Our Masterpieces...Err, Our Novels

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

MAY I Tell You Something About...Um, US?

Revealing Song of the Day: "Swagger Like Us" by M.I.A ft. Jay-z, Kanye West, and T.I.

Throughout May, we will be participating in the Blog Me MAYbe blogfest, which you can learn more about here
It's Tuesday. And according to this blogfest that means today is all about us. Meaning, we have to talk about ourselves. If you know anything about us, we kinda don't enjoy doing this. I don't think most writers do. That's why we create characters and new worlds, to escape from who we are. But, alas, we've joined the blogfest and we vow to follow the rules. Lucky for us, a new bloggy pal of ours tagged us awhile back. Rachel tagged us in a game of 11 questions. This is a good way to tell you something about us!





1. What are the top three books in your TBR pile?



2. Who is your top book boyfriend, dare I say husband?

Pam:  Hmm, tough one. I get book crushes like ALL the time. Right now, I'm leaning toward Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door. He's so adorkable (wait...do people still say that?)!

Quita: Hands down Cole from Maggie Stiefvater's Linger and Forever. Hmm, maybe not hands down b/c I loves me some Four from Veronica Roth's Divergent. Can I have a tie?

3. If you could have written any YA book in history, which book would you choose and why?

Pam:  Goodness, another toughie. Right now, I'm leaning toward anything written by Courtney Summers, Steve Brezenoff, or Ellen Hopkins. They're geniuses!

Quita: Omigod. So. Many. Of. Them! I can't choose just one. There are FIVE that really stand out. I really wish I wrote Divergent, The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth, Liar by Justine Larbalestier, Recovery Road by Blake Nelson, and What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell (sorry if I cheated).


4. If you could live the life of any book heroine, who would you choose and why?

Pam:  I have a feeling that Quita's going to agree with me, but any book written by Stephanie Perkins. She has a way of making her girls so relatable--and she brings setting to LIFE! I want to live in Paris for the first half of the year, and San Francisco for the second. :)

Quita: I don't envy the lives of most of the heroines from the books that I read, and since I'm one of the last people on the planet to have read Stephanie Perkins' Lola and the Boy Next Door, I'd have to say Anna from Anna and the French Kiss. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to Paris for school and fall in love with a sexy, smart English boy?

5. Choose one: your book is a literary masterpiece with tons of critical acclaim but very, very lacklustre sales, or your book is a blockbuster of a novel with millions upon millions of copies sold but others question its quality and it is nearly universally bashed in the writing community, a la Twilight. There's no in between choice (Nice try!)

Pam:  Yikes! No clue. On the one hand, I wouldn't mind the money that books like Twilight would bring (being able to actually make a living from writing? Yes please!). But also, I would love for my colleagues to actually, you know, respect me. I choose John Green! His books are successful AND well loved by critics. Wait, is that cheating?

Quita: That's just not fair! I don't know, sometimes me and Pam both get a little over the bashing of novels like Twilight. Just because it's not a literary masterpiece doesn't mean it's not a good book and that it didn't do wonders for the YA community. So, yeah, I'd go for a book like Twilight because it changed so many people's lives and it had a huge impact on our community.


6. If you could have a super power of any literary hero/heroine, which would you choose and why?

Pam:  Umm, next question please. (*is clueless*)

Quita: This is a hard one. I don't really want super powers at all, but if I had to choose (from a book that I've read) I'd choose Briony's power from Franny Billingsley's Chime. Not sure why--could be because it was such an awesome book. I don't want to explain too much, cause then I'd give away the book for those who haven't read it.


 7. You're stranded on a desert island with just one other person. For life. It's a fellow author. Who is the author and why?

Pam:  I'd go with my cuz, Quita. She's already familiar with my weird habits, and I hers. But hopefully we'd get rescued soon because we'd like...attack each other after the third or fourth day.

Quita: It would obviously be Pam. Not like I wouldn't want to be with any of my other fellow writers, but of course I'd bring my cuz and other half b/c she might keep me sane for a day or two on the desert island. Then we'd probably kill each other...

8. You're forced to re-live one day of your life over and over again for eternity. Which day would you choose and why?

Pam:  This is strange that this is one of the toughest questions. I've yet to experience the really "happy" moments--such as getting married or having a baby. It would probably be some moment with my family--or maybe when I found out that Sarah wanted to represent me. :)

Quita: Wow...this is a great question. I find it kind of sad to admit that I haven't had many days that I'd like to re-live. If I had to choose one it would be the last time I was out with my dad (and the rest of the fam), having a good time dancing. 



9. If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do with your time?

Pam:  READ!! And WRITE!! Due to the day job, I have so little time for doing two of the things I love the most. And maybe peek in on some hunky celebs. Wait, is that weird...?

Quita: I would read and write all day with no interruptions. I'd also stalk the BLEEP out of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alex Pettyfer, Channing Tatum, and all the rest :D


10. If you had to be reincarnated into an animal, which would you choose and why?

Pam:  Um, eww. Next question please...

Quita: Ugh. I hate animals--well except my dog, of course :) I guess I would choose an ape or a monkey because at least they have opposable thumbs.


11. If you had to rename yourself, which name would you choose? And if you have a pen name, it doesn't count! Pick again.

Pam:  It feels like I've answered this before...I think I said Nadine Hunt or Nadine Shelton. Nadine's my middle name (which I despise, so I'm not sure why I'd use it), Hunt's my mother's maiden name, and Shelton's my dad's first name. Or maybe I'd just call myself John Green. :)

Quita: I would name myself Sherie (my middle name Sha-ree) Hunt. It's a little easier than my "government" name and it will fit better on a book spine!

So, the way this is supposed to work is that we tag more of you to play along. However, we thought we'd cheat a lil' bit (why stop now?) and open this up to ALL of you! Go ahead and play...if you dare. *insert maniacal laughter here*

3 comments:

Rebecca B said...

This was fun! I think if I had to be stranded with another author on a desert island, I'd go with Libba Bray--maybe her research from BEAUTY QUEENS would help us survive? If not, I'm pretty sure she'd be entertaining.

Rachel said...

Oh yay you guys finally did it! I think these are hard questions (which is kind of why I was lazy and didn't create my own), and you did a great job.....except LOL at wanting to be on a deserted island with each other. :-P Thanks for answering these, Pam and Quita!

KatOwens: Insect Collector said...

Love this, ladies-- I can't believe I learned so much NEW stuff about you!
This was enlightening. And you're right about the Twilight books-- no matter who you are and what you write, at some point, someone is going to look down on it. So, who cares!?! I heard someone bash HP once, and I gasped aloud! He thought it was badly written! Even if it's not your thing, I would think everyone was in agreement that it was well executed... but not this guy. So, it's a losing battle. Why fight it.