“Middleview” Interview with Debut Author Jen Malone
Posted
by Tamera Wissinger
Jen Malone is
joining Smack Dab In The Middle Blog for a guest “middleview” interview
today. Jen’s debut middle grade novel AT
YOUR SERVICE, Simon & Schuster/Aladdin M!X, releases on August 26, 2014! Congratulations, Jen!
Here is
a bit about Jen:
Jen Malone is a middle grade and young adult author. Her debut AT YOUR
SERVICE publishes with Simon & Schuster/Aladdin MIX in August 2014 and
her new series, RSVP (Simon & Schuster), co-written with Gail Nall,
launches with Book #1 in 2015. Her YA debut WANDERLOST publishes with
HarperCollins in 2016. Jen lives north of Boston with her husband and three
children and teaches at Boston University.
Here’s a
description of AT YOUR SERVICE:
Chloe Turner has
pretty much the BEST life. She gets to live in the super fancy Hotel St.
Michele, New York City is her home town and her dad Mitchell Turner, concierge
extraordinaire, is teaching her all the secrets of the business so she can
follow in his footsteps. After helping him out with a particularly difficult
kid client, Chloe is appointed the official junior concierge tending to the
hotel’s smallest, though sometimes most demanding, guests.
Her new position
comes with tons of perks like cupcake parties, backstage passes to concerts,
and even private fittings with the hippest clothing designers. But Chloe
hasn’t faced her toughest challenge yet. When three young royals, (including a
real-life PRINCE!) come to stay, Chloe’s determined to prove once and for all
just how good she is at her job. But the trip is a disaster, especially when the
youngest disappears. Now it’s up to Chloe to save the day. Can she find the
missing princess before it becomes international news?
And
now it’s time to hear from our guest:
Smack Dab Middleview with AT
YOUR SERVICE author Jen Malone
1. In a nutshell, what does your main character,
Chloe, want?
Chloe wants
to rule the world, but she’ll settle for following in her dad’s footsteps as
one of the greatest concierge’s New York City has ever known, despite the fact
that she’s only twelve. When she gets appointed Junior Concierge of the fancy
hotel she calls home, she’s starting down the path!
2. What is in Chloe’s way?
I would say Chloe is in Chloe’s way. Her intent on making each guest have
a magical visit means she’s a bit… er, intent. She gets called out on it when
tasked with taking care of a trio of royal siblings. There’s all sorts of
protocol to follow but Chloe has to learn that they only want to be treated
like regular kids. But c’mon- one of them is a PRINCE (and a super cute one at
that)! It all intensifies when the youngest princess sneaks off on her own and
it’s up to Chloe, her best friend Paisley, and the other two royal siblings to
scour New York’s best tourists spots on the hunt for her.
3. Did you
know right away that this was your story, or did you discover it as you wrote?
I got that tingle when I started on it, which is always a good sign for
me that things are meant to be. I will say, this is the first manuscript I was
as excited to research as I was to write. I spent time shadowing a concierge
and interviewing a Rockette, and I sent my poor business-tripping husband all
over NYC with a video camera, which was crazy fun (for me, not him)!
4. How did
the story evolve?
Things flowed well at first because I was so enamored with the idea of
living in a hotel and had tons of ideas for fun hotel-centered adventures Chloe
could have. Sleepovers with room service sundae bars? Yes, please! But I did get
a bit stuck on plotting once the princess went missing in NYC. I knew the
remaining characters had to have some
idea of where she was headed but I also wanted to take them all over the city.
It was my own kids’ souvenir penny collection that gave me that Eureka moment.
I knew if I sent Princess Ingrid on a quest for all the pressed pennies NYC had
to offer, I could give the others a trail of sorts to follow and I also write
about the best tourists spots the city has to offer. Once I hit on that it was
a matter of poring over locations on Google Maps to figure out the order she
should go in, the travel times between them, the time of year most attractions
would be open (Yankee Stadium is pretty boring in February), etc. Eventually it
all came together.
5. Was AT YOUR SERVICE always for middle grade
readers or not?
Always. Chloe couldn’t be too young or it wouldn’t be believable that
she’d be hired by the hotel as their Junior Concierge, but this story is also
fun and sweet and in line with something tween girls in particular might
fantasize about. Living in a hotel, getting a first kiss from a prince…hmm…
perhaps slightly older, ahem, girls (fine!
WOMEN!) might fantasize about that too. Just kidding, sweet video-camera-toting
husband. You’re my prince!
6. If so, why did you choose middle grade?
I really love the upper middle
grade/younger YA age range of twelve to fifteen. I love that it’s a short span
where a ton of things happen for the first time. First tastes of independence
(cell phones, staying home alone, maybe being dropped off at a movie or mall
with friends versus being chaperoned), first serious crushes, first kisses- all
of which are new and exciting. But because it’s such uncharted territory, it’s
also intimidating and filled with drama. All of the feelings are more intense,
both good and bad. Middle school is a big transition time where friendships are
tested, interests change, and there’s a sudden self-awareness that didn’t exist
before. Even the small things are a big deal and I love that about writing for
this age group.
7. If not, what had to change for it to be
considered a middle grade novel?
Although this
was always a middle grade novel, my editor did ask me to compress the timeline
of the story, which previously took place over nine months. She was concerned
that we’d eat up so much of Chloe’s thirteenth year that we’d bump up against
YA age groups if we wanted to turn this into a series down the road. I promptly
cut the timeline in half and also made Chloe twelve at the start of the book.
She then has a birthday later in the story, so that on the day Ingrid goes
missing (which is the second half of the book) she is thirteen. We both felt
she needed to be a teenager to have the responsibilities of her job, but this
way we can keep her thirteen longer if there are further adventures ahead for
her!
8. What is the best part of writing for middle
grade readers?
I would have
to say the enthusiasm of the readers. I have twin boys who are in sixth grade
now and their classmates are my biggest cheerleaders. Some have read the book
and it’s been so much fun to talk to them afterward. They’ll give me a really
astute analysis of the plot but in the middle bounce up and down to illustrate
a point. It’s fantastic! On the one hand, I think it’s amazing that YA has
earned such a crossover audience, with almost half of YA books being purchased
by adults, and I appreciate the doors that has opened for authors. I will
confess that when I wrote a YA recently, I probably was more aware of/focused
on potential adult readers than I was picturing teen readers. On the flip side,
when I write middle grade, I really am picturing a kid reading it as I write
and that does make it more fun!
9. Is there any downside?
To writing
middle grade? Hmm… this doesn’t necessarily apply to my stories because I tend
to write light and fluffy “chick lit for chicklets”, but I think content in MG
is a tricky thing. There are eleven year olds who are staggeringly mature and
are having very adult experiences and there are eleven year olds (mine
included) who still think girls have cooties and put teeth under their pillow
for the Tooth Fairy. Both groups deserve books they can relate to, without
being preached to, judged, or talked down to. I think there are authors- Lauren
Myracle comes to mind- who are very thoughtful and deliberate in the way they
introduce “content” but at the end of the day there will still be parents who are
upset by some of the topics explored in today’s MG, whether it be first sexual
experiences, or drinking, or body changes brought on by puberty. What I love
about the MG writing community is that it is something authors care about, talk
to each other about, and approach with care, whether they ultimately choose to
include it or not.
10. Is there one question you wish you could
answer about writing, your book, or the author's life, but have never been
asked? Here's your chance to Q &A yourself.
Well, I have
to say, this being interviewed thing is still pretty new to me, so the list of
questions I haven’t yet been asked is fairly endless. However, I attended a
panel of YA authors at BEA last year and one of the questions they were asked
was, “What could you never write?” I was fascinated by the answers, which
ranged from a character drinking and driving without consequences to characters
having unprotected sex to a rape scene. It was only on reflecting on that
question that I realized there were some things I didn’t necessarily realize I was
making conscious decisions about in my writing, but I was. For example, I won’t
write a character who looks in a mirror and groans at what she sees there
unless it’s a part of her character arc and she’ll reform herself throughout
the story. I know that the reality is that lots of us do this daily—I definitely
have my share of bad hair days—but I’m very aware that the age group of my
readers means that many will be at a time in their life when self image is a
new thing and I feel a certain responsibility for my characters to have a
positive and healthy image of themselves. You won’t find one of them saying,
“Ugh, I’m soooo fat and pimply and gross.” It’s also the reason that Chloe—who
is no nerd—wears glasses. It may be a
bit Polyanna of me, but I’m okay with that.
Thanks for joining us today,
Jen. Again, congratulations on the release of AT YOUR SERVICE!
CONGRATS, JEN!
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