Courtney Summers Author Interview

Photo Content from Courtney Summers

Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada in 1986 and currently resides in a small town not far from there. At age 14, and with her parents' blessing, Courtney dropped out of high school to pursue her education independently. At age 18, she wrote her first novel and never looked back. Her first book, Cracked Up to Be, was published in 2008, when she was 22. To date, she has authored five novels and is best known for her unapologetic, difficult female protagonists. In 2016, Courtney was named one of Flare Magazine's 60 under 30.

        

  

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Wednesday Books (September 4, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250105714
ISBN-13: 978-1250105714

Praise for SADIE

"A riveting tour de force" ―Kirkus (Starred Review)

"Summers excels at slowly unspooling both Sadie’s and West’s investigations at a measured, tantalizing pace".―Booklist (Starred review)

"The fresh, nuanced, and fast-moving narrative will appeal to a range of YA and new adult readers, and serves as a larger examination on the way society interacts with true crime...It's impossible to not be drawn into this haunting thriller of a book. A heartrending must-have." ―School Library Journal (Starred Review)

"A taut, suspenseful book about abuse and power." ―Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review)

"Summers has pulled no punches when it comes to diving into the darker side of teen lives."  —Bustle

"An electrifying thriller, taut as a bowstring. A coming-of-age tale, both gritty and sensitive. A poignant drama of love and loss. This -- all this -- is Sadie: a novel for readers of any age, and a character as indelible as a scar. Flat-out dazzling."―A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

"Sadie is an electrifying, high-stakes road trip—a gripping thriller with a true—crime podcast edge. Clear your schedule. You're not going anywhere until you've reached the end." —Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of There's Someone Inside Your House and Anna and the French Kiss

"A haunting, gut-wrenching, and relentlessly compelling read. Sadie grabs you and won't let you go until you've borne witness." —Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Carve the Mark and The Divergent series

Did you experience more difficulty writing one or the other, or did you like writing in one form more? How much of the novel did you write in chronological order, and how much did you jump around?

I enjoyed both of them. Writing Sadie’s perspective was very familiar to me because all of my books feature an intensely close first person, female point-of-view. Writing West’s perspective, the podcast format, proved a little more challenging. Not so much because of the way it was written (scripts) but because each episode had to propel Sadie’s narrative forward and give us a different way of looking at the things she went through.

So far, I’ve only ever been able to write in chronological order!

Was this how you always envisioned the book or did it change as you wrote it?
Regina Spektor said something really interesting about writing songs that I’ve always loved and related to as an author. She said, “[A]s soon as you try and take a song from your mind into piano and voice and into the real world, something gets lost and it’s like a moment where, in that moment you forget how it was and it’s this new way. And then when you make a record, even those ideas that you had, then those get all turned and changed. So in the end, I think, it just becomes its own thing and really I think a song could be recorded a million different ways and so what my records are, it just happened like that, but it’s not like, this is how I planned it from the very beginning because I have no idea, I can’t remember.”

I feel something similar when writing—the heart of my idea remains intact, but the way it takes its ultimate form is always a little different (or even a lot different) than I might have been expecting, which makes it difficult to recall the starting point. But that’s okay as long as the heart is still there and you’re satisfied with and believe in what you’ve created.

What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters? Which of your characters do you most identify with, and why?
When I first started Sadie, I was extremely skeptical of West—he had to prove himself to readers over the course of his narrative and given the nature of his job, I was curious to see where writing him would take me. I really loved the way his arc unfolded. I wasn’t necessarily surprised by it, but more gratified by it than I realized I would be.

I identify with little pieces of all of my characters, but I like to keep those to myself because I don’t want risk readers thinking about me while they read. I like my role as an author to be invisible.

What gave you the idea for SADIE?
One of the things that inspired Sadie was the way we consume violence against women and girls as a form of entertainment. When we do that, we reduce its victims to objects, which suggests a level of disposability—that a girl’s pain is only valuable to us if we’re being entertained by it. But it’s not her responsibility to entertain us. What is our responsibility to us? I really wanted to explore that and the way we dismiss missing girls and what the cost of that ultimately is.

Do you have a favorite scene, quote, or moment from Sadie?

My favorite moment is a spoiler, but my favorite quote is this: “I wish this was a love story.”

If you could tell your younger writing self-anything, what would it be?
I used to have an answer for this kind of question but the older I get, that’s changed. I wouldn’t tell her anything. Her experience as a writer unfolded the way it was supposed to and I like how it’s turning out.

In your new book; SADIE, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it
Sadie is about a girl named Sadie who goes missing on the hunt for her sister’s killer and the popular radio host, West McCray, who starts a podcast dedicated to finding out what happened to her.

Which incident in your life that totally changed the way you think today?
I’ve gone through some tough personal losses over the course of my life that have shown me I’m stronger than I give myself credit for. I try not to lose sight of that when I’m facing something unknown, scary or challenging.

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meagre clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

You can purchase Sadie at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you COURTNEY SUMMERS for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of Sadie by Courtney Summers. 

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Courtney Summers Author Interview

Photo Content from Courtney Summers

Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada in 1986 and currently resides in a small town not far from there. At age 14, and with her parents' blessing, Courtney dropped out of high school to pursue her education independently. At age 18, she wrote her first novel and never looked back. Her first book, Cracked Up to Be, was published in 2008, when she was 22. To date, she has authored five novels and is best known for her unapologetic, difficult female protagonists. In 2016, Courtney was named one of Flare Magazine's 60 under 30.

        

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?

That the traditional education system isn't for everyone.

Is there such a thing as a formula for storytelling?

It depends on what kind of story you're telling. :)

What are “Character Rules” and give us some examples.

I have never heard of Character Rules, but some things I keep in mind when I'm writing my own characters are to make sure their actions are consistent with the personality I've developed, so they are as realistic as possible.

What are some of the common challenges that new and experienced authors face and what advice do you have for over-coming them?

Letting the work go can be hard. An author goes through that every time they release a book and sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's not. My advice is to always work on something new to make that easier.

In your new book, This is not a Test; can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about the novel?

This Is Not a Test is about six teens trapped inside their high school during the zombie apocalypse, told through the perspective of a girl who doesn't want to live.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating Sloane?

I always assumed I would be AWESOME in a zombie apocalypse but when I started creating Sloane, I had to ask myself if that was really true. As I wrote, I realized I related to her take on things more than I didn't; it would be hard to continue in that kind of situation without having anything worth continuing for.

Do you have a favorite quote that you keep visible in your work environment to help inspire you?

Nope. But when I'm in the thick of a book and it's getting hard, I try to remind myself "the only way out is through."

If you could introduce Sloane to any character from another book, who would it be and why?

I like keeping my characters in the bubbles they live in. :)

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?

My next book, All the Rage, comes out from St. Martin's in 2013. It's a psychological thriller about a girl who blackmails a rich classmate and then wakes up on a road with no memory of the night before.

What question are you never asked in interviews but wish you were?

I'm fortunate that I'm asked pretty great questions!

Most horrifying dream you have ever had?

It's too horrifying to speak of!

When asked, what’s the one question you always answer with a lie?

I'm not ready to give up the lie enough to tell you.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

I own a lot of Archie comics because Archie comics are awesome. (That and the bodies.) ;)

When was the last time you cried?

I cry easily! And sometimes over silly things like touching commercials, so it's hard to keep track. :)

Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?

My mom or my sister.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Jean!

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to? 

The raw and horrifying This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers delivers a very fascinating look into the alternate future. The main character, Sloane, is in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Along with several other teenagers, they are running for their lives and find their old high school as their sanctuary. Barricading themselves inside the school, they must figure out how they will survive. Although these kids are faced with the same predicament, differences overcome their need to stick together.

Courtney has devised an amazing story that will have readers truly feel the fear contained in this book. The zombie apocalypse that she describes is wonderful. She makes a horrifying incident into a magnificent work of literature. The interactions between characters are realistic and do not at all feel fabricated. It is also thought-provoking as it will have readers demising a survival plan in case of a life-threatening epidemic. Courtney digs deep into readers’ minds and leaves a bold feeling of fear and confusion.

Forget all the things you know about zombies. This is a unique approach to the zombie genre that generates a very intense and interesting story.Courtney presents us with such a simple situation but provides a deep analysis of how we interact with one another in the most severe survival situations. She even takes it up a notch as the story is told from the perspective of a depressed Sloan who has lost all interest of living. The psychological factor is very powerful and meaningful. This book has all the ingredients of a great story.

You can purchase This is Not a Test at the following Retailers:

    

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you COURTNEY SUMMERS for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a copy of This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers.

jbnpastinterviews

Read More