Gossip? Mos Def

Happy Wednesday!

Featured Writer: Rose Cooper

Debuting her novel Gossip from the Girl's Room in January 2011

She just received her ARC's!!! Be sure to stop by after the interview to check it out!!!
Thank you so much for having me here!

6th grader Sofia “accidentally” overhears gossip in the girls’ room, but she has to overhear very carefully so that she doesn’t miss a word of what’s being said. She uses her super-secret notebook (the book) to jot down all the juiciness so her brain doesn’t forget any single important detail. Sofia juggles all the gossipy goodness and bathroom stakeouts along with her BFF Nona Bows, getting the attention of her forever crush and battling the super snooties and popular pretties of the school. But, there are twists involved too. There are illustrations on every page that add a “punch line” to the text. I cracked myself up just writing it!

1. So in school were you the one gossiping in the girl’s room, or the one who heard the gossiping? Care to dish on the dirt?

I was the one who heard the gossip—and it was usually about me! My mom worked at the school for most of my school years so that was hard because a lot of the girls gossiped about me when they got in trouble. They always thought I put my mom up to it, or told lies because of course they weren’t bad or anything *rolls eyes*. Then when we moved to a small town, I was the new girl so the gossip was all about me, all the time. And most of it was made up stuff like I slept in a coffin or talked to ghosts. Which you can understand why by reading the next question!

2. A little bird told me (okay I was blog stalking you…) that you are a step daughter to morticians, corpses and all. Have you ever used your experience or stories to create a novel surrounding it? Or are you terrified of corpses like me?

I love blog stalkers! Confession-I was freaked out when my mom married a mortician. I thought my life was over (this happened in the beginning of my teen years). I had so many embarrassing moments that led to all that gossip I mentioned (picked up from school in a hearse (with a dead body) to start with. At that time, it was traumatic and I was horrified by it all. But after awhile, I just got used to it. And yes, I wrote a book about it! It’s an MG novel called DEADIES DON’T GOSSIP (notice a theme here?) which is based on my experiences but I turned it from total drama into a humor story. Fingers crossed that it will be published someday. You know Jen, the best way to get over your fear of corpses is to be around them. Want to hang out in my old town?

3. Author and Illustrator… tough question but which do you love more? Do you create your own illustrations for your novel or does someone else?

Writing is my first love. I just recently got back into illustrating. Back in my teen years I loved drawing and writing, but I seemed to give up the drawing because I didn’t think it was good enough. I could never give up the writing though, it was something I always felt compelled to do. I absolutely love doing both right now. With my book series, Gossip from the Girls room (2011) and Rumors from the Boys Room (2012) I do all of the illustrations myself. I’m hoping to do illustrations with other books in the future outside of this series as well.

4. What do you find to be the hardest part of the writing process?

I would have to say the deadlines. And it’s not making the deadlines that are difficult, but it’s knowing you have a deadline. Before, I could write anytime I wanted about anything I wanted, whenever creativity struck. With deadlines, you have to make the creativity work by a certain date and that can be very difficult. I sometimes will hit a brick wall with my story and instead of taking a few days to figure it out, I have to really work that much harder every day because I know my deadline is right around the corner. Sometimes it feels like a deadline even stops my creativity flow, but I think it’s just a matter of remembering to keep that date pushed to the back of my mind and enjoy the writing or else it’s too stressful. It’s just one of the things you learn and try get used to during the process of publication.

5. If you were forced to live in a house with one of your characters who would you choose and why?

Oooh, that’s a tough one! It definitely wouldn’t be the character that lives with the corpses, been there done that! I would have to say Sofia from my debut book, Gossip from the Girls’ Room. Even though she’s a cartoon, I’ve spent more time with her than any character and I feel like I actually know her. And she is so hilarious. There would never be a dull moment living with her, and really, who wouldn’t want to live with someone who likes Zombie Cows and doesn’t mind getting into a little bit of trouble every now and then?

Fun and Random Questions

Pizza: All cheese with white garlic sauce topped with feta. Yum!
Ice Cream: chocolate with brownie chunks
Pirate or Spy: Spy!
Mountains or Beach: Definitely the beach.
Book: The Hunger Games
Book Series: Twilight (just finishing Break of Dawn) Love it! And yes, I know I’m behind.
TV Show: I’m a reality show junkie. Bring on the drama!

Be sure to check out Rose at her website/blog! She's awesome!