OH (MG YA) CANADA with Jo Treggiari & ASHES, ASHES GIVEAWAY

Welcoming Jo Treggiari to OH (MG YA) CANADA today! After reading and loving her book I tracked her down (stalked?) and she agreed to answer a few questions. She has also, very kindly, endured my moments of fan girl.

Before the interview, here is a little bit about her book (which I am GIVING AWAY to one one lucky commenter and it's international)

FROM GOODREADS: Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.

************************

Jo, as you know I loved ASHES, ASHES. What really sold it for me was the main character, Lucy . For me she was the wall flower, quiet one that you could easily overlook, but boy did she rise to the occasion. Where did you get the inspiration for her?  


* The wallflower parts of her probably came from some of my high school memories. I felt all that teenage angst so acutely I can still summon it up all these years later. There's a bit in the book where I mention that she is marked absent in a class photo although in fact she is there, and that's something that happened to me in Grade 10. I think I tried to be both seen and invisible most of the time. The rest of her personality took shape as the story unfolded. I used characteristics from friends, and family, made stuff up, and ultimately allowed myself to be guided by what felt true to her. At some point in the writing process the characters start to take things over a little. I liked that she was strong and insecure, brave and scared, hot-tempered and kind. Those seeming contradictions are what make people interesting whether in real life or in books.



I read on your website that you had finished FIERCE. Can you tell us a little bit about it?


* I have two manuscripts finished. FIERCE is ultimately about friendship but it's also about making art, cheating boyfriends, punk rock, West Oakland, and coming of age. BRINY DEEP is an urban fantasy combining Celtic myth and great white sharks, and I am halfway through INKERS which is a neo-gothic YA.


Favorite part of the writing process? Least favorite?

* I love revising. I'm not so keen on the first draft process lately. In the past I've been able to get my first drafts down very quickly but recently, perhaps because I have 2 young kids, I tend to write in quick snatches. Once I get to the end though I love going back over it before sharing it with my beta readers, and then revising it again before sending it to my agent, and then of course, revising with my editor. If you write, you had better learn to love it! We all pretend that genius just pours out of out fingertips but sadly this is not true.


Any must read blogs that you start your day off with?


*I love author Kelly Barnhill's blog- lately she's been doing a poem a day. And writer Diana Peterfreund's blog which is always so smart and informative. And Donna Hosie's Musings of a Penniless Writer is great. Oh, and author Katherine Langrish's Seven Miles of Steel Thistles is wonderful too especially if you're interested in myth and fairytales.


In my former book club there were some keen readers (of course!), but also some keen writers. They range in age from 8 (the age you started writing) to 15. Do you have any advice for them? Even though I'm no longer running the club (we moved) I will be skyping with them from time to time, I can pass along your wisdoms!


* Writing is supposed to be fun. This is wisdom I need to remember too. Sometimes all the other stuff associated with writing for a living gets in the way and I need to remind myself of the joy of just putting different words together. 


And on the topic of book clubs. Any recent reads you'd recommend for middle graders and or teens? An all time favorite read from when you were a kid?


* Recent faves: MG: The Mostly True Story of Jack (Kelly Barnhill), Ghost Hunter (which is 6th in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver), The Tanglewood Terror (Kurtis Scaletta), West of the Moon (Katherine Langrish). 


YA: The Near Witch (Victoria Schwab), The Piper's Son (Melina Marchetta), Shine (Lauren Myracle), Blood Red Road (Moira Young), Please Ignore Vera Dietz (A.S. King).


All-time favorite read: The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) or maybe A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle), or A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. LeGuin). I cannot choose just one!


And of course when you aren't reading, you're writing-what's your writing space like? How do you start your day?


*I finally, after many many years have my own office. With a door. This still does not keep the kids out but it's better than balancing a lap-top on my lap. Unfortunately I am now set in my ways and need a cup of coffee, and a hike with the dog, and then another cup of coffee before I get down to work. The walk tends to prepare my brain and often gives me ideas. I try and write every day and when I am working on something specific, I set word count goals of 1000 per day which is not too much or too little.

And, that's it! Thanks again for doing this Jo and I would say you and I have similar reading tastes. More than a few of your faves are mine too.

Next up...how to win the giveaway? Simple...leave me a comment. You have until Sunday, Oct 9, midnight MST.