than the fact that you’ll learn some fun new facts about your favorite YA authors, the Fictionistas are giving away a bag of YA books from the RWA conference to one lucky commenter. To enter, just comment on any of the interviews this week. The more times you comment, the more chances you have to win!

We’ll begin the interviews tomorrow, Tuesday, July 29, but for now, meet our finalists!

Melissa Marr
Prior to writing, Melissa taught college lit. After a decade of teaching, she applied her fascination with folklore to writing. Wicked Lovely, the first novel, was simultaneously released in the US and the UK by HarperCollins in 2007 (with translation rights also sold in seven countries). It debuted as a NY Times Bestseller. Critical responses both here and abroad have been positive. Ink Exchange, the second novel, released in Summer 2008 to similar responses. Currently, Melissa lives in the DC area with her family and writes full time.


Kelly Parra
Kelly is the author of the novel Graffiti Girl. She lives in a diverse agricultural town in Central California with her husband and two beautiful children. Visit her website: www.KellyParra.com, and follow the Secret Fates blog at SecretFates.blogspot.com.


Rosemary Clement-Moore
Author of Prom Dates From Hell, Rosemary has been writing stories all her life, even when she should have been doing other things, like studying Algebra. Her first paying job was as Chuck E. Cheese. She worked in theatre for years, and now she writes full time, which is her dream job, because she gets to work in her pajamas and take a break every afternoon to play Guitar Hero.




Maureen Johnson
Maureen is the author of six novels, including Girl at Sea. She’s a graduate of the University of Delaware, home of the Fighting Blue Hens, where she was a writing major, but spent most of her time working on shows. After college, she became the literary manager of a wonderful (but now defunct) Philadelphia theater company. Soon after that, she moved to New York to study theatrical dramaturgy and writing at Columbia University School of the Arts. Her first novel was released in 2004.


Simone Elkeles
Simone was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Her funny way of looking at life and the world around her has an affect on the people she hangs out with. If you hear people laughing, you’ll probably fine Simone not far away. She writes about teens because she was a teen in the 80s (when spiked hair and blue eye shadow were “rad”) and she loves writing about those exciting teen relationships and romances. She’s the author of three books, including Leaving Paradise.

Okay, you know the rules…leave a comment during this week and you’re entered the win the bag o’ books! Enter as many times as you like. Check us out all week!