GCC Interview - Denise Jaden and NEVER ENOUGH
Yesterday was the release of Denise's second book, Never Enough, which happens to be edited by my own editor at Simon Pulse, Annette Pollert. Which means it's pretty much perfect. ;-)
Denise is holding a contest on her blog where you can win four boxes of books!
From the author of Losing Faith, a novel about two sisters and the eating disorder that threatens to destroy their family.
Loann’s always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire’s ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special…even if that means betraying her sister.
But as Loann slips inside Claire’s world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire’s quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. And Loann is frightened she could lose the sister she’s always idolized.
As Claire increasingly withdraws from friends and family, Loann struggles to understand her and make amends. Can she heal their relationship—and her sister—before it’s too late?
PRAISE FOR NEVER ENOUGH
"In her sophomore novel, Jaden (Losing Faith) offers an intimate and enlightened rendering of anorexia and bulimia...Loann's fight against forces that might be beyond her control is both harrowing and inspiring. While Jaden does not provide simple answers for the problems presented, she dramatically illustrates the importance of speaking out and reaching out." —Publishers Weekly
“Raw and unforgettable.”
—Tara Kelly, author of Harmonic Feedback and Amplified
Check out this fantastic video Denise made with several other YA authors contributing, on how they never felt good enough.
ABOUT DENISE
Denise Jaden spent her high school lunch hours trying to tame her frizzy/curly hair in the bathroom, or playing freeze tag in the drama room. She attended the theatre program at college, and then enjoyed a variety of occupations, including stage production, mushroom farming, and Polynesian dancing. The first draft of her debut novel, Losing Faith, was written in 21 days during National Novel Writing Month. This is her second novel. She lives just outside Vancouver, Canada with her husband and son. Find out more online at denisejaden.com, visit her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter.
And now, my interview with the ever-awesome Denise Jaden!
We're always told to "kill our darlings." Do you have a short excerpt--a couple lines or a paragraph--that you'd care to share with us, something you love but just didn't quite make the cut?
In a way I’d always felt like things that happened to Claire, happened to me too. Like I remembered in elementary school when she won this bike-decorating contest at sports day and people kept coming up and congratulating me afterward. But my rational brain usually kicked in to remind me of the reality.
Turn to page 99 of your current release: which word on that page describes your main character best, and why?
Short (in stature) with a big mouth. Loann is five-foot-nothing, and often tends to open her mouth and say things before she thinks through the outcome of her words.
What’s the scariest book-related thing to happen to you in the last year?
The scariest thing that happened to me in the last year is when I proposed a writing workshop for a small group of people, and it instead got picked up for a much larger theatre venue. I ended up teaching the workshop to several hundred people. It went well, and I’m proud that I did it, but at the time I was terrified!
Do you have a quirk or detail in common with your main character (e.g., favorite food, habit, phrase)?
Yes, we both have frizzy/curly/unmanageable hair. And we’re both short.
What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled for book research?
I went to San Francisco a few years ago, and even though I haven’t set a novel there yet, I have hoards of notes and pictures because I plan to one day.
Speaking of travel, which do you like best: planes, trains, or automobiles?
I used to take a lot of road trips, but I’m feeling kind of old for keeping myself in the same position for that long these days. I’d say planes, because they get me there the fastest.
In the SHADE trilogy, Aura is the first of a generation that can see ghosts. What do you think defines your generation?
I think of my generation as a transitionary generation. We’re not the hands-on hard workers that our parents were, and we’re not the tech-savvy (and sometimes immobile) people that our kids are.
If you could bring any person back as a ghost so you could ask them about their lives, who would it be?
I’d love to chat it up with Jesus for a while, but it seems a little too strange to think of him as a ghost.
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Great answers, Denise. Congrats on your new release--I can't wait to read Never Enough!
"In her sophomore novel, Jaden (Losing Faith) offers an intimate and enlightened rendering of anorexia and bulimia...Loann's fight against forces that might be beyond her control is both harrowing and inspiring. While Jaden does not provide simple answers for the problems presented, she dramatically illustrates the importance of speaking out and reaching out." —Publishers Weekly
“Raw and unforgettable.”
—Tara Kelly, author of Harmonic Feedback and Amplified
Check out this fantastic video Denise made with several other YA authors contributing, on how they never felt good enough.
ABOUT DENISE
Denise Jaden spent her high school lunch hours trying to tame her frizzy/curly hair in the bathroom, or playing freeze tag in the drama room. She attended the theatre program at college, and then enjoyed a variety of occupations, including stage production, mushroom farming, and Polynesian dancing. The first draft of her debut novel, Losing Faith, was written in 21 days during National Novel Writing Month. This is her second novel. She lives just outside Vancouver, Canada with her husband and son. Find out more online at denisejaden.com, visit her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter.
We're always told to "kill our darlings." Do you have a short excerpt--a couple lines or a paragraph--that you'd care to share with us, something you love but just didn't quite make the cut?
In a way I’d always felt like things that happened to Claire, happened to me too. Like I remembered in elementary school when she won this bike-decorating contest at sports day and people kept coming up and congratulating me afterward. But my rational brain usually kicked in to remind me of the reality.
Turn to page 99 of your current release: which word on that page describes your main character best, and why?
Short (in stature) with a big mouth. Loann is five-foot-nothing, and often tends to open her mouth and say things before she thinks through the outcome of her words.
What’s the scariest book-related thing to happen to you in the last year?
The scariest thing that happened to me in the last year is when I proposed a writing workshop for a small group of people, and it instead got picked up for a much larger theatre venue. I ended up teaching the workshop to several hundred people. It went well, and I’m proud that I did it, but at the time I was terrified!
Do you have a quirk or detail in common with your main character (e.g., favorite food, habit, phrase)?
Yes, we both have frizzy/curly/unmanageable hair. And we’re both short.
What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled for book research?
I went to San Francisco a few years ago, and even though I haven’t set a novel there yet, I have hoards of notes and pictures because I plan to one day.
Speaking of travel, which do you like best: planes, trains, or automobiles?
I used to take a lot of road trips, but I’m feeling kind of old for keeping myself in the same position for that long these days. I’d say planes, because they get me there the fastest.
In the SHADE trilogy, Aura is the first of a generation that can see ghosts. What do you think defines your generation?
I think of my generation as a transitionary generation. We’re not the hands-on hard workers that our parents were, and we’re not the tech-savvy (and sometimes immobile) people that our kids are.
If you could bring any person back as a ghost so you could ask them about their lives, who would it be?
I’d love to chat it up with Jesus for a while, but it seems a little too strange to think of him as a ghost.
-------
Great answers, Denise. Congrats on your new release--I can't wait to read Never Enough!
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