Author Chat with Terra Elan McVoy {Giveaway}

With bright colored covers and enticing fun book synopsis you cannot help but pick up one of Terra Elan McVoy's books.  Take After the Kiss for instance - who isn't attracted to candied hearts? In continuation of our focus on "Love" McVoy is with us today to talk about love, writing, 'stolen kisses', and more!

Tell us a little about yourself! 

Well, I grew up in Tallahassee, FL and I’ve been reading and writing for most of my life. As a high schooler, I was president of Writer’s Exchange at Lincoln High, and at my college, St. Andrews University, I was actively involved in Writer’s Forum. I also got my MA at Florida State University in Creative Writing MA Program. Even most of my jobs have had to do with reading or writing: I've managed an independent children's bookstore, worked at Barnes & Noble and Scholastic Inc., have done a lot of freelance writing, and have taught writing classes to both children and grownups.

When I am not reading or writing, I like to do a lot of crafty things (especially with paper and photography) and cook or bake, preferably for friends. I am also currently Program Director of the Decatur Book Festival, which is the largest independent book festival in the country! I also really like Fluevog shoes, Blythe dolls, playing board games, and watching movies. 

There are many young adult books that present girls as 'the slut'. In your book, After The Kiss the main guy, Alec, kisses two girls... would consider Alec a 'slut'? 

People rarely ask questions about Alec, so I love this one! I don’t think of Alec as a “slut,” but I do think of him as a confused person. Becca serves a special role in Alec’s life, and he loves and relies on her a lot. When she gets busy with her job, and insecure herself about their relationship, I think it throws Alec off. He acts out with Camille more as a result of his own insecurity and confusion than because he’s, you know, slutting around. 

Why write in verse? What inspired you to write in the form versus another? 

It was honestly my editor who suggested I write a novel in verse. She knew I’d studied poetry in college and grad school, and after we talked about the idea for awhile, I pictured a love triangle story where the three characters involved spoke in three different styles of poetry. I thought it would give me a chance to write free verse, vignettes, and haiku all in one project. The challenge was very appealing! Originally I thought Camille would speak in sonnets, or something more structured, but very early on I found that too limiting. I’d always loved TS Eliot’s vignettes, and found that allowed for both more expression and more plot development. I always knew Becca would be free verse though, and Alec would be haiku. Free verse was automatic, because that’s my favorite style, and Haiku just feels very simple and boyish—the kind of poetry a baseball player could hang with.

What were you like as a teenager in Love? 

Oh, I was very Serious. I think it got me dumped more than once, actually, because I was just . . . too intense. I didn’t feel things, or do things, in small amounts. I was very passionate and threw myself into what I loved, particularly my boyfriends. (But truthfully I was that way about my friends, hobbies, etc. too.) So when things ended, I was usually crushed. Very maudlin and sad. Except if I was the initiator of the breakup. Those times, it was just like, “Yeah well we were crazy about each other yesterday but I’m not feeling the love any more, so—goodbye.” It’s funny how Jeckyll/Hyde I could be about it.

Do you read a lot of YA literature about "love" and if so what are some of your favorite novels? 

I do read a lot of YA, and of course a lot of it is about love, but I find that the books I like most are the ones that are sort of sideways about love. Meaning, there are other things going on in the book, in the character’s life, besides the Love Interest. That said, my very favorite YA romance of all time is Beverly Cleary’s Jean and Johnny. I think I’ve read that book fourteen times. There’s just something so great about the Nerd Girl getting the Cool Boy, and watching them try to work it out.

Just for fun, is there anything that you have never shared with anyone else, that you can share with us? A fun fact?

There’s not a lot that I haven’t shared with my sisters, best friend, or my husband, but something not very many people know about me is that for a couple of years in high school I was in the Latin Brain Bowl, and I specialized in Ancient Roman Culture. Pretty much the only awesome thing that came of this was that years later, when I visited Pompeii, I got to see in real life some of the things I’d studied in books. Also, I once nearly knocked over Naomi Watts when I was exiting an elevator that she was walking into.

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