The Kinks, Perfectionism, and Being Afraid
This week's Anonymous Teen Reader is MorbidMandy! I love so many things about her interview, but the picture she chose is one of my favorites because it has a sooper sekrit connection to my next book (which will be announced SOON).
Can't wait to share the info with you guys, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy MorbidMandy's interview as much as I did.
JUST THE FACTS
Interview Code Name (you choose!); MorbidMandy
Current country of residence; USA
Male or female? Female
Age; 16
ABOUT THE BOOKS
How many books, on average, do you read a month? Oh my… it depends… anywhere from 15-30. Depends on the length of the book and how busy I am.
Favorite kind of book and why; Fantasy. I love escaping to another world. But it also has to have romance in it. Definitely romance. I think that's one of the hardest things for authors to get right (for me) – I don't want the entire story to revolve around the romance, but I definitely want a strong romance in there.
Name the single most important factor in your decision to purchase a book; The first chapter and the summary (on the back or front flap) – I read parts of books in the bookstore to see if I would be interested in buying them. If I'm not drawn in, then I won't buy it.
What makes you feel like you're reading or have read a truly amazing book? When I can't get it (or the characters) out of my head, or when I want to read or write fanfiction for it… when it completely 'captures' me.
How important is a friend's recommendation in your decision to purchase a book? Not… too important. I love my friends but I'm the 'reader' of the group-I'm the one who recommends good books, not them.
Thing you'd like to see more or less of in the YA genre; More: Deep characters. I hate it when they have a character that's all-good or all-bad. I like characters that are deeply flawed but still have something in them that makes you root for them. Less: The bad-boy-good-boy love triangles. I get that they're supposed to show struggle, but too often I end up being annoyed – if the bad-boy is really a sweetheart, then he isn't bad. And if he really is bad – then why do you want him?
What's your biggest pet peeve in a book? When the female leads are weak. When they're constantly having to be rescued, yet no one mentions it. After a while, you have to figure someone would be like 'She's kind of useless'.
Paperback or hardcover? Paperback, usually, but hardcover if I really want a book – like if it's a sequel. Paperbacks make me paranoid – I hate broken spines or bent covers.
Series or stand-alone? Series. Definitely. Stand-alone's always make me sad because I want more… and I always hope for more.
ALL ABOUT YOU
What music do you most often listen to? Er… hard question. I love older stuff-the 80′s, 90′s, and even some 60′s-70′s. I love modern bands, but I find that few actually sing about actual feelings and issues… and I like songs more than bands, usually.
Name your favorite band; Um… I love Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Kinks… but like I said before, I like individual songs more than bands.
Best movie of all time? Another hard question… The Breakfast Club or Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (it is, as they say, excellent).
Without naming names, tell us a little about your group of friends; Hmm… I don't have a *lot* of friends, but… H is my best friend, even though we don't see each other that often, we're in sync-we go to Borders and sit and drink coffee and just TALK for hours. She's offbeat and she listens to the best music. C is my most… excited friend. She keeps me up-to-date on pop culture and tells me what to wear and pokes me when I start droning on. D is related to me, and he was my best friend for the first 5 years of my life, my closest friend for the first 12 years of my life, and then… we kind of didn't talk or see each other for a while. He's the only one who's not afraid to look me straight in the eye and say exactly what he's thinking.
What's your biggest concern about the world right now and/or the people in it? Although I know that we need to treat our earth better, I think too many people are sure that we can destroy it. We will not destroy the earth – it was here millions of years before us, and it will be here millions of years afterwards. Despite what people say, nature is not in 'harmony'. Nature is brutal, a constant warzone with species fighting for control over the land. I'm more worried that we'll destroy ourselves. (Me, too.)
Someone gives you a million dollars, no strings attached. What do you do with it? I'm not going to lie, I'm going to buy myself some stuff. A lot of books. But then I'd buy my mom a house and take her on vacation and let her adopt a bunch of kids because she's always wanted to adopt and… I'd donate some to charity. And I'd travel, and I'd just… walk down the street and give people twenty bucks. Because how awesome would that be? Just having someone hand you twenty bucks?
You can live for one year in any place in the world. Where do you go and why? Hmm… England. But not a touristy place-someplace where I can walk around and breathe the air and feel nature… but still have internet. I'd love to go someplace with a lot of historical significance, because I LOVE history.
Have you ever "Hidden" someone on your Facebook feed? If so, why? Once I hid a family friend. She would always tell us what she was doing, what she just did, and what she was going to do next. And not exciting things. Things like, 'I just cooked dinner, I'm setting the table, and then I'm going to eat'. Every ten minutes. It got a little hard to read anything else, so I would hide her and then read hers later… (tee-hee!)
Do you get along with your family? Either way, tell us why. I love my family, but we are a very, very dysfunctional bunch. There's also a lot of us. My mom and I are close-she sacrificed a lot raising me as a stay-at-home single mother until I was 12, and I'm close to my step-mother and little sister, and nephew, but… everyone else I see a few times a year and that's it.
What is one thing most people don't know about you? I'm a perfectionist. Most people wouldn't think I was-because my room is a mess and I can be kinda lazy. I used to say I wasn't, because I didn't, like, burst into tears when I didn't get a good grade. And then I got a B- on something… and I promptly burst into tears. When someone says they're a perfectionist, most people smile. But it's not a fun thing – being a perfectionist is awful, because you're always doing something, and re-doing it, and hoping it's good, and working on it and… frankly, it's exhausting.
Name your biggest secret fear. Pretty much all of my fears are secret. I like to portray myself as fearless, even though I'm far from it. I'm scared of the dark most of all, though. I hate the dark. It's creepy and shadowy, and just… horrible. But if I have the TV on – I'm fine. I'm fearless :)
Name something you like about yourself. My hair. It's really, really long, and it can be a curtain or a weapon. I've dyed it all different sorts of colors, and I like it because no matter how I'm feeling it fits me.
What one thing would you like to know about other teens. Umm… mundane things, like what's their favorite color, number, flower, animal? I spend an odd amount of time thinking about my answers to these types of questions (gray, 13, calla lily, turtle).
