BEST OF 2007 AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Maureen Johnson
(source: Trashionista Blog: (http://www.trashionista.com/2008/01/best-of-2007-au.html)
Sarah chose Maureen Johnson’s Devilish as one of her favourite reads of last year and I loved The Bermudez Triangle, so we had to get her to answer our questions, didn’t we. And she did. In her own inimitable fashion…

Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer:
That would be Suite Scarlett, which comes out in May.
1 broke NYC hotel,
4 siblings,
2 boys on unicycles,
1 perma-guest,
15 actors,
1 ex-ferret,
1 con,
1 theft
1 suite,
and Scarlett
(Numbers don’t count, obviously!)
(Neither do things in parenthesis.)
Where do you like to write your books (in bed, a coffee shop, an office)?
Either at my desk or at a coffee shop with other writers. Never in bed. I think it is my fake Catholic upbringing that prevents me from reclining while working. But since I’m only fake Catholic, I’m okay with slumping.
Your favourite chick-lit book?
Persuasion, by Jane Austen.
Your favourite female heroine (if different from above!), and why?
Mame Dennis. No question.
What tips would you give to any of our readers who want to become writers?
I think with writing, you more or less teach yourself. The first is to read a lot. The second is to write a lot. Even in big, fancy writing programs . . . this is all you really do. After that, the advice gets a little looser. Expect (and delight in!) criticism. Keep learning. Wear a fabulous scarf or hat. Keep pet bees or raccoons or something similar to scare the neighbors. Violate at least one little-known local ordinance a day. Bamboozle, generally. Be nice to your editor and your editor’s assistant.
I know these are common pieces of advice, but they are worth repeating.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’m just about to start Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey, because everyone tells me it’s amazing. And I believe what I’m told.
What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)
I can give you more than a hint! I’m working on the second Scarlett book. Writing a sequel is GREAT. Aside from my overall ideas on how the series would go, I accidentally wrote seventy pages of notes (really–I have no idea how that happened) for the future books as I worked on Suite Scarlett. Now I can just go on and on and on.
Since you haven’t read the first book, though . . . there isn’t a lot of point in me giving hints about what happens in this one. Which is annoying.
Do you have a theme song?
YES. But it changes all the time. Today’s is “National Express” by The Divine Comedy.
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!)
Can you explain the circumstances of your most recent arrest?
Thanks, Maureen!
Ed Goldberg
Teen Services Librarian