Happy Monday! You’re in luck because I was lucky enough to interview Holly Goldberg Sloan!!
Remember, you can meet Holly at the Pasadena Teen Book Festival!!
Free event – Tickets at Eventbrite
More information – Grab a Badge
Presented by Pasadena Public Library and Bridge to Books
Writing novels is your second career. You were originally a screenwriter. What challenges do you face when writing novels versus screenplays?
Screenplays have known, recognized structure. Scenes are generally two or three pages. Feature screenplays are for the most part between 110 and 120 pages because a page is thought of as a minute on screen. The generally accepted conventions of the form (once understood) can be comforting. Novels, for me at least, don’t have these same kinds of rules and conventions. They can, for lack of a better way of saying it, go off course. And sometimes that’s the joy of the thing.
Do you ever wish to write a book on a previously developed character you’ve written about?
I have trouble letting go of my characters because they are very real to me. I guess that’s the answer behind why I wrote JUST CALL MY NAME, coming out from Little Brown in August of 2014. It’s a follow-up book to I’LL BE THERE. And yes, everyone is back.
Both of your YA books, while containing humor, are very dramatic and focus on real issues. Being a comedy writer, how do you balance the humor and the dramatic? Have you thought about writing a purely comedic book?
I write contemporary realistic fiction. And the world that I see can be both sad and funny. The two things go hand in hand for me. I have laughed so hard that I’ve cried. And in my own times of personal sorrow, I have found the ability to laugh. I find the release to be the same in so many ways.
Recently, an author has admitted that in retrospect, they maybe should have written a series/character differently. Do you have any characters you feel like you would have written differently now when you look back?
I think I’m too new to the process to have many regrets. Can you ask me that question in 5 years?
Both of your books have very beautiful, striking covers. Do you buy books based on their covers?
I think that covers are very, very, very important. They are the front of the restaurant. The box for the necklace. Covers need to be appealing. Of course the issue is that what appeals to one person is an eyesore to someone else.
How do you take your potato?
I like mustard infused, roasted potatoes and I’m glad you asked. You can find my recipe for these delicious compliment to any meal right HERE (on the website ONE FOR THE TABLE).
What are you working on right now?
I just wrote a Hallmark Hall of Fame Christmas movie, which will air on ABC this December. It’s titled ONE CHRISTMAS EVE, and shooting will begin next month in Canada. I’m currently writing a middle grade book with an animal at the center of the situation. No spoilers!
You guys can find Holly on Twitter @HGoldbergSloan or find her online
#1: ARC of A Girl Called Fearless
#3: $50 Gift Card to Vroman’s Bookstore
Love, love Holly. And I want to make those potatoes now.
me too! Yum!