Author Interview and Giveaway!

Don't You Wish By: Roxanne St. Claire

Publication Date: July 10, 2012

Pages: 368

Summary:

When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.  
In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilarating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.
But on the inside, Ayla is still Annie.
So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it?

The choice isn't as simple as you think

Author Interview:

1. What's your favorite color?

I think this will be carved on my gravestone:  "You can never have too many pink sweaters."  So, I guess that answers the question.

2. Where do you do most of your writing at?

I write primarily in my office at home, but I also have three writer friends who gather about twice a week at various homes and we write in a group.  We call it "Writer's Camp" and we have pretty strict rules: we don't chat (much) about anything that isn't related to our stories (we range from erotica to urban fantasies to sweet romance to young adult) and we don't stop for lunch until we all have over 1,000 words on paper on our individual manuscripts.  Obviously, we're all working on different books, some rough drafting, some revising, some editing.  During lunch, we brainstorm.  Or gossip.  After lunch, we try to write 2,000 more words.  Not only is this a great way to be accountable, we've discovered a fantastic synergy and a way to cure the lonely writer blues. Also, we keep each other from online shopping or obsessive tweeting, thus increasing every one's productivity.

3. How come you decided to write a YA novel?

I read YA more than any other genre, and have for many years.  Pre-TWILIGHT, it was a secret guilty pleasure; post-TWILIGHT I was just another adult who loved teen novels.  But I never thought I had the voice for the genre...until my kids were teens and I became fully immersed in all things high school.  I think if you're not around teenagers a lot, it can be hard to really understand them well enough to climb into a character's head and make the story realistic and contemporary.  One day, my daughter asked me a question that really got me thinking and wham! I knew I had a story idea.  Once I started writing it -- purely for fun (we writers are crazy like that) -- I just couldn't stop.  After I'd written a synopsis and a few chapters, I sent it to my agent and expected her to ask and say, now,Roxanne, stick with what you've been writing.  Au contraire!  She sold it to Random House/Delacorte!

4. What was the hardest thing about writing Don't You wish?

Honestly, it was the present tense.  First person was the ONLY way to write that story, but for some reason, every time I tried to write in past tense, my fingers refused to cooperate.  First person present tense just felt so right for Annie's story.  So once I got used to it, I had no problems.  The first draft was accepted without revision, I'm happy to say, but then the book was optioned for film (I'm even happier to say).  When the producer began adapting the manuscript for film, he mentioned some things he wanted to change and I thought they were brilliant suggestions.  So I asked my editor if I could write another draft, just to ensure that the book was as close as possible to the screenplay.  That was a challenge, but I'm certain those changes made WISH a stronger story.

5. If Don't You Wish became a movie, who would you want to play Annie?

I certainly hope it does!  I can say that the script has been read by Selena Gomez and she is pretty much my number one choice.  But that's not in my hands! *drops to knees and prays*

6. Are you a dog or cat person?

Oh, I am a big, fat, gooey, unabashed, crazy dog person!  I am amused by cats but reduced to a baby-talking pile of mush around dogs.  I have two: a moody little Australian terrier named Pepper and a brand new (out of control) Shih Tzu named Ginger. We call them the Spice Girls.

7. Do you have a favorite author? If so then who?

I have sooooo many.  I will say that as I write this,I'm reading an early copy of Gena Showalter's next young adult novel, ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND and yowzers!  This is a great book!  So, Gena's my favorite du jour.  But I have many, many, many auto buys since I love to read as much as I love to write!

8. Did you have any say in the cover? Its beautiful :)

Thank you!  My say was pretty much limited to "Oh,I like that."  Actually, there were many, many versions, but from the beginning the Delacorte art department loved the girl with the heart-shaped glasses.  Only about two months ago, there was a late-in-the-game decision to change the cover to better reflect the parallel universe aspect of the story, so the reflection was added at the bottom, the font was changed, and the tag line was included.  I love the final cover so much!

9. How long did you think Don't You Wish was going to be from the start?

I thought it would be a bit shorter, honestly. I thought I could tell that story in about 60 - 65,000 words.  It's closer to 85,000, and I'm very happy that my publisher didn't cap me at any particular length.  In the outline of the book, I had no idea Charlie had a sister and what an incredibly important role she'd play in Annie's journey.  With the discovery of that character (and I do discover them sometimes -- as surprised as the reader!) I had to layer in quite a bit more emotion and action, and the book had legs.  But I feel like it's exactly the right length now and I hope readers do, too!

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