Today’s post is an interview with young adult author Francesca Zappia, whose 2015 debut novel MADE YOU UP tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. (More here.)
Melissa: Thanks so much for joining me here! I loved reading Made You Up. The premise is so unique, coupled with well-drawn characters who make every chapter surprising. (Everyone: read this book!) I’m curious: what do you love about your book? Have you found that readers responded to that?
Francesca: The characters, and definitely. The thing I’ve heard most from readers, reviewers, booksellers, teachers, etc. about the book is how much they enjoyed the characters. I wouldn’t have written Made You Up if I didn’t love the characters so much, and I think when you write something or someone that you love, people notice that and respond much more strongly to it.
What choices have you made in your life that shaped who you are as an author?
I honestly don’t know that I’ve made enough big choices so far in my life to say any of them affected who I am as an author. Most of it is a mix of pigheadedness, obliviousness, and an ongoing obsession with things I loved as a kid.
The biggest decision was probably just deciding to pursue publishing at all; if I hadn’t tried so hard and for so long to be published, I don’t think I’d appreciate it as much as I do now, and work so much harder to get better. I think I’m less cynical than I could be because I chose to study Computer Science in college instead of English or Creative Writing, but I only chose that because I hate writing prompts with a burning passion. I have a lot of growing to do as an author—I feel like I’m just taking the first baby steps right now.
Envision your perfect writing getaway. Can you tell us where you’d go?
A place where it’s always night. Or is night for a long time. Alaska? A small room with a big bay window, a cool breeze, and no people around. Some pleasant but muted smell. A white noise machine in the corner.
Love and choice lightning round:
Morning person or night owl?
I’d like to say I’m a night owl because I always end up doing a lot of writing after I decide to go to bed, but the truth is I fall asleep really early because I wake up so early. So morning person, definitely.
Plotter or pantser?
Plotter. I used to be a pantser, but I have to put out stories a little faster than I used to (meaning, in a few months instead of a few years), so I plot most of the story now and let the in-between bits come out as they will.
Coffee or wine?
*voms*
That was a trick question. Coffee or tea?
Oh, good. *voms* (But seriously though, water.)
Ocean or mountains?
Knee-jerk reaction is mountains. Tall, snowcapped mountains. Perhaps the Bavarian Alps. Looking down on a cozy, isolated cabin where a tall blonde German man lives, chopping wood and gazing thoughtfully across the rolling foothills. But I mean it’s not like I’ve thought of it much.
And finally: Favorite quote?
“What’s it going to be then, eh?” – Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange.
I know a lot of people have a lot of things to say about Clockwork Orange, and according to his foreword, Anthony Burgess himself didn’t have much love for it after it became so popular. In the context of the book, that quote is about the choice between doing good and doing evil, but taken out of context I see it as a kind of daily challenge. Sometimes doing even simple things like answering email can be difficult, so I have to ask myself, “What’s it going to be?”
Am I going to let myself crumple under stress, or push through and get something done?
I’ve found it works surprisingly well to get me in a better mindset.
About the Author
Francesca Zappia lives in Indiana and works on computers at the University of Indianapolis. She spends most of her time writing, reading, drawing, and playing way too much Pokémon. You can find her on Twitter @ChessieZappia, Tumblr (exeuntstormtroopers.tumblr.
About the Book
Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. For fans of Silver Linings Playbook and Liar, this thought-provoking debut tells the story of Alex, a high school senior—and the ultimate unreliable narrator—unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion.
Alex fights a daily battle to figure out what is real and what is not. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8 Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until she runs into Miles. Didn’t she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal. Can she trust herself? Can we trust her?
MADE YOU UP is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound.