INTERVIEW: Hannah Moskowitz

Today I have with me the awesome author of Break and Invincible Summer, Hannah Moskowitz. Her book, Invincible Summer is due on April 19th, 2011 but everyone is so eagerly anticipating it already!!! I am so glad that she could fit in the interview in her busy schedule. Thanks so much Hannah! I truly had a blast while doing this interview!

1. Tell us something about your forthcoming novel The Invincible Summer in a poem of four lines!

I am hideously hideously horrible at poetry.

When he is fourteen, Chase plays warrior in the sand.
When he is fifteen, he falls into bed with his biggest problem.
When he is sixteen, he dives into philosophy.
On his seventeenth birthday, he breaks his world.

2. Invincible Summer or Break-which was more interesting/challenging to write?

Invincible Summer was absolutely more interesting. It's more
(though obviously not entirely) autobiographical than Break, so I got
to delve into some of my memories and stuff I loved (like Camus) in a
new way. Break was probably harder only because Invincible Summer was
one of the easiest books I've ever written.

3. Did you have any say in the creation of the cover of Invincible Summer(which I love BTW!)?

Not really. My editor asked if I had some suggestions, and I did,
but they all sucked. So I can't take any credit for the final version.

4. What else do you love to do except writing?

I'm very, very fond of television. I've decided I'm at the point
where I can stop being embarrassed and start considering myself myself
some kind of connoisseur. I love movies, too. I sing. I was a drama
keep in high school. My boyfriend wants to be a chef, so he takes me
out to some very nice restaurants sometimes. But really, nothing very
interesting. My characters live much more fascinating lives than I do.

5. What are some of your favorite books/novels?

I'm almost scared to start listing because I know I'll leave
something out, but I love Sins of the Fathers by Chris Lynch, My
Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr, It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned
Vizzini, The Boyfriend List series by E. Lockhart, The Year of Secret
Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty, The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
(which was a major source of inspiration for Invincible Summer), Will
Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, The Casson
family series by Hilary McKay, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway,
The Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, Love is the Higher Law by
David Levithan, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky,
Looking for Alaska by John Green, Maybe by Brent Runyon. A million
more.

6. The hottest/sexiest literary male? What would you do and say if you met him?

Noel in E. Lockhart's The Boyfriend List series. I'd just want to
write notes with him like Roo does.

7. Do you want to experiment with any other genre? Like paranormal or dystopian?

I do some magical realism, but I'm not sure I'm ever going to do
straight-up speculative fiction. I don't know. We'll see. I don't want
to rule anything out.

8. Why did you choose YA as a medium to execute your ideas?

YA and MG are my favorite genres, by far, because your readers are
smart and they know what they want. And I think adult novels can, a
lot of times, get bogged down in unnecessary details and backstory. YA
and MG just want your story, raw, and I love that. You just have to
bring it. You can't hide behind anything.

9. What are you working on currently?

Nothing! I'm having No-Write July. I need a break this month. I
just finished edits on a YA, and I'll probably start another MG soon.

10. Any parting words of wisdom?

Keep plowing on. Always.

Invincible Summer is being released by Simon Pulse on April 19th,2011. Watch out for it!