Author Monday:: Interview with cartoonist Hope Larson

This entry marks the 5th installment of my Author Mondays, where I shall endeavor to post something “author-esque” each Monday. Whether it's an interview or a one-shot question, here is a chance for various authors to have their say.

I started reading Hope Larson's award-winning graphic novels when I was only suspecting I'd be a teen librarian. I remember picking up Gray Horses from the adult comics section of the Central Library in San Antonio. I was so completely mesmerized by Noemie's expressive features and familiarity that I wrote my first book review on it.

I couldn't find her debut Salamander Dream in San Antonio so I went through Interlibrary Loan. By the end of it, Larson had accomplished something unprecedented. I'd never reacted so emotionally to someone's entire oeuvre (she only had these two titles out at the time). Even now, reading her books this morning, I can’t help but feel she has a gorgeous way of storytelling that is unique to her.

Hope Larson was a total sweetheart by letting me interview her briefly over a year ago. The only reason why I hadn't posted it earlier was because I was waiting to interview more authors so I could post them up in a consecutive series, like I’m doing now. On an evening in June last year, I interviewed both Hope and her husband Bryan Lee O’Malley—that interview is coming next week—and I’m happy to say they were my firsts. In retrospect, I should have asked her more about Chiggers, which hadn't come out yet, and her contribution to Comic Book Tattoo. Still, this was one of the coolest things I’ve done and I’m thankful to both cartoonists for their generosity and patience.

And now, please sit back as this blog proudly presents that interview a year ago:

~

VG: Did you have a Eureka moment or did you just gradually make the decision to create graphic novels?

HL: I think I was kind of bullied into making them [*chuckle*] by the comics community. When I started drawing comics for the first time, it didn't click with me. It didn't seem like something that I was going to be any good at or something that I would want to have for a career. I moved to Toronto and started living with Mal [husband Bryan Lee O'Malley] and got more in touch with the comics community, I guess. There's a really good comics store, The Beguiling in Toronto, and I started reading a lot more different types of comics and I just felt like I could fit in. And then I just drew a book. And I can't really imagine doing much else at this point.

VG: Cool. Did your style start off from the very beginning? You have a very... very... [my husband slips me the answer] distinctive, yeah, distinctive style.

HL: Well, it's really evolving. It's changed a lot since the first book. Salamander Dream and Gray Horses-- I was really inspired by the artist Seth and by Charles Burns. They both have really slick inking. And I kind of wound up doing primarily vector work in the W Illustrator. So that was the style I was comfortable with-- like, really clean flowing lines.

VG: In my mind, both Salamander Dream and Gray Horses deal with innocence and isolation. Are these aspects that you're familiar with in your life?

HL: Yeah, definitely, especially isolation. They're both primarily nostalgia books. I was living in Canada and, you know, I missed the US, I missed the South. By the time I got around to writing Gray Horses, I missed Chicago too, a little bit, even though it wasn't the city for me. I missed things about it. As far as innocence... I don't really know. I guess I don't have anything to say about that.

VG: For me, the first one, that's what really touched me about it. Going back to childhood, seeing all the things one abandons as one grows older... It just... It touched me very much.

HL: Thanks. I think now [with Chiggers] I'm dealing more with the down and dirty version of childhood. I'm moving more in that direction.

VG: Right, right. Of all the stories you've done, this is for your youngest audience then, right?

HL: Yeah.

VG: I guess you didn't really choose that.

HL: Yeah. I just wrote the story. My agent and publisher figured out who it was going to be for.

VG: In Gray Horses, your main character is French. Was there a reason for this, as opposed to Italian or Russian?

HL: I have a lot of fondness for France 'cause I lived there for a year when I was a kid. And I sort of remember how it felt. When I moved to France, I didn't speak any French. My parents just kind of took me and chucked me in the local village school and I had to pick it up on the go. So I wanted to translate that to a slightly older character.

VG: Two more questions. Do you have a purpose for your stories other than storytelling?

HL: I don't know. That's a hard question. I don't know what else I would do with my life if I wasn't doing this. All my thoughts run into storytelling, you know? That's what inspires me. It's what interests me. It's really the only thing, so...

VG: That's awesome. It's something I don't know that I could do, so it's very admirable. Um, okay, I lied. Two more questions. [Laughter, on both sides, not just me!] Do you have advice for up and coming [cartoonists]?

HL: Draw a lot. Write a lot. Put your work on the web-- it's really important. Try and make friends in the comics community. People are really friendly and they love to help up and comers. And be patient 'cause it takes time.

VG: And the cookies question. If you could bake homemade cookies for up to three fictional characters, who would you choose and what kind of cookies would you make?

HL: I guess I should think who first, and then figure out a cookie. Okay, I'm gonna say Meg from A Wrinkle in Time. She's one of my favorites. And... for the cookies? Hmmm. Maybe just oatmeal cookies, 'cause it gets cold up in Maine or wherever it is she lives. [Laughter]

VG: That works. Thank you very much.

HL: No problem.

~

As I understand it, Hope’s new book Mercury is coming out next year and she’s hard at work on something new. Also, checkci out her lovable work on Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd as edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci. If you want to follow Hope on Twitter, her handle is @hopelarson. If you are lucky enough to be at the San Diego Comic-Con, then you might see her around, too. And you will be a very, very lucky person, ha ha.

Author Monday:: Interview with YA author Veronica Goldbach (Part Three)

This entry marks the 3rd installment of my Author Mondays, where I shall endeavor to post something author-esque each Monday. Whether it's an interview or a one-shot question, here is a chance for various authors to have their say.

On Friday, May 22nd, Veronica Goldbach and I shared some happy drinks and melded our high school history with our new friendship as author/librarian.

This is part three of our 30-minute interview. Check out part one and part two here.

Et voila, part trois!

~

TBiblio: I got three questions from the “audience.” One came from my co-worker at the library, Sylvia. She was wondering what your social label was in high school. What were you in high school? The jock? The geek?

VG: That’s pretty easy. I was the geek. I was a band geek. [*laughter*] Pretty much a band geek/multilingual nerd. You were one too.

TBiblio: I was. Oh my god, yes I was. Did you feel like the high school that you went to, which is the high school that I went to, really thrived on those kinds of social labels they way they do in movies?

VG: Actually, I think movies, of course, dramatize it. They make it more extreme. Band geeks, we sort of had an inferiority complex. We’d see the cheerleaders and the jocks, and yeah, they’re in their own separate world, but it wasn’t like anyone was stuffing us into lockers. Tuba cases. We’d get our own people. No, I didn’t think it was… Did you?

TBiblio: No.

VG: I didn’t think it was that… There were the popular kids and then… I don’t…

TBiblio: To me, there was no… In those books, where they say “the hottest guy in school,” “the hottest girl in school,” there was none [at our high school].

VG: Yeah, there really wasn’t.

TBiblio: It just depended on your taste. There were cute girls and cute boys.

VG: Something for everybody. [*laughter*]

TBiblio: Exactly.

VG: But it wasn’t, “Oh, the band. We don’t talk to the band.” Everybody mixed.

TBiblio: Exactly. This question comes from a teen who is actually a very good artist. Her name is Marci with an “i.” If you were an inanimate object--

VG: Oh dear.

TBiblio: --what would you be?

VG: Gosh. Thanks Marci! [*laughter*] What would I be? I can’t think of anything really clever at the moment. If you asked me what animal, that would be easier.

TBiblio: Okay, well, what animal would you be?

VG: I’d be a dog [*laughter*]. One of my dogs. Lay around, get up, run around if you want to, have someone bring you food, [*laughter*] run around some more, eat the couch, eat some shoes. It’d be great. I guess for an inanimate object, maybe I’d be a pillow. Right now I’m feeling very tired. I’d be there to comfort people when they need it.

TBiblio: That’s good. Thank you, Veronica. That’s a really hard question.

VG: It is, Marci. [*laughter*]

TBiblio: Thank you, Marci! Jean Canosa Albano from Springfield, Massachusetts was wondering about the dichotomy of being a team player in a band but also the solitary process of writing a book. Have you found it hard to balance the band-y nature of your life versus the write-a-book nature of your life?

VG: Yes. Basically when I was writing the book, and kinda now too, I don’t really have a life. I spend my nights writing. I work as a teacher all day and then I come home and write. It doesn’t leave a lot for being very social. My team-playerness—I didn’t tell anyone I was writing the book, except the people I was living with because you kind of have to. I told my mom and my brothers. My brothers didn’t really care. [*laughter*] I just told them and nobody else. Because it was kind of, almost embarrassing ‘cause everyone’s going to write a book. So it went against sort of my grain ‘cause I’m not a big secret keeper. I’m shy but I’m not a quiet person. When I’m around people, I’m really shy and quiet, but once you get to know me, it’s TA-TA-TA-TA-TA. [*laughter*] And I tell you everything. I’m not big into keeping secrets. I just don’t think before I talk. I just say whatever. So that was really out of character for me, not to tell anyone I was writing a book. But that’s how tender it was for me. I’m not a writer-type person. I didn’t see myself as a writer and I thought people would get me down. Maybe that’s some good advice for future writers. Maybe you don’t want to tell everyone you’re writing a book. People will just brush you off or discourage you or crush your dreams. [*laughter*] No, my mom didn’t, but other people might.

TBiblio: Do you feel more validated now that you’ve been published? That’s hard to do, especially before you’re 30. Some people find that very… very… nice.

VG: Yes. The day I got the email saying I was going to get the contract, I was just on cloud nine. I said [to myself], “I’m never going to be unhappy again. If I ever feel bad, I’ll just remember that I’m gonna get published and it’ll be all good.” That worked for a couple of months. [*laughter*] Yeah. It’s nice. It makes a big difference to other people. Now that I say, “Oh yes, I’m getting published,” and people are like, “Oh!” Whereas if I just say, “I’m writing a book…” Whatever. I found that I have a lot more friends now that the book has come out. [*laughter*] They’re coming out of the woodwork. And it’s not even a big book, it’s just a little book. A lot of people haven’t heard of it. People are calling me and emailing me and I’m just like, “Oh, where were you when I was writing the book?”

TBiblio: Future projects? Are you working on something right now?

VG: I’m working on a lot of somethings. I have a book with my agent that is sort of my scary book, my ghost story. I don’t know how much I can say. I’m working on sort of a ghost story. It’s a trilogy, also set in San Antonio but not set in a public school. This was when I was really down about not getting Deep in the Heart of High School published. It wasn’t called that then. It had been rejected by everybody, so I said, “You know what? I’m going to write a different book. Maybe I was wrong to set it in an inner city school.” So this is set at a private school but not at a rich private school. [It’s a] falling-apart private school. And it’s set in middle school so it’s a little bit [for a] younger [audience] and a little bit more romantic. We’ll see. My agent has it right now and nothing’s really happening with it. But it got me an agent. Actually, I think getting published got me an agent. I got published without an agent, which is really are. He’s working with that. I wrote another story for younger kids that I sent to him and I didn’t hear back from him about it so I don’t think he liked that one. I’m working on one set in LA about a girl who moved from San Antonio to Los Angeles. Then I’m working on another one with my sister, a sort of post-apocalyptic one. So I’m working on a bunch of stuff at once.

TBiblio: Cool.

VG: And that’s kind of weird for me ‘cause I need to just focus on one thing and then do one thing. So basically, if I had to really explain it, the ghost story is kind of sort of done. I’m waiting for revision notes on it. The kid story is kind of forgotten, ‘cause I think it’s dead. My kids at school liked it, I read it to them. The LA story is in its first draft. It’s sitting. The post-apocalyptic one, I’m in the process of writing it right now. So when that one’s finished, I’ll go back to the LA one. I’ll work on some rewrites and maybe send it to my agent and see.

TBiblio: What was the original title for Deep in the Heart of High School?

VG: The original title was Fitting in the Glass Slipper. When I was writing it, I wanted to combine my favorite things. I really like teen romantic comedies—I just, I love them—and I like fairy tales. So I thought I’d combine them, set it in San Antonio, have the girls’ lives take on fairy tale aspects. It was this whole cool thing with this old book from the library. It was great. But my publisher thought maybe not so great. So we took all the fairy tales out. But if you read Deep in the Heart of High School carefully, you can still see a little bit of Cinderella in Olivia’s story, a little bit of Little Red Riding Hood in Vanna’s, a little bit of Rumpelstiltskin in Fatima’s story. You have to look really, really carefully. A lot of the stuff got taken out, but there’s still little hints of it in there.

TBiblio: So this is the question that I ask all the authors that I come across who will speak to me. I call it my cookie question. If you could bake homemade cookies for up to three fictional characters, who would they be for and what would you make for them?

VG: Hmm. Well. Baking cookies. First, I would bake something really sugary and fattening and not good for you for Emmy from Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat [by Lynne Jonell and Jonathan Bean]. Poor Emmy, Miss Barmy and those awful health food things she would give her. For Ron, my favorite Harry Potter character, ‘cause he’s so cool… What would I bake him? I’d bake him cupcakes with frosting.

TBiblio: Yeah, I see that. Definitely.

VG: That’s a cool question. I’m a baker. Not a cook but a baker. I don’t know, I’ll just have to leave it at those two for now.

TBiblio: Good! Those are good answers. There are no bad answers to this question. That’s what I love about this question. Everyone has something different and so clever to bring to the table. Last question—any book signings coming up?

VG: Why, yes there is! (*laughter*) I’m having one at the San Antonio Public Library, the Central Branch in the teen section on August 22. I’m having a Writer’s Workshop at 12 and then a party, which I’m looking forward to, at two. So that should be pretty cool.

TBiblio: Well, we wish you the absolute best of luck, Veronica Goldbach. You’ve been so wonderful and accommodating and charming and I’m really, really, really happy that we’ve kind of struck up the friendship again.

VG: Yeah. You’ve been so nice to me, too. VG connection!

TBiblio: VG connection! That’s right! [*laughter*] Oh we have stories. But those will go for another time. Alright, well thank you for listening! Take care! Bye!

~

If you want to check on my amazing transcribing job, or if you want to hear two girls giggling, feel free to listen to the actual audio file of the entire chat.

So what is the VG connection, you ask? Veronica and I have the same initials, we were born three days apart so we have the same astrological sign, we sat next to each other during graduation, and people mistook us for sisters for a long time. We called it the VG connection for some time, although as I've said before, Veronica is now stunning and I'm cute.

Anyway, thanks for "tuning in." I'd say more but my cat is currently demanding love.

Gracias again to Veronica for her generosity and time!

Author Monday:: Interview with YA author Veronica Goldbach (Part Two)

This entry marks the 2nd installment of my Author Mondays, where I shall endeavor to post something author-esque each Monday. Whether it's an interview or a one-shot question, here is a chance for various authors to have their say.

On Friday, May 22nd, Veronica Goldbach and I shared some happy drinks and melded our high school history with our new friendship as author/librarian.

This is part two of our 30-minute interview. Check out part one here.

Et voila, part deux!

~

TBiblio: As for your new author life, at the recent party we had here, one of the attendees made it sound like everyone wanted to talk to you so you were holding court at this party—

VG: [*laughter*] Oh dear.

TBiblio: -- because there was so much to do. Do you feel like life has gotten glamorous now that you’re an author?

VG: Actually, it’s interesting that you mention the party, I just felt totally the opposite. I felt like I was being so anti-social in the corner and shy because I didn’t know any of these people. And it’s like, do I go up and say, “Hey, I wrote a book, you want to talk about it?” It was just… And so some really nice people came up to me but I felt kinda bad, like I wasn’t doing my part. But as for it being glamorous? No. It’s not what I would think. It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of trying to just sell yourself and it feels so… wrong. “I wrote a book! You should buy it!” [*laughter*] The signings have been fun. A little bit of attention is nice, but it’s really just a lot of work. Even publicizing the book, it’s just finding people and emailing and emailing and trying to get… It’s not as glamorous as I thought. And it’s come so late. I mean, this book, I’ve been working on it for six years. The last rewrite was New Year’s Eve last year and then all of a sudden, all the hard work is way behind me and then “Oh!” A little bit of recognition comes.

TBiblio: Some people say that everybody has a good novel in them somewhere. They just don’t have the whereabouts, the capacity, or the discipline to bring it forth. What do you think is the magic key to getting your story out there or getting published?

VG: Well, getting your story… Discipline. Discipline, discipline, discipline. Just making yourself write it. I know lots of people—great ideas! Way better than any of my ideas. And they just don’t actually get the physical… Finish the novel and rewrite it and rewrite it. And getting your story out there? Just, sending out those query letters. Now they’re e-queries. It’s so weird. When I started out, it was actual query letters. Just a few years ago. And now, I was trying to get an agent for the next novel and it’s all e-queries now. You just gotta send them out, send them out, send them out. Discipline, discipline, discipline, discipline, discipline. Just don’t quit.

TBiblio: This might be a little bit of a strange question. I read this interview with Jessica Biel, the actress, and she was talking about how being beautiful is a problem and that she envies—

VG: Oh dear.

TBiblio: -- the careers of Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. Are there any authors who—either, their careers, you envy them or that, if you were to meet them, you would just kind of go speechless? If you were just to meet these random authors?

VG: Meet random authors? Well, definitely, Stephenie Meyer. I mean, she’s like, oh my goodness! Twilight was her first novel, right? And it’s just this phenomenal hit. I would love to just meet her. I don’t think I’d ever be able to speak to her. I met Meg Cabot at a signing once, and of course, I didn’t say anything. And I wanted to say, “I read your blog all the time! You’re why I got published! All your good advice!” Blah blah blah. I didn’t say anything. [*laughter*] I was totally tongue-tied. So, yeah. Pretty much anybody, I think I’d be totally tongue-tied. Those are my dream meets, I guess.

TBiblio: About your dedication? [*laughter*] To your book? You dedicated it to your mom, which is really sweet, and you called her the Dream Crusher. [At your book signing] your brother called her the Crushinator. [*laughter*] This is supposed to be a compliment, right?

VG: Yeah. Okay, it’s a long story for this dedication. And now, thinking back, maybe I shouldn’t have done it ‘cause it’s really an inside thing and I’ve gotten so much flack about it. It made my mom cry, so that was good. Cry in the good way.

TBiBlio: Good, good.

VG: The Dream Crusher, there’s two sort of stories that go with it. The first thing is that, in my family, well, you do know a little bit about my family. We tease but we love. We have a sort of biting sense of humor. We are kinda mean to each other. My mom is very practical. This is the way she explains Dream Crusher. She wants to see the practicality in dreams. My brothers and my sister had these huge, you know, great dreams for their lives. Always growing up, my sister was going to be either this famous flamenco dancer or this famous director. Those were her big dreams, and my mom was always, “Okay, but you’ve got to get your degree. Get your degree in teaching.” My other brother, he’s an amazing guitar player, but he was going to be in a band and he was going to hit it big. And my other brother, he went between being a tennis star, a golf star—a golf pro, I guess. They all had these big dreams. And my dream? I didn’t have any dreams because I wasn’t really good at anything. I danced, I was in band. But I didn’t have these great aspirations like they did. So she was always encouraging me, but I just wanted to be a teacher. That was my plan. So one day, the last time we were all really together, I forget what the occasion was. We were going out to dinner and my sister was between moving places, and my brothers actually came out with us, and we were having this discussion. They told my mom that if she had a super power, it would be crushing dreams. And they started calling her the Dream Crusher. ‘Cause, you know, she was just saying, “Yes, yes, yes, it’s great you want to be a tennis player but you should go to college and get your degree in teaching.” And so the Dream Crusher kind of evokes that whole time, the last time we were all together, and just how she’s always supported me. She’s the person who told me to write a book. It’s just kind of weird, they call her the Dream Crusher. And yeah, she was the Dream Crusher for them, but for me she was the Dream Builder Upper.

TBiblio: Ah, that's good!

VG: It was just sort me being ironic with her. A lot of people think it’s an angry dedication. But I said it was all her idea, and it really was! She’s the one who told me, “You should write, you should write, you read so much, you should write.“ I didn’t take her seriously for a long, long time. It’s a complicated--.

TBiblio: It's a complicated... but it's a good... Yeah, I figured there was a beautiful story behind it. [*laughter*]

VG: It’s the last time we were together and it’s sort of my thing, you know. “You’re not really the Dream Crusher that everybody thinks you are.” Everyone thinks my mom is really this hard, practical, strict mom, ‘cause she comes off that way. But she’s not. She’s a softie. [*laughter*] She is.

TBiblio: Advice to any teens out there—or anybody, really—who wants to get their work out there? Besides discipline.

VG: Besides just writing, even when you don’t want to, because it’s not always fun? You just gotta do those query letters. What really helped me is I got The [Complete] Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published. I know it sounds lame, but they tell you how to write the query letter. And on Meg Cabot’s blog, she recommended the Jeff Herman’s Guide to [Book Publishers,] Editors and [Literary] Agents. And I got it, and you can just check it out from the library.

TBiblio: YEAH!

VG: And it has a list of agents and editors and what they’re looking for, so you don’t waste your time querying agents that are only doing adult romances if you’re doing YA or only doing Christian romances, you know. So it tells you who to send [query letters to], and what they’re looking for. Write a really good query letter. Really spend a lot of time on that. Because if you don’t, you won’t get your foot in the door. Write a really good query letter, send a bunch out, and be ready for those rejection letters. Don’t let them get you down.

~

The last third of this interview will be available the next Author Monday. (Click here for it!) If you want to check on my amazing transcribing job, or if you want to hear two girls giggling, feel free to listen to the actual audio file of the entire chat.

Happy June, everyone! And happy first day of the Teen Summer Program at the San Antonio Public Library!

Author Monday:: Interview with YA author Veronica Goldbach [Part One]

This entry marks the beginning of my Author Mondays, where I shall endeavor to post something author-esque each Monday. Whether it's an interview or a one-shot question, here is a chance for various authors to have their say.

On Friday, May 22nd, Veronica Goldbach and I shared some happy drinks and melded our high school history with our new friendship as author/librarian. (I type this as I listen to My Morning Jacket's sumptuous song "Librarian.")

So when we were nice and warmed up, this is what followed.

TBiblio: So this is TeenBibliotecaria’s Author Monday—even though today’s not Monday. I have this plan now where the first Monday, starting in June, until as long as I can carry it, I’m going to have some kind of author-related blog post. And I’m gonna see how this one goes.
So my guest today [*laughter*] is young adult author Veronica Goldbach. She is a San Antonio native and she has just published a really charming young adult novel called Deep in the Heart of High School. And it’s published by… The pronunciation? I never get it right.

VG: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

TBiblio: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

VG: I don’t know, I could be getting it wrong, too.

TBiblio: No, no, that’s pretty cool. So, first of all, what kind of pushed you to write this book?

VG: Hmm. Okay, well, I was teaching at Irving Middle School here in San Antonio and I got some money from Title I funds—federal funds—to buy books for my classroom library. And I went to Barnes and Noble and started looking for books, and at the time, I couldn’t find a lot of teen books that I felt my 7th and 8th graders could relate to. It seemed like everything was set up north, with upper middle class families with upper middle class characters. And I was looking for something, you know, more working class—more like my own background and my students’ background. So I thought, hmmmm. Maybe I could write a book set here in San Antonio and have my characters be more like people I know.

TBiblio: And was it always a young adult novel from the very beginning or did that come later?

VG: Yeah, it was always a young adult novel ‘cause I was aiming it at my students, my Irving students. And I like young adult novels.

TBiblio: Good! A convert!

VG: [*laughter*] Yes. For researching, I started reading just a lot of YA, and I kind of skipped that when I was, you know, in middle school. I went from [Ann M. Martin’s] The Baby-sitters Club to romance novels. I kind of skipped the whole young adult genre.

TBiblio: Do you think that was because there wasn’t that great [a selection of young adult] literature back then?

VG: It feels like it. I didn’t see a lot of stuff that I was really drawn to.

TBiblio: Now with this young adult explosion, there’s kind of this need to either be romantic or have vampires or be really high-tech.

VG: Yeah.

TBiblio: But your book has some of those elements, but at the same time it’s very organic, there’s not as much technology. Was that intentional from the get-go?

VG: No, it wasn’t really intentional. I just didn’t really… I’m not really a big technology person so maybe that’s why, you know. I’ve got a cell phone. A computer that sometimes works. [*laughter*] That’s about it.

TBiblio: But that’s also what makes it not a fad.

VG: That’s what I was… You know, I was worried about making it sound dated. I thought if I threw iPods in there all the time and then, you know, a few years from now when iPods are passé, it’s gonna be, like, you know.

TBiblio: Exactly. I like the fact that the story could happen at any time ‘cause the characters themselves are pretty timeless archetypes, if that makes any sense.

VG: Cool.

TBiblio: So some writers say that their characters feel like children and that it’s really hard to choose a favorite one. Did you have a favorite one or was there one that you felt you had to be really careful with in terms of what happened to this character?

VG: I shouldn’t say I had a favorite. I’ve said that before but it was more of a misstatement. Fatima has a special place in my heart because she was my editor’s favorite. And so I feel like she kind of got me in with my editor, and a lot of people like her so she’s kind of got a special place in my heart. Olivia, I was real careful what I did with her. She needed a lot of care, I thought. Perhaps I was a little bit too careful with her and her story got a little boring at first, but during many rewrites, I had to toughen her up a little bit. And then I was kind of harsh on her, but she needed it [*laughter*].

TBiblio: School Library Journal mentioned how they liked the development of your male characters? What do you think made them different from what’s out there in young adult fiction right now or from what’s expected of male characters? […] Because they’re lovable but they’re also flawed. They’re not Edward Cullen. […] What do you think made them different from, say, something in Gossip Girl or something in Twilight?

VG: Well, they’re kind of insecure. They’re not really that cool. Carlos thinks he is, but the rest of them… They’re not really very cool. They’re just… But they’re lovable.

TBiblio: They are lovable. Like I said in my review before, one of them doesn’t even have money to pay for a movie ticket. So he may think he’s all that, and he’s in a band, and he feels that all the girls worship him, but—

VG: They’re insecure. I guess they don’t have the money of the Gossip Girls or even the Edward Cullens. What are you gonna do?

TBiblio: Exactly. Another thing I noticed about Olivia, at least, is that one point she mentions that even though she’s half Hispanic, she has a Jewish last name so she feels like she doesn’t get the street cred for being Hispanic. Was that from a personal experience?

VG: [*laughter*]. Yes. Yeah, going to school where we went to school, a Goldbach was not exactly, you know... I’m a light-skinned Goldbach and people didn’t exactly believe that I was Hispanic. Sometimes I’d introduce people to my mom and they’d be, like, “Ooooooh, so you really are Hispanic.” [*laughter*] Just don’t listen to me, okay?

TBiblio: Right right.

VG: Maybe that’s another insecurity of mine, big time. My sister goes out of her way to seem really Hispanic and I pass myself off as Irish sometimes. It just depends, you know. [It's easier to let people think i'm Irish or whatever than to try and explain my complex background. I get tired of trying to prove my Mexicanness and some people never believe me which can be annoying and sometimes hurtful. Then it just gets weird because I feel like I'm trying too hard to be Hispanic so does that mean I'm ashamed of my German or Italian or Irishness? I could go on and on about this.]

TBiblio: [Your book is set in] San Antonio. Vanna starts off idealizing Plano and having a hard time adjusting to San Antonio but then she winds up falling for its charm. What would you say to people who have, maybe, slightly negative preconceived notions of San Antonio or Texas?

VG: There are a lot of those out there.

TBiblio: There are a lot of those out there. Oh my god. They’re shameless!

VG: Yeah. I lived in California for a year and you would not believe what they think of Texas and San Antonio. Thanks to the LA/Spurs tension. People still think we have horses and guns and crazies, and there are some horses and guns and crazies here but… [*laughter*] I’d always tell them, because they’d be like, “Oh you’re from Texas? You don’t have an accent?” In San Antonio we don’t have an accent. In South Texas, it’s different. And I just love San Antonio. I couldn’t stay away from it. I tried for a year but it’s a really great place. We have so much culture and so many different things going on.

TBiblio: What did you miss the most when you were gone?

VG: Well, of course, the Tex Mex food but you’d be surprised. Chicken fried steak! In California, their chicken fried steak is country fried steak and a lot of people don’t know the difference. But there’s a difference! Food, oh, food, big time. And just the pace of San Antonio. We think we’re a small town. Everybody talks to everybody. You can have these long conversations at the checkout, with people you barely know, about the Spurs or whatever’s going on. Whereas in other cities it just seems like, you know, they’re nice. They’re just busy, faster. San Antonio has this nice sorta slow feel. We walk slower, we talk slower. I just like it.

TBiblio: Another thing about San Antonio is, in some ways it’s Little Mexico because we’re practically in Mexico. So there have been political issues regarding immigration and you took a pretty risky step by making Fatima, one of the main characters, part of an immigrant family. Was that intentional or did it just kind of come about?

VG: Like I said, it was written for my students at Irving and I taught ESL there. My students were immigrants. I felt that maybe that needed to be portrayed and not be so… You know, just make it normal. Because there are lots of immigrant families in San Antonio and it’s a pretty normal thing. It’s not, you know, a big deal. And I didn’t realize it was such a risky stance until later on when all the [protests against harsh immigrations laws] were going on. It worked for [Fatima].

TBiblio: That’s wonderful, though, because more stories like that need to be told, I think.

~

This is just the first third of our glorious 30-minute chat. If you're patient, you'll wait for me to put up the rest of the interview in the future. (Actually, you're in luck. Check out part two and part three here.) If you're immediately curious, feel free to click here for the audio podcast, with all its imperfections.

Wow. I had no idea how many times I say the word "um" when on tape, or that I had the recorder closer to me than to Veronica. Well done. Ha ha.

Enjoy and may the force and the YA fandom be with you.

Tips and Bits:: Interviewing for a public library position

So you're finishing your MLS. As you're trying to get all your assignments in on time, you know that you also have to start applying for every library position under the sun.

The easiest part is the application process. Sure, it's time-consuming, but you can set your own schedule, do it in your pj's, and choose to either obsess or be all zen about it. If you never hear from them, you can obsess for a bit but still move on.

Interviewing is entirely different. You're so much closer to the promised land, but it can be so much more nerve-wracking. It's a very personal thing, selling yourself to people who can give you the green light or give you the ax. You can't force the outcome you want but you can definitely do everything you can to prove your worth.

::BEFORE THE INTERVIEW::

• Prepare to show that you've been wanting this your whole life!
  Or, at least, that this isn't just some decision you made on a whim. If possible, volunteer at the library where you want to be hired. Of course, this isn't always an option. In that case, do something else! Start your own blog detailing your thoughts on your chosen field. Do a one-time program at a local community center. Write a kickass article and get it published in a journal or website. Show that you got it where it counts!
  
• Get to know your best friends, librarians and the library.
  People talk about networking incessantly for a reason. It works. Knowing the right people goes a long way and can get you inside tips on jobs that haven't been posted just yet. Before you interview at the dream library of your choice, check it out. What is it known for? What can you contribute? Do you have any ideas for making some aspect of the library more user-friendly? Is there something that you think is absolutely brilliant? Keep track of these things. Not only will this prepare you for your interview but you'll get to become a more informed librarian.
• Make yourself ready to do a brief booktalk or whip out innovative ideas.
  Sure, booktalks are not everyone's idea of merry fun, but you can still ace them. Know your resources. Look for websites or YouTube videos that give you an idea of how others do it. Talk it over with your classmates/colleagues/BFFs. You might also be asked about what kind of programming you are capable of. It's not always enough to simply mention video games or Twilight proms. Let your personal interests show here. Whether you love crafts, music, or movies, design a rough draft of an event you'd like to be in charge of.
  
• Know the facts.
  It's all about supply and demand, baby. Are you applying for a position in a small town where there aren't many librarians with degrees? Or are you trying to get hired in a city with its very own library school? I know a young woman who was hired as a library director without even having her MLS because there were no other candidates in the town where she lived. On the opposite end of the spectrum, someone with substantial library experience can go months and years without getting hired if there are many other librarians in the area.
  

::DURING THE INTERVIEW::

• Let go of the interview funk.
  Going on an interview is kind of like going on a date. Just because you go on one doesn't mean that you're going to be a perfect match. Just because you want to start making some money doesn't mean that they're the right employee for you. Don't give your interviewers all the power and you're likely to relax more. Easier said than done, I know. Just do what you can. You're a jewel and you definitely belong somewhere.
  
• Dress like you own it already.
  Going on a reference interview? Work that power suit. Want to be a teen librarian? Try mixing business casual with youthful flare. Be comfortable but look responsible. For more advice, check this one out.
  
• Embrace the stumpers!
  Rare is the interview that doesn't give you a difficult question. Don't panic! It's okay to not know all the answers. Don't immediately think, "Aw @#@$#%!" Take your time (within reason), work it out, salvage what you can.
  At an interview for a teen position, I was asked, "Who is the next big thing in teen literature?" It was sort of like a "Who will dethrone J.K. Rowling/Stephenie Meyer?" type of question. I blanked out. I could only remember authors I didn't like so much. I thought of a couple on my drive home and wanted to drive back so I could peek in their office and exclaim, "Oh by the way!" Yes, I blew this one big-time but I don't think the interview was decided by just this one question. You bet that I will always remember it and always try to have an answer, in case someone asks me again.
  
• Interviews are not a walk in the park for interviewers either.
  I was once told, "Make them laugh. If you do, you have them in the palm of your hand." Uh, this isn't necessarily true, but laughter does help all involved. I've been on various interviews in several cities and they've all been different. Some interviewers are warm, and others keep their distance because they don't want to give you false hope. Don't let the feel of the atmosphere hamper your opportunity to shine. Make eye contact frequently, and if you're in a panel interview, don't ignore the library assistant. They're all people and social rules of the considerate kind still apply.
  

::AFTER THE INTERVIEW::

• Be patient.
  I know. It's agony waiting for a reply. Few things in the world suck more than that. Still, be chill. Let it happen. Stay positive. I kicked serious library booty at one of my recent interviews but heard nothing for a while. Friends asked me about it and I was already telling them, "I never heard back from them." Next Monday morning, I got a really good phone call from their HR department. So it happens when it's supposed to. Not a second earlier, unfortunately.
  
• Spread the good karma, people!
  In the social world of librarians, nothing grates me more than a librarian who doesn't pass on the good stuff to the newer generation. If someone shows interest in the library profession, see what you can do to make them feel like they're choosing a pretty sweet career. Become a mentor or just give out some precious pearls of wisdom. Let's make sure that people who want to become librarians have a network!
• It's all about perspective...
  If the interview got you the job, rock on. If not, then you might want to consider thinking about what went wrong. In some cases, the "wrong" had nothing to do with you. Maybe there was someone who was a better fit, for a reason that you didn't know about. Maybe they already had someone in mind. Maybe they're promoting someone who is already inside the system. That tends to happen with some full-time positions. The part-timer who has been working for their department for awhile is pretty much the best candidate. No matter what the reason is, work on your interviewing technique. Chances are you'll be better the next time around when the better job opens up.
  
• ... and it's all about evaluation.
  If you really want to improve, get the guts to call up the leader of the interviewing committee. Do it when you've gotten the anger out of your system. Be calm and friendly. See if he/she can give you a short summary of some of the things you can work on. In all your obsessing over the job, you might have missed something. Knowing for sure will help you accept the outcome and get you prepared for that future most excellent librarian position.
  

::COPING WITH A NEGATIVE RESPONSE::
(JUST IN CASE)

• Do your best to see the positive and get proactive.
  I've been to interviews where I thought they'd be silly not to hire me. Ha. Ha ha ha. Yeah. Those didn't always work out. I'd totally take it personally and avoid those libraries because I felt they wronged me. This was absolutely pointless.
  In terms of general life desires, there have been things I've wanted that, honestly, would have been bad choices. There is no guarantee that any job one applies for would be the dream job. So if it didn't work out, there's probably a reason for it. You never know what kind of seed is planted when a door closes on you.
  
• This is the time for your ultimate adventure!
  So it didn't work out. I know some people with their MLS who are disappointed by the lack of jobs they can apply to. "People kept saying that there were jobs everywhere but I can't find a single thing," they say. Well, it could be because they don't have enough experience or they haven't networked with the right people. It takes time and effort to work on these issues, but they are so worthwhile. So go out and make it happen!
  It's also normal to want a job at the library that's a ten-minute drive from home. Alas, it doesn't work that way. If you can, apply to other cities, other counties and states, other countries even! Go beef up your resume. Go meet people. Do it while you still can!
  

::RANDOM CLOSING MUSINGS::

I don't claim to know all the answers but I can share what I've learned over time.

Good news for teen librarians. Maybe. Some librarians can be relatively young so there might be some more turnover than in other library concentrations. So keep your resume updated and keep scoping out choices. Go to ALA conferences if you get a chance and go to the job center booths. Go to the expected job search sources but try new ones as well. You know what resource I've found to be extremely useful? MySpace Jobs. I've found some pretty sweet job postings there. Who knew?

Other good news for teen librarians. When talking to a New York Times Librarian of the Year about choosing between public or academic libraries, she confided, "Being a teen librarian will keep you young." I don't know about you but that's a pretty nice selling point for me.

On that note, give it your best, let the petals fall where they will, and learn everything you can about what it means to be a wicked awesome librarian. May the force and the library gods be with you!