Debut Author Interviews

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

• G. Neri on...Ideal Reader
• Paula Chase on...Ideal Reader
• Melissa Marr on...Ideal Reader
• Sundee T. Frazier on...Ideal Reader
• Kelly Bingham on...Ideal Reader
• Carrie Jones on...Ideal Reader
• A.C.E. Bauer on...Ideal Reader
• S.A. Harazin on...Ideal Reader
• Jeannine Garsee on...Ideal Reader
• Laura Bowers on...Ideal Reader
• Ruth McNally Barshaw on...Ideal Reader
• Greg R. Fishbone on...Ideal Reader
• Judy Gregerson on...Ideal Reader
• Sarah Beth Durst on...Ideal Reader
• Thatcher Heldring on...Ideal Reader
• Joni Sensel on...Ideal Reader
• Stephanie Hale on...Ideal Reader

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

My ideal reader is someone who doesn’t. My books are universal, but for me, reaching reluctant readers, especially male urban teens, would be the tops. I’d like to think I’m writing stories about teens who haven’t been represented in books before or much. I’ve already had the reaction of shock and surprise from teens hearing voices like their own that they’ve never seen in a book before. For me, that’s the best.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

If I were to use marketing speak, my ideal reader is likely an African American girl ages 10-13.

But that’s about as narrow a definition as ever and not my vision of the ideal reader. My vision of that person is any young reader who enjoys a little soap opera in their lit. Young teens and tweens who think having an argument with their friend is the end of the world and will appreciate that for them and my characters, drama is life.

I also think older teens who are reluctant readers may enjoy it because of the story’s simple essence.

But, an adult who would like to tap into the “secret” world of teens or relive some of their own teen drama would find it interesting to.

I wish there were some sort of radar to find the readers who pick up my book and get lost in it, giggle at portions that may personify their clique, or think, “hmm…that’s not a bad way to handle that situation,” because those are my ideal readers.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I have no actual “ideal” reader, nor do I have an ideal friend, partner, child, et al. Ideal—to me—would presuppose that I have a conduit to wisdom that I don’t possess. I wrote the text I knew. It was good fun to do so. Now, I hope the readers who will enjoy it find it. But as for my ideal? I love the varieties of everything (incl. people) far too much to pick only one as an ideal.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

A child who has lost a grandparent or who has family members at odds with one another … Biracial kids (who need to see reflections of themselves and their families in the stories they read) and “monoracial” kids (who can benefit from reading about interracial families) … Any child who is curious, scientific-minded or interested in the martial arts. Anyone who’s ever struggled to understand something they don’t. (Should I have just said “Everyone!”?)

Ultimately, any reader will be “ideal” to me, but hopefully this gives adults looking for the right book for a child an idea of who might enjoy my book the most.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I’ve got to be honest here—anyone would be my ideal reader. I feel my story deals with themes that apply to all ages and groups—who hasn’t felt isolated, weird, different or judged among peers? Who hasn’t dealt with loss and wondered how they could get past it?

It is my hope I have lots of different readers for SHARK GIRL, and that everyone finds something they can relate to.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I’m with Kelly here.
Anyone who reads my book is ideal.

Everyone who reads my book is essentially a stranger. It might be a girl hanging out before cheerleading practice or another who is waiting for her mom to pick her up after an Amnesty International meeting. It might be a woman who saw the title and said, “I’ve had a gay ex boyfriend.”

Writing is so strange:
1.You are alone in a room when you write and write and revise and plot and write and worry.
2.You have some strange urge to do this writing thing.
3.You create characters and a story and all in the hope that someone will read it.
4. You might never know your readers, your ideal readers (excluding, of course your mom, nana, best friend and critique group). Writing is a crazy offering of trust and hope. When you write a book, and when someone buys it and someone else reads it that’s almost miraculous, I think.
5. It’s like you’re reaching out your hand to a stranger and that stranger actually grabs it, and for the duration of the book you’re both holding on to each other, trusting, hoping your palms aren’t all sweaty and that the other person remembered to wash after the trip to the bathroom.
6. The writer trusts the reader to read.
7. The reader trusts the writer to bring him or her on a journey.

Anyone who does that is ideal.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I don’t think I have an ideal reader. I hope a reader will enjoy the characters, plot twists, magic and fun I put into my novel. I also hope I have written something that people of all ages can relate to. Most of all, I hope I have spun a great yarn that people will want to follow. But there is no one reader that fits this bill, if I have done my job right.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I am not sure I have an ideal reader. I can see anybody reading BLOOD BROTHERS who wants to know a character whose experiences and life are different from most teens. Perhaps somebody will read the story who wonders, what do you do when your life starts to shatter? However, there are both sad scenes and happy scenes in the book—it is not gloom and doom, but it is a story about a character who yearns for what he cannot have.

Others who may be ideal readers are those interested in cross country biking, mysteries, and hospital drama.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

My Ideal Reader will be a teen with a seemingly unreachable dream, who will hopefully be inspired by a main character with a dream of her own. Self-identity, and finding/acknowledging it, is a large part of the story, so my Ideal Reader may be struggling with this same issue. And because this novel deals with substance abuse, I’d like to see it read by kids who face similar problems, particularly children whose family members are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

Because my novel deals with the strong bond between four generations of women, my ideal reader would be any girl … or woman who’s young at heart!

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

My ideal reader has an excellent sense of humor.

Maybe my ideal reader also likes to spy on people and nature, and is curious about things and has an appreciation for fairness.
Irony is good, too.

My ideal reader likes to read my book and recommend it to friends. : )

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I’m still floored by the idea of anyone at all reading my stuff especially people I don’t know and haven’t met.

My ideal reader is smart, has a wicked sense of humor, and enjoys sharing. He or she reaches the end of a book and immediately thinks of two or three friends who also absolutely positively must read it right away. And these friends will do so because they know the ideal reader has such great taste in books.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

My ideal reader is someone who thinks and feels deeply, has survived some kind of loss (whether large or small), and knows what it means to fight against all odds and win. Even if what he won wasn’t tangible to anyone but himself. My reader also questions authority, believes s/he’s an individual, and questions the universe about why certain things happen.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

You!!! That’s right, you there, staring at the computer screen. You are my ideal reader. I’m so glad we got to meet like this!

Seriously, though, I didn’t think about an ideal reader when I wrote INTO THE WILD. I just tried to write the book that I would want to read if I were to see it on a shelf. So I guess the answer is…

Me!!! And you! And all your friends! Ooh, and people in bookstores! And that guy who you always see at the mall, but you’re not sure if you met him at that party, or if he just looks like the guy you met at that party…

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I suppose my ideal reader is a bit like Toby - a kid on the bench who has to figure out how to help his team win without the ball in his hand, and how to prove to the world he can play when he does have the ball in his hand. But there’s more to it. As adults we like to say that we’ve all been there, that everybody once in his life has been the benchwarmer, but I’m not sure that’s true by eighth grade. Athletes are athletes. And before high school when specialization really kicks in, coordination and the other qualities that make a good athlete tend to apply universally. If a kid is a soccer superstar, I wouldn’t bet against him on the basketball court, the football field, or the baseball diamond. This is all to say that my other ideal reader might be the superstar who reads a hero story about a benchwarmer and uses it to push himself even further or who reads the story and begins to look at a benchwarmer on his own team differently. Maybe this is naive. But if you watch the tape of the high school game in upstate New York where the coach put his manager in uniform for one night as a thank you for years of hard work only to watch the kid, who is autistic, hit six three pointers, and you see how the other players react, you have to believe the story of a benchwarmer having his day in the sun can have an impact on anyone.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I think I have two answers to this question, neither of which would probably please my publisher.

A) Anyone at all willing to spend an hour or two reading stuff I’ve thunk up.
B) Adults who need to be reminded of something they knew as kids — that silliness is next to godliness.

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

I’m with Greg. I am still amazed that anyone would love my story as much as me. I guess my ideal reader would be anyone who is in the mood to pick up my book and escape into the world of a sometimes self-absorbed, materialistic young girl with razor sharp wit. The ideal reader wouldn’t mind where my story took them because they are having so much fun getting there, and when they finish my book they will spend the next six months pining for the sequel.