The time it was about Ontario Teen Book Fest {6}

Posted March 1, 2018 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews | 1 Comment

It that time again: Ontario Teen Book Fest is almost here! And that means it’s time to put the spotlight on one of the authors who will be in attendance.

I basically begged Sara to let me have the two authors I’ll be spotlighting this year. I featured Mary Pearson here and my second author is Jessica Brody. I’ve been a fan of Jessica’s for a while and I have a mild obsession with her latest book; however, before we get to all of Jessica’s awesomeness, let’s get the details about the event!

Ontario Teen Book Fest is being held on March 3rd from 9 am to 5 pm, is absolutely free, and tickets are not necessary. There will be 21 authors and it’s being held at Colony High School 3850 E. Riverside Drive, Ontario, CA 91761. The event is being sponsored by Once Upon a Time, with free lunch from Panera Bread, and additional info can be found at the event website.

And now to Jessica! Before we get to her interview, let’s check out her latest: The Chaos of Standing Still.

Title: The Chaos of Standing Still
Author: Jessica Brody
Pages: 406
Pub Date: November 28, 2017
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Find it: Simon & Schuster | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Goodreads

Over the course of one chaotic night stranded at the Denver airport, Ryn confronts her shattered past thanks to the charm of romance, the uniqueness of strangers, and the magic of ordinary places in this stunning novel from the author of Boys of Summer.

Ryn has one unread text message on her phone. And it’s been there for almost a year.

She hasn’t tried to read it. She can’t. She won’t. Because that one message is the last thing her best friend ever said to her before she died.

But as Ryn finds herself trapped in the Denver International Airport on New Year’s Eve thanks to a never-ending blizzard on the one-year anniversary of her best friend’s death, fate literally runs into her.

And his name is Xander.

When the two accidentally swap phones, Ryn and Xander are thrust into the chaos of an unforgettable all-night adventure, filled with charming and mysterious strangers, a secret New Year’s Eve bash, and a possible Illuminati conspiracy hidden within the Denver airport. But as the bizarre night continues, all Ryn can think about is that one unread text message. It follows her wherever she goes, because Ryn can’t get her brilliantly wild and free-spirited best friend out of her head.

Ryn can’t move on.

But tonight, for the first time ever, she’s trying. And maybe that’s a start.

As moving as it is funny, The Chaos of Standing Still is a heartwarming story about the earth-shattering challenges life throws at us—and the unexpected strangers who help us along the way.

Sounds good, right?

1. Please give the elevator pitch for The Chaos of Standing Still.

Over the course of one chaotic night stranded at the Denver airport, Ryn confronts her shattered past thanks to the charm of romance, the uniqueness of strangers, and the magic of ordinary places.

2. Which came first: the plot or the characters?

The plot! I loved the idea of challenging myself to write an entire novel that takes place entirely in 24 hours (including two people believably falling in love). At first, I thought that’s all it was going to be. A fun rom com set in the Denver airport. It wasn’t until I started writing it that I realized the main character, Ryn, was dealing with something much heavier: the one-year anniversary of the death of her best friend. The realization happened when Lottie (the dead best friend) literally started talking to Ryn on the page. She sort of wrote herself into the story. I soon discovered she was stuck in Ryn’s mind because Ryn had yet to move on from losing her. That’s when I knew that the story went much deeper than just a fun rom com.

3. Why do you love Ryn and why should we root for her?

Ryn is like this lonely planet that’s been orbiting around a brilliant sun (her best friend, Lottie) for so long. And now that Lottie is gone, Ryn has sort of spun out of orbit. She doesn’t know what to do or where to go or how to live without Lottie, her anchor. I think we all have had those people in our lives that just shine so brightly, we feel dull in comparison. This is a story of how one girl learns to shine on her own.

4. Without spoilers, which scene was your favorite to write?

There’s a scene in the book in which Xander serenades Ryn in the Denver airport food court. He just stands up on the table in front of everyone and starts singing “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles at the top of his lungs. I loved writing this scene because it totally wasn’t planned. It was not in my outline. Xander just took over the scene. Those are always the best ones to write. When the characters just say, “move over, writer. I’ll take it from here.” ☺

5. You’ve said that this is your “heart book”. Will you explain that a bit?

This is the first book I’ve ever written that tackled the subject of grief. I’d never written about grief because I didn’t think I was grieving anything. Then I wrote this book and something just poured out of me. Clearly I had more grief to deal with than I realized. And like my main character, Ryn, I hadn’t been processing it. I don’t think a “heart book” is necessarily a book that you love more than your other books. Or even necessarily your favorite book that you’ve ever written. I think it’s simply the book that your heart needs to write. And this is mine.

Speed {ish} round:

1. Are you a pantser or a plotter?

PLOTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. What was your last 5 star read?

FAR FROM THE TREE by Robin Benway

3. Is there something you always eat or drink while writing?

Coffee (sorry, that’s super boring and cliché. But hey, at least I didn’t say “whisky!”)

4. What book character would you want to date and who would you want to be your BFF?

Date: King Edward IV from The White Queen

BFF: Maddy from Everything, Everything.

5. What’s next for you?

I have three books coming out this fall (because I’m a masochist). No, seriously, I’m super excited about all three! In October, my very first non-fiction book about how to plot a novel (see speed-ish round question #1) comes out. It’s called SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL and it’s based on a popular screenwriting plotting method called Save the Cat! Also in October, my next YA contemporary novel releases called THE GEOGRAPHY OF LOST THINGS, which is about a teen girl who goes on a very unexpected and unpredictable road trip with her ex-boyfriend after her absent father dies and leaves her a classic 1968 Firebird convertible. And then in November, my next middle grade novel releases. It’s called BETTER YOU THAN ME and it’s a magical body-swap story between two twelve-year-old girls. One is a famous TV star and the other is her biggest fan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jessica Brody knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self “publishing” her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples, and electrical tape.

After graduating from Smith College in 2001 where she double majored in Economics and French and minored in Japanese, Jessica later went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, Jessica quit her job to follow her dream of becoming a published author.    Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Huge thanks to Sara for putting this all together and inviting me to take part and to Jessica for taking the time.

If you’re going to the event, use the hashtag #ontariotbf. Keep scrolling to check out the rest of the tour highlighting the authors who will be attending and for the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour

Feb 19th

Spotlight on Jennifer Brody – What A Nerd Girl Says
Spotlight on Abdi Nazemian – Read Now Sleep Later

Feb 20th

Spotlight on Anthony Breznican – Starkiller Reads
Spotlight on Lilliam Rivera – Movies Shows and Books

Feb 21th

Spotlight on Jessica Cluess – The Readers Antidote
Spotlight on Cindy Pon – My Fangirl Chronicles

Feb 22th

Spotlight on Keynote Speaker Ellen Hopkins – Germ Magazine

Feb 23th

Spotlight on Aditi Khorana – Nite Lite Book Reviews
Spotlight on Mary Pearson – Adventures of a Book Junkie

Feb 24th

Spotlight on Emily Ziff Griffin – Nite Lite Book Reviews
Spotlight on Brandy Colbert – Read Now Sleep Later

Feb 25th

Spotlight on Keynote Speaker Josephine Angelini – The Readers Antidote

Feb 26th

Spotlight on Isabel Quintero – What A Nerd Girl Says
Spotlight on Amy Spalding – My Fangirl Chronicles

Feb 27th

Spotlight on Jonathan Maberry – Seeking Bazinga
Spotlight on Keynote Speaker Jeff Garvin – Movies Shows n Books

Feb 28th:

Spotlight on Ava Dellaira – Book Lovers Book Reviews
Spotlight on Kim Turrisi – Starkiller Reads

Mar 1st:

Spotlight on Jessica Brody – Adventures of a Book Junkie

Mar 2nd:

Spotlight on Robin Benway – What A Nerd Girl Says
Spotlight on Lindsey Summers – Seeking Bazinga

 

Tags: , , , ,


One response to “The time it was about Ontario Teen Book Fest {6}

  1. Awesome interview post Stacee :D Hugs. <3 I haven't read many books by Jessica, ack, but I did enjoy those that I did read, years ago, haha. <3 And besides that, she does seem like an amazing person :D Yay for adoring her and her books. <3 Thank you for sharing sweetie :)

    Carina Olsen recently posted: Review: LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.