An Interview with Anne Tibbets and a giveaway!
A treat for you all today! Anne Tibbets is here! *cheers*
In case you missed it, I reviewed her book Shut Up last week. This is a story that is a must-read for all teens and probably even adults. Mary’s story is hard to read, but it’s well worth your time.
*****
Mary’s older sister, Gwen, has royally screwed up her life. Not only is Gwen pregnant at seventeen, but she’s also decided to marry The Creep who knocked her up.
Now Mary is powerless to stop her family from imploding. Her parents are freaking out, and to top it off The Creep has a gross fascination with Mary while Gwen enjoys teasing her to tears for sport.
Despite her brother’s advice to shut up, Mary can’t keep her trap closed and manages to piss off Mom so much it comes to blows.
Mary doesn’t know what to do, and all her attempts to get help are rejected. When she finally plans her escape, she fails to consider how it could destroy them all.
Seriously, you need to read this book. Click the book cover to add it to your Goodreads TBR. Then, read and enjoy the interview below! Plus make sure you get to the bottom. There’s a lovely little giveaway waiting for you there, courtesy of Anne herself. Make sure to thank her ;).
1) Shut Up is a very realistic and tough read. What message would you like to give to readers who are thinking about adding it to their TBR pile?
A: My first message would be: “Please! And tell your friends!” Ha!
Honestly, I truly believe a book like this should be required reading for every pre-teen and teen alive, and not because I wrote it, but because of the message that’s in it. Like Go Ask Alice, Shut Up is raw and real, and has plenty of material that everyone will take away something different. So, other than “Please” I’d also like to add, “Take what you will.”
Honestly, I truly believe a book like this should be required reading for every pre-teen and teen alive, and not because I wrote it, but because of the message that’s in it. Like Go Ask Alice, Shut Up is raw and real, and has plenty of material that everyone will take away something different. So, other than “Please” I’d also like to add, “Take what you will.”
2) At the end you mention that Mary’s experiences are based on some of your own. Was it hard for you to write this story?
A: I’m not going to lie, the first draft was cathartic, the eight drafts that followed were pure torture. I wrote this book on and off for three years simply because I couldn’t handle the bleak aspects of the story for long periods of time without feeling depressed myself. I began to transfer feelings I had for the characters onto the family members they were based on – and trust me on that, that isn’t healthy – especially since the characters took on lives of their own and little resembled their true-to-life counterparts as each draft progressed. A writer friend of mine was so taken with how detailed the emotion was in the book, she encouraged me to take another painful period of my life and write a book about it – but to be perfectly frank, I’m not sure I could stomach it. Not yet, anyway. It was absolute, pure, emotional torture.
3) Mary, Rose, Paul and Gwen are all such vivid characters. Do you have a favorite character from either this book or your other books?A: I don’t know if I have a “favorite.” That’s like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. I just can’t do it. But since Mary is based on me as a kid, she definitely holds a special place in my heart slightly above all the rest.
4) Now for some fun questions! If you could have dinner with anyone at all, living or dead, who would you choose?A: This is impossible to answer! I only get one answer? If I only get one, I’d love to sit down to have tea with Jane Austen. She had a sharp wit, and a keen eye for societal hypocrisy and I would love to sit and talk to her about it, though, she would probably think me quite simple and base.
5) You have to choose only one color food to eat for the rest of your life. What color do you choose?A: Green, I suppose. I wanted to say red because I love steak and can’t imagine a life without it, but I’d die of a heart attack after a month. So, green. Lettuce, spinach, broccoli. Wait – am I allowed to use butter and salt? 🙂
*****
And now, it’s giveaway time!!!
Up for grabs is a prize pack with a signed copy of Shut Up and a signed bookmark to go with it! Thanks Anne! You’re awesome!
This is open to the U.S. and Canada. I’ll choose a winner on June 25, 2012. Enter via Rafflecopter below and good luck!
