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April 30, 2008 10:21 AM

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Luisa Plaja

Luisa Plaja is probably my best writer buddy. I love her and I love her first book, Split by a Kiss (but not just because I love her, because it's brilliant), so it was only a matter of time before I had to interview her, wasn't it? Well, that time is now!

Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer:

Brit kisses super-hot American boy and splits into two girls: one cool, one not.

Where do you like to write your books (in bed, a coffee shop, an office)?

Anywhere interruption-free, which is more a matter of timing (ie, children asleep!) than location.

Your favourite chick-lit book?

Grown-up chick lit: Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes.

Young Grown-up chick lit: oooh, tough, so very very tough. It's a tie between Becoming Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty, Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart and Hadley by Sarra Manning. (And Let's Get Lost by Sarra Manning... but maybe I rate being made to laugh more highly than being made to cry!) And Devilish by Maureen Johnson and A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone and What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones and anything by Helen Salter, Sara Hantz, Amanda Ashby, Keris Stainton... [*blush* - Keris] Oh, did you want me to single out one book? Aaargh, I can't do it!

Your favourite female heroine (if different from above!), and why?

Mia Thermopolis. (I don't have to tell you which series she's from, do I?!) I admire the way she deals with everything life and princess-hood throws at her. Or maybe Shiraz Bailey Wood from Grace Dent's Diary of a Chav series - she's so wonderfully big-hearted. Or maybe... OK, I'll stop, but again, I can't choose just one!

What tips would you give to any of our readers who want to become writers?

1. Enjoy it! Writing is fun, not torture. Honestly. Mostly.

2. Try NaNoWriMo.

3. Be pretentious about it. Example: Pose with a notebook in a soft play area, exclaiming, "Aha!" and scribbling intermittently while those around you hit you with colourful plastic balls.

What are you reading at the moment?

The fourth in Sarra Manning's Fashionistas series (oops - nearly wrote 'Trashionistas' there!) It's called Candy and it's fantastic, just like the previous three books.

What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)

Book Two, also for teenagers, and loosely inspired by this site.

And several other ideas, especially a first draft I've written whose characters won't leave me alone. (See point 3 above.)

Do you have a theme song?

I've had a different theme song for each book I've worked on but they're either too embarrassing or too obscure to mention!

What question have you never been asked in an interview, but think you should have been? (Tell us the question and answer it too, if you like!)

I think I've been asked all the best questions! My favourites so far (oh! apart from these, crawlie crawl crawl!) have been, "Can you ice skate?" which actually has an interesting and not strictly yes/no answer and Pink World's question about the Split by a Kiss soundtrack - I'd been dying for someone to ask me that.

Um, OK... How about: What's your favourite book review site? Answer: It's a tie between Trashionista (so cool), Chicklish (so teen, and so, um, me) and Vulpes Libris (so mind-expanding). :)

Thanks, Luisa! Did I mention that I love you?

Came straight to this page? Visit www.trashionista.com for more female fiction news, reviews and interviews.

Posted by Aigua Media on April 30, 2008 in Interviews | Permalink

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