You guys are really lucky because today we have the uber
talented Jolene Perry! And uber
talented is way more talented then very talented.
Angie: Jo, do you have on
your Mr. Rogers sweater? Are you ready for some questions?
Jolene: To be totally
honest and probably somewhere WAY into TMI land - I'm still in bed and wearing
a t-shirt I will probably slide a bra under and wear that today.
I DO, however, have a
Mr. Rogers sweater (black and blue stripes today - a mens small) that I totally
plan on sliding over my slept-in t-shirt. (Helps cover up the "sleep
wrinkles")
I know, I know. I'm
high class.
Angie: Oh, that is high
class. I'm dressed in real clothes today, but they may or may not be exactly
what I wore yesterday. The world will never know :)
Jolene: My jeans will
def be the ones I wore yesterday. I have a thing with over-priced jeans, which
means that I usually only have two or three pairs at a time . . .
 |
| Hatcher's Pass |
Angie: Nice! Now, I don't
know if everyone knows this but you live in Alaska! I'm a sucker for gorgeous settings.
Does living someone so beautiful ever influence your writing?
Jolene: It totally does, and it provides a nice backdrop, too :D
(Kelley Vitollo and I
are working on a collab that takes place up here right now)
I live near Hatcher's
Pass (worth a google image search) and have a fab view of the mountains from
all the windows on the back of our house. Also, yesterday I was in my chair
against the window when a moose walked like 5 feet away. Very cool.
Angie: That is cool. I'm totally jealous!!!
Okay, here is something I've always wanted to know. You churn out
stories faster than anyone I know (Jolene can do 50k a month in the blink of an
eye :). So two questions--where do you get your ideas, and when do you find
time to write?
Jolene: My ideas come from EVERYWHERE. I honestly have a harder
time STOPPING them from coming. I reach pause points in books more because I'm
not sure which idea to go with.
My idea for Night Sky
came while I was sitting in the Taco Bell drive through. An idea for a current
project came from the front page of a Time magazine. Another story came from a
case my husband prosecuted. MOST of the time they hit me when I'm trying to
sleep. So, yeah. Everywhere.
As for time . . .
Three mornings a week when BOTH kids are in school. At night. MOST of what I do
during the day with kids around is my online stuff and crits for other people.
I'll get to a certain point and then I do something with my kids or a
"chore" and then I'm back at my computer.
I'm pretty much
obsessed. That, and I don't watch TV. OK. I watch a TINY bit of TV. But right
now I can't remember the last show I picked out and watched - I'm just usually
in the same room as my family and whatever THEY want to watch when they're in
front of the TV (not often) - with my computer on my lap.
Angie: Well, now I have to read Night Sky and see what it has to
do with Taco Bell :) I know your agent just sold it to a publisher. When does
it come out?
Jolene: March 1st :D
Mike (husband) and I
were talking about 80s movies in the Taco Bell drive through, and we brought up
Pretty in Pink, and I still think Duckie should have gotten the girl. So I
started the book with Jameson (my MC) losing the girl friend that he's loved
(but never told her he loved) to another guy. And we jump off from there. I
think Jameson is VERY close to being my favorite character I've ever written.
Angie: That is SOOO cool! I can't wait to read it (I'm a Duckie fan). I
loved your first book, The Next Door Boys. I can't wait for this next
one!
So here is a question I want to know the answer to...You've gone
in both directions, you've had your first book published by a small publisher
without and agent, and you also have an agent that has sold some of your
stories. What is the difference and do you prefer one over the other?
I don't care how big
or small the publisher is, having an agent is SO nice, but it HAS to be the
right agent for you, or you'd be better off going it alone.
Going alone is not a
bad option - there are a lot of great publishers out there who take manuscripts
from un-agented authors, and probably all agents sell books to publishers who
take both agented and un-agented authors.
I'd shy away from
publishers who prefer that you DON'T have an agent . . . that would seem shady
to me.
Angie: Oh, that is good advice. I haven't heard that before. I think
deciding to try and go on unagented is a hard decision for lots of
writers.
How about a few fun questions? What is your best physical feature?
And don't say eyes. Eyes are a cop out!
Jolene: Eyes are a TOTAL copout, lol.
I have nice, tiny
feet. Maybe it's why I like shoes so much :D
(I hover between a 6.5
and a 7)
Angie: LOL! I have small feet too! 5 or 6, but I can NEVER find
shoes because my feet are wide. My sister says they are square hobbit feet. She
is so nice to me :)
Jolene: Yeah, sisters are a pain.
I remind mine all the
time that she's SEVEN years older than me :D
Angie: Nice, playing the age card. That always works. Next fun question :)
What color do you think best describes your personality? And why?
Jolene: Orange for my
enthusiasm (because you can't be sad around orange), and grey cause I just LOVE
grey - it can be soft, it can be hard, it can be warm, cold. Grey can be
anything and I love that.
Angie: Oooo! That is great!
I'm kind of a color junkie, so I love this answer. You are spot on :)
Okay, I can't let you go without a pageant question
(Hehehe, this is SO fun!) -- Since you write contemporary YA, this
questions should be right up your alley. What do you think is the biggest
problem facing young adults today, and what are some ways we can help them with
it?
Jolene: Simply not thinking they're worth more than they are.
I think so many teens
have no idea how incredible they are, how much potential they have, how
temporary all the crap they're wading through is. Because at that age,
everything is HUGE, and it needs to be! It prepares you for the things in life
that ARE actually huge. But I wish more than anything that I could have given
my high-school self some perspective.
How to help?
Wish for world peace,
lol - that's my "pageant" answer.
I think just showing
them how much bigger the world is than they are, how much there is out there to
do and to experience and that if they want to, they can be a part of incredible
things. Big or small, if you're doing good things, you're making the world a
better place.
(Was that last bit
pageant-y enough?)
Angie: *Clapping. Clapping* 9.5 and you look stunning in that soft
gray evening gown! Thanks Jo! You were fantastic today. Fun answers.
One thing I just love about you is how you
can't help but infuse everything you write with your personality! It's so
refreshing :) So YOU!
Jolene: Yeah, I really fall on my face when I try to be someone
else, LOL.
If I'm gonna crash and
burn, I might as well land in the mud as me... even in my stunning grey gown
;-O
THANKS Angie!! This
was fun :D
Angie: LOL! Thanks Jolene :)
Jolene and I are kind of long winded
when we get together (so sorry for the long post :) If you want a great story you can buy Jolene’s
first book The Next Door Boys
right now. Night Sky comes
out March 1, 2012 and Knee Deep
comes out May 1, 2012.
