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Miss my book review of The Debs, the first in a new YA series by author Susan McBride?   You did?  Well, head on over and read the review and then make your way back here for a great chat with Susan McBride herself.

Maw Books:  Thanks so much for taking time out for an author interview!  Here’s something that I want to say right off:  Thank you for a clean read!  I have to admit that I was really nervous about reading a YA “chick lit” book because it seems like everything I’ve been reading lately has so much language and sex.  So I was really bracing myself.  And then guess what?  It wasn’t there!  Was this a conscience decision on your part?

Susan McBride:  Aw, thanks!  You’ve just made my day.  You’re right that YA “chick lit” is packaged a certain way, something that authors don’t have much (if any) control over.  So I’m very pleased you read THE DEBS and found it different (in a good way!).  My editor definitely impressed upon me that she wanted THE DEBS to be like a Southern GOSSIP GIRL, with a little edge but not too edgy.  Originally, it was a bit racier, I guess, and Claudia asked me to tone it down.  Although funnily enough, after I turned in the second book, LOVE, LIES, AND TEXAS DIPS, she said, “Wait!  Where’s the sex?”  So I had to amp that one up a notch!  Honestly, when I sit down to write, I just think of the characters and the story I want to tell. I don’t worry about much else. I’m very happy with how THE DEBS turned out, and I love writing about Mac, Ginger, Laura, and Jo Lynn.

Maw Books:  So maybe I’m ignorant on how high society live, but does all of this debutante stuff really exist?

Susan McBride:  Oh, yeah, all of this debutante stuff does really exist.  I think it’s much bigger in the South and in Texas than anywhere else, although there is an International Deb Ball in New York City.  I think now it’s much less about introducing girls to society so they can meet their future husbands, and it’s more about tradition, getting to wear gorgeous gowns, and having a huge honkin’ party.

Maw Books:  I love how reading makes me learn so much about the world around me.  I certainly got an education into the debutante life.  I loved the two quotes that you included before each chapter.  I eagerly read each one (and sometimes peaked ahead).  Are you always that snarky or does it come naturally?

Susan McBride:  I love those quotes, too!  So I’m glad you noticed them.  One of my best friends gave me a really fun book called WOMEN’S WICKED WIT, and a lot of the quotes come from there.  It’s a hoot to find one that fits what a chapter’s about and then make up a quote by whichever character is narrating that chapter.  Me, snarky?  I mentioned this question to my husband, asked him, “Am I snarky?”  And he took the Fifth.  Sigh.  I feel like I should stand up and say, “I’m Susan McBride, and I’m a snark.”  It must be in my genes.

Maw Books:  He, he.  I honestly was really expecting each character to be shallow, meaning they only cared for their looks, money, boys, and how much fun they could have.  I loved that you proved me wrong.  How did you come up with these characters and have they taken on a life of their own?

Susan McBride:  Thanks again (blushing)!  Where did my debs come from?  When I was writing the proposal for Random House, I wanted to make sure I had a diverse group of girls.  I thought a lot about my friends when I was in high school, and that was kind of how each was born.  Mac is the brainy one who acts tough and sarcastic, but has a very soft heart.  She’s lost her mother, and her dad has remarried a much-younger woman.  She tries to see the world very logically, but her emotions tend to rule her own actions.

Ginger is like a work-in-progress.  She’s trying to figure out who she is and what she wants out of life, so she does a lot of experimenting.  As THE DEBS starts, she’s very much into environmental causes.  She realizes she’s very fortunate so she wants to do good for others, not just pray to the god of material things.

Laura is the pretty girl who gained weight through the years and now is a size 14.  In a world where size twos (or zeros) seem so prized, she’s kind of the fish out of water.  But she likes herself just as she is, and she’s in love with a very hot guy who doesn’t seem at all turned off that she isn’t a lollipop.  I like that she’s gutsy and goes for what she wants without worrying too much about what others think.

Jo Lynn Bidwell is Laura’s arch-enemy, and she’s definitely all about looking perfect.  She was raised in the world of beauty pageants, which are big in Texas, and she’s been trained to win at all costs.  She’s very easy to hate, but I knew a lot of pageant girls and saw where they were coming from.  Jo Lynn has been programmed to compete, and that’s what she does best.

Maw Books:  Do you have a favorite character?  Who and why?  Is there a character that you most relate to or one that you don’t?

Susan McBride:  I really thought, going in, that Mac would be the main narrator of the books, but that didn’t happen.  All the girls get an even shot, but it’s really Laura and Jo Lynn who took over.  Their rivalry is so drama-filled that most of the rest of the action revolves around them.  I’m probably most like a combination of Mac and Ginger, but my favorite character has to be Laura.  Laura is fighting to be herself despite her mother trying to mold her into Debutante Barbie.  I admire her strength and her determination.

Maw Books:  The Debs has been picked up for at least a four book series.  I know that you are currently working on revisions for the second book, Love Lies and Texas Dips. What is it like to write a series?  Do you know how it’s going to end or does it evolve as you go along?

Susan McBride:  LOVE, LIES, AND TEXAS DIPS will be in galley form next time I see it.  It’s already been through copy-editing so it’s moving quickly through the production schedule and will be out next June.  I’m currently finishing up the outline for Book Three, and the book itself is due by early next year.  Writing a YA series is crazy, and so much different than writing series mysteries (I wrote five books in my Debutante Dropout Mystery series for Avon).  Mysteries get wrapped up by the end of each book, while YA books have so many dangling story-lines that continue through the next book…and the next after that.  I definitely don’t know where all the story-lines are headed, not in the long-run.  But since I’m obligated to write outlines before I start a book, I have to figure enough out so that I know what’s going to happen within the confines of one novel.  The fun thing about writing is that, even if you have a good idea of where you’re going, sometimes your imagination takes a fork in the road and you arrive somewhere unexpected.  Love that!

Maw Books:  After writing for the adult market, why did you choose to write a series for Young Adults?

Susan McBride:  It was a stroke of luck, honestly.  One of my agents was having lunch with a Random House editor a few years ago, and the editor asked, “Do you have any authors who might write about debutantes in the South?”  Since I was doing my Debutante Dropout series at the time, my agent said, “I do, indeed.”  She called me that day, wanted to know if I was interested and if I might write a proposal.  I love trying new things and stretching my literary muscles, so I said, “Sure!”  Since I spent 20 years in Texas, I knew a lot about debbing and had friends in high school and college who were debutantes.  So it all seemed a good fit.  Thank goodness, Random House liked the proposal, and everything moved very quickly from there.  I think the YA market is one of the most exciting places to be right now.  There are so many fantastic authors and fewer boundaries, it seems, than in adult fiction.  So you can take more chances, more risks, which is what growing as a writer is all about.

Maw Books:  The Debs is a book that references a lot of music, movies, celebrities, etc.  I kept thinking that give the book five years and teenagers wouldn’t understand the references anymore.  Are you worried?

Susan McBride:  I had a lot of people say the same thing about my mysteries.  They include plenty of contemporary references (i.e., fashion, pop culture, brands, whatever).  And my answer is the same about my YA books:  I’m writing about a particular period of time.  When I describe the setting or what’s going on in pop culture, it’s whatever’s happening now.  If I wrote an historical novel, I’d have to use references from that period.  To me, it’s the same.  What’s timeless are the experiences and emotions of my characters. If a reader can pick up a book from THE DEBS series ten years from now and relate to something Laura or Mac is going through, then I’ve done my job.

Maw Books:  That makes perfect sense.  What’s on your nightstand right now?  Any books that you’ve read this year that you could recommend?

Susan McBride:  I just finished reading BAREFOOT by Elin Hilderbrand, and now I’ve got BREAKING DAWN on top of my TBR pile.  I read a mix of adult fiction and YA fiction, though I’ve read a lot more YA lately.  I love the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray, and I’m hooked on the PRIVATE series by Kate Brian.  I’m also a Harry Potter addict and adored those books.  Two of my favorite literary novels that I constantly recommend are LYING AWAKE by Mark Salzman and EVA MOVES THE FURNITURE by Margo Livesey.  I’ve read both multiple times and can’t help but sigh and jealously drool over the prose everytime.

Maw Books:  You should read my review of Breaking Dawn after you finish it.  I’m always curious to what people thought of it.  And of course, I love Harry Potter.  I haven’t read the others.  I shall have to check them out.  One of my new favorite features on my blog is to ask authors to share one of their favorite recipes.  Would you like to share a favorite?  Or any that appeared in your book?

Susan McBride:  Recipes, huh?  Since I’m a master of the microwave, I don’t do much cooking (it’s amazing my husband hasn’t starved–thank goodness for take-out and the Whole Foods deli).  My favorite sandwich is a take-off of the Whole Foods tomato-mozarella pesto sandwich, which I make at home.  Use whole grain bread and cover one side with tomato slices and slabs of fresh mozarella.  Then spread the other piece of bread with thin layers of soy mayo and pesto.  Smoosh it all together, slice and eat.  It’s yummy!

Maw Books:  I don’t do much cooking either!  And since I started blogging, it’s gotten worse.  That sandwich sounds to die for! 

Thanks for joining us today and I wish you the very best!

Susan McBride:  Thank you, Natasha!  It’s been my pleasure. 

Read my book review and visit Susan McBride’s website.  Author photo credit: Suzy Gorman.  You can purchase all of Susan’s books through my Amazon store.

Don’t forget that Susan has generously given our readers two signed copies of The Debs.  Click here and then here for details on how to enter!

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