A lot of kids have imaginary friends, but not all of them have imaginary boyfriends. Well, unless they live in Canada. Come on, all summer flings claimed to have taken place in Canada are fictitious, aren’t they? And apparently that isn’t the only land where fake boyfriends live, at least according to GCC member Kristina Springer’s new novel, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS, which debuted through FSG this week.
As always, here’s a little bit about her book to get you hooked:
Seventh grade was supposed to be fun, but Tori is having major drama with her BFF, Sienna. Sienna changed a lot over the summer—on the first day of school she’s tan, confident, and full of stories about her new dreamy boyfriend. Tori knows that she’s totally making this guy up. So Tori invents her own fake boyfriend, who is better than Sienna’s in every way. Things are going great—unless you count the whole lying-to-your-best-friend thing—until everyone insists Tori and Sienna bring their boyfriends to the back-to-school dance.
Here’s what Kristina had to say:
Q: In AMIGAS AND SCHOOL SCANDALS, Mariana takes a road trip to Cornell. What’s your funniest road trip story?
Kristina: The first road trip I took to Michigan with two of my best friends when we were 18. We were very silly and it was a ton of fun! We pulled over constantly to take pictures in front of funny statues, signs and dance in the streets.
Q: I often talk about how I didn’t always “know” I wanted to be a writer. Did you? Or did you have other plans when you were little?
Kristina: A rock star. Stage name=Tina Rockafina
Q: Throughout the AMOR series, Mariana and her friends celebrate their Sweet 16s (and 15s). What did you do for your Sweet 16 or Quinceanera?
Kristina: I had a big slumber party at my house. I seem to recall a Ouija board and bra freezing.
Ahhh, Ouija boards…I was raised Catholic, so I wasn’t allowed to have one. Something about the Exorcist.
Q: I wrote the AMOR series organically, no outlines. My new manuscripts, I’ve outlined extensively. How about you? Are you an outliner?
Kristina: Same here. I wrote THE ESPRESSOLOGIST (my first book) that way [as AMOR] but the second book I wrote a proposal for so I did plot out chapter by chapter beforehand.
Q: Where were you when you found out your novel was going to be published? Tell us the story.
Kristina: My editor e-mailed me that it was a go so I was sitting in front of my laptop at the time. I had sold this book when I sold my first and at that time it was just “untitled book” so after we finished work on the first book I wrote a few proposals for a second book and sent them to my editor and she liked MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS.
Thank you, Kristina! Now, everyone go out and buy books, lots and lots of books!
