Mindi Scott Chat!

Hey everyone! Tonight at 9PM Eastern time, The Mundie Moms will be chatting with Mindi Scott! Check out their blog for more information--the way I understand it, today they'll be posting a link to the chat on their blog.

Also, don't forget to enter my contest, to win a PERSONALIZED copy of FREEFALL! The contest will end tomorrow night at Midnight. All you have to do is leave a comment on THIS post (and do something, like follow Mindi on twitter) and you're entered. And if you haven't, I think you should also read the interview with her, because she's so funny!

INTERVIEW w/ MINDI SCOTT + GIVEAWAY!

Last week, on October 5, the book FREEFALL by Mindi Scott came out. I met Mindi online last February just after she'd signed with her agent. She's really nice, and really funny, and I had the pleasure of getting to interview her! (Some of the things I mention in the interview, like a teenage obsession with Christian Slater, and her old diary entries, are discussed over on her blog or on her website, and I REALLY encourage you to go check them out!!)

Check it out, this was a lot of fun!
1. It's really daring (and hilarious) of you to post old diary entries from when you were a teenager. What inspired you to do that?

I was just trying to think of something I could add to my website that was a little unique, that would give people something to check back for, and that would give them some insight into who I am. And BAM! Transcribed journal entries from my teenage years came to mind. :-D


2. FREEFALL went through several title changes during the publication process. Where did it begin, and how did it arrive at the fantastic title that is FREEFALL?

The original title was THE FAKE MCCOY. It was supposed to be a play on, you know, that phrase “the real McCoy.” And the narrator is named Seth McCoy, so it’s, like, funny or something? I’m the one who came up with it, but I’m not sure I ever understood what I was meaning with it, honestly.
Later, I retitled it SCRATCHING AT THE 8-BALL, which from a Social Distortion song. It basically means “unlucky” and is very relevant in my story. My agent request rate improved with this new title.
After it sold to Pulse, my editor let me know that she wanted a title that was brief, evocative, and with layers of meaning. I pulled words and phrases from song lyrics—hundreds of them!—but nothing was quite right. Finally, we stumbled upon the word “freefall” in my contract. This word is also very relevant to the story, and accomplishes everything we were hoping it would. Hooray!


3. What made you decide to write YA fiction, rather than adult or middle grade (or anything else you can think of)?

I went to private school from third grade on, so I have a lot of residual curiosity about what regular high school would have been like. I get to use my writing as an opportunity to do research and to place my characters into a world is perfectly normal to most people, but really foreign to me.

4. Which paranormal/supernatural creature is your favorite? Which is your least favorite?

Mermaids are my favorite because I always wanted to become one! Most of the others are tied for my least favorite because I am a gigantic scaredy-cat.


5. What was the most difficult part of writing from a male narrator's perspective? Was there anything that pleasantly surprised you about it?

It was hard at first because I didn’t have any clue how Seth would think, what he would say, or how he would react. This isn’t much different than learning to write any new character, but in this case, I knew that I could never rely on my own voice or word choices because it just wouldn’t ring true as a teen guy.
The pleasant surprise was that after I’d been working on the manuscript for a while, the voice became easy and natural. I can’t say that I would be able pull off just any male narrator. No way! But I do feel like I was able to accomplish something unexpected with Seth and that makes me very happy!


6. If you met Christian Slater right now, what would you do?

Oh, I’m sure I’d totally play it cool and shake his hand all, “Christian Slater, it’s nice to meet you.”

I’d carry on halfway intelligent conversation, never letting on that when I was fourteen, I’d wanted to marry him. Then when it was all over, I’d step into another room and do a secret little happy dance like Laura Linney’s character in the movie LOVE ACTUALLY.


Thank you, Mindi!!!
Isn't she great? <3>

Because Mindi wasn't already awesome enough, she is going to give away a PERSONALIZED signed copy of her book, FREEFALL, right here on my blog! The giveaway will be open until next Friday, October 22. It's US only (sorry, international friends!) but there are several giveaways happening in Mindi's blog tour, and a couple are international. Go here for more info.

To enter, you have a couple of options. You get a point for each of these things, but you only have to do one of them to officially enter (and trust me, you want to enter--you want to read this book!):

-follow her on twitter (@mindi_scott)

-link to her blog (or website, or youtube) in your sidebar (http://mindiscott.livejournal.com/)

-write a post talking about FREEFALL (this will get you TWO entries)

-add FREEFALL to your "to read" list on Goodreads

The last thing you need to do is leave me a comment, with link(s), so I can officially know you're entered in the giveaway!

(also, check out Mindi's youtube and the book trailer for FREEFALL!)

Sad news

My kitten, Quentin, had to be put to sleep today. She was really sick; she got sick last week, and declined steadily until today, when I found out she had feline leukemia virus. It was something that they usually test for in small kittens, and I don't know why she didn't get tested, but there was nothing we could do.

I had her for almost 6 months, she was 7 months old, and she was the softest friendliest most affectionate kitten I could have ever asked for. I really miss her.

I probably won't be online for a while. I'm devastated.

(I'll be back on the 15th--I'm interviewing Mindi Scott to celebrate the release of her book FREEFALL)