Interview with Jennifer Bosworth + Struck Giveaway! (US only)

Hi guys! I can't tell you how excited I am to be interviewing Jennifer Bosworth today! So, if you remember, I read and reviewed her book, Struck, at the end of September. (You can read my review here.) But that's really not why I'm so excited. It's because, lo and behold, she agreed to be interviewed by me! (In case you missed that, me!) Yay! First, a little info about Struck:

Title: Struck
Author: Jennifer Bosworth
Series: It's been optioned as a series. I hope it becomes one. :)
Pages: 373
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux BYR
Release Date: May 8, 2012
My Final Rating: Four star all the way. I seriously liked it. :D




A little bit of author info:

Jennifer Bosworth lives in Los Angeles, California, where lightning hardly ever strikes, but when it does she takes cover. She is the writer half of a writer/director team with her husband, Ryan Bosworth. Learn more about her at http://www.jenniferbosworth.com.



*The Interview*
Q: Ok, first question. You know how much us book bloggers like your cover, right? It was one of the most talked about covers in the blogosphere for a bit. Did you have a say in it? More importantly, do you love it?

A: I love it so much I want to marry it, but I'm already married, so my cover would be my polygamist husband, and I'm not sure that arrangement will work out. Seriously though, I really lucked out in the cover department. One day my editor sent it to me out of the blue and I was in awe. The thing I love most about it is how powerful my character looks. You look at the cover and think, "This is going to be an exciting story," which was the most important thing to me.

Q: Wow. A character who's addicted to being 'struck' by lightning. How did you come up with the idea of a lightning addict?

A: I started with research. I knew I wanted to write about a girl who was a human lightning rod, but it wasn't until I read about the man who holds the world record for lightning strikes that idea for a lightning addict hit me. The world record holder survived seven lightning strikes, but being a human lightning rod started to ruin his life. He was a park ranger and used to drive around with a bucket of water in the back of his truck in case he was struck by lightning, caught on fire, and had to put himself out. People started to avoid him because no one wanted to be near him the next time he was struck.

So...I had to ask myself, why didn't this guy just get another job? Why didn't he move to LA, where lightning rarely strikes? And that got me thinking...maybe he liked being struck. Maybe the energy in storms became like a drug to him. So that's when the idea of a lightning addict was born.

Q: When you started writing Struck, did you know how it was going to end, or did you just write what you thought sounded cool at the time?

A: I had no idea how it was going to end until I'd written and rewritten the book four times. Eventually I figured out the ending that seemed inevitable.

Q: Are you one of those writer's who needs complete silence when you're writing, or do you write better with music? (If you have a playlist, we'd love to hear it!)

A: If I'm at home, I need silence. If I'm at a coffee shop, I need music, but it has to be ambient. If the lyrics are too distracting, I'll want to sing along.

Q: What's your favorite movie of all time?

A: That's a tough question! I can't choose between them all, so I'll go with my favorite horror movie, which is "Carrie." Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie haunt me!

Q: Who/what are some of your favorite authors/books?

A: I love the old school horror greats: Stephen King, F. Paul Wilson, Peter Straub. SK's Dark Tower series is my all time favorite. I also consider myself a super fan of Gillian Flynn, Joe Hill, and Adam Nevill. The books I find myself recommending over and over again are Flynn's "Sharp Objects," Hill's "Heart Shaped Box," and Nevill's "The Ritual."

Q: Facebook or Twitter?

A: I change my mind about this quite often. Today my favorite is Twitter.

Q: Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer? What were some of your other job choices?

A: I did always know, but I wasn't always sure I could make it as a writer. I considered being an english professor, but then I came to terms with the fact that I liked commercial novels more than classics. I thought about becoming a wardrobe designer for film. I worked as a phlebotomist for a while, and I was very good at taking people's blood, but it wasn't my passion in life. If I were forced to give up writing at this point, I'd probably become a dominatrix, because I'd be so angry I'd need to take my aggression out on somebody.

Q: M&M's or Skittles? Why?

A: Skittles! I can taste the rainbow! You get a variety of flavors, where M&M's all taste the same.

Q: When you were writing about Mia, were you in her head, or was she sitting there calmly telling you her story?

A: We took turns possessing each other.

Q: What's the one thing that you want to be remembered for?

A: Scaring People.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your next book (because we're all seriously excited)?

A: I have a few waiting in line to be next, but I'm not sure which one I'll finish first. The book that's closest to being finished is called "The Hive," and it's sort of a retelling of Rapunzel, only with polygamists, ghosts, and supernatural bees. That sounds crazy, even to me.

Q: One last thing. What just makes your day as an author? Reading a good review for your book? Getting nice comments? Hearing about your book's success?

A: I love when people tweet me that they saw a bolt of lightning and it made them think of Mia.

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Well. I just can't tell ya'll how much I enjoyed thinking up these questions. Are you gonna leave some love for the author, or what? I hope ya'll are having a nice week! ;)

*Giveaway Time!*
The author has generously offered up a UK copy of Struck, and some swag up for giveaway to one luck US winner! (Quick, everyone thank the author!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway