Title: MY BEST EVERYTHING
Author: Sarah Tomp
Pub. Date: March 3, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 400
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
You say it was all meant to be. You and me. The way we
met. Our secrets in the woods. Even the way it all exploded. It was simply a
matter of fate.
Maybe if you were here to tell me again, to explain it one more time, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so uncertain. But I’m going back to the beginning on my own. To see what happened and why.
Luisa “Lulu” Mendez has just finished her final year of high
school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the
local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu
needs a new ticket out.
Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (definitely illegal)
plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends, Roni and Bucky. Quickly
realizing they’re out of their depth, Lulu turns to Mason: a local boy who’s
always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of
moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town
before she loses everything – including her heart?
The summer walks the line between toxic and intoxicating. My
Best Everything is Lulu’s letter to Mason – though is it an apology, a
good-bye, or a love letter?
Hi Sarah! Great to
have you on the blog today! Let's get this started, shall we?
Thanks so much for having me!
1) Tell us a bit
about your inspiration for this book.
I’ve decided that writing a novel is little bit like making
moonshine. A
bunch of ingredients are thrown into the pot and start fermenting. It gets kind
of messy for a while, and things are thrown out, but eventually all of it works
together to create the final product.
Ingredients
used in the making of MY BEST EVERYTHING
·
One overachieving good girl about to break all the rules,
even her own
·
One recovering alcoholic, former bad boy who’s good at fixing
things
·
Junkyards
·
Country music
·
Moonshine
·
Destiny vs. free will
2) Do you like to
listen to music while you write? If so, what kind?
I don’t usually listen to music when I write, at least not
deliberately. I do most of my writing at my kitchen table in the middle of
whatever else is going on in my house; so I don’t always get to choose my
background soundtrack. I am shockingly good at ignoring noise and chaos.
However, I love music! My husband and I go see a lot of up
and coming bands in small venues—I’m rarely disappointed in the shows. When I’m
not writing, I often listen to music that makes me think about my characters
and their story. Or, I’ll hear a song and it will bring with it a gift of
insight into what my story needs. When I was writing My Best Everything, I listened to a lot of country music—for the
rhythm, the stories, and the themes. From the very first draft, I always knew
that Lulu’s best friend, Roni, was going to join a band and start writing
songs. In fact, my very first working title was Country Love Song.
3) If you could make
your life into a movie, what would you call it and why?
First of all, I am terrible at titles!
During the submission process alone, the novel now known as My Best Everything had at least five
different titles. And when it came time to decide on the official title… well,
that was the one and only time I cried during this path to publication!
And now you want me to name my own life story?
Let’s call it Lost and
Found. I’ve spent a lot of time wandering—actually and metaphorically—and
I’m constantly losing objects like keys and purses and jackets. But I—and my
objects—usually end up found again, one way or another. But tomorrow, I may
find a new, better, title!
4) You're stepping
into a book, your favorite story, as your favorite character. Who are you and
why would you want to be that character in that particular book?
Yikes! I tend to fall in love with tough and gritty stories.
And my favorite characters are flawed and often make terrible choices. So, it’s
hard to say I’d want to step inside
and be one of them.
But now I’m intrigued. I’ll go with the strange and
mysterious steam-punk-ish world of Chime
by Franny Billingsley. I love feisty Briony and would love to run wild in the
swamp talking to the Old Ones. But my real motivation? Eldric, of course.
Tawny-haired, golden lion-eyed Eldric who makes interesting little fidgets to
play with and admire. I’d definitely go a few rounds of boxing with him!
5) If you could have
one magical power, even one you make up, what would it be? How would you use it
(good, evil, a little of both)?
What a great question! And yet…I have no answer. Partly because
I’ve heard enough stories of magic gone wrong; but mostly because I am, through
and through, a real world girl. I am constantly amazed by this world and the
people who live in it. Real people, real situations are enough for me. That’s
why I write realistic fiction.
But I honestly think falling in love is a very real kind of
magic, bordering on miraculous. To have two people, each with their own
histories and scars, but also their hopes and dreams for the future, meet at
the exact right moment and feel the same way about each other… well, that’s an
abracadabra kind wow to me.
6) You move across
the world. You can only take 10 books with you (though you'd be able to get
others where you were going), which ones do you choose?
Ack! Too hard to decide! Except... I can get books where I’m
headed! Yay! Unless, of course, something goes wrong and I end up stranded on a
desert island… Either way, it will be nice to have some books I haven’t read
yet. Since I have a crazy tall TBR pile right now, I’m going to pick from there:
·
As You
Wish by Cary Elwes
·
Say What
You Will by Cammie McGovern
·
I’ll Meet
You There by Heather Demetrios
·
My Heart
and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
·
Girls Like
Us by Gail Giles
·
The
Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley
·
These
Gentle Wounds by Helene Dunbar
·
The
Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
·
Going Over
by Beth Kephart
·
The
Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Fast questions:
Coffee in the morning, herbal tea in the afternoon.
Black or white?
Yes!
NYC or Paris?
New York City! I’ve never been there.
Finish this phrase in
your own words: When in Rome...
Eat, drink, and say hello to the Pope.
Beach or mountains?
This is why I live in San Diego—we have both! But, if I had
to choose, beach would win.
Tell us one quirky
thing about yourself.
I am the queen of power naps. I can completely fall fast
asleep completely zonked out, and then wake up refreshed and ready to go—in as
little as seven minutes total, but twelve minutes is my average. This is good
because writing makes me sleepy! I’ve been known to measure a good writing day
by the number of naps taken. I think my record is five in one day.
Thanks so much for being
on The Cover Contessa today! So great to have you and good luck with your book!
Thanks for having me!
~Sarah
About Sarah:
Sarah Tomp has a MFA in writing for children and young
adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
My Best Everything, a novel for young
adults, will be published March 2015 byLittle, Brown Books.
She is also the author of a picture book; Red,
White, and Blue Good-bye (Walker Books for Young Readers).
Sarah teaches creative writing for University of California
San Diego Extension. She reviews books for Bookbrowse.com and co-authors
the blog, Writing on
the Sidewalk.
Photo by Roxyanne Young
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Tour Schedule
Week One:
2/23/2015- Curling
Up With A Good Book- Review
2/24/2015- Book Soulmates- Interview
2/25/2015- Novel Novice- Guest Post
2/26/2015- Wholly Books- Review
2/27/2015- A Book and a Latte- Interview
Week Two:
3/2/2015- Alice Marvels- Guest Post
3/3/2015- Bumbles and Fairy-Tales- Review
3/4/2015- The Cover Contessa- Interview
3/5/2015- Bookhounds
ya- Guest Post
3/6/2015- Such a Novel Idea- Review
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