When sixteen year old
Poppy Douglas writes a song about her ex-boyfriend Cam and ex-friend
Nikki, she has no idea that her heartbreak is about to go global.
A local band picks up
her song from Youtube and soon she's along for the ride with her own
fanbase as they blow up on the local club scene and hit the
international charts. Though it turns out leaving Cam behind isn't as
easy as she had hoped.
Tangled in a web of
unfinished homework, ill-considered sexting and a new lead-singer
boyfriend, Poppy has a choice to make between the ex that inspired it
all and the rock God whose poster lines the inside of half the
lockers at school. But as she struggles to keep her emotional dirty
laundry private, she learns that the truth can be hard to find when
your life is in the headlines.
AUTHOR BIO
Sarah Billington is an
Australian writer and editor who likes to write stories with love,
laughs, suspense and zombies. Sometimes all in the same story. Her
favouritest thing to write about are those horrendously awkward
moments that come with being a teenager. Or a human being. Sarah was
extremely accident-prone and klutzy as a kid and teen, so her cup
runneth over with experiences of horrendously awkward moments to draw
from in her writing. Thankfully, she has grown out of her klutziness.
Mostly. She is, however, still an embarrassment.
She loves a variety of
random things, which include Swing Dancing, Ice Hockey, Roller Derby
and is a bit obsessive about paranormal investigation shows and
channel E!.
If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
SUCH
an easy question for me. Louise Rennison and Brent Crawford.My two
FAVOURITE OF MY FAVOURITE comedy authors. They're so skilled. I think
we could write something fantastic and hysterical. I would learn a
lot from them both as well.
What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
I
write all over the place, but mostly it is on my netbook in bed or on
my desktop PC on my desk. I also write notes and the odd scene in a
notebook I have with me all the time. Good for down times when
waiting for people or I suddenly nut out a scene in my head that's
been troubling me, or I am inspired when out somewhere not in front
of a computer.
A
typical day for me, as an author and freelance editor and book cover
designer is pretty different each day, as some days I don't even
leave the house whereas others I'm out all day.
They
all start with waking up and checking my email and facebook on my
phone.
There's
a bit of groaning and complaining about being awake before I get out
my laptop or take the big commute a couple of metres to my office and
reply to emails, do some book marketing, write, reply to emails, read
industry blogs and discuss techniques with an online writing group,
reply to emails, edit, lunch, maybe a nap, edit, reply to emails,
book cover design, design marketing materials, write, collapse in a
heap.
That's
the typical day, anyway.
What is the hardest part of the writing for you?
Second
guessing myself as to which direction the book should go. I am
currently writing The Kiss Off 2 and have a bunch of different plot
threads I'd really like to explore, but there's only so much room in
a book and I need to focus more on the MAIN plot more than the
subplots. But I like the subplots too and they'd also make for a good
book but... I don't know which would make the BEST book. I have to
make a decision. As I'll discuss below, sometimes my subplots are
BETTER than my main plot, so it's hard to know which direction to go.
Halp?
When and why did you first start writing?
I
don't remember when exactly I first started writing, but I do know it
was in early childhood, as soon as I knew how, I did. I had notebooks
and looseleaf paper all over the house with half written stories. I
read a lot and you could tell what authors I was reading at the time,
because I mimicked their styles, which was how I learned to find my
own. As a tween I wrote a lot of teen murder stories, because I read
a lot of R.L Stine and Christopher Pike. I wrote about a club of
friends who started a business, ala Babysitters Club but with a more
teen angst Sweet Valley High vibe. It's an exciting time, learning to
write and finding your own voice. Took me a long time, but I did!
How did you come up with the idea for your book?
The
Kiss Off started out as a subplot of a different book. But this
subplot was way more interesting. I wanted to write about a girl
whose personal opinions and experiences became widely known and how
she dealt with it. She started out as a blogger, but it didn't feel
big enough. I liked the idea of writing about a song writer, I found
it interesting how well-known it is that Taylor Swift writes about
real-life heartbreak and there's so much speculation about who each
song is about. Youtube is so big right now which is a great way for
her to go viral, but I wanted it to get really big, so by adding some
hot rock stars who become the biggest new band, that would make her
song and personal experiences hit the tabloids and celebrity news.
Then it all sort of extrapolated from there. :)
Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
I
am a big reader. Or I want to be a big reader, but time doesn't allow
as much of it these days. Actually, no, that's not true. I am also an
editor so I read a LOT, but they are first drafts, and with a very
critical eye. Reading for pleasure-wise, right now I am in the middle
of three books: Skylark by Meagan Spooner, That Boy by Jillian Dodd
and Ghosthuntress: The Awakening by Marley Gibson.
Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
Don't give up. Keep writing, keep learning, keep persevering. It might be hard, but if you try long and hard enough, you'll be successful. It can be really tempting to give up sometimes, and sure, take a break, but don't give up entirely. The times it feels like you're not getting anywhere, you're actually learning all the ways not to do things and eventually you'll get it right. What a waste all that time and effort would be if you DID give up, right?
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKITY
LINKS!
PURCHASE LINKS (I don’t
know which ones you want so here’s a stack of them. )
Omnilit
– The Kiss Off ebook only
Book
Depository – The Kiss Off paperback only
Fishpond
– The Kiss Off paperback only
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