WRITER WEDNESDAY: Q&A With Author/Poet SONYA SONES!

WRITER WEDNESDAY: Q&A With Author/Poet SONYA SONES!

Meet author/poet SONYA SONES!

Welcome to WRITER WEDNESDAY! This week, we are chatting with the lovely YA novelist/poet SONYA SONES. Her latest novel is her first adult novel debut called ‘THE HUNCHBACK OF NEIMAN MARCUS” (Harper 2011).

Sonya will also be giving away a signed copy of her novel in our book giveaway contest. How can you join in on the fun? Please comment on this blog or email me at paula at paulayoo dot com to have your name included in the drawing. Winners will be announced in October, so stay tuned!

(Keep reading after the jump for our Q&A with Sonya!)

"The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus" by Sonya Sones (Harper 2011)

 Q&A with SONYA SONES

SONYA SONES has written four young adult award-winning novels in verse for teens, including What My Mother Doesn’t Know, one of the Top Ten most challenged books of 2010. So she’ll be blogging about banned books everyday during Banned Book Week (September 24 – October 1) at: http://www.sonyasones.com/wp/whats-new/.

Here newest book, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, is her first novel for “grownups.” It leapt onto Los Angeles Times Bestsellers List three weeks after publication this April. If you’d like her to make a Skype appearance at your book club meeting, contact her at sonyasones@gmail.com.

Visit her at: www.sonyasones.com

Friend her at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=567915596

Find out what she ate for breakfast at: http://twitter.com/#!/sonyasones

Q: I love how your debut adult novel, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, is described as a “coming of middle-age” story. Given your career as YA novelist writing about teens taking those first steps towards adulthood, what inspired you to explore these coming of age themes with an older protagonist? Did you find any similarities between women who are approaching 50 versus their teen counterparts who are approaching graduation?

A: I suppose what inspired me to explore the theme of coming of middle-age was the fact that I’d recently experienced it myself. Like my main character, Holly, I’d dealt with going through menopause and with dreading my imminent empty nest, while freaking out about being offered my first senior discount. Plus, I’d been writing in the voice of a teen for so long, I thought a change of pace might cleanse my writing palette and free me up to get a little more racy than I usually do.

There are more similarities between coming of age and coming of middle-age, than you might think. In both cases, you are moving on to an entirely new phase of life and being forced to start all over again. In both cases, your body is going through a massive transformation and your hormones are raging out of control. Both are total immersion situations, very in-your-face, and not always fun. Though often funny!

Q: Your main character, in The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, is a writer dealing with menopause. I once wrote a second cover story for PEOPLE with Cybill Shepherd who discussed going through menopause. It’s interesting – and sad – to me that people have such negative reactions to “The Change.” It’s also frustrating to see how menopause is stereotyped with sexist and negative images. Your book is very realistic and funny – just like my interview with Cybill Shepherd. What made you decide to focus on what is a very misunderstood yet very natural part of growing older? What do you hope readers get from Holly’s journey with this stage in her life?

A: I guess, unconsciously, I’m drawn to writing about the underdog. And women who are going through “the change” are not exactly sitting on top of the world. But as Robert Frost once said, “The only way round is through.” So I’m hoping that reading about what Holly’s going through, will help women deal with what they are going through—help them to cry about it and to laugh about it. And, corny as it may sound, I’m hoping that when women read Holly’s painfully honest description of what it’s like to approach middle-age, they’ll feel like they aren’t in this thing alone.

Q: In general, why do you use poetry to tell stories? What does poetry do for you that prose writing does not? It’s unique to read novels-in-verse, especially adult novels-in-verse which are rare. I’m curious as to what draws you to this particular form of storytelling.

A: Poetry cuts right to the center and truth of things. And truth is what I’m in hot pursuit of whenever I sit down to write. But, honestly? I use poetry to tell my stories because I don’t know how to write regular novels. The idea of having to come up with all those words scares me to death. Maybe someday, though, I’ll get my courage up and give it a try…

Q: How do you approach writing a novel in verse versus a regular stand-alone poem? It’s difficult writing a novel and plotting its intricacies and figuring character arcs… I can’t imagine also writing it in verse. I’d love to hear more about your writing process with poetry.

A: Writing a single stand-alone poem is a lot less complicated than writing a whole novel in poems! When I’m writing my novels in verse, I just try to think of each poem, or sequence of poems, as a tiny little chapter. So some of them work as stand-alones, and some only work in the context of the plot. But I feel, as a storyteller, that I have to let the unfolding of the tale take precedence over the form. Which means I can’t afford to be a purist. I’m often forced to include poems that are simply there to function as connective tissue. The poet in me is pissed off by the this, but the novelist in me always wins in the end.

Q: You also mix humor with poignancy in your work, especially in The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus (such as poems like “A Brief History of My Boobs”). How do you balance humor with such heavy topics?

A: One of the things I like most about poetry is that it takes you straight to the feelings. And I love making people cry as much as I love making them laugh. So I try to write stories that take you on emotional rollercoaster rides, without making you toss your cookies. That’s why I was delighted when so many of the reviews described The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus as a “laughter and tears” novel.

Q: Please tell us about your next book project!

A: I’m working on a YA story about a big fat liar. And I’m loving writing in the voice of an unreliable narrator for the first time. I know it’s going well when I’m sitting here at my computer cackling to myself…Mwa ha ha ha ha!

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Thanks again to Sonya for this week’s WRITER WEDNESDAY Q&A! Remember, if you’d like to participate in our signed book giveaway contest, please comment on this blog or email me at paula at paulyoo dot com to be included in the drawing!

Other Contest Reminders: There’s also still time to participate in our signed book giveaway contests with cookbook author ROBIN MATHER (“The Feast Nearby”) and DC Comics/Eureka writer ERIC WALLACE (“Mister Terrific”). Please check out their blogs already posted in the archive and either comment on them or email me to join in for their drawings as well. The winners for these two contests will be announced in a blog posted on September 30, 2011.

Stay tuned for this week’s FOODIE FRIDAY blog which features a special recipe from Robin Mather’s “The Feast Nearby,” too. Until the next time, remember… Happy Writing! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT! 🙂

 

 

5 Responses

  1. Deanna Roy says:

    I already have MY copy! But I’ll give this one to my mom (sorry mom, you can’t have mine!)

    Love, love, love, Sonya Sones!

  2. Rose says:

    I’ve always been a fan of you Sonya! Your book Stop Pretending changed my life. Thanks for staying true to the art! I hope I win your book! lol

  3. Eva-Marie says:

    I would love to get a signed copy of wonderful Sonya’s book. Met her in Stockholm last autumn and I was spell-bound. Thanks for an interesting interview here.

  4. TeresaR says:

    Hmm…marriage, motherhood, and mayhem: check, check, check. ;D Sonya’s book sounds like a perfect read for me at this stage in my life…although I admit that the prospect of getting my AARP membership in less than 3 years is actually very exciting to me. LOL!

  5. paulayoo says:

    Hi everyone! Thanks for your comments and thoughts. Really appreciate it. FYI you are all officially entered in our book drawing. Stay tuned – I post updates every Monday at the YOO INK section of my website https://paulayoo.com and I’ll post soon when the blog schedule will be when I announce the winner! 🙂 Good luck!

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