Interview and Giveaway with C.J. Skuse

C.J. Skuse

C.J. Skuse, author of PRETTY BAD THINGS, ROCKOHOLIC and DEAD ROMANTIC, was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare, England.

She loves: graphic novels, sitcoms, Gummy Bears and the music of My Chemical Romance.

She hates: hard-boiled eggs, carnivals and coughing.

The movies Titanic, My Best Friend's Wedding and Twilight were all based on her ideas, she just didn't get to write them down in time. Before she dies, she would like to go to Japan, try clay-pigeon shooting and own a malamute.

CJ has First Class degrees in Creative Writing and Writing for Children and, aside from writing novels, works as a freelance children's fiction consultant and lectures in writing fiction for teens at Bath Spa University.

Books

Pretty Bad Things (2011)
◆ Goodreads ● Amazon ● The Book Depository ● My Review ◆

Rockoholic (2011)
◆ Goodreads ● Amazon ● The Book Depository ◆

Dead Romantic (2013)
◆ Goodreads ● Amazon ● The Book Depository ◆

Find CJ

Tumblr ● Twitter ● Goodreads ● Author Page at Chicken House

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Hi CJ! Thank you so much for stopping by our (Richa @ City of Books and I) event, Books That Glow: YA & MG 2013 to answer some questions about yourself and your latest book, Dead Romantic :)

Runaway twins in Las Vegas, a rock star abduction, and now zombies?! How did you come up with the idea for Dead Romantic?

The idea for DEAD ROMANTIC comes from many sources that have gone before me, most namely the movies Weird Science (in which two teenage boys build the perfect woman using their computer) and Reanimator, and the stories Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Herbert West: Reanimator and The Bodysnatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson. I wanted to do something very off-the-wall and sick after Rockoholic and Dead Romantic seemed to be the idea that stuck.

Clearly you've come up with pretty wild novels with extremely original plot lines... what's your though process or inspiration for writing?

I literally think of the maddest idea I can and then try to force it into a normal-shaped box. Or I think of the saddest things (like death, grief or teens going off the rails) and I try to squeeze some humor out of them. Sometimes it works. Sometimes people get it.

I absolutely LOVE that. Sounds like an interesting way to get stories, and it definitely works :)
Sum up Dead Romantic in one sentence.

A story about stitching hearts back together.

If Dead Romantic was to become a movie, who would be in your dream cast?

Anyone I say would be too old by the time the movie got made, but my imagined cast when writing the story was Frances Bean Cobain for Zoe, Lisa Backwell for Camille, Josh Hutcherson for Louis and Jack O'Connell for Damian.

I like the heart, it's a nice touch ;D and Josh Hutcherson and Jack O'Connell! *SWOON*

⚡ LIGHTNING ROUND!! ⚡

One word that describes you?

Imaginative

Last book read?

Paper Towns by John Green

Dream Vacation spot?

Japan (used to live there!)

Vampires: love or hate 'em?

I liked them in The Lost Boys

Favorite chocolate or candy?

Junior Mints, Gummy Bears and anything with the word 'crispy' in the title

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When you're not writing, what can you be found doing?

Worrying that I should be writing.

What are 5 books that you think EVERYONE should read?

The Hunger Games
1984
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Romeo and Juliet
Jane Eyre

Yes– only one more to go for me out of that list!
Why do you write books for Young Adults/Teens?

Because growing up truly sucks in so many ways and the teenage years are the last chance you have to be reckless and interesting before you have to be all mature and get a job and get married and do all that kind of boring crap that everyone moans about. Teenagers are way more interesting than adults in my opinion. They're still processing their feelings about stuff. Discovering stuff for the first time. Discovering who they're going to be for the rest of their lives. That's the interesting bit, when decisions are being made. When the blueprints are being set out. It's why people have kids I think, so they can see that process happening again before their eyes. It's much more fun that just watching the wrinkles set in. It's all downhill from 19, unless you become a freak and stretch your teen years into your 30s by writing books about teenagers.

Yikes! I'm freaked out about the future now... I wanna be a teen for MUCH MUCH longer :/.
So tell us, what amazing (and crazy!) adventure will you take us on next?!?!

Can't say too much at this stage but if I stick with the idea I'm thinking about at the moment, it's going to make kidnapping rock stars and reanimating dead boys look like The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

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Thank you so much to CJ for taking the time to answer these questions– I really love her humor :D It's absolutely embodied in her books, which speaking of, you should totally check out! Here's a bit about her latest, Dead Romantic:

Camille wants to find the perfect boy, with an athlete's body and a poet's brain. But when she's mocked at a college party, she kows there isn't a boy alive who'll ever measure up. Enter Zoe, her brilliant but strange best friend, who takes biology homework to a whole new level. She can create Camille's dream boy, Frankenstein-stylee. But can she make him love her?

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Thanks to CJ and Chicken House, we have three (3) SIGNED copies of Dead Romantic to give away!

Rules

• Open to UK ONLY.
• Winner must reply back within 48 hours, or another winner shall be chosen.
• We are not responsible for any lost/damaged packages.

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