Marybeth Smith: FALL GIRL

Right, folks. ‘Member that series of promo posts I talked about last time? Well, here it goes. And first in line is the gal who induced me to abandon my non-YA policy, Marybeth Smith!

I mean, look at that face. How could I not host her? 

You may be wondering what Marybeth did to change my mind. No, she didn’t bribe me with vodka (though perhaps I should’ve asked). Rather, it’s that somewhere beneath my calloused, stony, alcohol-soaked shell, I have a soft spot for people who’re passionate about worthy causes. And if you’re curious which cause Marybeth is passionate about…read on. You’ll figure it out soon enough.

Now, then! On with the interview.

So, Marybeth (I totally dig that your first name is two names in one, btw), why'd you decide to write FALL GIRL?

I wanted to make a point that mental illnesses affect more than just the person suffering from it. I wanted to show that it affects the entire family. Especially the siblings.

Your main character doesn't suffer from bipolar disorder, but members of her family do. Is there a reason you chose to write the story this way?

Well, I kinda tried to consider what it will be like for my daughter as a teen. I wondered how my son's bipolar would affect her and her social life.

The YA writer mother was awesome, but you can come clean: were you poking fun at yourself a little when you wrote her? ;)

Um ... I may or may not ... okay totally may have based the mom around me. The first scene I ever wrote was the kitchen scene in chapter two. The one between her and her mother. I totally pictured my daughter as a teen and what she would think of me with my Harry Potter T Shirt and my awesomesauce talk. I couldn't help but play it up a bit. To be honest, every family member of the Jones' family is a bit like each member of my own family. It's what keeps me entertained as the writer!

Admittedly, it's been a while since I was in high school (er...way too long, actually), but one thing I noticed was that all the drama felt very real, very adolescent. How much of your own personal experience went into the writing of this story?

Is it possible for me to plead the fifth on this one? Alright, admittedly, there are certain scenes and certain characters similar to those of my (way too long ago) high school days. Each character has a wee bit of of my past weaved into them. That's probably why I like them so much though!

How do you feel about the self-publishing experience so far? D'you think you'll follow that same path for future books?

Ah ... self publishing ... there's a whole tale in its own. Well, it's had its ups and downs. I started out with the agent route ... but when the agent I REALLY wanted and really fit my story said, "I love your writing, but I just signed someone with a similar story," I kinda decided to make my own path. I didn't really care if the book sold, I just wanted to get it out there. I needed to make my story known and let people going through these things know that they are not alone.

However, after my sales hit almost 50K, I'm not gonna lie, I was a tiny bit giddy!

As I am currently working on the sequel, I keep going back and forth on the agent vs. self publishing bit. I've learned so much through this experience, made tons of mistakes, fixed them and learned more ... I feel a slightly overwhelming (yes there is such thing as slightly overwhelming ... it's my interview, right?) urge to do it even better this time. However, I know it will be easier to get my books in actual stores if I go the traditional route.

I suppose I will know more once I finish the first draft, but as of right now, I'm leaning toward self publishing. It's the ambitiousness that is pushing me to do it bigger and better than the first book. I'm kinda crazy like that ;)

So...do Annabelle and Tony end up together for the long haul? C'mon...you can tell me. I won't tell anyone else....

Wouldn't you like to know! :D Well, they are definitely in for some VERY large challenges in the near future. I'm not even sure how I am going to come to terms with everything that happens next. But yeah ... um ... totally ... they find a way to make it work ... maybe.…

Oh, fine. Be coy like that. Pfft. ;)

*

So that’s Marybeth, folks. Nice, isn’t she?

And, because I’m technically competent like that, here’s an image of her book cover that links to her author website. Why not go see what she’s about, huh?

 

Oh, and if you’re curious about her book (yes, I read it—I’m allowed to read YA every now and then, even if i don’t write it, aren’t I?), you can find links on Marybeth’s author site. Or, y’know, just follow the ones I’ve posted below. That’d work too.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Powell’s

There we go, folks! My very first YA-promoting post. Whaddya think? Should I do more in the future? Should I insist on Skype interviews next time? With tequila shots?  I bet that’d make for some interesting viewing, ne? Do tell; I’m waiting with bated breath for your thoughts.

Till next time, y’all. Be well, and have an extra vodka for me.

Cheers!

Take my blog. Please!

Okay, no. I don’t mean you. And not you either, so quit salivating over the URL. It’s not waterproof.

No, what I mean by that title is that I’m starting a series here on the ol’ blog, in which I highlight and promote the book releases of some of my favorite people around the interwebz. I mean, I know you’re going to miss the regular humorous and helpful content I’ve been posting these past few months (:cough:), but you can deal with it. I have faith in you, dear readers.

See, a lot of lovely folk around the blogosphere have accomplished wonderful writerly things recently, from agent signings to sales to book releases, and I’d love to introduce you to these hardworking folk, and perhaps entice you to sample their wares, yes?

I’ll warn you in advance, though: some of my bloggie-friends write YA. I know, right?

“Simon,” you’re saying, “you’re…not a YA kind of guy. What with the alcoholism and stories about sex and violence and all that.”

Case study in why my blog isn’t YA, part 1. Also, hai, Cristina.

And I totally agree. I don’t do YA. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the work of those who do.

I used to have a policy for the blog, I confess. I wasn’t going to review YA, since I haven’t made any particular efforts to make the blog YA-friendly. But then I realized that, despite my non-YA-ness, I have a lot of YA-writing and reading readers, if you follow. So why not promote my YA-publishing friends?

Thus it went.

So. You can expect a series of indeterminate length over the next few weeks, promoting my friends’ stuff. Why not, after all? What’s the good in having a blog if you can’t help people out every now and then? It’s good karma.

And my karma needs all the help it can get.

Now where’s my vodka?

Oh. There it is. Anna stole it. Give it back, you vixen!

On Self-Flagellation

I’ve been doing a lot of running and cycling recently, writer-friends. (That, incidentally, is a partial explanation for the lack o’ activity on the ol’ blog, but we’ll leave that alone for the time being.) Why have I been doing this, you may ask? Well...I’ll try and unpack that for you, eh?

Sure, there’s the fact that it’s simply beneficial for my health. It feels good to be able to drop a 5k run or 20 mile bike ride on any given day. But, as with most things when it comes to my psychology, it’s not that simple.

So let’s talk body image, shall we? Yup, I’m going there. Y’know this constant bombardment we’re all subjected to from TV, movies, the internet, and magazines? Those oft-photoshopped images of bodily perfection? Well, you ladies in my readership may or may not know this, but we men are susceptible to their influence too. (Some of us, anyway.) How can we not judge ourselves when the covers of men’s magazines all too often promise the secret to chiseled abs and a sculpted body, as if that were the sole measure of masculine worth?

Also, I’m getting old. Yeah, sure, 35 isn’t old, per se, but it’s moving in that direction. Every trip to the hairdresser shows the years in the sprinkle of grey on the black plastic shawl. If I train hard enough, drive my body mercilessly enough, can I defy time for a while?

On an intellectual level, I can see these hidden motivators, and even understand the unhealthy thought processes that feed them. Yet they’re still powerful.

And I think many of us do the same kind of thing with writing.

We make unrealistic comparisons (OMG, I just finished Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, and how much do I suck!?); we buy the media’s messages about our work (OMG, I heard vampires are SO last year! Why am I writing UF anyway? Every agent I query’s going to personally come my house and punch me in the kidney!); and we—even those of us who’ve been at it a while—often receive critiques of our work as though each flaw in our manuscripts is indicative of deep flaws in us as human beings.

We intellectually understand that these attitudes are both wrongheaded and unhelpful, yet they still hold power.

Yes, exercise is healthy, but six-pack abs and triathlon-caliber cardio fitness won’t make me happy in the long run if those are my primary criteria for self-worth. Similarly, an agent, a publisher, and a six-figure book deal (ha!) won’t buy me long-term satisfaction either, because that public...she’s awfully fickle; heartbreak’s only a single failed book away.

Ultimately, a balanced perspective is healthiest. Exercise for fitness, but don’t judge yourself according to the impossible standards beamed into your brain by the media. Write because you love it, but don’t “mount your merit on the masses” (as J.S. Chancellor says, and Michelle Davidson Argyle likes to quote).

I’m still going for a bike ride tomorrow morning, though. >.>

(What? I never said I was consistent....)

(Also, do as I say, not as I do.)

(Now where’s my vodka?)