ABOUT JUSTINA Is it true you're on YouTube? Unbelievably, yes. I have two channels: one for the North of Beautiful Find Beauty Challenge at http://youtube.com/northofbeautiful where I'm challenging people to load their 90-second video describing what's truly beautiful to them. And then I created a channel with Burton Snowboards for my novel, Girl Overboard. You can listen Olympic Gold Medalist Hannah Teter read a chapter of my book here or click on http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlOverBoardBook
What inspired you to become a writer?
Ever since second grade, I’ve wanted to be a writer. In fact, I wrote my first 50-page novel about two teenager when I was eight. It's either frightening or foreshadowing that I was writing Young Adult books even before I could ride a bike.
What are your favorite recent reads?
I love all the books featured on my online book community, readergirlz, which I manage with my fantabulous YA author-buddies: Dia Calhoun (Avielle), Holly Cupala (A Light that Never Goes Out), Lorie Ann Grover (On Pointe), and Melissa Walker (Violet series). Check it out for the best young adult novels and for the opportunity to chat live online with incredible authors.
Are you working on a new book?
I took a little break after NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL since I published 4 books in 3 years. For the last couple of months, I've been working on my first YA fantasy series. I literally have a dozen concepts that I'm developing.
How do I get in touch with you? The best way is through my email at justina [at] justinachenheadley [dot] com. Better yet, find me on Facebook or MySpace.
Do you accept speaking engagements? You bet! I love speaking at schools, colleges, libraries, and conferences. To check my schedule or learn about my speaking fees, just give me a shout at justina [at} justinachenheadley [dot] com.
What is your favorite quote?
The quote that keeps me most motivated to take a risk is one by Jack Kerouac: “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…” I love this quote so much that one of my characters uses it in GIRL OVERBOARD.
What are your favorite websites and blogs?
Clearly, my favorite website is readergirlz: www.readergirlz.com. Anyone who loves YA literature and wants to reflect more deeply on books and have fun chatting about them at the same time should check it out.
What are your favorite non-profit organizations?
My all-time favorite right now is Youth Venture. The group inspires and invests in teams of young people to create and launch their own sustainable, community-benefiting Ventures. Along with Burton Snowboards, Youth Venture co-sponsored the Go Overboard Challenge Grant with me to fund the best youth-led ideas to change the world.
ABOUT JUSTINA'S BOOKS Why did you write North of Beautiful? To tell you the truth, I was sick of our society glamorizing a really narrow definition of beauty: blonde, size 00. You know. A chance comment from an acquaintance whose son has a port wine stain completely inspired the book. When I was lauding her parenting because he's such a confident, cool kid, she stopped me and said, "That's because he's a boy..." There it was, my next novel. What if a girl had a birthmark on her face? Could I tackle the notion of real beauty--true glorious beauty--with this character?
Why did you write Girl Overboard? Frankly, I was concerned about the glamorization of uber-wealth, and thought it would be interesting to write the dark side of the rags-to-richest story. I wanted to show that life isn't necessarily better just because your back account is filled with a lot of zeros to the left of the decimal point.
Why did you write Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies)?
A couple of years ago, I took my kids to the Children’s Museum. A group of few teens hung-twung-wung’ed us (you know, mocked us with pseudo-Chinese). That night, my character, Patty Ho, started giving a soliloquy about what it feels like not to fit in either at home with her ultra-strict Taiwanese mom or at her high school. Her observations were so wry, I started to laugh, which probably accounts for why the other runners on my path veered out of my way (or not).
Are the locations in your books real places?
Mostly I situate my stories in real places. For instance, North of Beautiful is based on one of my favorite locales on earth: the Methow Valley in Central Washington. Girl Overboard is set in Seattle. And Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) starts out in a suburb of Seattle and moves to Stanford.
Did the things that happened in the book happen to you?
Well...a trip with my mom and mother-in-law provided me with the research for Terra's journey in North of Beautiful. And my own accident on a mountain inspired Girl Overboard. That said, I don't snowboard well (obviously) nor do I have a limitless bank account like Syrah in Girl Overboard. I have never been buildering (climbing buildings) the way Patty does in Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies)...although I've been bouldering. What I do is draw on my feelings from being a teen. It's not too hard to remember what adolescence was like, acne, hormones and all. And it’s a relief to remember that I survived junior high and high school.
Why did you write THE PATCH?
I wrote that picture book because my daughter had amblyopia, which means that one of her eyes was significantly weaker than the other. Wearing an eye patch didn’t bother her at first…until strangers asked pointblank: what’s wrong with you? So I wrote a story about a little girl who turns her sight “disability” into an ability to see fun in everything. And that’s a healthy attitude for anyone who feels different.
ABOUT THE NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE Why are you tying something philanthropic to each of your books?
I believe in giving back to the community. So with each book that I publish, I celebrate with philanthropy that gets teens to use their words and make a difference--such as the Go Overboard Challenge Grant I created with Burton Snowboards and YouthVenture where we gave away $12,000 to fund the best youth-led ideas to change the world. In 2006, I sponsored the Nothing but the Truth Essay Contest for a $5,000 college scholarship. And now, I'm thrilled to sponsor the FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE.
What is the FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE?
It's my way of getting YOU to redefine beauty. Here's how it works:
1. Create a 90-second video essay, telling the world what True Beauty means to you!
The Grand Prize winner will be awarded an iTouch. AND I'll donate $10 for every video loaded (up to $1000) to fund surgeries in the third world to help children with cleft lips and cleft palates...just like Jacob had in my novel.
What are the rules for the NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE? 1) The Top 5 videos will be chosen by YOU based on the most views and highest ratings. So be sure to tell all your friends to vote for you! Any ties will be broken by the North of Beautiful team.
2) The North of Beautiful team will score the five finalists on A) 40 percent emotional appeal (humor, pull-on-the-heartstrings, incites activism, etc.); B) 40 percent content (clean, widespread appeal across audiences, plot – if applicable, scriptwriting – if applicable); and C) 20 percent professionalism (smooth transitions, stable video, non-jarring editing cuts, constant audio levels).
3) All videos must contain original content. Your entry indicates you understand this and have the legal rights to distribute your video.
4) Any videos deemed inappropriate by the North of Beautiful team will be removed. Please don't upload anything that wouldn't, say, be shown on television during prime-time hours, or anything you wouldn't want to watch with your first-grade teacher. So no nudity, profanity, or racial slurs.
5) The contest will run from 12:01 a.m. Feb. 1, 2009 until 11:59 p.m. Mar. 30, 2009. Anything submitted before or after the deadline can't be considered.
6) Justina will donate $10 for every uploaded video (for a maximum of $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach to help fund facial surgeries for kids in the third world.
7) The Find Beauty Challenge is open to people over 14.
8) The Grand Prize winner will receive one iPod Touch. 3 runners up will receive fabulous gifts, such as an autographed collection of Justina's novels, other free books, etc.
ABOUT JUSTINA'S PHILANTHROPY Why give back?
Why not? In an era of economic downturn and where the world is messed up, I don't think words are enough. Why not tie community service to my work? Every little bit helps.
What's readergirlz?
Only the coolest online book community going on for teen girls today! In all seriousness, readergirlz is all about getting teens to read, reflect, and reach out. We bring the best authors online to chat directly with teens around the world.
ABOUT WRITING What is your favorite part of writing?
I love almost all parts of writing--from the ideation stage to writing. I even like rewriting and copy editing. But I especially love to interview people and learn about things I’ve never thought about. Once, I interviewed Robert Parker, Junior who is a wine guru with an amazingly developed nose and palate. He tastes 10,000 wines a year and remembers them all. I thought that was so fascinating, and trust me, somehow I will work that knowledge into a novel.
What is the worst part of writing?
While I usually think of a blank page as a portal into a different world, sometimes my brain is stuck in inertia and it’s tough to muster the energy to write that new world into reality.
BECOMING A WRITER Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
You bet I do! I’ve been writing on and off for about eight years, and I’ve learned a lot the hard way. So learn from my “mistakes” and do the following to short cut your road to publishing your work!
Read, read, read! Do more than simply read all the award-winners. Study them and play the editor: figure out what worked, why it won accolades, what made it “sparkle.”
Write, write, write. There’s a great quote among writers: “Researching is not writing, outlining is not writing. Writing is writing.” So write across subgenres because you’ll never know what your voice is best suited for until you try it all. Anyway, it’s fun to write different things because you’re always learning something.
Take classes! Find out who the best teachers are and make room in your schedule for the class. Then be humble; do every writing exercise. Ask questions. Learn as much as you can from the teachers and to get as much feedback as you can about your own writing.
Get inspired! Read blogs like Cynthia Leitich Smith’s and Little Willow's and Jen Robinson's.
Join SCBWI at www.scbwi.org! This organization proves that professional can equal warm—and will hone your writing and business skills!
Keep the faith and keep working. Ask yourself the tough questions. Is there a different entry point to your story? Is it time to try a new point of view? Have you really thought about the HEART of your story—what it is you’re trying to say? Why you’re drawn to telling this story? Look at your characters. Have faith in your story and your storytelling, and keep perfecting your craft at the same time.
