Debut Author Caela Carter Interview

Welcome to the blog, Caela Carter!! :)

Debut author Caela Carter offered to do an interview for today to promote her book, Me, Him, Them, and It, which was published by Bloombury in February.  Please give Caela Carter a warm welcome!!

~Her Awesome Debut Book~

Me, Him, Them, and It

by Caela Carter

Pages: 320

Release Date: February 26, 2013

by Bloomsbury

Goodreads / Purchase

ME is Evelyn Jones, 16, a valedictorian hopeful who's been playing bad girl to piss off THEM, her cold, distant parents. HIM is Todd, Evelyn's secret un-boyfriend, who she thought she was just using for sex - until she accidentally fell in love with him. But before Evelyn gets a chance to tell Todd how she feels, something much more important comes up. IT. IT is a fetus. Evelyn is pregnant - and when Todd turns his back on her, Evelyn has no idea who to turn to. Can a cheating father, a stiff, cold mother, a pissed-off BFF, and a (thankfully!) loving aunt with adopted girls of her own help Evelyn make the heart-wrenching decisions that follow?

~Get to know Caela Carter~

Bio:

Caela Carter was raised in Basking Ridge, NJ and Baltimore, MD. She's been writing since she learned how to pick up a pen but before the writing thing got serious she spent six years teaching English to middle and high school students in Jacksonville, FL and Chicago, IL. Her debut novel, ME, HIM, THEM AND IT will be published in 2013 by Bloomsbury. When she's not writing, Caela is a middle school librarian in Harlem, a Notre Dame football enthusiast, and a happy explorer in New York City.

Connect:

Goodreads | Website 

~Her Interview~

1. Why did you decide to become a writer?

I honestly think it was instinct. Recently, someone asked me when I first thought I'd like to be a writer and the answer is that I was so young that I don't remember. So, I asked my mother how old I was when I first started talking about wanting to write books and she said that even she doesn't remember. It's just what I always wanted to do.

I will say, though, that despite the fact that writing has always been my goal, it took me a long time to pursue it in a serious way. I studied creative writing in college, but afterwards I became a teacher and didn't really focus on writing at all. Though it was what I wanted to do, I didn't think I'd ever actually be able to write something anyone would want to read. After several years, it got to the point that in not putting writing at the top of my Career Priority List I started to feel like I was living dishonestly. So, I began the MFA program in Writing for Children at The New School where I several like-minded writers who really helped me prioritize it. And the rest is history. :-)

2. Who were your biggest influences?

Hands down my biggest literary influence growing up was Cynthia Voigt. I read everything I could get my hand on when I was a kid and I was in love with reading long, long before I discovered Cynthia Voigt. But when I first picked up Come a Stranger I realized I'd found something different, something deep and wise and beautiful. I'm still completely in love with her books.

3. Where do you like to write?

I usually write at home. But I am most successful writing on trains. I don't know why, but am at least three times as productive on a train as I am anywhere sitting still.

4. Do you have a special routine you like to do before you write?

No! I really want a routine. I really want to be the type of writer who writes from this-time to this-time everyday, who always re-reads or never re-reads, who writes X number of words and then stops. Any routine, really. But, alas, I can't really make one work.

I try to write at least 1,000 words a day when I'm drafting, but some days I fail horribly, other days I write close to 10 times that much.

It seems like life gets in the way of routines, and I'm trying to be okay with that and enjoy it.

5. When and how did you get the idea for Me, Him, Them, and It?

Hmm...I have a really tough time with this question, particularly for this book. Everything else I've written, I kind of know where it came from. But this one was different.

It went like this: It was September 2010 and I had my first assignment due for my MFA program in a few days. I was working on a totally different project (which I feel like I'll keep on my back-burner forever and ever at this point) and I suddenly realized I wasn't ready for anyone to read it. It was too close to my heart and I had just met these classmates! Meanwhile, this angry, lonely teenager had taken up residence in the back of my brain. Her name was Evelyn. She had unruly red hair. She was totally confused about her place in her family. So, I sat down to see if I could write a few pages in her voice and it just kind of poured out. After about three sentences, she was pregnant, and her story went from there.

I didn't set out to write about teen pregnancy. I actually set out to write about family.

6. Is there another book in the works? If so, what can we expect?

Yes! I have a second book with Bloomsbury which should be hitting shelves in Spring 2014. I don't want to say too, too much about it quite yet, but it involves friends and ex-friends, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends, big life questions, and a few Greek Islands.

THIS OR THAT

1. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Love them both!

2. Cats or dogs?

Dogs, all the way! As soon as my husband and I agree on a breed, we'll get one. :-)

3. Hardcover, paperback or ebook?

I'll read them all, but I prefer them in that order.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE?

1. Movie?

I'm not too much of a movie person, but I love Judd Apatow-ish funny-with-a-dash-of-heartwarming stuff like Superbad or Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

2. Ice cream flavor?

Mint Chocolate chip! (Preferably with hot fudge to improve the chocolate-to-mint ratio.)

3. Animal?

Giraffes! They are so beautiful.

4. Book?

To Kill a Mockingbird

5. Actor and actress?

I don't have one of these. I tend to pay more attention to the fiction character than the actor.

6. Fictional character?

Aah! Of course you'd get me on this. There are so, so many I love. There's no way I could pick a fave!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR STOPPING BY TODAY CAELA CARTER!  IT WAS A BLAST!! :)