Courtney Stevens Answers Our Questions & A Giveaway (INT)

Faking Normal was one of those books that once I started, I wasn’t able to put it down, so we knew it had to be included in our month long celebration! As Courtney’s video shows, it is more than just about the challenges these characters face. It is about how they respond to the challenges as well as how Alexi and Bodee come to rely on each other. The breakaway character in this book for me was Bodee. Courtney builds his character in a way that draws you in and it is no wonder that he and Alexi become close. Check out my review and be sure you add this to your to read list so you can get this when it comes out in 2014.

An edgy, realistic, and utterly captivating novel from an exciting new voice in teen fiction.

Alexi Littrell hasn’t told anyone what happened to her over the summer. Ashamed and embarrassed, she hides in her closet and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does.

When Bodee Lennox, the quiet and awkward boy next door, comes to live with the Littrells, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in “the Kool-Aid Kid,” who has secrets of his own. As they lean on each other for support, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her find the courage to finally face the truth.

A searing, poignant book, Faking Normal is the extraordinary debut novel from an exciting new author-Courtney C. Stevens.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X88Oty8M3Sw]

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?

I don’t know if it counts as a quirk, but my favorite place to write is the beach. I wrote 170 pages of FAKING NORMAL longhand in front of the ocean in a red chair. I also love to binge write. When I’m drafting, I like to write for 12-15 hours at a time. If I can stay in the world, I feel like I create more authentic relationships and dialogue. (Of course, not every book is as compliant. And I DO NOT advocate for rushing. Quality first.) I also always draft to music, revise to scores, and read in silence.

What is the one thing readers would be surprised to learn about me?

Only one thing. Wow. I’m weirder than that. But if I have to choose one, I’d say it’s that I always thought I would be fantasy, science fiction, or mystery writer. I love escapism, but contemporary hit me like a two-by-four, and I haven’t looked back since I found my voice.

What authors have influenced me?

What authors haven’t?

Honestly, every book I intake has some influence. As a reader, Beth Kephart is who I was reading when I drafted FAKING NORMAL and her book Small Damages is so honest and beautiful that I was striving for that level of lyricism. I will always be chasing Markus Zusak’s talent in I Am the Messenger. It is one of my all time favorites, because I’d rather play cards with than Ed Kennedy than anyone. I’m still convinced Ed’s going to knock on my door one day and be ‘just another stupid human’ who changes my life. I can promise you that Andrew Smith is influencing me right now. Oh my gosh, Ryan Dean West in Winger is fabulous. I said recently, “I want to put my head against Andrew Smith’s, and pray osmosis is real.” Although it’s not out yet, my friend David Arnold’s Mosquitoland is absolutely brilliant. I hope I learn to capture voice like he does.

My friends who write books have had a deep influence. Their fingerprints are on the work and in the ideas I kick around from day-to-day. There would be no books from me without their love and wisdom. There are too many to list here, but I tweet about them all the time.

What is the last book that you recommended to someone?

Winger by Andrew Smith

Any Advice for aspiring writers?

The rules of writing/publishing are not black and white. If they are to you, you probably won’t make it because you don’t know how to follow your gut. There are no A-F instructions. There’s you and the page, and your heart in your fingertips. Write from there.

As someone once said, “You can do anything you want as long as it works.”

We may have heard Bodee’s story is coming soon, can you share anything about his book?

Bodee has his own novella called The Blue-Haired Boy, which will be an Impulse digital release on March 4^th, the week after Faking Normal. It takes place prior to Faking Normaland while it mentions Alexi, this is all Bodee.

It was one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever written (because I love Bodee) and I’m so excited to share with readers. There’s another character in this piece who I love. Gerry fell off the bus, and I fell in love.

Do you read a lot and if so, what are some of your favorite books?

I am a reader first and a writer second. So yes, I try to read a book a week.

Other than the ones already mentioned in the contemporary realm, I love Shine by Lauren Myracle, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandi Nelson, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin, and Stolen by Lucy Christopher.

In the adventure and dystopic realm, Ashesby Ilsa Bick, Dust Lands/Blood Red Roadby Moira Young, Legend by Marie Lu, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (oh Manchee), The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. (Who doesn’t?)

In science fiction/fantasy and paranormal realm, Rot and Ruin (series) by Jonathan Mayberry, Shadow and Bone (series) by Leigh Bardugo, The Last Apprentice (series) by Joseph Delaney, Mistborn Trilogy by Branden Sanderson, and The Archived (series) by Victoria Schwab

In historical/speculative realm, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Madman’s Daughter (series) by Megan Shepherd, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, and The Dark Unwinding (series) by Sharon Cameron.

In the classics, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeliene L’Engle, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and Nancy Drew (like… all of them.)

In the writer’s advice realm, Save the Cat by Blake Snyder and On Writing by Stephen King

Honestly, I love story in all forms. I won’t list all my favorite TV shows and movies, but I think screenwriters rock, and I’m thankful for the way they have influenced me as well.

Faking Normal is your debut novel, what was the hardest part about publishing this book? What was the best part?

The hardest part was knowing that I didn’t have time in Faking Normal to deal with the punishment of the person who hurts Alexi. That’s a different story entirely, and I didn’t feel like Alexi could go from silence to let’s send his a$$ to jail in the pages I had. I hope readers will understand that Faking Normal doesn’t advocate for light consequences for abusers, but rather for taking the first step: tell someone you trust.

The best part is that I would have written this story just for me so it frees me from some of the pressure of how it performs in the marketplace. Of course, I want it to sell like hotcakes, but it made me braver today than I was yesterday and that’s a win no matter what. I hope other people who need a book like this find it.

You recently did a half marathon. Which was harder, writing this book or doing the ½?

Apples to oranges, but I’m tempted to say the ½ was harder. Writing is something I do because I love it. Running is something I do because I hate it/love it/hate it. Regardless of which is harder, I love the challenge of undertaking something I don’t feel like I can do, and both writing and running a ½ fit the bill. “There but for the grace of God, go I.”

Faking Normal touches on a sensitive topic- How did Alexi’s story come to you?

Well, that’s a question and a half.

An editor challenged me to write the book only I could write. That led me to ask the question, “What is the one moment in my teenage years that I wish I could go back and give myself some advice?” When I asked myself that, I had a vision. I saw myself sitting in my closet, tucked into a ball, ripping up baseball cards, and crying. I wished someone would tell that girl, “It will be okay,” and Faking Normal gave me an opportunity to do that. So, Alexi in that closet, is the first image that came to me in the book.

Faking Normal is fiction, but it contains a grief I’m acquainted with. People always want to know if I’m Alexi, and in some ways the answer is yes. But I’m also Heather and Liz and Bodee and Hayden and … All of them. I have my own story that led me to write on this topic, but when people ask me if this is a book about rape, I say, “This is a book about intervention.” We all have tough things to tackle in life, but my prayer is that after those things happen, people will surround themselves with the folks who will heal them. That’s what happened to me. I wrote from a place of pain, but also a place of hope.

Without revealing anything- Captain Lyric and Alexi communicate through music. What prompted you to use this as a way for these characters to connect?

I love music. I was a songwriter before I was a novelist; so all the lyrics in the book are mine.

Plus, I had a friend, not a boyfriend, who shared a desk with me in high school. We penciled the heck out of that thing. The custodian must have secretly adored that we wrote ALL THE LYRICS to Hotel California and other such songs on that fourth period desk. It was such a happy thing in my history, and I knew Faking Normal needed some happy. I also felt it was a very realistic way for Alexi to be romantic at heart within the context of her fears.

If you could cast anyone as Alexi and Bodee, who would you choose?

These two people are not the right age, but they’ll give an idea of the right look I had in mind.

A teenage Emma Stone: