Dinggggg Donggggg. Pizza delivery. Iíve got two extra cheese, mushroom and Italian sausage for the the awesome Linda Gerber...
You all looked kinda hungry from all the counting down to Linda's book, TRANCE, due out in ONLY TWO DAYS! So, I figured I'd drop in and hook you up with some delicious pizza.
Really, Linda was kind enough to have me around as part of my own blog tour. (Official Rules here, if youíre the curious type.) Today my book Please Ignore Vera Dietz comes out. Itís a pretty exciting time, but it's even more exciting when you can skip around to your friends' blogs and deliver some [imaginary] pizza and hang out. Also, I admit to being super interested in numerology, which is a subject covered in TRANCE, and Linda said she just might do my numbers if I dropped by! So, thank you Linda for having me and now on with those questions...
LG: In Please Ignore Vera Dietz, Vera has to deal with some heavy issues and decisions. When writing this book, how did you prepare yourself to step into Vera's skin and go to those dark places?
ASK: Vera and I have some stuff in common. Not a lot, but some things. One of those things is the ability to look at tough stuff right in the face and try to make sense of it or deal with it and confront it rather than stick our heads in the sand. So going to dark places is okay for me. I have had friends die and have spent a lifetime of grappling (like most of us) with what happens after we die. In Vera's case, this is the first time she's approached it--and it's really heavy, because it's her best friend EVER IN THE WHOLE WORLD who has died...and he screwed her over four months before he died. Which leaves her in a strange and horrible emotional space.
I have experienced funerals (or missed funerals due to being too far from them) with conflicted feelings. So, I guess you can say I get into that dark space by having experienced something similar.
LG: What was your favorite food while you were in Ireland? Have your tastes changed since you moved back to the States?
My favorite food is fresh corn on the cob. No matter where I live. In Ireland, you can't grow sweetcorn the way we do here in Pennsylvania, so after the first year when I tried and failed, I bought and erected a 25 foot long greenhouse where I grew over 200 sweetcorn plants every year. Because Amy cannot live without her corn.
But there are more answers than that. I really really really miss my free range eggs. There is nothing like a proper farm fresh laid-this-morning free range hen's egg. I get "free range" eggs in the supermarket here, but they don't come close. And ducks eggs. Oh mercy. A free range duck egg is like nothing else.
Most everything else I can get through import shops here (chocolate, biscuits, tea, porridge, etc.) or get the right ingredients imported and then make myself. I have a killer recipe for proper brown bread and I import the extra coarse flour to make it.
My tastes have been very very very BOLD (as in naughty, not exciting) since I got back. All that fast food I didn't eat for 10 years while only eating all those nice homegrown veggies and chickens? Uh, yeah. I made up for that. All those weird comfort foods? (For me, Cheetos and peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwiches and Peanut Butter Capn' Crunch)? Yeah. I ate so many I can't eat them anymore. So now that I've been back nearly 6 years, I am back to a lot of salads and the usual home-cooked staples. Though I'll still say *YES* any time anyone suggests Mexican food.
LG: Below is a numerological reading on your name. How accurate (or inaccurate) do you think this is in regards to you as a writer?
A M Y S K I N G
Your compound value number is eleven, which is associated with wisdom, and is existence on the highest plane of intellect and spirituality. Elevens are altruistic, sensitive, artistic, visionary, idealistic, have a sense of community. Eleven can also be a warning of hidden dangers, treachery from others, or a person who has a great deal to contend with.
Your name value is two, which indicates someone who is empathetic, cooperative, considerate, and in some cases, co-dependence. Twos make good partners or diplomats
Your name value is two, which indicates someone who is empathetic, cooperative, considerate, and in some cases, co-dependence. Twos make good partners or diplomats
ASK: Uh HOLY FREAKING COW, Linda. That's ME. They don't call me the mediator for nothing--which is also what I try to do as a writer. And that sense of community is HUGE in me. Hmm. I wonder if anyone is looking for a diplomat...
LG: For fun, and because I was interested, here is also the reading for Vera Dietz:
Vera's compound numbers are fourteen and twenty-one.
Fourteen holds a strong element of risk attached to it, usually caused by the actions and foolhardiness of others.
Fourteen holds a strong element of risk attached to it, usually caused by the actions and foolhardiness of others.
Twenty-one can be a number of ad≠vancement, honors, and general success, but victory generally comes after long initiation and tests of determination.
Vera's name value is eight, which indicates someone with good judgment - although eights may have relationship issues because what they show on the outside doesn't always match what's inside. Eight is a eternal number that indicates divine balance.
ASK: Okay--this is INSANE. You have just described Vera Dietz. And her whole life and her whole situation. Risk through the actions and foolhardiness of others? Check. Victory after long initiation of tests and determination? Check. Good Judgment. Check. Mixed up inside and outside relationship issues? Uh Big fat CHECK.
I am thoroughly wowed. Like wow wow wow. I cannot WAIT to come back and read the numbers of some of my favorite authors! Thank you so much for having me to your blog and for reading our numbers, Linda! Best of luck with TRANCE and you TOTALLY rock.
Oh! I should really tell you something about Please Ignore Vera Dietz before I leave, shouldn't I? It's out TODAY! Chain placement early on can be spotty, so look at your local indies or call first! Online might work best. Here's the link to buy a signed copy and have it shipped to you!
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ
is a Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2010
18-year-old Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone. Will she emerge and clear his name? Does she even want to?
"Brilliant. Funny. Really special." --Ellen Hopkins, author of NYT bestselling Crank, Glass and Tricks
Next Stop on the Pizza Delivery Blog Tour:-- Booking Mama October 15!
