The Book Resort is thrilled to have Jessica Leader
stop by to dish.
Jessica is one of the incredible tenners.
Ready? Here we go!
Me: What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)
JL: Realistic YA. An unnamed narrator tries to get over the memories of a terrible accident during a summer in the woods.
Me: Spiderman or Superman:
JL: Spiderman. Swinging from building to building would fulfill my lifelong dream of travelling by zip-line.
Me: Wonder Woman or Batgirl:
Can I say Catwoman? I liked her long red hair in the 70's TV show version.
Me: Chunky or Smooth:
JL: Chunky.
Me: Favorite flavor ice cream:
JL: Ooh. Tough. Have to go with Ben and Jerry's Mint Oreo.
Me: Favorite ice cream topping:
JL: Nothing, actually, I like to appreciate the tastes separately.
Me: Subway or Taxi:
JL: Subway. Much better people-watching.
Me: Broadway Show or Movie Theater:
JL: Broadway show, especially if someone else is paying!
Me: TiVO or DVR:
JL: Pardon me while I wait for everybody I know to finish laughing. I'm low-tech. I don't like to throw things away. I have a VCR/DVD player.
Me: Favorite vacation place:
JL: The beach. Any beach.
Me: Next vacation destination:
JL: The Galapagos Islands, I hope!
Me: Favorite NYC hotspot:
JL: Anyplace in the East Village. Even if it's not so hot, I love it there.
Me: Guilty Pleasure:
JL: Chocolate-covered malt balls.
Me: Good luck charm:
JL: A washer I wore around my neck in high school.
Me: When you were a little girl, you thought you would grow up to be a….
JL: Garbage collector, because, quote, "I want to see how people live."
Me: Last thing bought at the mall:
JL: Hm. Shoes for my wedding?
Me: Item on your grocery list:
JL: Shaving cream. Not to eat, but I keep forgetting to buy it at the drug store, so let's hope I remember to snag a can at the grocery.
Me: French fries or Onion Rings:
JL: Definitely French Fries.
Me: Pizza: New York or Chicago?
JL: Every question like this is answered with New York.
Me: Midnight snack:
JL: Frosted mini-wheats.
Me: Bookmark or dog ear?
JL: Alas, dog ear.
Me: Read with dustjacket or remove it?
JL: Read with! Otherwise, I'd have to dog-ear.
Me: Ocean, Lake, Desert, Mountain:
JL: Ocean.
Me: Favorite book:
JL: Toughie! Enduring favorites include The Secret History, by Donna Tart, and The Boy Book by E. Lockhart.
Me: Item you can't live without:
JL: Pilot precise roller-ball pens.
Me: Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?
JL: Myself. Ha, just kidding. I don't know who people have or haven't heard of, so I'll go with answer #1, for kicks.
Me: What kid or teen books made a difference in your world growing up?
JL: All the ones where the kids were orphans or in boarding school, because they made life sound so cool!
Me: Where do you like to write your books (bed ~ coffee shop ~ an office)?
JL: My office.
Me: Describe your ideal place to write:
JL: Facing a bulletin board of postcards and photos; warm outdoor light; lots of space to spread out; a mirror nearby so I can see if that's really a zit without actually leaving the room.
Me: What are you reading @ the moment?
JL: Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster; What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami.
Me: Where do you usually read?
JL: On the page. Oh, the wit.
Me: Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
JL: Never. Oh, wait (see above.)
Me: Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
JL: Hm. Probably more often with a pencil nearby, for underlining, but that may be it.
Thank you so much, Jessica, for the fun interview. Oh, do you have an extra black Pilot precise roller-ball pen?
About Jessica:
Jessica Leader grew up in New York City. Like the characters in Nice and Mean, she had many important conversations in the stairwells of her school and on the cross-town bus. In high school, she won a playwriting contest that led to her play being produced all over the country. She earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In between those two events, she taught English and drama, first in New York and then in Louisville, Kentucky. Nice and Mean is her first novel. For more information, go to www.jessicaleader.com.
Check out:
Jessica 's website is currently under construction aka not ready yet ;p.
Live Journal
Nice and Mean arrives June 8, 2010
Marina is mean. Sachi is nice. Marina is Barney's. Sachi is Burlington Coat Factory. It's bad enough that they have to coexist in video class—but now they're being forced to work together on the big semester project. Marina's goal? Expose her wanna-be BFF as a giant kiss-up to the entire middle school. Sachi's goal? Prove that she's not just another honor-roll Indian student and broaden her classmates' cultural horizons. Work together in harmony? Yeah, that would be no. How can Sachi film something meaningful, and Marina, something fabulous, if they're yoked to each other?
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