YA New York

Mondays are for guest blogs, right? Well, not this Monday. Today and tomorrow are all about Lauren Mechling, whose new book Dream Girl debuts tomorrow.

Let me just tell you that I’ve been having little weird Freudian time-switcharoos about this book. First I thought it was coming out on June 22, but the publicist let me know that it was July 22. Repeatedly. THEN I thought it was coming out July 11, for some bizarre reason. It was only after a lot of head-poking that I forced myself to remember Dream Girl’s real publication date. Which is tomorrow!

In honor of this great event, I’ll be doing a two-part Twenty Questions with Lauren, rules suspended, and a review tomorrow on the release date. The twenty questions, they start now.

Question One

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your new novel, Dream Girl?
Lauren: Dream Girl is a 704-page-long meditation on suffering and regret. Kidding! It’s a magical mystery featuring Claire Voyante, the most lovable half-French girl detective out there.

Question Two

Lauren: If you could abolish any single thing from the world, what would it be?
Me: Oh boy. I’m tempted to get all serious here, and say I’d like to abolish unkindness or abuse or prejudice or something. But there are too many evils out there to choose just one, you know? Also, it’s too much pressure to decide on the world’s greatest evil, and you know, sometimes bad stuff causes good stuff, which is a whole philosophical discussion I won’t attempt to get into now. So instead, I would abolish leggings. Women should wear pants, and they must learn this. Leggings were left back in the eighties for a reason. Why are folks like Lindsay Lohan coming back now and trying to haunt me with terrible memories of my tween years?

Question Three

Me: You wrote your first three novels [the Social Climber series] along with Laura Moser. What was it like to go solo for this one?
Lauren: To be honest, it was scarier. Laura has a first-rate mind and a wicked sense of humor, and a lot of better stuff in the Social Climber books are her doing. I missed having somebody to delete/write over my bad jokes, somebody to exchange e-mail high-fives with. It was a little shaky at first — and I spent many a night staring at the ceiling listening to bad podcasts. That said, it was well worth it. I learned so much about writing and (cymbal crash please) I have slayed the crushing fear of going it alone!

Question Four

Lauren: Do you believe Men are from Mars and women are from Venus?
Me: No, I believe men are from Nick Hornby novels and women are from Helen Fielding novels, only maybe a little less neurotic. The YA version of this might be something like … guys are from Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini, and girls are from … I don’t know … maybe one of the early Princess Diaries books. But really, I do believe Nick and Helen pretty much nailed it, so to mature-ish readers out there who are searching for understanding on how love and romance really work: read High Fidelity by Nick Hornby and Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding.

Question Five

Me: Umm. Why did you just ask me that thing, about women being from Venus and men being from Mars?
Lauren: Because my friend’s parents have a copy [of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus] at their country house, and I spent a few rainy hours over July 4th weekend reading it. Maybe I’m just not cut out for self-help, but I found it so bleak! As far as I could tell, the whole premise belongs to the “grin and bear it” school. One shuldn’t look to their partner for good conversation or, heaven forfend, affection. “Venutians” are advised to sit pretty while their “Martians” spend days holed up in their “caves,” and Martians are told that “Venentians” need a steady diet of gestures of affirmation — to the automaton tune of one phone call and four hugs a day. I almost expected him to suggest the proper amount of fishfood to keep us from making too much of a fuss.

Question Six

Lauren: What’s the last thing to happen that made you smile?
Me: Your answer to that last question. What the [expletive] is a “Venentian”? And what does “forfend” mean? The Boyfriend, who is sitting reading this over my shoulder, claims that it’s a Simpsons reference, and that it’s good that you watch said show. Anyway, self-help books are generally more harmful than helpful, in my personal opinion.

Question Seven

Me: If you had to choose between having no cheeks and having a hairy tongue — for life — which would you pick, and why? [Note: If you, Lauren, or you, dear readers, can guess where this question was originally posted, I'll send you some freebies.]
Lauren: I’m going to resist the urge to run a Google search and answer blindly. No cheeks, hands down. Having a dearth of cheeks has never been my problem, so I’d happily take a walk on the cheek-less side.

Question Eight

Lauren: Can I ask now? What on earth was that cheek vs. tongue thing all about?
Me: I was racking my brain, trying to think of something wacky to ask you, and that particular question jumped into my fever-stricken head. [Note: I had a terrible ear infection while we were doing this interview, which meant we did it via e-mail instead of in person or on the phone, because I actually couldn't hear much at all.] Anyway, the offer for freebies still stands: Anyone who does not live with me and has not known me for more than five years qualifies.

Question Nine

Me: You have, like, a day job, yeah (and from what I hear, a pretty cool one, too)? How do you manage this job thing, plus the writing novels thing, plus the having a life thing?
Lauren: You hear right. For the past couple of months I’ve been working at the Wall Street Journal, where my job is to bring in Hot Stuff writers to contribute essays to the Weekend section. It’s been very cool — how many people come to work to find e-mails from the likes of Billy Collins and Zoe Heller in their in boxes? In fact, Zoe signed her last e-mail to me “Love, Zoe”!!! And once I’ve “landed” the talent, I get to work with them on refining their essays. My autobiography can fit into the Dream Girl series: Dream Job.

As for the “how does she do it?” question, I’m still trying to figure that out. I’ve been carving out little packets of time in the early morning hours, but given the amount of progress I’ve made, I think I’m soon going have to do the Martha Stewart thing — stop sleeping and lose all my friends.

Question Ten

Lauren: Here’s something I’ve been fretting about lately: Do you think kids will like Dream Girl or will the lack of sexytime antics put them off?
Me: Newsflash: Not all novels include sexytime. Some of the best books I’ve ever read are much more lacking in that department than yours. I love Dream Girl, and I dare anyone, teen or adult, to be put off by the supposed “lack of sexytime antics.” Indeed, I dare anyone, teen or adult, to be put off by anything at all in your novel. If they do, I’ll come after them with the virtual flame torch Beth Bernobich offered me earlier today, when I was complaining about the ongoing construction in my home and the ear infection that is currently making my life more nightmarish than dreamlike.

♥

All right, kids. That’s all for today. But stay tuned, because I’m posting the next ten questions tomorrow, along with a full report on Lauren’s spectacular new book. In fact, I’m going to go re-read it right now, so I can give you a really detailed and brilliant review.

PS. That picture of Lauren is from the Brooklyn Tee Party we both attended in May. And the ring on her finger has a cameo, which is an important talisman in Lauren’s book. More on that tomorrow, though!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 9:57 am and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.