Interview with Mindi Scott & Freefall Giveaway!

The awesome Mindi Scott was kind enough to do an interview with me for her amazing debut novel  Freefall.   And because I loved Freefall so much I am giving away a copy opened INTERNATIONALLY (to all places that The Book Depository ships to).  I hope you enjoy this interview and don't forget to check out my review for Freefall.

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How do you come back from the point of no return?

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend Isaac alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time where Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn’t wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend’s death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn’t the only one who needs saving . . .
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Why YA?
The summer that I decided to start write seriously (2004), I was at the library nonstop.  I read over 100 books of all different types.  I found that contemporary YA resonated with me and felt the most natural, so I gave it a try. I love it!
 
What inspired you to write Freefall?
Seth and his story came about in a backward way, which I think most people wouldn't expect.

This story was inspired by the character Rosetta, who appeared from nowhere, like some characters seem to do!  At that time, I was finished with my first (unpublished) manuscript, which was about a kind of messed up girl.  I didn't feel like being in the head of another kind of messed up girl right exactly then, so I decided that I would write Rosetta's story from the point of view of the boy who would love her.

It didn't take long before I realized that letting her story drive the novel wasn't fair to the narrator I'd chosen.  He needed an arc that wasn't all about trying to "save" her, otherwise, this was never going to work.

So, really, Rosetta wasn't created to help Seth find his purpose, meet his goals, etc.; it was supposed to have been the other way around!

I love the cover of Freefall.  And also on the pages that numbers and the title get lower on each page like they are falling.  Did you have any say in the book design?
I love everything Pulse came up with, but I had no say whatsoever in it!  My editor and I discussed that Marketing was going to go for a "mood piece" with the cover and that the characters wouldn't be depicted.  They really wanted this book to be something that a girl or a guy might pick up.

The words and pages numbers falling was a really cool surprise when I got to see the unbound galleys.  My editor told me that the interior designer had done something special with and I was excited to realize that if you flip the edge of the pages quickly, you can watch the words fall!
 
Music is a important part of Seth's life.  Did you have a playlist while writing? And what were some of the songs on it?
I do listen to music while I write and I try to mix it up a lot or I go crazy.  After all, with drafting and several rounds of revisions, I was actively involved with this book for about a year and nine months. 

The songs from those days that will always remind me of Seth are:  everything ever by Social Distortion ("Bad Luck," in particular), nearly every song from the Sam's Town album by The Killers, "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty, and "It's Been Awhile" by Staind. (And that last one is always embarrassing for me to admit, for some reason.  But, seriously, the lyrics and the whole mood are just so very Seth-hungover-and-staring-at-glow-in-the-dark-stars-on-his-ceiling to me.)

What I loved most about Freefall were the characters.  So realistic and honest.  Which character do you see the most of yourself in and why?
Thank you!  I had a friend once tell me that she thinks Rosetta and Kendall are comprised of different parts of me.  While I don't entirely agree (they really are fictional characters; I swear it!) I think that the way I behave and speak is more like Rosetta. The way that I feel sometimes is probably more like Kendall.

Rosetta was my favourite character.  I want to know more.  Do you plan on writing Rosetta story?

I'm certainly interested in writing a novel from Rosetta's point of view, but 1) it might be awhile before I'll have any idea whether the publisher will want to see anything else set in the Freefall world and 2) I have to figure out a unique journey for Rosetta in order to justify writing it.  I very deliberately made a strong parallel in the things that Seth and Rosetta needed to overcome, but that also means that I'd need something fresh so that it doesn't feel like the same story again, you know?

You are part of The Contemps Challenge.  What are some of your favourite YA contemporary books?
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (Cohn/Levithan), Looking for Alaska (John Green), Guyaholic
(Carolyn Macker), What My Mother Doesn't Know (Sonya Sones), This Lullaby (Sarah Dessen), Sloppy Firsts (Megan McCafferty), Rats Saw God (Rob Thomas), Flash Burnout (L.K. Madigan), and Amy & Roger's Epic Detour (Morgan Matson).  I could go on and on.

What are you working on next? 

I am working on more YA novels.  I have a few in the works, but I don't yet have another contract, so I'm not sure which might become my next published novel.  The one I'm working on most seriously at this time is another contemporary.  This one is about a girl who can't tell the truth out of fear of what it will cost her.  That's vague, I know, but I suck at writing my own pitches, so I'll have to wait and see if my agent/editor can do better when the time comes! 

The subject matter is darker and more difficult in some ways (except there isn't anyone dealing with death this time around), and the girl POV is definitely a huge switch for me, but my agent feels like it will be a good follow up to Freefall.  I hope he's right.

Thank you again Mindi Scott for doing this interview with me.  My first ever! Now onto the giveaway.

One lucky person will win a copy of Freefall.  To enter all you have to do is fill out this FORM.  You must be 13 years or older to enter.  This competition closes on 6th December, 2010.  Please read my giveaway policy before entering.