{"id":525,"date":"2012-03-15T13:55:12","date_gmt":"2012-03-15T13:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/?p=525"},"modified":"2012-03-15T13:55:12","modified_gmt":"2012-03-15T13:55:12","slug":"swoontini-interview-lissa-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christinalaurenbooks.com\/Clo2\/2012\/03\/swoontini-interview-lissa-price\/","title":{"rendered":"Swoontini Interview: LISSA PRICE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back Swoonies! Today we are thrilled to have Lissa Price<\/a>, author of the brand-spankin’-new STARTERS<\/a>, here to play! She’s also going to be at WonderCon<\/a> this weekend (Sunday, 3-4pm), and is an all-around awesome gal. Leave some love in the comments & enter to win a SIGNED copy of STARTERS!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nLo & C: Hi Lissa! Thanks for agreeing to join our Swoontini Interview features, and congrats on the release of STARTERS<\/a>!
\n<\/strong>Lissa Price: This is such a fun site, I feel like I\u2019m at a party!<\/p>\n

It is a party! ALL THE TIMES! So, okay, we just have to say that the book trailer<\/a> for STARTERS<\/a> is awesome and creepy and made us all BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCE to get our copy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What was it like to see that for the first time?<\/strong>
\nOkay, so picture how excited you are and multiply that times a billion.<\/p>\n

My publisher, Random House, has been incredible. They came up with this concept and then sent me early storyboards and a script, asking for feedback. I loved their concept and gave them some notes. Then they sent the first cut of the trailer, and I gathered up some friends in my living room and we watched it via my iPad to my 60 inch plasma via Apple TV (don\u2019t you love being alive now?).<\/p>\n

So picture a bunch of my friends cozy on my big theater sectional. Some work in film and TV and they screamed when they saw it (from joy). One works in a place that specializes in trailers, he produces and edits, and he and I agreed that it should end differently. The ending you see was not the original ending. We had other notes and Random House was receptive to all of them. It may have helped that I knew to focus on changes that wouldn\u2019t require reshoots. I was trying to go for reasonable changes that would not be too difficult (read costly) for the company they\u2019d hired. I was aware that this kind of author involvement was unusual because my agent said she had never seen it with her other clients. I\u2019d never worked with a publisher before, but they welcomed the feedback so it made for a wonderful, collaborative effort.<\/p>\n

When I saw the final version, I was alone and literally applauding my iPad, I was so happy. They\u2019d made every change and just nailed it.<\/p>\n

I feel incredibly lucky and grateful that I ended up with this publisher. The people are extraordinary.\u00a0 They\u2019re so talented \u2013 they\u2019re making a Facebook game app that makes me giddy \u2013 a game, from my book! And they\u2019re also terrific people, like a family. I can\u2019t wait for BEA, they always throw the wildest parties. Last year it was on an aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nYou blog with The League of Extraordinary Writers<\/a> (founded by Beth Revis<\/a>, who will be here May 2nd<\/sup>). I love all of the community and sub-community support in the YA world. Why do you think this group of authors is so particularly supportive of each other?
\n<\/strong>Good question. Maybe because YA is doing well in publishing, we have a sense that there is no need to feel competitive because we have a large readership potential.\u00a0 I was thrilled when Beth invited to me join her blog because I love love love her writing. I got to meet her on her Breathless Reads tour and she was just like she comes across in email — funny and amazing \u2013 you\u2019re going to love her too. She\u2019s one of those people that you say hey, the world is a better place because she\u2019s in it.<\/p>\n

I also belong to the Apocalypsies<\/a>, a group of over 100 YA and a few MG authors debuting in 2012 (\u201cRead \u2018em like there\u2019s no tomorrow!\u201d is the slogan).\u00a0 Crazy good support and friendship. \u00a0And the author who blurbed my book<\/a> was so kind and generous, I\u2019ll always be in debt to her (you\u2019ll have to peek at the cover to see who that is). I love this atmosphere of camaraderie and support because I think we can use more kindness in the world.<\/p>\n

I LOVED the post on Ten Things You Didn\u2019t Know About STARTERS<\/a>. Has it just felt like a giant whirlwind? What things do you do to unwind and Return To Normal in your everyday life?
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m not allowed to have a normal mode yet. In fact, I\u2019m in the eye of hurricane! I am working hard to finish book two because I\u2019m on an accelerated publication schedule. Book 1 will be published ten months from when it was bought. Book 2 comes out just eight months after the debut is published.\u00a0 This is a duology and it\u2019s great for the reader because she won\u2019t have to wait an entire year for the sequel. Also, I am contracted to write three short e-stories set in the world of my book, so those can tide the reader over.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m only writing my book and doing promo my publicist has chosen. This is all day until very late at night, seven days a week. I eat, exercise, write, sleep and tweet. Zzzz\u2026 oh, did you say something?<\/p>\n

As soon as I finish the draft of book 2, I go on tour for the rest of March. When I return in April, I will do an intense rewrite because we need to get ARCs printed by BEA. In May I\u2019ll be writing a new project. I am not complaining, it\u2019s all terrific.<\/p>\n

When I did have free time, I loved kayaking, films, eating out with friends, watching basketball, swimming, snorkeling, travel involves animals. And reading!<\/p>\n

I had a plot bunny the other day, and the second thought I had was, \u201cOh, sigh. I would love to write this book, and would love to see Tahereh Mafi write this, too.\u201d What author would you like to have seen write STARTERS if not you?
\n<\/strong>You know, I love creative questions like this (and she is so sweet btw \u2013 I have total purse envy over her red keyboard bag!), but I can\u2019t really imagine anyone else writing it. I\u2019m just way too close to it. Maybe in ten years\u2026<\/p>\n

Did your characters do anything to surprise you while you were writing STARTERS?
\n<\/strong>Oh yeah. \u00a0But I can\u2019t tell you because it\u2019s revealed in the second book, ENDERS. It\u2019s not a surprise. It\u2019s a SHOCK! <cue lightning bolt sound effect here><\/p>\n

If you were magically given 30 extra minutes a day, how would you spend it?
\n<\/strong>Oh, this is like a trick question, eh? Like I should be saying work for world peace, or deliver meals to homebound writers? Or maybe I could meditate. Or try to fit in a class of something I\u2019ve always wanted to learn, like swordplay.<\/p>\n

But actually, I would write more pages. Really. Now that I have people to read them, this is what I was born to do. I wish this for every writer.<\/p>\n

Thanks so much for coming by and hanging out with us, Lissa! Can\u2019t wait to see you this weekend at WonderCon in Anaheim!<\/strong>
\nI am so eager to meet you in person! And I\u2019m so excited about WonderCon. It\u2019ll be in the middle of my tour \u2013 See you right after Seattle and before Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n

Thanks for having me!<\/p>\n

About the author: Lissa Price\u2019s debut YA dystopian thriller, STARTERS, came out 3\/13\/12 and the sequel, ENDERS, comes out 12\/4\/12. She resides in the Southern California foothills with her husband and the occasional deer.<\/em> Website<\/a> | Facebook <\/a>| Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Isn’t she awesome?? Would you like your very own signed copy of Starters? Well, just leave a comment and we’ll pick a random winner to be announced this weekend on twitter!<\/p>\n

See you soon, Swoonies!<\/p>\n\"signature_laurenandchristina_twitter\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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