Author Interview: Amelia Diane Coombs on All Alone With You, Friendship, Video Games, and More!7/17/2023
Happy Monday bookworms! Today I am super excited to be sharing another author interview with you all! I had a great time chatting with Amelia Diane Coombs about her upcoming release, All Alone With You! As you guys know, I absolutely loved reading it! With an adorable romance that will give you all the butterflies and an inspiring story of self-growth and finding your confidence, All Alone With You is the perfect book to read this summer! Check out my review to hear more of my thoughts, and be sure to grab a copy when it comes out July 25th! You can pre-order it here or by checking out the links below!
Synopsis: Eloise Deane is the worst and doesn’t care who knows it. She’s grumpy, prefers to be alone, and is just slogging through senior year with one goal: get accepted to USC and move to California. So when her guidance counselor drops the bombshell that to score a scholarship she’ll desperately need, her applications require volunteer hours, Eloise is up for the challenge. Until she’s paired with LifeCare, a volunteer agency that offers social support to lonely seniors through phone calls and visits. Basically, it’s a total nightmare for Eloise’s anxiety.
Eloise realizes she’s made a huge mistake—especially when she’s paired with Austin, the fellow volunteer who’s the sunshine to her cloudy day. But as Eloise and Austin work together to keep Marianne Landis—the mysterious former frontwoman of the 1970s band the Laundromats—company, something strange happens. She actually…likes Marianne and Austin? Eloise isn’t sure what to do with that, especially when her feelings toward Austin begin to blur into more-than-friends territory. And when ex-girlfriends, long-buried wounds, and insecurities reappear, Eloise will have a choice to make: go all in with Marianne and Austin or get out before she gets hurt.
content warnings
Depression, anxiety, death of a parent (past), grief, car accident (past, mentioned)
Hello Amelia! Welcome to Page by Paige Books! I am so excited to chat with you today. To get things started I’d love to get to know you a bit more. Could you share 3 fun facts about yourself?
Hi Paige—thanks so much for having me! Alrighty, some fun facts: 1) My sisters and I all have the same middle name, and I thought this was normal for far too long, 2) I finished high school when I was sixteen by passing a state proficiency exam; I’ve never had a senior year! and 3) I first began beekeeping when I was seventeen and while I currently don’t have a hive, it’s one of my absolute favorite hobbies.
Congratulations on the upcoming publication of All Alone With You, I absolutely loved reading it! Would you say that your writing process has changed since writing your debut? If so, in what ways?
Thank you! And ooh what an interesting question. My writing process has definitely changed since my debut. I initially drafted that book in 2017 and revised it from 2018-2019, which feels like a lifetime ago. I used to be a “pantser” and was allergic to outlines… or any kind of organization when it came to drafting! It was chaos. Since then, I’ve swung the opposite direction. While I always allow myself some creative wiggle room, I never dive into a draft without at least a partial outline.
Check out the awesome pre-order goodies for All Alone With You! Submit your pre-order receipt or library request form by July 31st and you can get beautiful artwork, a mini sticker, and a signed bookplate!
Eloise and Austin are complete opposites when it comes to how they view life, especially at the beginning of the book. Do you lean more towards being an optimist like Austin or a pessimist like Eloise? Oh, I’m a pessimist like Eloise, all the way!
I was excited to discover Eloise’s playlist at the end of the book and have been listening to it nonstop since then. What artist or song has been stuck in your head recently?
So, I actually included the band I’ve been obsessed with for a while in the playlist—Graveyard Club is a band out of Minneapolis, and I discovered their music while drafting AAWY. They released a new album (Moonflower) while I was revising, and it sort of became my unofficial soundtrack as I worked on the book. Eloise’s interest in video games was something that intrigued me. Do you play any MMORPGs? If so, do you have any tips or recommendations for first-time players? I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for four years, but I’ve been a huge video game enthusiast since childhood. My spouse would play WoW (and I admit, I made fun of him for it earlier in our relationship) but he finally convinced me to try the game out when we moved to Seattle. We only had our computers while we were waiting for the rest of our furniture to be delivered at our new apartment, and he wore me down! But I’m glad he did—I really love it. Not only because it can be a ton of fun but it’s a great (and nerdy) way to spend time together as a couple. As for advice—woof, online gaming can be intimidating! Depending on the game, the player base can often skew toxic (I’ve been all caps yelled at many a times over the years!) so I think finding people—be it friends or other newer gamers—to play with is key.
Marianne was so much fun to read about. I really enjoyed learning more about her story and her relationship with Austin and Eloise was so heartwarming! What was your favourite part about creating her character?
Marianne as a character was really tricky for me. I hadn’t written an older character before—at least, not one that was featured so heavily throughout the book—and her relationship with Eloise was so integral to the plot that I knew I had to get her right! But my favorite part would probably be making her a musician. She wasn’t, in my first drafts! I don’t think she was even famous. That larger-than-life backstory—as well as shrouding her in a little mystery—was not only fun, but really helped me dig into her as a character.
Another aspect that I loved about this book was the lyrics from The Laundromats at the start of each chapter. It was a fun way to give the reader a glimpse into what the chapter would be about, plus it gave the book a nostalgic vibe. What inspired you to include this unique element?
The credit goes to my editor! She suggested either adding real song lyrics from older bands to the chapter headers or writing my own. I was immediately intimidated by writing my own lyrics (I think my response was “Haha no thank you”), so I spent about a week combing through so many band lyrics from the 70s and 80s, trying to find ones that “fit” the book before giving up and writing my own. It wasn’t an easy task (and one I’m happy to never repeat) because before this, the closest thing to song lyrics I’ve written was some very bad poetry in high school!
I couldn’t get enough of Eloise’s humour and her banter with Austin, it was so addictive! What advice would you give to writers working on their dialogue skills?
I loved writing their banter, so I’m happy to hear that! When I was in grad school, I actually really struggled with dialogue, and one of my teachers suggested studying dialogue in TV shows, so that—along with just reading super, super widely over the years—really helped me hone my dialogue skills.
Across all the books you’ve written so far, which character do you relate to the most?
Eloise, 100%! Like I said above, I’m a bit of a pessimist, like Eloise, and very sarcastic. She was the easiest character for me to write because we’re very similar. Between working in some of my own insecurities as a teenager, along with my current day interests and hobbies, she’s definitely the character I relate to the most.
I loved following Eloise’s mental health journey throughout this book and found it to be very relatable and inspiring. What is the main message that you want readers to take away from All Alone With You?
There’s such a huge emphasis on friendship and social development in high school, and (like Eloise) I really had trouble making friends. A lot of this was due to social anxiety, among other mental health struggles, and I felt like a complete freak because I didn’t have the kinds of friendships I read about in books or saw on TV. I struggled with fitting in, and it didn’t occur to me for many, many years that maybe I didn’t need to fit in—I just needed to find the people I already fit in with! I’d love it if readers walk away from this book with the understanding that they’re worth knowing (and loving) exactly as they are, and that their people are out there.
Thank you so much for chatting with me today about All Alone With You! After loving this book, I am so excited to read more of your work. Do you have any upcoming projects that you’re currently working on?
Thanks so much! And sadly, All Alone With You is my last YA novel for now, but I’m working on some new projects that I’m extremely excited about. Hopefully I’ll have more to share soon!
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I had so much fun chatting with Amelia about All Alone With You! Don't forget to preorder your copy, and submit your screenshots to get some awesome goodies! Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist? Let me know in the comments below!
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Author Interview: Jenna Yoon on Lia Park and the Heavenly Heirlooms, Her Writing Process, and More!5/20/2023
Hi bookworms and welcome to an author interview! Today I'm chatting with Jenna Yoon, author of the Lia Park series! This middle-grade series is filled with magic and mythology. I had a lot of fun reading the first book, Lia Park and the Missing Jewel, and you can read my review here for more of my thoughts. The sequel, Lia Park and the Heavenly Heirlooms comes out tomorrow and you can preorder your copy here!
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Lia Park and her best friend, Joon, are now full-time students at International Magic Academy after defeating corrupt diviner Gaya, and their first assignment is an ambitious one. The evil nine-headed monster and King of Darkness, Jihaedaegukjeok, wants to destroy the three Heavenly Heirlooms that create fire and light to plunge the world into darkness and destroy humanity.
The heirlooms can only be destroyed if they are all together, so over time, they have been hidden carefully with magic. Except now, one of them is missing. Lia, Joon, and their classmates have been tasked with recovering the lost heirloom and bringing it to IMA for safekeeping. They expected the task to be difficult, but the number of obstacles the magic trainees run into makes Lia start to wonder if the sabotage could be coming from someone inside the school.
Hello Jenna! Welcome to Page by Paige Books! I am so excited to chat with you today. To get things started I'd love to get to know you a bit more. Could you share 3 fun facts about yourself?
1. I've lived in 11 different cities in both the United States and Korea. Hopefully this is the last one! 2. My least favorite things are flowers and chocolates. I like to admire flowers from afar but don't like having them in my house because I'm allergic. Most chocolate is too sweet for me. 3. I played the cello since I was six years old until the end of high school. Recently I picked it up again and it's become a fun way for me to release stress. Congratulations on the upcoming publication of Lia Park and the Heavenly Heirlooms, the sequel to Lia Park and the Missing Jewel! I can't wait to dive in. What can fans expect from this sequel? In the sequel, readers will meet two new friends who will embark on a journey together to protect these magical heavenly heirlooms. LIA PARK AND THE HEAVENLY HEIRLOOMS has an expanded world, higher stakes, mystery, more action, Korean mythology, language, food, and landmarks. What is your writing process like? Do you have any favourite quotes or scenes you could share from either of your books? I like to start by researching ideas until I find one that just feels right. Then I build on that idea, and eventually write out chapter summaries. These are very general and not set in stone but I need to have a general idea of where the story is going while I draft. After drafting, then there are multiple rounds of revisions and edits! I really enjoyed writing all the different parts of the books, but my absolute favorite scenes were the big reveals and plot twists. Your Instagram post where your kids helped unbox your ARC copies of Lia Park and the Heavenly Heirlooms was adorable! Have they helped influence or inspire your writing? Thank you so much! My kids loved being a part of the unboxing and wearing their fancy outfits, which they of course coordinated themselves. They definitely are my inspiration! Growing up I didn't see myself in books or authors that were Asian. I loved reading as a child and even wrote fan letters to a few authors. But I never thought being an author could be a career path for me. Fast forward to when my oldest was three years old, she loved dressing up as Elsa. One day she yanked off the long braided Elsa wig she was wearing and demanded to know when she was going to start looking like her. It was then that I realized how important representation was and began to write stories so that my kids and others like her would be able to see themselves in books as heroes of their own stories. I wanted to do my part in creating a more diverse and inclusive world for them.
What would you say was the biggest challenge you encountered while writing this sequel?
The biggest challenge while writing this book was figuring out how to write from scratch under a deadline. For most debut authors, their debut book was written without a deadline. Meaning I could spend as much time as I wanted drafting, revising and perfecting it. It also meant that the draft my editor finally saw was not draft zero. Normally I am a slow and clean drafter. But writing a contracted book was a completely different experience and so I learned to fast draft and let go of my perfectionist tendencies. I ended up with a very rough draft and throughout the revision and editing process probably added 20,000 plus words! I'm so glad I went through that experience or I would never have attempted fast drafting. Also I now that I know how long each part of the process takes me, I can budget my time better and not pull all-nighters. Thank you so much for chatting with me today, and congratulations again on Lia Park and the Heavenly Heirlooms! My last question I have for you is, how are you planning on celebrating its release? I have a virtual book launch event at 6pm CST with Book People on May 31st. On May 30th, the actual release day I plan to celebrate with a bbq pool party with family and close friends. This was my kids' request. :)
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I had so much fun chatting with Jenna about Lia Park and the Heavenly Heirlooms. Don't forget to preorder your copy, and check out Jenna's virtual book launch on May 31st! Do you prefer books with one POV or multiple POVs? Let me know in the comments below! |
AuthorPaige is a bookstagrammer and blogger who loves all things bookish. From fantasy to mystery she can’t get enough! She’s always ready to recommend you a book and she can talk about her favourites all day. When she’s not reading, you can find her watching Marvel movies, playing video games, and taking bookstagram photos. Visit her on Instagram and Twitter for more updates. Categories
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