Hi Gina! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books! WAX sounds
absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to read it! And am so happy that you could stop by for a
visit!
For the readers:
can you tell us a little bit about WAX and the characters?
Poppy Palladino is a musical theater geek. She lands an audition on a
popular reality show talent competition…only to slip and fall and bleed all over
the stage on national television. Returning back to her small hometown in Vermont, she yearns to separate herself from the
humiliation, only to get wrapped up in a bullying war – one that somehow
leads to her sneaking into the back room of the creepy candle factory for which her town is famous. There, she meets a
batty old woman who makes
very realistic wax sculptures – too realistic, as
Poppy later finds out, when a teenage wax boy jumps out of her car trunk, naked. He doesn’t know anything about the world or
how to be a person, yet Poppy inadvertently adopts him, and long with the rest of Poppy’s theater
crew, they begin to discover that not all is well in their town. In fact, its residents are starting to look
a little…waxy.
Is this a
standalone or a series? And if it’s a series do you have a title for book 2
yet? And if it’s a standalone what
are you working on next?
It’s a standalone. My next book is called WASTE OF SPACE, and it is the
story of teen teenagers picked to be stuffed into a rocket ship, shot into space, and have the entire
debacle taped as a reality show for a morally challenged television network. What could go wrong?
Were any of the
characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?
No, but the Grosholtz Candle Factory is inspired by the flagship store
of a real-life candle company. I won’t say which, but suffice it to say that it’s gigantic,
over-the-top, and has to be seen to be believed. It has a room that snows. IT SNOWS. IN THE ROOM.
Who was your
favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
I really enjoyed writing Dud, because it was a challenge to try and see
life through the eyes of someone who has suddenly been thrust into being at the age of 16ish, without
the benefit (or curse) of a past or a childhood or any experience with the world at all. It opened up a lot
of opportunity for humor, but was also a nice vehicle for the sort of childlike wonder that a lot of us
lose as we grow up, especially during
our cynical teen years. And I don’t have any least favorite characters
to write – if I did, I wouldn’t write them. Evil characters are fun. Mwahaha.
What is your
favorite passage/scene in WAX?
The description of the Grosholtz candle factory was a blast to write,
mostly because all I got to be as outrageous as I wanted. If Willy Wonka designed a candle store, what
would it look like? This.
What kind of research did you have to do for the story?
Some historical research was necessary, although I can’t say too much
about that because it gets a bit spoilery. The really fun research had to do with wax itself – how candles are
made, the chemistry of scents, how wax behaves when it burns, etc. Science forever!
Who is your
ultimate book boyfriend?
Waldo. He shares my love of travel.
What inspired you
to write YA?
For whatever reason, I remember my teen years more acutely than any
other portion of my life, and lots of times I still feel like a teenager. It’s my most honest voice, so I
like to play in that sandbox as much as I can. All the fun and drama and angst, with none of the zits. (Well,
fewer zits.)
Lightening Round
Questions
What are you
reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, by Mary Roach. She writes
about science with the best sense of humor I’ve ever read, and if you’ve never picked up any of her
books you must do so immediately.
What Hogwarts
House would the Sorting Hat place you in?
Slytherin
Twitter or
Facebook?
Instagram
Favorite
Superhero?
Captain Obvious
Favorite TV show?
Ya Heard? With Perd
Sweet or Salty?
Salty
Any Phobias?
Getting flung out, untethered, into the depths of space. Everyone
laughed at this until Gravity came out and THE THREAT WAS PROVEN TO BE REAL.
Song you can’t get
enough of right now?
More of an album than one song: the original Broadway cast recording of
Urinetown, since I was just in a local production of it. If you haven’t seen it, you must do so
immediately.
Fall Movie you’re
most looking forward to?
*googles fall 2016 movies* - let’s see, uh – Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween, and I’m looking forward to it because old timey movie marquees won’t have enough
letters for the full title so they’re going to have to get creative. Rise to the challenge, movie nerds!
Thanks so much Gina for answering my questions! I can’t wait for
everyone to read WAX!
Thank you for having me!
