YA Authors as YAs: The Ingrid Jonach Edition + Giveaway (International)
Welcome to the fifth installment in a new interview series I’m running in conjunction with YABooksCentral.com called YA Authors as YAs.
Our goal? To prove that your favorite authors — no matter how AWESOME and COOL you think they are — were once awkward, weird, and they geeked out about fandoms and guilty-pleasure music JUST LIKE YOU when they were teens. (Most of them still do, you know, and that’s totally COOL, because being yourself is the ultimate in EPIC COOLNESS.)
Maybe Ingrid Jonach, author of When the World was Flat (and we were in love), released September 3rd, 2013, from Strange Chemistry can convince you with tales from her teen years.
Here's Ingrid, when she graduated high school. Check out that shimmery shawl and dress. This girl is DECKED OUT.
So, Ingrid, when you were a teen, which books were you reading?
Any books by John Marsden, Victor Kelleher and Melina Marchetta (which at that time was Looking for Alibrandi).
What music were you listening to?
Elvis Presley (I was OBSESSED)! And Frank Sinatra. I LOVED Hanson. I saved my reputation though by also liking punk and ska, i.e. bands like Goldfinger, Jebediah (Aussie band!), Unwritten Law, Blink 182, and Grinspoon (another Aussie band!).
Which movies did you watch over and over?
I think I watched every Elvis Presley movie at least twice (did I mention I was OBSESSED?).
I'm sensing a pattern here. Will your firstborn be named Presley? :)
What did you want to be “when you grew up?”
I had absolutely no idea when I was a teenager. When I graduated from high school I decided to study creative writing at university because I finally realised I wanted to be an author.
Nice! That's when I figured it out too.
What did you and your friends do for fun in Australia?
I grew up on the coast, so I used to spend a lot of my time surfing with my friends. We also went to a LOT of discos. No. I did not grow up in the Seventies! And concerts. I saw Garbage, Alanis Morissette, Matchbox 20, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Blink 182, Jebediah, Powderfinger (yet another huge Aussie band) and many, many more!
I'm going to have to look up some of these Aussie bands.
Did you have a strange quirk, obsession, or hobby?
Mainly my obsession with Elvis Presley! I even went to Graceland and stayed in the Heartbreak Hotel.
Now I'm dying to know if there are any Elvis mentions in your book!
Name something you LOVED but were too embarrassed to admit to your peers.
Hmmm… Probably the rattail I grew so I could be just like Taylor Hanson. I ended up cutting it after someone at school spotted it.
Bahahahahahaha
Did you ever get in BIG trouble?
Sneaky girl.
What was the best thing that happened to you?
Wow. I can only think of bad things! Eek! Maybe making the school surfing team. Or getting a really good mark in my final exams at school. I guess there were a lot of little moments that were amazing, like going camping with my closest friends when we finished school or getting my license.
Your school had a surfing team? How awesome!
Did you have a major crush on anyone?
Yep. A guy at school who looked like Taylor Hanson. I ended up dating him for a while. He ended up not being anything like Taylor Hanson. What a surprise…
Ha! I thought you'd say you dated a guy who looked like Elvis!
What were you writing at the time? Fiction? Journal entries? Poetry?
I was writing a lot of fiction. Mainly working on novels, but a few short stories too. I wrote one I was particularly proud of called Saturating the Market. Here is an excerpt:
A man sharply outlined in a black business suit went down to the sea one day. He paused for a moment at the water’s edge, allowing the gentle waves to reach out and caress the soles of his shiny black shoes. A black briefcase dangled precariously from his right hand as though he was tempted to let it fall.
“I can do this. It is possible,” he whispered with a voice that lacked conviction.
The sun beat down relentlessly, causing rivers of sweat to pour down his furrowed brow. He squinted, scanning the horizon. At last his eyes rested on a yacht, anchored far out to sea. The majesty of its white form found the man sinking to his knees, his eyes raised to the heavens, where the tip of the colossal mast disappeared.
“I can do this. It is possible,” he breathed, his fingers tightening their grip on his briefcase.
Climbing to his feet, the man set his jaw with grim determination. One tightly laced shoe lifted from the sand as he took his first step into the sea. He smiled with relief when the water, now reaching his knees, did nothing but soak into his suit. With growing confidence, he forged ahead, his eyes still fixed on the yacht that shimmered in the distance.
At one point he stumbled as the sandbank gave way beneath his feet. He struggled against the weight of the water, his sodden arms flailing. His mouth gasped once, twice, three times before his head disappeared from view. The yacht watched silently from its moorings as a black briefcase floated to the surface of the water.
Daaaaaang. I need to know what he was trying to do! Walk on water? Get to the yacht? Tellllll meeeeeeee.
What is one bit of advice you'd give your teen self?
Keep doing what you are doing. It all works out in the end.
And I'm so glad it worked out to have you stop by for an interview. Thank you for chatting with me today, Ingrid!
When the World was Flat (and we were in love)
US/Can ISBN: 9781908844583
eBook ISBN: 9781908844590
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Release Date: 3 September 2013
About When the World was Flat (and we were in love)
Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary.
When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.
But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.
When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again.
An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.
“I’ve never had such a powerful impact from a book before.” A Dream Within A Dream
“It was, by far, the best book I have ever read.” Ladybug Literature
“From the moment I picked up When the World Was Flat, I was hooked.” Books for a Delicate Eternity
“A truly tragic and beautiful story about young lovers.” Brittany’s Book Rambles
Ingrid Jonach writes books for children and young adults, including the chapter books The Frank Frankie and Frankie goes to France published by Pan Macmillan, and When the World was Flat (and we were in love) published by Strange Chemistry.
Since graduating from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing (Hons) in 2005, Ingrid has worked as a journalist and in public relations, as well as for the Australian Government.
Ingrid loves to promote reading and writing, and has been a guest speaker at a number of schools and literary festivals across Australia, where she lives with her husband Craig and their pug dog Mooshi.
Despite her best efforts, neither Craig nor Mooshi read fiction.
Find out more: w - www.ingridjonach.com, t - @IngridJonach f - http://www.facebook.com/ingridjonachauthor
GIVEAWAY DETAILS
1 international winner will receive a signed paperback of When the World was Flat (and we were in love) and a bookmark.
This giveaway is open internationally. Winners will be notified by email within 30 days after the giveaway is over.
To enter, click this link to fill out the a Rafflecopter entry form.
Stay tuned for our next YA Authors as YAs, coming soon!
