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Please Welcome Megan McCafferty
Author of the Jessica Darling series and Bumped!
1) Could you tell us a bit about yourself.
Megan: Let’s see…I’m New Jersey born and raised, and even spent a few summers in high school and college serving ice-cream and exchanging tokens in an arcade on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights. But I’ve never fist-pumped unironically, hooked up with a gorilla juicehead or pouffed my hair Snookie-style.
2) What was the inspiration for writing Bumped?
Megan: Whether fictional (Juno), semi-famous (Bristol Palin and Jamie Lyn Spears) infamous (the girls of the Gloucester High School “pregnancy pact”), or not-famous-until-MTV-made-them famous (the girls of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom) pregnant teens make big news. I’ve been troubled by the media’s response to the so-called “teen mom phenom.” As with most controversial subjects, any reasonable discussion about the teen pregnancy problem gets overwhelmed by extreme thinking that leaves very little room for common sense middle ground.
The ironic thing is, BUMPED isn’t an “issue book” about teen pregnancy. It’s a book about making choices, defying expectations, and living the life you want to live.
3) Were there any personal experiences that went in to writing Bumped?
Megan: Unlike the Jessica Darling series (for which I drew a lot from my experiences growing up as a brainy overachiever in suburban town where such qualities weren’t exactly appreciated), BUMPED has nothing to do me personally.
4) Was Melody and Harmony's characters based on anyone or were they purely made up characters? What are they like?
Megan: These girls are pure fiction, but inspired by lots of research, reading, and observation of real people in real life. They’re sixteen-year-old identical twins that were separated at birth and raised in radically different environments. Harmony has grown up in a deeply religious settlement called The Church that isolates itself from the outside world. As a member of the Church community, she’s expected to get married at 13 and have as many babies as possible before she’s made infertile by the virus that affects 75 percent of people on earth. Her sister Melody lives in a future version of Princeton, New Jersey that’s not all that different from where I currently live…only she’s being paid six figures to make and deliver a baby for a couple who can’t have one for themselves. In the novel, both girls begin to question everything they’ve ever been brought up to believe. 5) What was your inspiration in the cover art for Bumped?
Megan: I had no input with the cover, but I love that it doesn’t look like anything
else on the shelves right now.
6) Do you plan to have Bumped as a stand alone novel or part of a series?
Megan: Trilogies are big, but BUMPED will only have one sequel. The book focuses on a set of identical twins, so two books made symmetrical sense to me.
7) Could you tell us a bit about your Jessica Darling series?
Megan: The Jessica Darling series followed one young woman’s coming-of-age over five books and ten years of her life. She evolved from a snarky, 16-year-old trying to survive catty cliques, unrequited crushes and other daily indignities of high school, into a slightly less snarky 26-year-old woman looking to do something meaningful with her life. Through it all, the on-again/off-again love of her life, Marcus Flutie, complicated matters in the most intoxicating and infuriating ways.
8) What was your inspiration for Jessica's character?
Megan: I created the kind of smart, funny and outspoken female protagonist I wish I’d found in a book when I was in high school.
9) What do you plan on doing in the future?
Megan: For the next four months or so I’ll be working on the sequel for BUMPED. I’ve got the tiniest germ of an idea for what might come after that, but it will require me to do a lot of research before I can turn it into anything close to a book.
10) Do you write to music? If so, what is your favorite?
Megan: I always write to music. It varies according to my mood and what kind of scenes I’m writing that day. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite artist or song. I was shocked when I discovered that my most played song iTunes was “Stronger” by Kanye West. I mean, WHAT?! I had no idea I’d listened to that song 189 times!
Megan: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. I’m reading it for my book club. And I’m about to start an ARC for a YA novel titled, “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” by debut novelist Jennifer E. Smith.
12) Who are a few of your favorite authors?
Megan: Rachel Cohn, Sarah Dessen, Patricia McCormick, Carolyn Mackler and Gabrielle Zevin. They all happen to be pretty amazing people too.
13) Anything you would like to add?
Megan: BUMPED is dystopian, but it isn’t depressing. Early readers have expressed surprise at how much there was to laugh about in such an apocalyptic scenario. But that’s my goal as a writer: Make people laugh and think.
Make sure to check out Megan's website: http://www.meganmccafferty.com/
Thanks Megan for stopping by Book Junky!
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Want to win a Pre-Order of Bumped?
Or
A copy of Perfect Fifths( Jessica Darling #5)
and a signed bookmark?
There will be two winners, one for the pre-order of Bumped
and one for the Perfect Fifths and bookmark
Just Fill out the form below!
Open International
Ends 2-1-11
Good Luck and Happy Reading!
** Contest Closed**
Good Luck and Happy Reading!
** Contest Closed**
