I’m beyond excited to start the promotional tour of Fan Art by Sarah Tregay here in the Philippines organized by Pinoy Book Tours. I’ve read Sarah Tregay’s books before and I just love them. Love & Left Overs is one of the few novels that is written in verse that I actually enjoy reading. It is beautifully written story that deals with heavy themes but still a light & fun read. Her latest novel, Fan Art showcase again her artistic talent in writing, not only in verse but also in traditional story telling. Check my review here to know more about the book and my opinion about it.
Now, the interview! Sarah is so nice to answer few questions for me about Fan Art and her writing process. I hope you’ll enjoy the interview below as much I enjoy having Sarah here on the blog. And be sure to check the bottom of this post for the giveaway. Trust me you don’t want to miss the chance owning a signed copy of Fan Art.
Interview with Sarah Tregay
Q1. Can you tell us about the shorter version of Fan Art, “I Love You, Man”? Is the story comes first before Fan Art? If yes, what made you decide to expand the story? Can you tell us a little about your writing process with this one? Also, who decided to change the title and why?
Great questions Maricar! Thank you.
I wrote a short story in verse called “I Love You, Man” before I wrote FAN ART, the novel. Short stories are a great way to explore character, setting and plot twists. When I shared “I Love You, Man” with my agent, she shared it with my editor. It was my editor who encouraged me to expand the story into a novel. I changed the title to FAN ART shortly thereafter because it felt like a better fit for the story.
Q2. What inspired you to write a story with LGBT theme?
The seed of an idea that grew into FAN ART, sort fell into my lap. I was hanging out with a young friend of mine waiting for an activity at her high school to start, and she was telling me about her day. “You’d never guess what happened in government class,” she began, and then told me a story about students in her grade. It grabbed me by the heartstrings. I thought that if the characters were gay the idea would make a great scene in a story, so it made its way into FAN ART.
Q3. I love all the poems you included in Fan Art. I appreciate the fact that they are from different characters. How did you decide from who’s perspective to write or what poems to include in the story?
My first draft of FAN ART was written entirely in poems like LOVE AND LEFTOVERS, so the poetry between the prose chapters is a little carry over from that draft. I wanted the secondary characters to have a voice in the story so I wrote poems (and a graphic short story) when I felt that their voices added depth to the novel or fuel to the plot.
Q4. Do you think your degrees in graphic design helps/influence you in formatting your books? Have you considered making your own sketches for Fan Art?
My graphic design background comes into play when I write poetry and verse novels—so it was helpful for the poetry parts. However, illustrating comics is not my forte, so Melissa DeJesus did the illustrations in the book. Her illustrations are so much better than mine would ever be. So, no I haven’t done any of my own fan art for FAN ART.
Q5. Which is easier or more fun to write, your verse novel Love & Leftovers or Fan Art and why?
LOVE AND LEFTOVERS was more fun to write because of the verse. I enjoy writing little turns of phrase and using the space on the page to add meaning. Also, verse novels are a bit easier to edit. If you don’t like the plot, you can shuffle the order of the poems, or if you need to expand on a character or plot point, you can add another poem or two. The chapters in FAN ART were trickier to revise because they are more intertwined.
Q6. Are you working on any project right now? Will you be writing another novel in verse again like what you did with Love & Leftovers?
While I would love to have another verse novel out there for my readers, my imprint is moving away from them for the time being. I don’t know what my next published project will turn out to be, but I do have several very different things in the works.
Q7. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I would like to thank my readers for their enthusiasm and support. It was so nice of Jenevieve to reach out to me and connect FAN ART with Pinoy Book Tours. I am so happy she did!
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Thank you so much Sarah for stopping by today and for answering all my questions. I’m looking forward reading another book from you so I hope you’ll write more for us. Thanks again!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Raised without television, Sarah Tregay started writing her own middle grade novels after she had read all of the ones in the library. She later discovered YA books, but never did make it to the adult section. When she isn’t jotting down poems at stoplights, she can be found hanging out with her “little sister” from Big Brothers Big Sisters. Sarah lives in Eagle, Idaho with her husband, two Boston terriers, and an appaloosa named Mr. Pots.
Find Sarah
Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website
The Giveaway:
What’s up for Grabs?
* 1 Signed ARC of FAN ART by Sarah Tregay
* 2 Signed Bookmarks
The Rules:
- Check the rafflecopter for the deets
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