Interrogation Room #45: Julie Berry, author of THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE

We have a repeat offender in the Interrogation Room today: acclaimed author Julie Berry! We hauled her in this time last year to talk about her Edgar-nominated YA mystery ALL THE TRUTH THAT'S IN ME. Julie just can't seem to stay out of trouble, and now she's surrounded by scandal, with the release of her new middle grade mystery, THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE -- out today from Roaring Brook/Macmillan Kids!

We have lots of questions for Julie today, but here's a bit about the new book (whose title we'll abbreviate to SSPP, since we love abbreviations and acronyms here at SSA!):

There's a murderer on the loose—but that doesn't stop the girls of St. Etheldreda's from attempting to hide the death of their headmistress in this rollicking farce.

The students of St. Etheldreda's School for Girls face a bothersome dilemma. Their irascible headmistress, Mrs. Plackett, and her surly brother, Mr. Godding, have been most inconveniently poisoned at Sunday dinner. Now the school will almost certainly be closed and the girls sent home—unless these seven very proper young ladies can hide the murders and convince their neighbors that nothing is wrong.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place is a smart, hilarious Victorian romp, full of outrageous plot twists, mistaken identities, and mysterious happenings.

And now, here's the transcript of our second interrogation of Julie! (Plus, her mug shot!)

SSA: So here you are, a repeat offender . . . we last saw you in here one year ago, when we summoned you to answer questions about your YA historical mystery, ALL THE TRUTH THAT'S IN ME.

JB: When do I get to call my lawyer?

SSA: Not so fast. You're a slippery one, Ms. Berry, and we need answers. It seems you've been trespassing into different genres. In short succession, you've written TWO unconventional and historical mysteries -- one in experimental form, and now this new one, a farce. Can we see your poetic license?

JB: Yes, right here.

SSA: Ah. Okay. Well, we've noticed the two books couldn't be more different in tone as well as time periods. How did it feel to go from Puritan America in ALL THE TRUTH THAT'S IN ME to Victorian England in SSPP? And did you learn anything about mystery writing from writing ALL THE TRUTH that helped you with the new novel, despite the vastly different content?

JB: It's kind of fun to go from promoting one novel with a very serious tone to peddling one this playful. I like to mix things up. Both stories have some darkness to them, I'd say, but the flavors are very different. I definitely do think that ALL THE TRUTH gave me invaluable craft practice. I learned how to be very disciplined about clues, details, mechanics, pacing, motive, and what to reveal when. I think these will be useful for any book I write in the future, whether overtly a mystery or not.

SSA: What appeals to you about farce? And what's challenging about writing farce?

JB: Comedies yield laughs, but farce done right threatens the audience with death by laughter. It's one big crescendo of crazy humor, and I love it. I grew up on writers like P.G. Wodehouse (and later, Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels), and on films like Arsenic and Old Lace and His Girl Friday. Nowadays, my family does a lot of community theater, and I've watched more British farces than you can shake a stick at. Over time, I began to deconstruct them to try to understand what makes a farce a farce. Slamming doors? Mistaken identities? Corpses? Or was it more than that?

There's a lot more. Farces have a particular energy and pace. Timing is everything. Careful plotting is crucial. A sort of everyman (or everywoman, or everykid) protagonist is confronted with an unplanned, improbable, twist-of-fate dilemma, and a series of characters who represent extreme stereotypes until the protagonist is totally destabilized by dealing with such loonybirds--until he or she becomes, in essence, one of them. In the process, though, they become less flat-vanilla, and more human, more round, more likable. Miraculously, things work out, balance is restored, and everyone can go on about their lives, but old assumptions, old walls, have been broken down a bit. Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace may flee from his insane relatives, once he learns he was adopted, shrieking, "I am not a Brewster!" but his bug-eyed stare proves he's become at least a bit of one.

SSA: We understand you did quite a bit of research to bring this 19th-century British boarding school to life. (Not to mention other harrowing scenes, like burying a dead body!) What is one of the most deliciously fascinating facts that you uncovered?

JB: I got to read some wonderfully gruesome accounts of crimes, poisonings, and medical investigations during the Victorian era. Since I've never personally poisoned anyone with cyanide (I swear, I haven't!), I needed to read lots about it. There were some wonderfully lurid poisonings going on, and some truly dastardly poisoners. The relatively recent innovation of life insurance, combined with easy-to-buy poisons and as-yet underdeveloped techniques for detecting them, turned, I regret to say, certain people's unpleasant relatives into solutions for their shopping addiction. Or opium addiction. Insert your addiction of choice.

SSA: How did you get the voice in this novel so pitch perfect? Did you watch a lot of British period dramas on PBS? Read numerous Victorian novels? Or -- our suspicion -- are you actually a time traveler from Victorian England?

JB: I'm the Doctor. Take a look. It's bigger on the inside.

The real Julie Berry!

Guilty on all counts. Who doesn't love Dickens, or the Brontes? I think I was born in the wrong century sometimes. Except that I would never want to have to wear what the Victorians wore underneath all those poufy-sleeve dresses, if you catch my drift, nor visit their doctors if I was ill, nor attend their finishing schools (except maybe this one), nor tolerate their prevailing views of the roles of girls and women. But we owe a great debt to a number of women during this era who made tremendous strides.

SSA: What do you hope contemporary teens or tweens take away from this novel? Is it pure entertainment, or do you think there are bridges they can find to their modern lives?

JB: Pure entertainment is always my goal. My job is to divert you. I wouldn't mind it at all if readers came away with a bit more of an affinity for these genres I've played with, and go hunting on their own for drawing-room mysteries and farces, past and present, to enjoy. If a little girl empowerment was sniffed around the edges, so much the better, but truly, I really just want you to laugh and keep the pages turning.

SSA: Is there anything scandalous about your writing life that you'd care to confess?

JB: Alas, I was scandalously late turning in my most recent manuscript. And I sometimes go scandalously long between showering. Working from home will do that to you. Other than that, my actual writing life is fairly boring. Anything colorful going on in my writing life, to quote the immortal Mr. Tweedy of the Aardman film Chicken Run (who, incidentally, makes a teensy cameo as a constable in my novel), is "all in me head." 

SSA: Thank you for answering our questions, Julie! We'll let you off the hook again. Stay out of trouble -- or rather, stay in trouble -- we love the creative risks you take, and we can't wait to see what you're cooking up next! 

You can track Julie down at her website, on Twitter (@JulieBerryBooks), and on her Facebook fan page. 
You can buy THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE and Julie's other books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at Independent bookstores near you.

Please enjoy this fabulous trailer for SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD, and then . . .  enter our giveaway! One lucky winner will get a signed hardcover of Julie's new book!



Intrigued? Enter our giveaway on this Rafflecopter thingy below! This giveaway is open internationally. Must be 13+ to enter.
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Interrogation Room #41: Janie Chodosh, author of DEATH SPIRAL

Janie Chodosh, YA mystery author

We have an exciting double debut here at the Sleuths, Spies & Alibis Interrogation Room today! A new author, and a new YA publishing imprint!

Janie Chodosh is the author of the YA mystery DEATH SPIRAL: A FAITH FLORES SCIENCE MYSTERY, which releases tomorrow, April 1. (Yes, we know it's April Fool's Day, but we're serious!) This is Janie's debut novel, and will be the first in a three-part series.  

DEATH SPIRAL also kicks off a new YA publishing imprint, The Poisoned Pencil, which is dedicated to YA mystery. (woo hoo!) You can find out about other forthcoming Poisoned Pencil books here and follow them on Twitter at @PoisonedPencil.

Publisher's Weekly has this to say about DEATH SPIRAL: "Sharp characterization and deft descriptions make this a solid addition to the amateur detective shelf." High praise! Intrigued? We were! Here's a bit more about the first book in this exciting new series:

Life is tough when you have a junkie for a mom. But when sixteen-year-old Faith Flores—scientist wannabe, loner, new girl in town—finds her mom dead on the bathroom floor, she refuses to believe her mom really OD'd. But the cops have closed the case and her Aunt T, with whom she now lives in the Philly ‘burbs, wants Faith to let go and move on.

But a note from Melinda, her mom's junkie friend, leads Faith to a seedy downtown methadone clinic. Were her mom and Melinda trying to get clean?

When Melinda dies of an overdose, Faith tracks down the scientists behind the trial running at the methadone clinic. Soon she's cutting school and lying to everyone—her aunt, her best friend, even the cops. Everyone, that is,  except the strangely alluring Jesse, who believes the “real” education's on the street and whose in-your-face honesty threatens to invade Faith's self-imposed “no-dating” rule. A drug-dealer named Rat-Catcher warns Faith to back off, but it doesn't stop Faith from confronting a genetics professor with a guilty conscience. When the medical examiner's body winds up in the Schuylkill River, Faith realizes if she doesn't act fast, she may be the next body in the morgue. Can Faith stop this deal gone bad from taking a sharp turn for the worse?

And now, Janie Chodosh faces our panel! (We'll go a bit easy on her today, since she's new!)

What was the original seed of the novel? Did you know from the outset that you were going to be writing a mystery?

The original seed for DEATH SPIRAL came from watching a documentary about the human genome project and about the decoding of our DNA—three billion pairs of A’s, C’s, T’s and G’s, and some thirty thousand genes. The knowledge of our inner biological workings seemed to me a Pandora’s box of medical and ethical questions perfect for fiction. When I watched the documentary, scientists were able to patent genes they discovered. (The Supreme Court has since ruled against this patenting of genes). My sinister (though I prefer to say imaginative) mind went crazy. I sat down right away and started brainstorming. If scientists could patent genes could they not hide information? Take advantage of a captive population? Science and medicine for profit, holding scientific information captive. All of these ideas intrigued me.

As young adult mysteries go, you’re a long way from Nancy Drew! Can you describe the process of writing about such topics for teens? Do you consciously tone down for your intended audience? Why or why not?

Teens, especially the upper teenage audience, are completely on board for real life topics and real life debates. I see the mystery of DEATH SPIRAL as one involving justice and ethics, and justice and ethics are topics that teenagers are very interested in. In this regard, I do not tone anything down. Today’s teens have so much to deal with, so much information, and they are exposed to so much. While I don’t write anything that I would consider graphic, be it sex or violence, I stay true to what I imagine Faith, my protagonist, an urban, 16-year-old who was raised by a junkie mother and no father, would experience. If that means swearing, then she swears. I always ask myself if what I am writing is authentic. If not, I delete. One topic I have thought a lot about is sex in a young adult novel. Should it be there or not?  In the myriad YA novels I’ve read, intimate relationships are almost always explored. This does not mean characters are sexually active, but sexuality and intimacy play a part of their growing identity. Since The Poisoned Pencil Press is geared to the older YA reader, I really felt that sex needed to be addressed. Whether they are sexually active or not, teenagers are curious and exploring this aspect of their lives.

What do you find to be the hardest part about writing mystery novels for a younger audience? Did you face any particular challenges, and if so, how did you overcome it?

Many of today’s teen readers want to be entertained, but they also want to be challenged and engaged. How do you accomplish this as a writer? Teens are smart readers, so how do you write a mystery that will hook, engage, entertain, not condescend, not be solvable by page ten, and make them read to the end? These things, for me, are all part of the joy and the challenge or writing a YA mystery. As I write, I’m not conscious of each of these things. I’m conscious of telling a good story with authentic characters. If I stay true to Faith and Jesse (Faith’s love interest) and their quirks and insecurities, and if I imagine my own quirks and insecurities as a teenager (and there were many) then I know I’m doing my job.

As far as the mystery of DEATH SPIRAL is concerned, writing about a teenage sleuth in a scientific mystery, where understanding the science is critical to understanding the book, I had to be careful to explain the science in a way that was not “boring” or didactic. One way I address this is to have Faith and Jesse learn the science together and talk about what they’re learning. This way I can use their voices, their language, and their way of processing, to make the concepts clear. Another challenge in a YA mystery is thinking about what tools teens have available to them. For example, can they drive? Do they have a curfew? Do they have to skip school to investigate a clue? These are things we as adults don’t have to think about.

We understand you have a strong interest in science. How did that interest influence your writing of the book?

To begin with I love natural history. I am an avid bird watcher, which even to me sounds geeky when it’s written down! But I love the outdoors and nature, so that interest always appears in my writing. Even if a character is squeamish in the outdoors; I always acknowledge the presence of the natural world. In terms of a mystery, my husband is a PhD geneticist. Some of the things happening today in what is called personal genomic medicine seem like fiction, maybe even science fiction. I love talking to him about the projects he is working on, and I know from my years as a middle school biology teacher, that genetics has a strong pull for teens. They are very interested in self-discovery, and what topic could address self-discovery better than learning about your own genetic code? I always felt it would be interesting and fun to bridge the gap between my love of literature and my love of science. So coming up with a mystery that revolves around genetics was very exciting. And then to be asked to make the book into a series, really blew me away!

Are you an avid mystery reader yourself? What have been some of your favorite mysteries, real life or fiction?

I have to admit that before I started writing DEATH SPIRAL I was not an avid mystery reader. I am, and was, an avid reader of young adult fiction, but I mostly read realistic fiction. Having said that, I believe most YA, and most books, have an element of mystery. I mean the story has to unfold and if there is enough tension and drama, there is mystery. Now, however, I read many traditional mysteries and I love doing so. I love to do what every good mystery reader does, and try to figure out who the bad guy is and to look for clues.  One of my favorite middle grade mysteries is THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION Recently I read CODE NAME VERITY, which was a fabulous page-turner. I loved the ultimate reveal because it was so not what I was expecting!

DEATH SPIRAL is the first in a series. Did you have an entire series in mind when you started writing?

I definitely did not have a series in mind when I started writing. When my editor suggested a series my first reaction was, “Um. Nope. Don’t think so.” And then, “Why not?” Initially I think I was confusing series with sequels, so when I understood that a series was the same character with a different mystery, I fell in love with the idea because I love Faith and Jesse. Both as individuals and as a unit, they did not feel “done” to me. Having a chance to carry their arc through several books is very exciting.

We don’t see many mystery series for older teens -- they're often stand-alones. What makes the idea of writing a mystery series with a teen sleuth so appealing to you? And are there any challenges in featuring the same teen sleuth across several books?

To be honest, I was worried at first about writing a series with a teen sleuth, or a series at all for that matter. How do you keep each book fresh? I did not want Faith to just happen to fall into another mystery, like OMG! There’s a dead guy, better investigate. I wanted whatever sleuthing she would be doing to be authentic and related to her life circumstances. So what I love about writing book two and thinking about book three is the overall arc of Faith’s story. Where does she need to go for her own healing growth process and journey? I don’t just mean where does she have to go emotionally, but physically. So book two takes Faith to New Mexico. It is in the authentic experience in New Mexico where she finds herself involved with not just one, but two mysteries.  (As if writing one isn’t hard enough). I also like to broaden the “whodunnit” aspect of mystery to personal mystery, in this case the mystery of Faith and her identity. I think teens can really relate to this idea of one’s identity being a mystery. Who am I? In Faith’s case, she does not know who her father is or even what her ethnicity is, so there is a lot of personal mystery for her to figure out.

What writing secret will you reveal only under the harsh lights of the interrogation room?

It takes me a good hour of puttering before I can get writing. I am not a putterer (is that a word?) or a procrastinator by nature, but when it comes to writing, I must, literally MUST, clean something before I sit down to write.

Janie, you can come clean our houses anytime! 

Seriously, thank you for coming in today, and we hope to have you back in here as a "repeat offender" when the next book in the series comes out! 

Here's where to track down Janie Chodosh:

Her website
Facebook
Twitter: @jmegchod

Interrogation Room #40: Elle Cosimano, author of NEARLY GONE

Today marks the release of a book that I've been dying to read since I first met Elle at a conference in the summer of 2011.  A YA thriller with page-turning tension, a mind-bending mystery and a melty romance?  I'll take two!

Kirkus Reviews calls NEARLY GONE "Tense and engaging."  Publishers Weekly says that "Cosimano weaves together math riddles, science-based clues, an edgy romance, and psychological terror to create an unpredictable page-turner."  And, in a starred review, School Library Journal said, "Eloquently written and packed full of suspense, debut author Cosimano strikes gold with this page-turning thriller that will have teens chomping at the bit to get to the end."

Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school--a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon--she'll be next.


Elle agreed to sit in the interrogation room to allow us to help celebrate the launch of her debut novel, and to learn more about the book that has readers staying up into the wee hours of the morning.

1)  I know you are an alumni of the Writer's Police Academy.  How did your experiences there influence NEARLY GONE?

Every class I take at WPA is an opportunity. The experiences and lessons ad authenticity and a richness to my settings, plots, and characters. But a few in particular stand out as being exceptionally helpful with this book. First were the classes I took about serial killers -- the various kinds, what defines them as such, and perhaps most importantly for me, what motivates them. My killer needed a motive. There had to be a compelling reason for the murders. And these classes helped take me inside my killer's head.

The other was a ride-along with a deputy sheriff. During our ride, he took me through a trailer park very much like the one my character lives in. We talked at length about the challenges residents face there, and the types of crimes they often see, and how the teens in this neighborhood adapt to the challenges of poverty, drugs, and unsafe living conditions. It was an eye-opening first-hand look into Nearly's life, and I felt the experience brought me much closer to her story. During the same ride-along, I learned that the deputy had a lot of previous experience working with confidential informants. I had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions about CI's (what motivates them and how they work) that helped me to better understand Reece's character.

2) I love that your main character, Nearly Boswell, is obsessed with the personal ads, and that the killer uses the personal ads to leave clues to the upcoming murders.  Where did this aspect of the story come from?  Did you read a lot of personal ads to prepare?

The inspiration for Nearly's character came from watching one of my co-workers read the Missed Connections during her lunch break at work. She read them obsessively, making fun of the people who wrote them, but when she thought she was alone, she looked so lonely reading them. As if maybe she secretly hoped one of the ads had been written for her. I did read a lot of Missed Connection ads when preparing to write certain scenes of the story. Some of them did make me laugh. But a lot of them were heartbreaking too. It was a fascinating look into Nearly's world, and it really got me thinking about what she might be looking for in those ads.

3) I find that writing a mystery presents its own set of challenges.  What was your process for constructing the mystery?  Did you plot it out in advance?  Were their suprises along the way?

I created a loose plot and an outline, but tried to give myself the freedom to recognize opportunities along the way. This left the door open for some really fun surprises. Of course, it also leaves openings in the floor for some big, fat plot holes. Once the guts of the mystery and plot were in place, it took me several passes to tie up all the loose ends. 

4) What was the most challenging aspect of writing a thriller for a young adult audience?

The things I love about YA lit are also the elements that make it so challenging to write. Within the scope of YA, genres can be bent and blended any which way. It's not unusual to see books that fall into three or four different categories, as is the case with NEARLY GONE. It's a thriller, and a mystery. It has a pinch of paranormal, but could be described as contemporary, and it has a strong romantic thread. It's definitely YA, but it has a lot of cross-over appeal for adult readers. And the trick with a book that crosses so many boundaries is that it has to commit to do all of these things well. NEARLY GONE couldn't be just a great thriller. It had to have a solid mystery that's difficult to solve. It had to have a compelling romance. And the paranormal elements had to be woven in very carefully. 

5) Rumor has it that NEARLY GONE has an amazing romantic element.  How did you balance the romantic aspects of the story with the thriller aspect?  Were you influenced by any particular authors or genres?

The romance between Nearly and Reece was the spoke in my wheel while I was building the story. It's the part of the story that remained the same from draft to shelf, the part I held tight to when the rest all fell away through three major revisions. In Nearly and Reece's case, the balance has always come from the tension between them -- tension that helped keep the plot tight and magnify the other conflicts in the story. For the romance to stand out, the tension had to be strong enough to stand up to the tension of a rising body count. If the romance wasn't as tense as the mystery or the thriller elements, then it would fall even flatter by comparison to the rest of the story. Nearly and Reece had to be strong. There had to be fire between them. And their romance had to be tested at every turn.

6) NEARLY GONE is your debut novel.  What has been the most satisfying part of the publication journey for you so far?

It's a strange and lonely thing, to have all these characters living inside your head, and then on the page. They almost don't seem real until I share them with someone else -- a crit partner, my agent, my editor. And suddenly, lots of people are getting to meet Nearly. Her story is out in the world, and so is the piece of my heart where she lived for the three years it took to bring her into the world. It's a beautiful and terrifying thing, to finally be able to share her with so many people. 

7) Now that NEARLY GONE is out in the world, what's next for Nearly?  For Elle?

A sequel, NEARLY LOST, is planned for release in 2015, in which Nearly takes an internship at a local forensics lab, and the crimes start hitting a little too close to home. As for me, I'm looking forward to attending RT Convention in New Orleans in May, and another round at the Writers Police Academy in September.

Visit Elle on Facebook

Visit Elle on Twitter

___________________________________________________________________________________
Elle Cosimano is the daughter of a prison warden and an elementary school teacher who rides a Harley. As a teen, she spent summers working on a fishing boat, baiting hooks and lugging buckets of bait. She majored in Psychology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and set aside a successful real-estate career to pursue writing. She lives with her husband and two young sons, and divides her time between her home near Washington, DC and a jungle tree house in the Mayan Riviera.

Interrogation Room #39: Elisa Ludwig, author of PRETTY SLY

Today marks the release of our very own Elisa Ludwig's PRETTY SLY, the sequel to her heart-pounding debut, PRETTY CROOKED, about teenage thief Willa Fox.

PRETTY SLY, called a "crackling-good adventure" by Kirkus, asks the question, "What would you do if your mom disappeared and forbade you to come after her?"

In between celebrations for her launch, Elisa bravely agreed to an interrogation about her writing process.

1) Something I'm dying to know: How did you research the terrific scene where Tre teaches Willa how to pick-pocket in PRETTY CROOKED?

Heh heh. I used a combination of my own real life experience as a pickpocket victim, some shady websites and some very cool YouTube videos—there's a great BBC series called The Real Hustle, which gave me some interesting ideas for mixing up the thieving scenes. The reality is there's a lot of criminal how-to out there for the reading, but that could be a good thing, if people use it to avoid being victimized.

2) Can readers expect to see some familiar faces in PRETTY SLY (besides Willa and Aidan)? Did you pluck any smaller roles from the first book and give them a larger presence in the second book?

Yes, the principle characters are all there, though the Glitterati only have a bit part, which turns the catty quotient in this sequel way down from the first book! I don't know that anyone has a larger presence but even the main characters in the first book are pretty mysterious and secretive, so the second book deepens our understanding of them—but also raises many new questions ...

3) How much downtime did you have between books? Was it easy or difficult to return to characters from the first book? 

I think I finished PRETTY CROOKED in February and started PRETTY SLY in May or June. Not too much time had elapsed, and I was working on copyedits and things while drafting the sequel so that helped keep everything fresh. I loved coming back to the same characters. It was so much easier to start a book in a place where I already understood my characters and their motivations. Sometimes that process alone will take a few drafts. It allowed me to focus on the increasingly more complicated plot!

4) Was your high school experience anything like the experiences of your characters? Was there a clear-cut line between the haves and have-nots?

My high school experience was only similar in that I went to a private school and, as a middle class student, was very aware of class distinctions and how students communicated their status through clothing, cars, etc. While the mean girl behavior in my high school was much more subtle, there was certainly a sense that some (but not all) of the most privileged kids "ruled the school" socially. But I was definitely more of a fringe-y character than Willa. Like the Say Anything dudes say, "by choice, man." Or so I told myself!

5) What challenges did you face in writing SLY that were different from writing CROOKED? Was anything easier the second time around?

I think the challenge with SLY was to make Willa's experience more difficult and keep turning those screws. This book has much higher stakes: she's in greater danger and she's also facing some really difficult emotional truths. The tone here shifts as a result, and keeping that in balance with Willa's bubbly personality and the lighter feel of the first book was at times tricky. On the other hand, I felt really lucky that SLY sends things in such a different direction that it truly felt like a whole new adventure to write. As I said, the characters were much easier the second time around, and I think I had a much better handle on the structure of the story from the very beginning. Also, it certainly didn't hurt that I was working with the same brilliant editors, so I always had their voice in my head when I was drafting, keeping me on course.

6) When you wrote PRETTY CROOKED, did you always know it would have a sequel, or did you envision it as a stand-alone? If you did map out the sequel early on, how much did the finished product of PRETTY SLY compare to your original plan?

I always knew it would be a trilogy. Parts of PRETTY SLY were imagined originally as part of PRETTY CROOKED (through the first leg of their road trip, basically), but as time went on it became clear that Willa's time at Valley Prep really deserved its own book. That being said, all of the key clues except maybe a couple we added in copy edits were already in the first book when it came time to write the second. The third book was much more vaguely conceived going into it, and it probably changed the most dramatically in revisions—down to the actual answer to the mystery!

7) Besides Willa's vicariously satisfying Robin Hood-esque scheme of "spreading the wealth around" at her school, there is a second, overarching mystery about Willa's mother. When you have two (or three!) separate mysteries going on, how do you keep track of each person's head space at different points of their respective time lines? 

Oh, man. That's only the tip of the iceberg with this series! It can be tough, that's for sure. I wish I was one of those people who used Post-Its or a big magic marker or something, but truthfully, I just used a lot of Kanye West all-caps-esque notes to myself in the text as I wrote. Stuff like "REMEMBER: SHE ONLY KNOWS X,Y and Z, HERE!!!" and "HOW THE HECK IS SHE GOING TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION?!!"

9) PRETTY CROOKED resolves certain plot elements perfectly, while still serving as a cliffhanger. Did you get any angry letters about the ending? Was it difficult to write a conclusion that leads directly into a new adventure?

Yes! Maybe not super-angry, but a lot of teasing and frustrating ones. My editors and I went back and forth about where to leave things, and ultimately decided on the cliffhanger, which has its old-fashioned charms. I wouldn't say it was difficult to write that ending but I maybe felt a bit guilty to do that to readers. I hope PRETTY SLY will satisfy them!

10) I love Aidan and Willa's banter, as well as Willa's friendship-chemistry with Cherise and Tre. Do you have particular techniques you draw on to keep your dialogue so sharp? 

Thank you so much! I like to read dialogue out loud (if no one else is in the house!) to get a feel for how someone might really say something. And it's definitely something I fine-tune in revision, stripping it back more and more, because most people speak much more efficiently than I actually write.

11) When is book #3 coming out?

March 2015!

Check out the trailer for PRETTY SLY, below, and then enter to win a free copy of BOTH BOOKS!




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Interrogation Room #36: Lamar Giles

That swishing sound you hear right now might be all of us at Sleuths Spies & Alibis rubbing our hands together with anticipation. Once again, the interrogation room spotlight turns to one of our own. This time it's Lamar Giles, whose long-awaited YA mystery/thriller FAKE ID releases from  Amistad/HarperCollins today!

Here's some facts we've pulled from the Lamar Giles case file.

He writes for both adults and teens; penning everything from epic fantasy to noir thrillers to a magic-infused short story that was recently published at YARN, he's never met a genre he didn't like. 

He resides in Chesapeake, Virginia with his wife. 

He's the guy in charge of our blog design and technical issues. So he wields a certain power here . . .  I suspect we will have to tread carefully in this particular interrogation.

Now, about the book. That's what you really want to hear about, right?

FAKE ID is about a high school guy in a witness protection program, who unravels a murder mystery. Intrigued? Here's a teaser:

Nick Pearson is hiding in plain sight…

My name isn’t really Nick Pearson.

I shouldn’t tell you where I’m from or why my family moved to Stepton, Virginia.

I shouldn’t tell you who I really am, or my hair, eye, and skin color.

And I definitely shouldn’t tell you about my friend Eli Cruz and the major conspiracy he was about to uncover when he died—right after I moved to town. About how I had to choose between solving his murder with his hot sister, Reya, and “staying low-key” like the Program has taught me. About how moving to Stepon changed my life forever.

But I’m going to.
.

It's time to put Lamar in the hot seat. Here's our interrogation transcript!

What was the inspiration for this book? Did you always know it was going to be a mystery?

FAKE ID was inspired by a non-fiction book called WITSEC: INSIDE THE FEDERAL WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM by Gerald Shur and Pete Earley. Mr. Shur founded the witness protection program and wrote about the difficulties in getting it started, which included difficult witnesses who didn’t follow the rules. This real life idea felt like fertile ground for a compelling story, so I sort of ran with that. 

I knew it would be a mystery, but it started out as a very different sort of mystery. Originally, the protagonist was an adult female, but it just felt flat. Around the same time I started writing it, I was reading some great YA fiction that inspired me to shake my story up. A teen instead of an adult. A male instead of female. Once I did that, it felt like the book wrote itself.

FAKE ID’s main character happens to be in a witness protection program. How did you go about researching what life would be like for him? Is there much information out there about witness protection programs?

At the time I was drafting FAKE ID (early 2009) I was not able to find much modern material on WITSEC, and for good reason. Lives depend on there being very little information available to the public (now, surprisingly, there are a ton of websites and articles about the program, even a lengthy CSPAN video featuring Mr. Shur himself). But, Mr. Shur’s book was an excellent resource. And, there’s a bonus to FAKE ID being fiction . . . I could make a bunch of stuff up.

That being said, I used a family dynamic I was familiar with as a template for Nick Pearson’s (the main character's) life. Military families. The Pearsons move frequently, similar to kids I grew up around when I lived near Fort Lee in Virginia. The difference is there’s nothing to be proud of when the Pearsons move. There are no orders, no pride in serving our country. So, add shame to the stress of constantly starting over (with new names and knowledge that gangsters want you dead) and I had plenty to work with without a lot of current facts about WITSEC.

What do you find to be the hardest part about writing a mystery/crime novel for a younger audience? Did you face any particular challenge  -- and if so, how did you overcome it?

The most difficult part about writing a crime novel for a younger audience was keeping any violence more implied than graphic. I started my writing career writing adult stories, which, obviously, allows for more explicit descriptions of a crime like murder. In the first draft of FAKE ID, I’d written some pivotal scenes to be more visceral than what’s probably appropriate for a younger audience. An easy fix once I revised, but I had to keep reminding myself that my goal wasn’t to give the reader nightmares. At least not this time. 

What did you find most enjoyable about writing a mystery for teens? 

I really enjoyed putting myself (back) in the headspace of a guy in his mid-teens. Of course fashion, music, and technology have evolved since the time I was Nick Pearson’s age, but what I came to discover through my own recollections and conversations with teens who are relatives and family friends was the emotions don’t change. I found myself digging out old yearbooks and playing the songs that were important to me at that age. There were a lot of fond, awkward, and horrid memories that mirror the experiences teens go through today (and probably throughout time). Really, I think it’s more accurate to call those experiences “human” experiences as opposed to “teen” experiences. But, yes, going there was the best experience. It felt a little like time travel.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

My most sincere hope is that readers can walk away from this book feeling like they’ve had a satisfying and entertaining experience (in other words, the same feeling I’ve felt upon completing some of my favorite books). Yes, I want FAKE ID to be your favorite book…I’m not afraid to admit it.

Are you an avid mystery reader yourself? (We hope so, since you’re on this blog!) What are some of your favorites, or some authors who have inspired you?

I do enjoy mysteries a great deal. I’ve said many times on this blog that I’m a huge Peter Abrahams fan (REALITY CHECK is one of my favorite YA books). Other mystery writers I enjoy include Barry Lyga, Dennis Lehane, April Henry, and, seriously, every single one of the writers here at Sleuths, Spies, and Alibis.

(Aw. Thanks!) Will you be a “repeat offender” and write more mysteries and crime fiction? Or do you see yourself writing in other genres as well?

Yes and Yes. I’ve already written another crime novel, tentatively titled ENDANGERED, and it’s about a teen photographer who exposes the secrets of her cruel classmates on the web and unwittingly inspires a killer to target the bullies. For my third book, I’d like to write a sequel to FAKE ID, but that’s all dependent on how much readers would like to see Nick’s story continue.

Regarding other genres, I have some things in the works. I’m not allowed to discuss details just yet, but I started in publishing writing horror and dark fantasy stories. Let’s just say I haven’t forgotten my roots. 

What writing secret will you reveal only under the harsh lights of this interrogation room?

Make finishing work a habit. It’s okay to start projects and abandon them from time to time (I sure have), but your M.O. should be more work gets finished than cast aside. If you’re a part of this business, you have to be able to produce complete (not perfect) drafts, sometimes very quickly. Develop the skill to finish constantly and the rest will fall into place. 

Want to win a copy of FAKE ID? (You know you do!) Lamar is giving away one hardcover copy here, which he will sign. This is a quick giveaway, so enter now!

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Lamar Giles

Author of FAKE ID | HarperCollins Children's Books/Amistad | 1.21.2014 - order your copy today!

Lamargiles.com

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 What Readers Are Saying about FAKE ID:

“Fast action, judicious plot twists, and sufficiently evil teens and adults should keep thrill-seeking readers awake long into the night. ” - Kirkus Reviews

“A taut, suspenseful thriller filled with unexpected twists. You’ll be cheering for Nick Pearson from the very first page. I loved FAKE ID! ” - Michelle Gagnon, author of  DON’T TURN AROUND and DON’T LOOK NOW

“...this mystery delivers code red, heart-thumping action..”  - Crystal Allen, author of THE LAURA LINE and HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA- SIZED TROPHY