Awesome Authors: Carrie Jones!

Carrie Jones is the veriest. And that is all there is to say on the matter.

Just kidding. Here are a few reasons WHY Carrie is so very very very.
1) She is incredibly talented and has published four novels in the last two years. WTH, Carrie? Do you ever sleep?
2) She graduated from VCFA and is extremely dedicated toward being all helpful-like to younger people in the program, like myself. In fact, she played a crucial role in me selling my little labor of love, SO PUNK ROCK, which comes out this summer.
3) She writes about pixies.
4) She seems to have a direct line to John Wayne.

Take it away, Carrie!

Name: Carrie Jones

Blog URL: www.carriejonesbooks.com or http://carriejones.livejournal.com/

Blogs are a central part of the Bradford Novels universe. They are also, more and more, a central part of the YA-writing universe. When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging when I was at Vermont College of Fine Art's MFA Program for Writing for Children.

Writers Sarah Aronson, Ed Briant, Bethany Hegederus and Kellye Carter Crocker were all blogging so that they could keep up with each other during the semester. They were just so damn cool that when they told me I should blog to and be their livejournal 'friend' I was all, "Oh! Oh! Oh! They want to be friends? With me? Oh yay!!! Happy dance!!!"

I started blogging.

Then I sold my first book, TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND to Andrew Karre who was at Flux. And he said to me, "Writer. You must blog. You must continue to blog." So I did.


What's your favorite thing about blogging? Do you ever worry that between your own blog and Through the Tollbooth (the VCFA alum blog mentioned above), you'll run out of words?

My favorite thing is that I'm allowed to be my own true, neurotic, quirky self in my blog. I can make my dog have entires. I can make my cat have entries. And my other favorite part is how amazingly nice people are who read my blog. These people have lives and loves and careers. They have mad, passionate ups and downs in their lives and they still take the time to:
1. Read my blog
2. Comment on my blog
3. Care
It's the caring aspect that really gets to me. We hear all the time about the dangers of the cyber world; about the horrors of human nature, but the truth is that there are so many amazing, giving, beautiful people out there. Okay, yeah, some of them might love Bic pens a little too much, but still... They care. I love reading other people's blogs and having them read mine. I think it's all loving and warm and toasty like roast vegetables and hot chocolate on a snowy day.

What's the difference between a blog and a diary? How confessional do you like a blog to get? What sort of blog posts most appeal to you? What are some of your favorite blogs (book or otherwise) out there right now?

Well, a diary is for yourself. A blog is read by others (possibly). So there's a definite private vs. public aspect. Even though I seem terribly confessional on my own blog I really keep my biggest troubles and secrets to myself. I might hint at them occasionally (like this week actually) but I never tell. That's how I am in my un-blog life, too. I'm not good about telling the big deep hurts or truths.

When it comes to other people's blogs I really don't care how confessional they are. It's like books. I like all kinds. Some are factual. Some are emo. Some are just plain weird. It's not up to me to decide what other people should do with their space.

My favorite blogs are sinful pleasures really. I love cuteoverload, which is terribly cute-oriented of me. But it's so fluffy. And it has puppies on it almost every day. I always read Galleycat because Ron Hogan just rocks. Anyone who hugs me always gets read by me. It's like a Carrie Jones rule or something. Cynthia Leitich Smith hugs me, but even if she didn't I'd still read her blogs because they are full of usefull writer news. Same thing with Gwenda Bond's. I also have to admit that I read the superficial, which is a horrible, snarky sinfest of mean celebrity news. Barb Candidad (Fashionista_35 on livejournal) has a blog that just makes me so happy whether she's posting hot man pictures or talking about what she thinks the book business should be like.


We've got some Bradford characters who are hooked on The Superficial, too! GoldenGirl is full of scandals and exposed secrets. What was the biggest scandal at your high school? Did your classmates discover any of your deep, dark secrets?


The biggest scandal at my high school? It was probably about one of the teachers and one of the students having the sort of relationship that teachers and students are NOT supposed to have.
Or else it was just: Can you believe how much product Joe puts in his hair?

That was very important back then.

I was such a goodie-goodie that I had NO secrets. Oh. Wait. Yes. I did have secrets, terribly dark secrets, but nobody knew them. People still don't know them actually. I am very good at keeping secrets so do NOT even try, Micol. I swear I'll never tell.


Spoil my fun! So, what’s the worst thing you ever did to a friend? Are you still friends with her or him?

The first week of college one of my guy friends was really trashed at a party and he came up to me and said, "Carrie. I think you're gorgeous and you are a terribly sweet girl and I totally have the hots for you but it is just way too early to have a relationship with anyone right now. I mean, we only just got here."
And even though I didn't like this guy that way AT ALL I was all, "Whoah... Did I just get dumped by an ultra-pale accounting major that I don't even want? Whoah... ego.... Whoah.... Anger management therapy coming up."

And aloud I actually said (in a horribly mean way), "Woody, I don't want to have a relationship with anyone either and if I did, it sure as (insert swear word) wouldn't be with you."

Then I pivoted and turned away.

That was sooooooo mean of me.

And no we aren't friends now.

And yes people really called him Woody.


What are your most recent books? What new projects are you working on now?

My most recent book is NEED, which came out in December. It's a fantasy about Zara who moves to Maine and is being stalked by someone very scary and very supernatural and very much not a vampire. It has a lot of romance in it. I have to do that to make up for the Woody slam, you know.

My second most recent book is GIRL, HERO, which came out in August. It's a novel about this girl, Liliana Faltin, who is trying to navigate freshman year when all this crud is going down with her mom and her dad. They're divorced. Her mom has a new guy who drinks too much. Her dad's started cross dressing. Enough said.

Right now I'm working on the sequel to NEED. YAY!

What did I say? SHE IS THE VERIEST! You should all read NEED now.
That will be all.

Besos,

Micol