The Boundless Booklist: Author Interview: Anne Tibbets

Author Interview with Anne Tibbets

Release Date: February 28, 2012

Publisher: Premier Digital Publishing

Hi Anne! Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about your new book! So first off, describe Shut Up in 3 words.

1) Emotional

2) Haunting

3) Hopeful

What inspired you to write Shut Up?

I was all set to start re-writes on my YA Fantasy The Beast Call, when I recalled a memory from my childhood. It stuck with me for days, so I wrote it down, hoping that would be the end of it. But then after writing down that one memory, I wrote down another, and another, and another. They came gushing out! After I was through, I tried to go back to the Fantasy re-write but I couldn't concentrate on it. I kept coming back to the stories, which were nothing more than an unorganized mishmash of things that had happened a long time ago. They were fuzzy at best. I spent the next few years turning those memories into a full story, and then I spent more time after that turning it into a work of fiction - twisting the story, playing with the time line, and tweaking the characters. It was torture. But I couldn't concentrate on any other story until I was done. After I was finished I felt purged. Such a relief! But what a great story to tell. I'm so glad I took the time, because SHUT UP is so different than anything I had written before, and deeply, deeply personal.

What are your thoughts on the cover? Did you have any input in the design?

Customarily authors have zero input on the covers of their own books, but because I went with a very author-friendly press, I was able to work directly with the artist on the cover. That being said, all I had to do was have one conversation with him about what the book was about, and he sent back this cover - the only difference were the eyes - we had to make them blue to go with the story. But seeing that cover for the first time - it was one of those moments of my life I will never forget. I opened the file and literally gasped aloud and wept. He did an amazing job! He captured Mary's spirit so well, it took my breath away. The artist's name is Kib Prestridge, and he's a very very nice guy with an incredible amount of talent. I feel very lucky to have his design for my book cover.

Are you working on anything new at the moment? If so, can you tell us anything about it?

I had this great idea for another YA contemporary, but I got about twenty pages in and I had another idea for a Supernatural Mystery. I shelved the contemp just so I could write the outline for the mystery - and then suddenly I was writing the mystery draft, and now I'm up to page 75. I don't have a title for it yet, but it's about a girl who is an investigative reporter and she stumbles upon an unsolved mystery from her home town, and she sets out to solve it and weird spooky things start to happen to her as she's investigating. It's a blast to right! I love a good spooky story!

Do you have any advice for young writers?

Write. Then re-write. Then re-write again. Get educated. Read. Know your grammar. Take classes. Practice. Practice some more. And above all else, no matter what anybody tells you, never, ever, ever, ever give up.

What was your favorite book growing up? Is it still your favorite today?

My favorite book growing up was Cynthia Voight's DICEY'S SONG. I haven't read it since the 4th grade, but man - I loved that book. It was the first book ever to make me cry. Now, I'd have to say my favorite book of all time is THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak. If you haven't read it yet, you should. It's a masterpiece.

Once again, thank you for sitting down with us & good luck with your new novel!
And check out my review of Shut Up coming next week.

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