We are so excited to be a part of the tour for A MAP FOR WRECKED GIRLS by Jessica Taylor! Before we jump into our interview with Jessica, we want to tell you about the book!
A Map for Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Penguin on August 15th 2017
Genres: Action & Adventure, Contemporary, Family, Romance, Siblings, Survival Stories, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 368
We sat at the edge of the ocean—my sister Henri and I—inches apart but not touching at all. We'd been so sure someone would find us by now.
Emma had always orbited Henri, her fierce, magnetic queen bee of an older sister, and the two had always been best friends. Until something happened that wrecked them.
I'd trusted Henri more than I'd trusted myself. Wherever she told me to go, I'd follow.
Then the unthinkable occurs—a watery nightmare off the dazzling coast. The girls wash up on shore, stranded. Their only companion is Alex, a troubled boy agonizing over his own secrets. Trapped in this gorgeous hell, Emma and Alex fall together as Emma and Henri fall catastrophically apart.
For the first time, I was afraid we'd die on this shore.
To find their way home, the sisters must find their way back to each other. But there’s no map for this—or anything. Can they survive the unearthing of the past and the upheaval of the present?
Describe A Map For Wrecked Girls in 5 words.
Tense. Sexy. Twisty. Heartbreaking. Thrilling.
How did A Map For Wrecked Girls come about, what was your inspiration? What made you think you had to write this story?
It started as a free writing exercise, actually. I would begin every day by spending twenty minutes writing about whatever I wanted to. After a couple of weeks, I had a collection of scenes between the two sisters, Emma and Henri, but no plot. There wasn’t even an island. What was particularly interesting to me was telling a story about a girl who came into her teenage years more slowly than most and after her older sister, Henri. It wasn’t a story I’d read before, but it was something I see in real life often. What I had was a mess, but I loved writing about these girls and knew I had to dig down deep inside myself and find their story.
What was the hardest scene for you to write in A Map For Wrecked Girls and why?
This is a difficult one to talk about without giving spoilers, but there’s a scene where Emma, the main character, is feeling vulnerable and lets a boy kiss her even though she knows he’s not truly into her. It’s an emotional scene for her and still makes me tear up when I read it.
If you could introduce one of your characters to any other character from another book, who would it be and why?
Alex, the love interest in A Map for Wrecked Girls, needs to meet the love interest, Paul, from my untitled next contemporary book. They would have quite the bromance.
Can you share (without spoilers) a line or section of A Map For Wrecked Girls that is your favorite?
“Henri craved those words from boys, treated their I-love-yous like prizes from carnivals, beautiful orange gold fish she’d let suffocate in plastic bags.”
Since we’re talking 2017 books, what upcoming 2017 release (besides your own) are you most excited to read?
The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker, The Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie Dao, Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi, and The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones.
When you’re not writing, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Activism has become even more important to me in this last year. The fact that we live in a time when so many people feel targeted and unwanted breaks my heart every day.
What are you currently reading?
The Breathless by Tara Goedjen. It’s also a dark sister story—I’m absolutely loving it.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
Put yourself out there, make real-life friends at conferences, and be a part of the social media you enjoy. The friendships will get you through the lows and there’s nothing better than celebrating the highs with people who understand.
What’s next for you? Are you working on anything right now that you can tell us about?
My next book is about two girls who make a selfish decision one night that costs another girl her life. It’s partly about how they turn on each other to hide their crime and about how they live with the people they’ve become. Publication date to come!
Tell us 3 random facts about you.
- I’m an INTJ and that’s why I have two modes—indifference and obsession.
- I love dogs more than most people.
- You’ll rarely find me asleep before 3am or awake before 10am. The more I’ve embraced this, the more productive my life has become.
Favorites
Favorite Song (right now): Don’t Take the Money by Bleachers
Favorite Book (right now): The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy
Favorite TV Show/Movie: The Big Sick
Favorite Word: Oblivion
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Curse Word: I’m an old-fashioned F-bomb kind of girl.
Giveaway!
About Jessica Taylor
Jessica Taylor adores atmospheric settings, dangerous girls, and characters who sneak out late at night. She lives in Northern California, not far from San Francisco, with a law degree she isn’t using, one dog, and many teetering towers of books.
A MAP FOR WRECKED GIRLS, her first young adult contemporary thriller and a Junior Library Guild Selection, will be published August 15, 2017 by Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House.
Represented by Melissa Sarver White at Folio Literary Management.
Recent Comments