All about Melissa Walker and UNBREAK MY HEART

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BY MINDI SCOTT

Michelle and I thought it would be fun to include interviews here at our blog. So we’ll be doing that sometimes!

As it happens, author Melissa Walker recently answered a few Very Important Questions for me about herself and her newest book, Unbreak My Heart, so she gets to be the first here. Hooray! 🙂

First, I want to tell you, there’s a fun contest going on where you can make a breakup playlist on Spotify for a chance to win an iPod loaded with the soundtrack to Unbreak My Heart (and the book!). You can find out more about that here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/bloomsbury-teens/announcing-the-unbreak-your-heart-playlist-contest-on-spotify/391423114232968

And now for the Very Important Questions!

1. At age eight, what did you want to be when you grew up? And at age eighteen? And while you’re at it, what about at age twenty-eight?

Melissa Walker: I think I wanted to be a vet until I saw some blood. Then at 18, I wanted to be a magazine editor. I did that. And at 28, actually, I got my first book contract, so I changed tracks again–YA writer! Yay!

2. Which Breakfast-Club-style label would have best fit your teenage self?

MW: Of the original Breakfast Club labels, I suppose “princess” would fit best, or maybe “brain.” Princess brain? I remember once my dad told me his college girlfriend was a “Party Girl Genius.” I LOVED that description. I wanted to be THAT. I still try to be, sometimes.

3. Without giving away too much from your newest book, which character or scene from it are you the most pleased to have created, and why?

MW: I love the little sister, Olive. She ran away with her scenes and I had so much fun hearing what came out of her mouth!

4. Which are your favorite movies to watch again and again?

MW: Gone With the Wind, Point Break, Top Gun, Boogie Nights, Goonies… if these are on TV, I’m not going anywhere.

5. And, now, the most important question of all: Beatles or Elvis? Please support your answer. 😉

MW: Ack! As a kid I loved Elvis SO MUCH. I even went to Graceland when I was 18! But now I adore The Beatles. I listened to them while in the hospital giving birth to my daughter, so they win.

Thank you for stopping by, Melissa, and best of luck with your newest book! 

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About Unbreak My Heart:

PhotobucketThe year that broke her heart. The summer that healed it. A dual love story.

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

About the author: MELISSA WALKER is the author of Small Town Sinners, the Violet on the Runway series and Lovestruck Summer. She has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor. Melissa manages I Heart Daily, an e-newsletter and blogs for ReaderGirlz, an online community for teens. A Chapel Hill, NC native, Melissa now lives in Brooklyn, NY. http://www.melissacwalker.com

These Are My Confessions. Not the Usher Kind. (The Writey Kind.)

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By Michelle Andreani

So, remember when Mindi wrote that fun post about listening to music to help channel her characters? And you know how lots of authors say they like writing to music? That some even create their own playlists for their books?

Confession #1: It all makes me very jealous.

Confession #2: Because I can’t really write to music.

I know! What a burden to bear, feeling so different. Like being the only person you know who’s never been to Disney World. (Confession #3.)

Don’t get me wrong, I love the connection between writing and music. There have been many times I’ve listened to a song and thought: “CHARACTER THEME SONG!” And those songs are always fun for dance breaks in between writing. (Excellent caffeine substitute, btw. Lately, it’s been this for me. You may borrow it.) But for the times when I’m actually writing, it just doesn’t work. (Maybe I’m not listening to the lyrics? Or maybe I’m listening too much? FRUSTRATED!)

Whatever the reason, I’ve found I’m most happy with the authenticity of my character’s voice when (Confession #4) I write to TV shows.

Does that sound weird?

It certainly doesn’t sound as cool and artsy as writing to music, so there’s that, is something you might be thinking.

Okay, true! But allow me to explain. You can’t just choose your TV-shows-to-write-to all willy-nilly, so that’s why there’s a method. A fun method, even. (Fine, fun-ish.) You’ve got to play matchmaker. And your goal? True Character/TV Love.

For instance: When I was spending my days on a previous WIP, I wrote to one of my faves, Gilmore Girls.

So much bouncy energy, right? And you see, my main character was kind of a babbling, awkward (and hopefully endearing) mess of a girl. I knew the rhythm of her voice so well — it was snappy and kind of non-stop. So, listening to Gilmore Girls, with its own insane and rapid-fire flow, helped me settle into her head even more. (Plus it made me smile, which came in handy when the writing DID NOT.)

Character/TV Compatibility: Perfect Match!

Now that I’m in Cloudy’s head, and she’s a different kind of gal, I can’t very well write to Gilmore Girls. (See? Method!) Instead, I wanted something with more bite, something a little feistier. So, I’ve been running episodes of my beloved Veronica Mars on loop. In case you’re not familiar (and oh goodness, I can’t even think about that, get thee to Netflix post-haste!):

Oof, that scene. ANYWAY. While I’m still getting comfy with Cloudy’s voice, Veronica Mars has the tone I’m liking for her. There’s a sharpness, a toughness to the characters, but they’re also spectacularly vulnerable, and it all comes across onscreen and in the dialogue. That’s what I hope for in Cloudy.

Character/TV Compatibility: TBD. But the outlook is good!

So, I’m not totally out of line, right? I mean, I’ll admit that cueing up TheWB.com isn’t as romantic-sounding as clicking play on the perfect song. And I’ll also admit that writing to TV can be dangerous:

Beware: Your cat may try to sabotage your efforts by breaking your Gilmore Girls DVD set.

But when it comes to your character, I’m all for doing what works best for you – music, TV, silence, whatever! It’s just lucky that what’s been working for me is spending quality time with Logan Echolls. 😉

Smells Like High School

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Steph and Mindi

Stephanie Perkins & me in Seattle, April 2012. Photo by Sarah S. Moon

BY MINDI SCOTT

I have always had a thing for men’s cologne. In my teen years, I’d spray myself with samples at the men’s fragrance counter instead of the women’s so that I could take sniffs of Sexy Man Smell on my wrist all day long.

Weird, right?

So, when someone tweeted a few weeks ago that author Stephanie Perkins uses fragrance as part of her writing process*, I became inspired to try it for myself. Because mmmm! Cologne!

Since I’m not picky, I bought a sporty Adidas scent (Dynamic Pulse!) for, like, eight dollars. My husband took a whiff and said, “Yup. Smells like high school.”

Exactly what I’m going for!

Whether or not my narrator, Kyle, would actually wear this brand (I’m kind of thinking not), I have to say that I’m very glad that I SU1HMDA4NDMtMjAxMjA1MDctMTYxMi5qcGcborrowed this idea from Stephanie. I’ve only been using the fragrance idea for about a week, but I find it to be a very cool technique for connecting with my character. I’m hoping that as I continue learning his voice, inhaling this scent during writing sessions will trigger Kyle-ness in my brain make me more productive and effective at writing him.  (Ha! Do I have high hopes or what?)

*I wish that I could tell you more about how Stephanie uses fragrance, but I have no idea! I can’t find the original tweet and I don’t know who posted it. Useless!

Hold the Phone! (Co-writing and Communicating)

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By Michelle Andreani

I hate to admit so soon in our relationship that I don’t know everything, but here we go: I wasn’t really aware that co-written novels existed until six years ago. That was when I stumbled into a Borders (RIP) and upon Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s dazzling Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist*.  I grabbed the novel without a second thought (it says right on the back cover that there’s kissing = the Only Purchase Incentive I Ever Need Ever), but I didn’t know how it would grab me.

It wasn’t until I’d finished reading Nick & Norah that I wondered how it had even happened. How did two super-talented writers join forces and write one super-wonderful book?

I didn’t wonder for too long, though. (I think Taylor Hicks won American Idol that year, so there was that to deal with.) I just knew I wanted to do it.

Sooo distracting! You don’t even remember what this post is about, do you?

When we first began brainstorming, Mindi and I did so over email. Mindi was busy with revisions for Live Through This — you should maybe definitely pre-order it right now. I’ll wait here . . . Ready? Okay, good! So, since Mindi was hard at work, and I’d been reduced to a shrunken head after the most God-awful writing year of my life, we began throwing out ideas casually and just for fun. But soon enough, it was Really Happening. We’d found our story! We’d found Cloudy and Kyle! Hooray!

That’s when, six-or-so years post-Nick & Norah, with no Taylor Hicks to distract me, I had to start wondering how this co-writing thing worked. Would there just be more emails? Skyping? PHONE CALLS?!

(This is where I should tell you that I HATE talking on the phone. And you can tell I mean HATE because I capitalized, bolded, and italicized the word “HATE.” Which is big-time emotion.)

My soul sister.

Thankfully, Mindi’s had mercy on me — there have been no phone calls. (Which I guess might sound weird to some? But I find it Junior-Mint-refreshing.) It does, however, raise the question: with that off the table (for now, anyway), how do we communicate effectively when we’re trying to collaborate on one story?

Emails, emails, emails! Naturally. It’s a very convenient way to talk through anything, especially since our timing is sometimes off, what with me living in the future and all. (Um, the eastern time zone. Not the future.) Plus, I’m a big fan of the folder option. See?

So much Cloudy-and-Kyle goodness!

It’s a great way to keep everything organized when you’ve got a bazillion ideas floating around – and, another plus, I’ll never forget where I put them!

Sometimes email just isn’t fast enough, and we’re not patient enough, and that’s why God and Google invented Gchat! Before we started the actual business of writing, Mindi and I had some marathon sessions discussing our characters’ motivations, outlining our story, and other Very Important Things. Yep. We are nooooo nonsense. We never, ever talk at length about Gchat’s weirdo smiley faces. And the best part is we can save the chats and always refer back to them if we need to. (Can’t do that with a phone conversation, can ya?! Not unless you’re recording your calls, I guess. Which carries kind of a creep-vibe, no? And then you’d have to keep rewinding and fast-forwarding to find the exact — uugghh. Tired just thinking about it. Point: Gchat.)

And, of course, when there’s just no time for emails and online-chats, there are texts. Texting especially comes in handy when we’re writing and need a quick question answered: What perfume does Cloudy wear? When is Kyle’s birthday? Can you use the word “ass” in the first line of a YA novel? All answered via text! Isn’t technology the best?

Except phone calls. Phone calls are the worst.

*Fun Fact: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist was actually published six years ago TODAY. Happy Anniversary, Nick and Norah! And thanks!

We really do have words

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BY MINDI SCOTT

gothave

At the tippy-top of this blog, a question in tiny print appears: Who needs action when you have words?

You might read that and believe that we came up with it all on our own. (We didn’t.) Or you might think that the line sounds  familiar, but you can’t quite place it. Or maybe you know exactly where it came from, and you’re wondering why, oh why, did we misquote “Plateau” by the Meat Puppets on our blog?

Lemmee ‘splain.

I have an occasional habit–a bad one, in my husband’s opinion–of deliberately changing songs when I sing along. Sometimes it’s because the lyricist’s grammar or usage doesn’t work for me. Other times, I simply use different words that, for whatever reason, I prefer. Here are a few examples:

Sonny & Cher’s most famous song can change from, “I Got You, Babe” to  “I Have You, Babe.”

haveyoubabe

Katy Perry’s “The One That Got Away” can become, “The One Who Got Away.”

The line in Death Cab’s “What Sarah Said,” can change from “I looked around at all the eyes on the ground” to “I looked around at all the eyes toward the ground.” (Because yuck! The original line makes me envision literal eyes rolling on the literal ground. Which makes me figuratively shudder.)

And so it happens that in “Plateau” by the Meat Puppets (which Nirvana helped make famous by performing it with the Meat Puppets on MTV Unplugged), the line “Who needs action when you got words?” can become “Who needs action when you have words?”

I wanted to use the line for our blog when Michelle and I were naming it because it’s cynical (by my interpretation), but also because it’s so very fitting for two girls who love reading and writing. We don’t need action! 😉

But two writers announcing to the world: “WE GOT WORDS”? Maybe we could have pulled it off, but . . .  I like my version better. Forgive me, Meat Puppets!

Rah-Rah-Research!

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BY MICHELLE ANDREANI

Research?! I’m so excited! But I’m so … scared.

Here’s something you might like to know about my character, Cloudy: she’s a cheerleader. A cheerleader, you guys! This fills me up with happy soda bubbles because 1) I’ve sort of been in love with cheerleading forever and ever and ever, and so 2) I’ve wanted to write a cheerleader since I learned that characters need to do stuff.

Unfortunately, growing up in schools that barely had athletics programs has left me with a cheerleading info-void. And even more unfortunately? Countless viewings of that Saved by the Bell episode when Bayside thinks they’ll win a cheerleading competition by making Screech have an apoplectic fit in a tiger costume, only to have Valley kidnap Screech! and all hope of the Golden Megaphone is dashed! until Zack and Slater save the day by pouring ants into some guy’s tail-hole or something. Yep, countless viewings of that doesn’t even scratch the surface of all there is to know about the intensely demanding and real sport of cheerleading.

So, this calls for research. And how’s a girl with lots of enthusiasm but not much exposure go about it?

Watch ALL THE CHEERLEADING: 

My DVR is just like Dumbledore’s Pensieve. Except not at all.

Thankfully, ESPN and other sports channels televise cheerleading competitions – a true display of straight-up talent; not to mention the greatest ponytail-engineering you’ll ever see.

Use modern technology to become the cheerleader: 

I gave my cheerleader blue hair a la Karou from DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. (Wouldn’t Karou make the sickest cheerleader?? OMG imagine it. Do it.)

While playing We Cheer 2 probably isn’t as taxing as an actual cheer routine, it’s sort of close! Plus fun. And exercise-y. Oh, that Wii. So many things.

Read My Face Off: After all that ESPN and Wii-ing (Wiiing?), it’s obvious there’s more to cheerleading than Friday night football games. These girls and boys work HARD. Which means if Cloudy’s practicing her pom-poms off, she’s up on her terminology – so I need to be, too. My current favorite place on the internet is Varsity.com. If you’re a cheerleading nerd like I am (or, like, an actual cheerleader), it has lots of great, useful info to read up on; and so far it’s been a fantastic resource.

Make Sure to Leave Room for Intrigue(!):

Another fantastic resource? American Cheerleader magazine. I mean, probably. In a tragic turn of events, there isn’t a single hard copy to be found in the city of New York. (Or Seattle! Mindi checked.) So, I’ve resorted to begging family and friends to keep an eye out for it. The search is on!

Build from past experience (kind of): I guess I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my own little dalliance with cheerleading, way back in my pre-tween days. I certainly wasn’t nearly as awesome as the girls on ESPN (or my Karou cheerleader), but I still smile when I think back on it. That’s what I remember most – having the best time with a group of girls I never would have met otherwise – and that’s what I want Cloudy to keep in mind. That cheerleading is more than counting your trophies.

(Of which I have two, justsaying.)

NAILED IT.

Obviously, research is the funnest! I do plan on stepping it up as I learn more about Cloudy; but for now, I hope I’m doing okay. I mean, We Cheer 2 doesn’t just give out that All-Star rating to just anyone, do they?

Oh. It’s a points thing? . . . Did you see my trophies? 🙂

Death Cab for Kyle

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BY MINDI SCOTT

Backstory: For the book Michelle and I are working on together, we’re writing alternating first-person viewpoints. She’s writing the girl (Cloudy) and I’m writing the boy (Kyle).

So, hey! Look what I saw this weekend as part of my Kyle research!

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What? You can’t tell what that is? Okay, how about this:

SU1HMDA4NTktMjAxMjA1MTMtMjExMi5qcGc

You still can’t tell? And the title of this post didn’t give it away? Okay, look at this:

SU1HMDA4NjAtMjAxMjA1MTMtMjI1Mi5qcGc

Yes! Death Cab for Cutie was at the Paramount in Seattle! And I went! For Kyle’s sake!

You see, part of my writing process involves choosing music that can help me to better channel my characters. It’s Very Serious Business, this whole finding-my-character’s-voice thing.

When things are going awesomely with a manuscript, I might be able to get away with listening to lots of band while I’m writing, as long as they fall into a particular genre. When I’m struggling, I might have to listen to one song on repeat for days on end. It can be kind of rough (especially when that song is “See You Again” by Miley Cyrus), but isn’t as dreadful as it sounds. Really!

But when I’m only a few chapters into a project (like I am with this book) I usually allow myself to listen to songs performed by only one band/artist until I feel that I’ve completely found my character’s voice and can branch out.

For Kyle, that one band happens to be Death Cab for Cutie. It’s all Death Cab all the time around here, even when I’m not writing. Which means that when I found out Death Cab would be playing in Seattle, I had no choice except to make sure that I was there, right?

At this point, I can kind of map out Kyle’s emotional progression that I imagine will take place during the course of the story with three specific Death Cab songs. (I think there is a fourth song that should be in the mix, but I haven’t uncovered it yet.) Last night, Death Cab, along with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, performed two of those three songs, and it totally brought tears to my eyes.

Yay for  fun and inspiring outings that I can call “character research”!

(I found this video on YouTube. It was taken at a different stop on Death Cab/Magik*Magik tour. The strings and final lines of this song SO affect me. Beautiful!)

We have a blog! It’s new!

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Welcome to WE HAVE WORDS, the brand-new blog of Michelle Andreani and Mindi Scott! 

As you likely already could guess, the full(er) scoop about who we are and why we started this blog can be found by clicking on the little Who? and What? tabs on this page. But the micro-version is that we are two writers who have joined forces to write one contemporary Young Adult novel. We thought it would be fun to use this blog as a place to share some of our (not-always-recommended) writing processes, as well as talk about great books and other things that we adore. We’ll also be sharing some short excerpts from our WIP, just to prove our book is a Real Thing in the making!

So that’s what we’re going to do. Every day of our lives!

Actually, just kidding about that last part. We’ll be updating about two to four times a week, probably. (Hmm. How about if we split the difference and call it tri-weekly?)

Thank you so much for stopping by, and we hope that you’ll visit us often. Oh, and if you’re interested in subscribing to our new posts, the link is on the sidebar!

So . . . see you tomorrow? xoxo