Wednesday 15 February 2012

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Katie Charles


What is Land of Misfit Teens?

KATIE: Land of Misfit Teens is about a girl name Amelia MacDonald who is dealing with the recent lost of her mother, and to make matters worse the local university her father taught at closed down without enough students to keep it open. He finds a new job, but they are forced to move to the gang-ridden projects of Chicago. Amelia does her best to keep true to herself in a school where you are either part of the cool crowd or your not. She finds that being a ‘misfit’ is better than being part of the majority of the school. They are misfits for a reason, right? They have to have something cool about them. And that is what attracts Amelia to the group, and more so, to Drake.

How long did it take to write it?

KATIE: It started as an idea for the longest time without any real substance. I think I restarted it at least three times. But once I got to the point where everything clicked and I liked I was doing, it took me about a month to write the book.


Writing space.

KATIE: My writing space is everywhere. My messy desk, my bed, the grass outside my window at college. I even wrote 7,000 words on an airplane. I don’t have a consistent writing place. It all depends on what I am writing and how I am feeling.


Inspiration for Land of Misfit Teens

KATIE: It was pointed out to me that my book is similar to my own life experience. I moved across the country after my freshmen year of high school, and Amelia moved during her senior year. I found myself in a spot where I was demanded to change. And I refused to. Amelia in the book does the same thing, staying true to herself. I hope that this book provides inspiration to those teenagers that are asked to change, so stay true to you.

Title.

KATIE: I came up with the title as I was writing. There is one part of the book where Amelia references the movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Island of Misfit Toys, and how she and her new friends were kind of like all those misfit toys. It worked.

Amelia’s Strengths.



KATIE: Her strength is her strong sense of self-awareness and confidence in who she is and where she comes from. She's strong enough in who she is not to conform to the ideas of others and what they think she should be. She knows who she is and she is not going to let anyone change that; a trait I think is lacking in teenagers these days.


Hollywood.

For the three main people . . .
KATIE: Amelia – Emily Browning. I see her most as Violet in “The Series of Unfortunate Events.” Clearly the eye color and hairstyle needs to be different to fit Amelia.

Drake - Nolan Gerard Funk. I had never casted Drake for inspiration before, and let me tell you, looking for someone who had Drake qualities was a challenge! Out of everyone I looked at, he fit the best.



Liam MacDonald – David Tennant. I had him planed from the start. I had no problem with this one. In fact if I need inspiration I looked at his photo or watched a few minutes of Doctor Who -- I am a huge Doctor Who fan. David Tennant is quirky and eccentric and 'out there'... a bit like Da.


E-reader.

KATIE: Yes I have an E-reader. I love it! I have the Nook. It has been a while since I have bought a book because I am wicked busy with school. I'm a BioChem major, and the workload is pretty heavy. But I have recently been reading Mistaken Identity written by Desert Breeze Author, K. Dawn Byrd, and I really like it.

Music?

KATIE: Yes, I love music when I write. In fact, I have different play list on YouTube for what I am writing. Fanfiction, Land of Misfit Teens, anything else. Music is key to my writing, and I have a wide range of likes, from Lighthouse to Nightwish to my grandfather singing outlaw country.

Reality TV.

KATIE: Well, I don’t watch TV all that much, but when I have nothing to do in the middle of the day I like watching Jerry Springer, just so I can watch how messed up people can be and be thankful it's not me and my family. HA HA HA. Not sure if Jerry Springer can really qualify as 'reality TV', but that's about as close as I get.


BUY LINKS:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/land-of-misfit-toys-katie-charles/1107819010?ean=2940013522442&itm=1&usri=katie+charles

(Barnes and noble)

http://www.amazon.com/Land-of-Misfit-Teens-ebook/dp/B006G5N7WQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328819794&sr=8-1

(Amazon)

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-253/Land-of-Misfit-Teens/Detail.bok

(Desert Breeze Publishing)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdVTwKjbPgU

(Video trailer)

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