Shaun is a really cool guy. I've gotten to know him a bit since we joined the same blog chain last year, but he'd been on my radar before then because, let's face it, the guy's reputation for being made of awesome precedes him. THE DEATHDAY LETTER (which you can learn more about here) is his debut novel.
Synopsis: The clock is ticking... Ollie can't be bothered to care about anything but girls until he gets his Deathday Letter and learns he's going to die in twenty-four hours. Bummer. Ollie does what he does best: nothing. Then his best friend convinces him to live a little, and go after Ronnie, the girl who recently trampled his about-to-expire heart. Ollie turns to carloads of pudding and over-the-top declarations, but even playing the death card doesn't work. All he wants is to set things right with the girl of his dreams. It's now or never...
Doesn't it sound like a fantastic book? Time to fire up the grill and ask Shaun some questions!
Sarah: The concept of getting a letter letting you know you have 24 hours before you die is pretty novel (no pun intended). Where did the idea for THE DEATHDAY LETTER come from?
Shaun: At the time, my mom had just gone into the hospital with some heart problems. I was scared and I was in bed praying that nothing happened to her. I started thinking about how I was so far away, that if anything did happen, I wouldn't be able to say goodbye and that there should be some kind of system so that people could prepare for death. The deathday letters came right from that. Then the voice of Ollie, my narrator, started chattering away in my head. I tried to ignore him, but he wouldn't shut up until I got up and wrote down the first chapter. The next day I emailed friends and searched Amazon because I was sure that someone, somewhere, had to have come up with the idea before. Lucky for me, no one had.
Sarah: How much of Shaun is in Ollie and what qualities of Ollie’s are definitely not in Shaun?
Shaun: Ollie is so much more zen about things than I am. Ollie's got my awkwardness. I wasn't popular in high school but I had a great group of friends. Over all though, I'd say I share more of his best friend Shane's qualities. In terms of how I'm NOT like Ollie...well, he's got terrible taste in music. Really, really bad.
Sarah: So many writers—and YA authors in particular—talk about what music they listened to while writing. Did you have a playlist for your characters and, if so, what’d you listen to?
Shaun: Oh, gosh. I listened to a lot of The Kooks, Dave Matthews, and Amanda Palmer. I don't create playlists for characters. For me, I use music as a way to block out the world so I can hear the voices of my characters. Sometimes that means listening to the same dozen songs three hours a day for six or eight weeks. But I will be creating a Deathday playlist in the next few weeks...music that I think would go really well with each chapter.
Sarah: What do you hope your readers will get out of reading THE DEATHDAY LETTER?
Shaun: Honestly, I hope they'll laugh. I didn't set out to write a funny book, I set out to write a book I wanted to read. But I also hope that people will learn to cherish their lives and the lives of those they love. Carpe Mortediem--seize the deathday--as Ollie says.
Sarah: Anything else you want to tell us about THE DEATHDAY LETTER or the writing process going from idea to publication?
Shaun: You know, this has just been such an odd process, but one that I've had so much fun doing. I was naive when I wrote the book and began sending it out. Truthfully I was lucky to find an agent and an editor who believed in me and my book. But the best part of this process is all the amazing people--authors and bloggers and random people. I don't know how writers did this before the internet.
Pick one:
Lady Gaga or vintage Madonna?
Shaun: I will admit that I've never heard a single Lady Gaga song. She just hasn't shown up on my radar. But even if I had, I'd still probably have to go with Madonna, who I think has been replaced with a robot. She's got better guns than me. And she's like ninety or something.
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Shaun: Definitely chocolate. Only not right now because I'm on a diet. Man, I could eat my weight in Cadbury cream eggs.
Vampire Diaries or Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Shaun: I thought I'd hate Vampire Diaries but it's grown on me. That said, no one can beat the Slayer.
iPod or MP3?
Shaun: I love my iPods. I have this teeny one for when I run. It's insane.
Vampire or Werewolf?
Shaun: Werewolf. There's just something so tragic about someone with a monster inside them that they absolutely have to let out when the full moon rises. Vampires, on the other hand, are kind of OCD bloodaholics.
Potato Chips or Popcorn?
Shaun: Definitely Cheetohs!
Dawn of the Dead or Shaun of the Dead?
Shaun: Tough one. Both were spectacular but I think for zombie movies, the B&W Night of the Living Dead trumps Dawn of the Dead hands down. So the winner here is Shaun of the Dead.
Since you’re a Floridian, Disney World or Sea World?
Shaun: Disney. Although, I'm pretty psyched for the Harry Potter world to open up at Universal Studios.
Thanks, Shaun for a great interview! To learn more about Shaun David Hutchinson and THE DEATHDAY LETTER or preorder your own copy of THE DEATHDAY LETTER, follow these links:
THE DEATHDAY LETTER website
Shaun David Hutchinson's blog
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Borders
Great interview! I can't wait to buy Shaun's book! ;) Thanks Sarah for giving us a sneak peek!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. I swear those of us on the blogchain HAVE to be at the head of the line for buying his book. I hope everyone else who reads that first chapter feels the same impatient thrill I have for the book. My son threatened me with violence if I didn't take him to get a copy. Nice job, Sarah. And thanks Shaun for taking the time.
ReplyDeleteFun interview, Sarah and Shaun. I agree that writing must have been much more solitary before the internet. Or writers were limited to their local writing community, at least.
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