Co-interview by yours truly & Miss Tiffany, an aspiring novelist and phenom blogger, from the
would-be writers guild.
When an immaculately dressed woman steps out of an iridescent bubble and asks you if you’d like to become a substitute princess, do you:
a) Run
b) Faint
c) Say yes!
For Desi Bascomb, who’s been longing for a bit of glamour in her Idaho life, the choice is a definite C—that is, once she can stop pinching herself. As her new agent, Meredith, explains, Desi has a rare magical ability: when she applies the ancient Egyptian formula Royal Rouge, she can transform temporarily into the exact look-alike of any princess who needs her subbing services. Dream come true, right?
Well, Desi soon discovers that subbing involves a lot more than wearing a tiara and waving at cameras. Like, what do you do when a bullying older sister puts you on a heinous crash diet? Or when the tribal villagers gather to watch you perform a ceremonial dance you don’t know? Or when a princess’s conflicted sweetheart shows up to break things off—and you know she would want you to change his mind?
I first met Lindsey Leavitt in the fall of 2004. My husband and I had just made the move across the country from Utah to what I lovingly call the ghetto's of Philadelphia. I was sitting on the floor of our naked apartment surrounded by boxes, when there was a knock at the door. It was Lindsey and her husband, who lived just one apartment building down from us. From the moment I met her I could not believe how extremely quick witted this girl was. Every time she opened her mouth she had something clever & witty to say. I remember thinking to myself, "Dang Gina, that girl is funny!". From that moment on I made a silent vow with myself...
"Thou shalt not covet the neighbors sarcasm."
I am thrilled to announce the release of her book (which was just hit book stores this week) PRINCESS FOR HIRE! This now leads me to another silent vow...
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor being published."
Now let's delve into the psyche of Lindsey Leavitt. Who is this girl? and what makes her tick?
Barbara Walters got nothin' on me.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
If I take a look inside your refrigerator what would I find?
Some horrors are too graphic, even for the Internet.
How does your toilet paper roll? Over the top or do you pull from the bottom?
(Please note, there is only one acceptable answer)
I just put my house on the market and left town, so all my toilet paper now is folded over and fancy-like. Usually, it’s on the top of the toilet. So I don’t really know how to answer this one.
Describe a typical day in the life of Lindsey Leavitt…
It’s all glam, 24/7. Wake up at ten, eat a breakfast of fresh fruit brought to me by the reliable Jeeves. After I bathe in my grotto, I take an invigorating stroll through my gated community. Then I choose between pretending to play tennis or lounging by the pool with my girlfriends. Around three, the nanny brings my children to me, all dressed in coordinating designer dresses, and we air kiss before she whisks them away to do whatever it is you do with children. Dinner is usually out on the town, then I hit the clubs, then I’m home in time to jot down a quick 10,000 words on my sure-to-be bestseller.
It’s a slavish life, but I just take it one day at a time.
What are the 3 things that can always be found in your purse?
Sadly, I am in diaper bag-mode right now, which I hate because I want to buy this mustard yellow purse I saw at Target and by the time I would even use it again, it’ll probably be out of style.
Wait, did you ask me something? Oh yeah.
Butt cream. Lip gloss. Lansinoh.
I try very hard not to confuse these items.
What top 5 songs are currently on your playlist?
My five-year-old stole my I-pod, so I don’t have a playlist. Three CD’s in my car (cuz I kick it old skool) are GLEE, Taylor Swift, and High School Musical. We’ve listened to them so much I pretty much hate them all, but it keeps the kids occupied, so therein lies my joy.
If Hollywood made a movie about your life (totally could happen), whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
Well, I think the obvious answer is Megan Fox. I can’t tell you how many times a day someone taps me on the shoulder and says, “Hey, hottie transformer girl. I wanna see more than meets the eye.” Then, of course, my husband has to punch them to defend my honor. It’s a curse and a blessing, this hotness.
::Now enters Tiffany from the would-be writers guild...
I love the concept of your book, Princess for Hire. What is the inspiration behind the story?
I was at a writers’ conference a few years back and an editor joked that her perfect book would involve princess dinosaur vampires (or some other assortment of hot trends in fiction). Now, I grew up a total tomboy, so I thought… well, I can’t write that book, unless I wrote the anti-princess book.
Ding!
From there, I began taking notes for a picture book about a little girl who tries out to be a princess for a bunch of countries but never measured up. I shared the idea with a friend, and she said it sounded more like a mid-grade. That one comment brought me back to thirteen-year-old me. Wouldn’t it have been cool if I could still be myself and do all the things I liked doing back then, but every once and awhile pretend to be someone else, someone popular and crazy rich? And viola, my main character, Desi became a substitute for princesses. (Note: no vampire dinosaurs appear in this book).
Can you describe your writing regimen while you were writing this book? And how long did it take you to finish?
Ha! Regimen is a very structured word, and my writing time is anything but structured. I do it when I can, where I can. I’ll tell you this—Chuck E Cheese has great WiFi.
I started PRINCESS FOR HIRE in August 2005, but only worked on it for a few weeks before putting it away for almost two years because I thought it was too fun and silly to warrant my attention (this was during my Serious Writer phase. I figured out quickly Serious was not my thing). Once I started up on it again, though, it all went rather fast. Four months of work before my agent saw a still-messy draft, a month or so of intense revision, and less than a month later, we sold. So almost three years from concept to sale, but I had other projects and life stuff (babies, moving, new jobs, you know the drill) inbetween.
What was the easiest part of writing this book? The most challenging?
Easiest is dialogue. I usually write much more than what ends up there, just because I get so carried away making people say things I never would.
The most challenging part was creating a believable magical world. You get to set your own rules in fantasy, but you still have to follow them. I was lucky to have a great editor who thought really logically and called me on stuff. A lot of time I just wanted to sprinkle glitter on all her questions and answer, “It works because IT’S MAGIC!”
Which came first? The manuscript or the agent? How and when did you know you were ready for publication? Did you wait until you had a full manuscript before you began the process of getting it published? What is your advice to would-be writers in this matter?
The manuscript ALWAYS COMES FIRST. That should be a fortune cookie:
Write First, Publish Later.
Getting an agent is Hard Stuff, and so you want to make sure you write the best story possible before you even think about approaching anyone in the publishing world. I wrote two other novels before Princess For Hire, and I needed to go through that apprenticeship period to prepare me for the authorly life (detailed below).
So my advice is not to get up hung up on being published when you first start. Try to be the best writer you can. When you reach a point where you can read other books in your genre (and you SHOULD be reading loads of books in your genre) and honestly say the quality of your work is similar, then you can start sharing it with critiquing partners (read: people not related to you. Trust me on this). Take their notes, revise that baby like crazy, and only then should you start submitting. Otherwise, you’re wasting the agent’s time and your own.
I read that you are a mom to three daughters. How has motherhood informed your writing, and how has writing informed your motherhood?
This book is dedicated to my two oldest daughters, and I wrote something I would feel comfortable with them reading someday. I also work with the youth in my church, and I kind of took in some of the dramas I saw them going through and tried to write something I hoped they could relate to and learn from.
It took me about five years to get this book published, and that’s taught me quite a bit about patience. I wish I could say that’s carried over into my mothering, but, well, um…
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Thanks so much Lindsey for taking the time to share with us your insight! I will be in line at the Barnes & Noble getting my freshly printed pink copy of
PRINCESS FOR HIRE tomorrow.
::Giveaway::
•
We will be giving away a
signed copy of Lindsey's book
PRINCESS FOR HIRE to one randomly chosen commenter.
•
Just
leave a comment telling us what the most recent book you read is,
or what color your toenails are painted,
or if you prefer paper or plastic... you get the idea.
•
The winner will be chosen next
Tuesday, March 23.
PS- Want more? You can meet Lindsey Leavitt at her book signing at
The Kings English Bookshop in downtown Salt Lake City. Also, you can enter her fab giveaway on her blog over
HERE.
