DIANA RODRIGUEZ WALLACH

I’ve been taking a break from blogging the past two weeks to focus on the holiday festivities (Ho! Ho! Ho!). But never fear, I’ll be back next week with new blogs and new thoughts on the world of pop culture. In the meantime, I hope you all have a Rockin’ New Year’s Eve! Kick off 2009 with a bang and be sure to cheer on the Eagles this Sunday! Go Birds!

And as an added holiday treat, enjoy another awesome GCC interview with… Carrie Jones! Carrie’s newest book, NEED just debuted in time for the holidays.

Here’s a little bit about her book to get you hooked:

Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since life’s been pretty rough so far. Her father left, her stepfather just died, and her mother’s pretty much checked out. Now Zara’s living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold Maine so that she stays “safe.” Zara doesn’t think she’s in danger; she thinks her mother can’t deal.
Wrong. Turns out that guy she sees everywhere, the one leaving trails of gold glitter, isn’t a figment of her imagination. He’s a pixie—and not the cute, lovable kind with wings. He’s the kind who has dreadful, uncontrollable needs. And he’s trailing Zara.

Here’s what Laurie had to say:

Q: In AMOR AND SUMMER SECRETS, Mariana discovers a hidden family secret. Are
you a good secret keeper?

CARRIE: I am an EXCELLENT secret keeper. In my family you have to be an excellent secret keeper to survive. If I told you more than that I would be absolutely blowing my secret-keeping skills. But… They are REALLY juicy and worthy of one of those memoirs about famous people.

Q: What is the favorite place you ever traveled to, and what was the coolest thing you saw/did there?

CARRIE: Urck. This is SO hard, Diana. I really liked going to the Pyrennes Mountains between France and Spain . The coolest thing I did was not vomit all over the place like everyone else I was with. They had too much sangria. They all passed out, and I got to be all by myself with this crazy bus driver as we were trapped in the mud on this dirt road we had to go on because the main road had been blocked off by a pig farmers’ strike.

I swear! It was so beautiful and magical and other than bus driver cursing, it was fantastic.

Q: I often tell the story of how a psychic once predicted that I would go on
to write children’s books. Have you ever visited a psychic?

CARRIE: Yes. My mom used to take me to psychic fairs ALL THE TIME. There would be people set up at tables and there was this one woman who looked so sad and cranky and nobody was in her line. I felt so badly for her that I went up to her. She looked at me and said, “You will go insane before you are 30 and be institutionalized. You are so scattered you have very bad grades but you are not stupid.”

And I thought, “Obviously, I am a little stupid since I came to you.”

Then I smiled and thanked her and went to a nice man psychic who told me:

1. Do NOT listen to anything that woman just told you.
2. You used to ride horses in France .
3. You are descended from Charlemagne.
4. You were a member of the resistance.
5. You are very smart.
6. You will be a writer.

Great story, Carrie! Love it!

Q: My character Mariana spends her summer in Puerto Rico connecting with her
father’s heritage. Have you ever researched your family tree?

CARRIE: Oh! This is so funny after the last question. I SWEAR I didn’t read this first. Well, I did research my family tree and I am descended from Charlemagne (this old French king) and Hannah Dustin (a colonist who has a VERY gory history that I talk about in my book, GIRL, HERO).

The problem with researching your family tree when there are famous people in it is that you suddenly feel very inadequate. I mean, seriously. There will never be a statue of me in a park somewhere.

What an interesting family tree, Carrie. And the psychic was right!

Q: Where were you when you found out that your book was going to be published?

CARRIE: I was in the Hancock County Democratic Pary office, which is this very small little place in my town. I was sitting at a table with a couple other volunteers when my agent called and I had to do the whole, “Oh, sorry. I have to take this call. It’s my agent.”

Then he told me and I screamed, startling all the volunteers. There was much political button dropping and then I ran out of the office and paced by the river behind our city library, totally psyched and incapable of making complete sentences. My poor agent. Those poor Democratic volunteers.

Thanks for stopping Carrie! Now, everyone go out and buy books, lots and lots of books!