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Allison Larkin

Internationally Best-Selling Author

You are here: Home / author interviews / An Interview with Mindi Scott

An Interview with Mindi Scott

September 30, 2010 Filed Under: author interviews



FREEFALL is a book I’ve been dying to read for a very long time now, and IT COMES OUT TODAY, PEOPLE! I’m so excited!
I’ve been reading Mindi Scott’s blog for years, and have loved following her path to publication. I got to meet Mindi while I was in Seattle this summer. She’s as lovely and sweet and funny in person as she is on her blog. If you have the chance to go to one of her book events, do it! And if you don’t, you can still read FREEFALL, so do that, okay? :)

Mindi was so kind to answer some of my questions:
1. What inspired FREEFALL?

I started writing this book because I had an idea for a love story between a boy and a girl who had each faced tragedy. Everything just evolved from there, and the emotional journal of Seth (my narrator) became the real focus for me. I loved the challenge of showing how he could change in unexpected ways by letting other people in.

2. What kind of research did you have to do to write from the perspective of a teenage boy?

I read a lot of books written in that perspective just to get started. In fact, reading LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green was what inspired me to tell this story from the point of view of the boy instead of the girl. Also, I had my husband read all the scenes when I’d finish them. He isn’t a teenage boy, but he used to be one, so he was very helpful in letting me know when Seth wasn’t perhaps being boyish enough.

3. You publish diary entries from your diary as a teenager on your website. What made you decide to do this? Who is Carnation?

Ha! You know, I really don’t know what possessed me to do this. I was just trying to think of some content that I could add to my website regularly. For some reason, the journals popped into my head as something I could share.

Carnation is the name I gave the journal that I used when I was 14. Anne Frank wrote to “Kitty”, so that she would feel that there was a friend out there who was reading her words. I stole that idea. Except… Carnation wasn’t an imaginary human friend at all. Carnation was the actual book’s name. Like, sometimes I’d write things like, “Carnation, did you have a nice day today, waiting for me to come home and write in you?”

Um, weird.

4. I know you’re a huge music fan and your husband is in a band. How does music influence your writing?

Music is a big deal in FREEFALL. Seth is in a band and playing music is important to him, so it’s woven throughout the story. (Although, it isn’t the main story.) Other characters that I’ve written/am writing/will write don’t/won’t necessarily have anything to do with music. But I do choose to listen to whatever helps me find a character’s essence while I’m writing.

5. What’s your writing schedule like? Do you have a specific writing spot?

I have my work schedule and personal life arranged so that I can write on Wednesdays, Thursdays, every other Friday, and some weekend days. I write many of my first drafts longhand while riding the bus. All of my revised work is done at my desk in front of my computer.

6. What’s next for you?

I have more contemporary YA in the works. At this time, I don’t have a contract for a second book, so I’m not really sure which is going to be next. I have high hopes for a certain one that I’m working on, though. We’ll see! :-)

FREEFALL hits stores today! Congratulations, Mindi!

2 Comments

Comments

  1. Corinne Bowen says

    October 5, 2010 at 2:52 pm

    What a great interview! I love the trailer!

    Reply
  2. WendyCinNYC says

    October 6, 2010 at 12:03 am

    Great interview! Sounds like an interesting book.

    Reply

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Internationally bestselling author of STAY, WHY CAN'T I BE YOU and SWIMMING FOR SUNLIGHT. THE PEOPLE WE KEEP coming from @gallerybooks on 8/3/2021

Allison Larkin
Back at it, because I knew the longer I waited the Back at it, because I knew the longer I waited the harder it would be to get back at it. Sticking to wide trails with good visibility during wild boar piglet season. #trailrunning
A few days ago, I took this photo of turkeys while A few days ago, I took this photo of turkeys while I was out on a run, marveling at how wild animals do not seem to mind when they see me. Once, I almost bumped into a deer, the way a couple might meet-cute in a rom com. We just didn’t see each other. I’ve always thought it was a fun little quirk. Not even bunnies are afraid of me. But this afternoon on my run, I came up over a hill and was suddenly within fifteen feet of a wild boar. Thankfully, a year or two ago I got curious about the big traps that show up trailside around the bay, looked them up and learned about how fast, ruthlessly aggressive, and unpredictable a wild boar can be. Otherwise, I might have (stupidly) thought I was in the middle of another one of my Snow White moments and been all “Hello there, Mr. Pig! Look at you!” believing that I could quietly observe in wonder. Instead, I knew this was a bad situation. The boar grunted and moved to the center of the trail. It felt very ‘You shall not pass!’ But I did not want to pass. I wanted to get away. I backed slowly for a few moments and then turned and ran faster than I ever have in my whole life. I’ve since learned that there’s no way that boar chased me, because there’s no chance of outrunning a boar (climb a tree if you can). But I know that boar saw me and also wasn’t happy about the surprise, and I had a moment, racing back over the hills I’d just run — not daring to look behind me more than once or twice in fear I’d lose my footing — when I truly did not know what would happen. I’ve been in scary situations, but they were a different kind of scary. I don’t think I’ve ever flat out run for my life before, but that’s truly what I thought I was doing. Right now I am still full of adrenaline and also exhausted and so so thankful to be okay.
My lemon is a happy fox. #fruitfaces My lemon is a happy fox. #fruitfaces
I think there’s something about getting older an I think there’s something about getting older and reaching back to the core of who you are. I’ve always been at my happiest when I’m up in a tree.
Portrait of the bestest girl. Stella may be slowin Portrait of the bestest girl. Stella may be slowing down, but she’s still exceptionally curious. #dailystelladog #germanshepherd
Portrait of a woman who just wants a free moment t Portrait of a woman who just wants a free moment to paint over the poop brown bathroom walls that came with this house.
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