Courtney Summers Interview

If you have never heard of Courtney Summers, you must live in a hole. Courtney is the ~*sparkly*~ author of Cracked Up to Be (which I loved!) and the upcoming Some Girls Are. She is also a fan of volcanoes, Lady Gaga, Sims, zombies, her Lady Gaga sunglasses, writing awesome book reviews, ~*sparkles*~, and twittering.

So, what's up Courtney? How are you doing? I read that you just got back together with your new novel after a breakup- how are you guys doing?

Hey, Khy! I'm doing ~great~ and I hope you are too. And while I have the chance: thank you so much for this interview! You rock! (You rock more, Courtney.*~) And now that I have said that, right onto yer awesome questions. YES, I am very happy to report that me and my new book are indeed, back together after a rough patch. It's still a little shaky at times, but right now we're 79 pages and going strong and later tonight we're going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Can you describe your next book (that we are all DYING for), Some Girls Are, in the form of a haiku, for the people who don't know what it's about?

Omg. Let's see...

secrets, lies, passed notes
angry girls out for revenge
a BAD senior year

Basically.

Love the haiku! So, any more NEWS on Some Girls Are? =0 We are all dying for a cover or trailer or something. We need more SGA and Courtney in our lives. Can you give us a piece of information that we do not yet know about Some Girls Are? Like a TEASER SENTENCE or something? *winknudge*

Well, ARCs have been printed so they'll be making their way out into the world, which is always nervewracking. I just got the cover copy (what will go on the back of the book) from my editor on Friday, I'm (im)patiently awaiting the go-ahead to share the cover with everyone and OH NO YOU *WINKNUDGED* ME EVERYONE KNOWS I CANNOT RESIST A *WINKNUDGE*.

I posted the opening paragraph of the first chapter of Some Girls Are in the ARC giveaway entry on my blog (http://courtneysummers.ca/2009/09/some-girls-are-arc-giveaway/ - I'm holding a draw for an ARC of SGA and if anyone wants a chance to win it, they should check it out and enter before September 14th!), so I will give you, Khy, the paragraph that follows it:

"Okay, okay, just--" Josh fumbles into his pocket and pulls out a little baggie of capsules. He tips one, two, three, four into his palm while Charlie Simmons, a fat, cranky sophomore, waits impatiently. "I have to restock." He drops the pills into Charlie's piggy hands. "That's all I can give you right now, man."

AHHH I should not have asked for a teaser, because with each one I read I want the book more.

Both your books involve mean/angry girls, but you're so nice. How do you manage to write such a convincing mean/angry girls, especially Parker, who narrates Cracked Up to Be? Do you have a sekrit evil twin who writes them?

Thank you so much. Mean girls fascinate me! My own anger fascinates me! Anger and meanness are, evidently, quite fascinating to me.

Actually, there have been some reviews since Cracked Up to Be came out that seemed to question the worth of a story about a character that could not be liked, and who was mean to other people, and that is EXACTLY why I write novels that feature those types of characters--because I think those stories have worth. And the suggestion that they don't is something that, well... makes me angry and frustrates me. So I guess the anger and frustration born of that informs all of my novels to a certain extent. I'm glad to hear it's made for a convincingly mean and angry girl in Parker. :) That was probably creepy, to end a big paragraph about ANGER with a smiley face but oh well.

What do you hope to ~accomplish~ by writing about such mean girls? Is it to let girls who are bullied know they are not ~alone~ or...? :o

When a book is out there, it's not mine anymore. I have no control over what people will take away from it. I wrote Some Girls Are because I was interested in writing about mean girls and in that sense, I've already accomplished what I set out to do; a story was inside of me that wanted to be told and I told it. Beyond that, I can only hope that people respond to my work, for better or for worse. If a bullied girl reads Some Girls Are and feels less alone I think that's fantastic--that would mean very much to me. But that's never a promise, that's a perk. So if they don't, that's okay too.

Do you think the Sims, like Lady Gaga, can help you be a better writer?

YES. Or else I wouldn't play the game so often! Of course. Cough. Ahem. Nextquestionplease.

Note: the picture to the left is not Courtney.

If you and Lady Gaga were to collaborate on a project, what type of project do you think it would be?

I would like to think the extent of our collaboration would be me strumming an autoharp on her next song because I strum a mean autoharp, not to brag or anything. And then obviously we would become the best of friends afterwards and that song (featuring me on the autoharp) would go on to become a major pop hit. LADY GAGA ARE YOU READING THIS? LET'S COLLAB, GIRL.

Note: the picture to the bottom right is not Courtney either.

What are your favorite things RIGHT NOW? Books, music, movies, vampires, candy, etc.

Oh my goodness! Well, as of September 5th, 2009, I am obsessed with the band Muse and everything they have ever done. I love the song "Feel It In My Bones" by Tiesto, featuring Tegan & Sara. A book I recently loved the heck out of (and will continue to love as I grow old) is Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma--it's out September 22nd and EVERYONE should read it. Dani is fierce. And lately, candywise, I cannot get enough of Original Halloween Kisses (anyone else here love those? AMAZING). I just recently watched Interview with the Vampire after like 13 years of not watching it and I forgot how much I enjoyed it so that is my favourite movie right now. On a related note, my favourite vampire at this moment is LESTAT DE LIONCOURT. I forgot what it was like to read about vampires that eat people unapologetically. And he has so much fun while he does it too! What a delightful vampire! But just his name alone would tell you he is a delightful vampire. ~*~

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Thank you so much, Courtney!! *tosses sparkles on you*

I don't know about you, but I CANNOT wait to read Some Girls Are! Is it January yet?

Be sure to check out Courtney's website, blog, and twitter, because they will provide you with hours of entertainment. THEY ARE THAT AWESOME.