Summer Walden Intervista ( English Version )

Summer Walden, the simple fact that you accepted my interview is breathtaking. I’d like to come to you sooner but I wanted to be more experienced, make a good work and a better presentation of you for my fellow Italian readers. Thank you very much for giving me your free time , it really means a lot to me. Sometimes I have the impression that you are spying on me, your stories speak about me and I see myself in there so much times I lost counts….It’s scary!! your real style is what makes you special and unique but I think is healthy to change sometimes, please do what makes you happy and don’t use a pen name for your not- taboo stories!! It’s like you let cyber-bullies winning and they don’t deserve that!!

Well, enough said. Let’s start this interview!!

Girls, it’s my honor to present you today Summer Walden! An amazing writer and the author of “Lovelines”, the book of hers that we will talk about on this special occasion.

Summer, it’s so awesome that I can actually talk to you and ask some of the millions of questions that popped in my head during my reading of your novels. Would you like to introduce you for the italian readers that still don’t know you?

Sure! For those of you who are unfamiliar with my work, I mainly write stories that make readers squirm. I really didn’t set out to become branded as a taboo writer, but every story up until LoveLines has been exactly that: controversial. I write realistic fiction which sometimes gets me into trouble because many readers want a slightly fantastical realistic story (if such a thing exists), and I don’t deliver that. I keep it real. Too real. I’m-covering-my-eyes-during-this-really-embarrassing-part real. It’s not for shock value. I just want to tell honest stories, and that includes all the awkwardness, embarrassment, fumbled words, beauty and pain of reality.

Before you decided to start the writing career you were an English teacher ( lucky students! ). Did you like to teach? Would you like to talk about this period of your life to us?

Teaching was something I was decent at, but it was never a love of mine. While I was teaching writing courses, I longed to actually spend that time writing. Two thousand ten was a turning point in my life. I had quit teaching to go to grad school full time. Once I graduated, there were no English teaching jobs in sight. I took that as a sign and started my indie writing career shortly after.

It’s crystal clear that your husband Aidan is very supportive and lives with you your journey as a writer. Did it happened to discuss with him about your ideas for your novels? Is it a habit for you to ask him to read some fresh written pages ?

I always brainstorm story ideas with Aidan. I value his input. I trust his judgment, especially with books that have intense subject matter. While I don’t go out of my way to be offensive in my writing, it’s kind of hard not to when I choose subjects involving rape, illicit affairs, and suicide. Aidan is good about giving me advice when I need to temper a passage in my story or take it out altogether. He enjoys when I read my work to him, but it’s always out of order, so as soon as the latest print proof arrives, he goes back and reads the story from start to finish.

Can we find something of Aidan in your male characters?

Most of my male leads have a little Aidan in them. Anton’s basketball skills are Aidan’s. Evan’s love of physics is Aidan. Ryan’s dork factor is all Aidan. Mark is one hundred percent Aidan. The only character who doesn’t exhibit any of my husband’s characteristics is Reece from LoveLines.

Where do you find your inspiration for your books? real-life / personal experienced / imagination?

All of them: real life, personal experience, and imagination. A newspaper article about Fantasy Slut Leagues inspired Going Under. Some of Clara’s story in Honeysuckle Love came from personal experience. LoveLines was born strictly from my imagination. I just roll with it however I develop the story, but the plotlines are always original, stemming from my imagination.

In the “about the author” section and the end of your books, I noticed this passage:

“She lives in Georgia with her very supportive husband….has a difficult time understanding why her characters must have personality flaws”. Can you explain this, please?

I joke with my husband all the time about his ridiculous standards for characters. Whenever I’m in the early stages of developing my heroes and heroines, he likes to interrupt me when I get to the bad part: describing their flaws. He doesn’t understand why a book can’t incorporate a flawless character. My response? “Do you know any perfect person? And don’t you dare say yourself, or I’ll smack you!” haha But Aidan also spends most of his reading time on textbooks and professional development texts. He forgets that fiction is all about flaws—characters who are imperfect, who learn to grow from mistakes, and who, hopefully, become better individuals by the end of the book.

What were your expectations when you started publishing? It’s a very competitive world, how did you cope with that?

I had no expectations about publishing until Going Under became popular. In fact, if I’m being honest (as I’m prone to be), I can say that the happiest time of my short career so far was before Going Under released. The problem with that book is that it set a bar that I’ve yet to meet with my subsequent books. It’s virtually impossible to guess what the public will want to read, though there are some tried-and-true love story formulas that work, and have been done to death. I’m not really interested in writing those types of stories, and I don’t know how “successful” a career in writing controversy will be for me, so I’ve learned to let expectations go and just write what I want.

As far as the writing world being competitive, I’m really just competing with myself. Again, I feel like I’m competing with Going Under every time I release a book. Eventually something else will blast it out of Position 1 (and I’ll jump for joy when that happens), but until then, I just have to keep telling stories I’m proud of. ß Technically, that sentence is incorrect. It should read, “. . . but until then, I just have to keep telling stories of which I’m proud.” But who talks like that?

Nowadays social networks are extremely essential for advertising which is the way to let people know about your books world-while. They can talk about you and share thoughts on  Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads etc. Chatting with your own readers can bring joy and discomfort at the same time, but I often read good comments on your contacts. How do you feel about this?

Social networking is a double-edged sword. It allows for greater access to authors—which is both great and not so great. It all depends on the author’s personality. I’m much more of an introvert, so I can do social social social! for a while before I burn out and need to go crawl into a hole. Other authors feed off of that constant connection. Hell, some even “write on demand”—asking for reader input and treating the writing process as more of a collaborative effort with fans instead of a solitary one. I’m old school. I’m a solitary writer. I don’t know how well that will bode for me in the future if the future of writing keeps moving towards a collaborative practice. But writers have to find what works for them, and that includes how much they’re willing to be a part of this, let’s see . . . we’ll call it “gregarious scene.” I enjoy connecting with my fans via Facebook and Twitter. I love emailing them. That’s my favorite. It’s all about finding a balance.

Wicked Weekend in Florida was your first signing books event. How was it?

It was fantastic! I was sooo nervous the night before the signing simply because I really had no idea what to expect. Turns out I had nothing to fear. The fans were amazing. I had the opportunity to meet bloggers I’d been talking to on Facebook and through email for a year! It was all around super. And I loved the intimate setting. It was a smaller signing which allowed me to really spend a good amount of time with my fans.

“Lovelines”, an intriguing and sweet title. Would you mind explain it?

Kind of a multi-layered title. It refers to several things in the novel. For one, it refers to Bailey’s inability to live outside of clearly defined lines. Second, it refers to Reece as an ad writer who creates clever taglines. It also refers to heredity—the stuff passed down the line from our parents to us: namely, Bailey’s OCD she inherited from her father.

This book is settled on an amazing location: Wilmington - North Carolina. I googled it and I advise you all to do the same. If I had the money and time, I would already packed my bags and booked a ticket for me and my husband!! Why did you choose it?

I actually lived in Wilmington for six years. I attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington—graduating with a degree in English and Concentration in Literature and Language. I knew I wanted to eventually set a story of mine in Wilmington because I love the city so much, and when Bailey popped onto the scene with her surfboard, I knew she had to live on the Carolina coast.

O.C.D.  ( obsessive compulsive disorder ), is a huge and complicated subject for a book. What did you make decide to base your novel on it?

- I’ll link your post from your blog on this questions -

Bailey, the main female character of “Lovelines”. How much of Summer Walden we can find in her?

Bailey and I share the same problem with perfectionism—something that stems from our anxiety. I don’t suffer from OCD, but I deal with anxiety on a regular basis. Sometimes it’s manageable and sometimes not. I feel kind of badly that I gave that to my character, but she couldn’t very well be OCD without the anxiety component anyway. Her love of gardening is also a love of mine. I’m working towards her back yard, but mine still has a ways to go. Eventually I see an oasis. I think maybe I wrote that description of Bailey’s back yard as a plan for my own.

Her life is a constant research of the love she is convinced she doesn’t deserve because of her condition *fist in my stomach*. It must be hard to write about her. How much did it take to write it and how did you live during the writing process, on the emotional level?

Honestly, those heartbreaking scenes were tough to write (as any heartbreaking scene is), but I really spent the majority of my time laughing out loud and having fun with the story. It was a much-needed, refreshing change from my typical angsty taboo stuff. I said in a post on my blog a while back that I was tired of living and writing in the darkness and wanted to step into the light. I did with this story, and it felt so good. I smiled a ton while I wrote LoveLines. I don’t remember smiling so much with any other story.

Reece is the main male character. You advised us we could find him “weird” and I did!! but aren’t we all?! His attraction for Bailey is sudden and his love for her grows very fast. He find her urges “cute and hot”! Why is that, in your opinion?

I just wanted Reece to portray this almost desperate attraction to Bailey and her quirks. It makes me giggle to think about it, but I had a blast writing that copy room scene. I couldn’t stop laughing. My husband laughed when I read it to him. It’s just so silly, and it embodies Reece completely—this hot guy with the silliest and most sincere attraction to a woman’s mental condition. He’s weird, and that’s what makes him work for this story. That’s what makes their love work.

Their physical love is unique. Reece is very dominant to her. Is it because he wants to make her letting go during their lovemaking, at least?

I really wanted to create a true, realistic man. I’m pretty convinced that most contemporary (and especially indie) literature does not incorporate real men. They’re these ridiculous fantasies. Nothing wrong with that, though. I know many women read to escape, so it makes sense that a “realistic” story be a little unrealistic. I simply don’t write my realistic stories that way. I want my characters to be people my readers could see themselves being friends with—going to the bars to hang out, the beach to lay out, visiting one another in their homes and feeling like they can put their feet up on the furniture. I also wanted to try something new with Reece—creating a character who is terribly normal and a little abnormal in the bedroom. I think many readers weren’t expecting his dominant side. I think that’s hysterical—like light dom/sub play can only be featured in erotica. Um, no. You never know what goes on behind the doors of normal, everyday couples. And yes, I wanted him to use that kind of lovemaking to help Bailey let go—give up control in one area of her life and trust that the person she’s loving won’t take advantage of her.

“Poppy the dog” is a west highland white terrier ( remember the cesar food dog commercial? ). I read that you own one! What is her value in the story?

I wanted to show the progression of Reece and Bailey’s relationship in a way that didn’t involve pregnancy. There are enough books about heroines getting pregnant as the symbol that solidifies their love for the heroes. I didn’t want to go there, especially since I wanted Erica to have the only kid story, and also because I believe that a lot of times love relationships (in real life and literature) that don’t eventually highlight children aren’t viewed as “complete.” Of course I think that’s untrue, and that’s where Poppy comes into the picture. I wanted her to be this symbol stating, “We’re taking this relationship seriously. We’re sharing a living something together, and that means business.”

Let’s talk for a moment of the cover accident and the failure with the marketing campaign. People were addressing to it as a chick lit but even though there’s a lot of humor, some scenes are too strong for a chick lit novel, you defined them as “adult angst scenes”. So you changed the cover and the book description so readers are more prepared for the reading. After that, you decided to cancelled your plans for a series and leave “Lovelines” as a stand alone. You even deleted the epilogue from the first version ( too bad….I was intrigued by Taylor story ).

Are you satisfied with the changes ? What did you learn from all of that?

I’m never satisfied when a book doesn’t perform the way I hope, but I do believe the changes were necessary, and it’s just the nature of the business to move on to the next project that has a better shot of success. Cancelling the series wasn’t too hard of a decision because coming from a business perspective, I realized that there was little financial incentive to continue with it. I did learn through the process that I’m a better writer of standalones than series. The only project in the future that will be a definite series is my Ireland trilogy, and that’s because I can’t fit the entire story into one book (just like the Too Good series). I don’t even plan to release the first book until the entire story is written—all three installments. As far as Taylor’s story, I still plan to write it. I’ll release it as a standalone. Is that an immediate project? Nope. My plate is full with another teen angst story and my Ireland trilogy.

After this false step, you became more aware of your style and you considered yourself as a taboo writer. Am I right? What does it really mean?

Well, let’s say that the book world views me as a taboo writer. I just view myself as a writer. Once you’ve branded yourself as something (whether it was your intention or not), it’s hard to move away from that. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy writing controversy, but I won’t allow my career, in my eyes, anyway, to be defined by that. If that means that every book I write outside the taboo box does poorly, I’ll just have to deal. But I also have amazing fans who will read anything I write. They trust my judgment, and I would never give them a story I didn’t believe in.

Classical ending question: future plans?

"My Summertime Girls are the only ones who know a little about my upcoming book, but I’m staying pretty quiet about it until it’s complete. I just think it's a wiser course of action that allows me the private time I need to give the story everything it deserves. I will say, though, that there are dark elements and lots of angst. Publication date? Unfortunately I haven't a clue.

Thanks again for spending your time with me, hope you had fun!! I did :-)

I had sooo much fun! I’m honored you featured me today. Thank you so much, and I hope your followers will take a chance on one of my books!