I randomly met Goldy Moldavsky at last year’s BEA, in an autograph line for Libba Bray. The more she described KILL THE BOY BAND, the more I couldn’t wait to read it, and when I saw an ARC at a Scholastic booth at a conference the following year, I grabbed it immediately. It debuted last week, and already has holds at the Sacramento Public Library.
Okay, so just know from the start that it wasn’t supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near The Ruperts, our favorite boy band.
We didn’t mean to kidnap one of the guys. It kind of, sort of happened that way. But now he’s tied up in our hotel room. And the worst part of all, it’s Rupert P. All four members of The Ruperts might have the same first name, but they couldn’t be more different. And Rupert P. is the biggest flop out of the whole group.
We didn’t mean to hold hostage a member of The Ruperts, I swear. At least, I didn’t. We are fans. Okay, superfans who spend all of our free time tweeting about the boys and updating our fan tumblrs. But so what, that’s what you do when you love a group so much it hurts.
How did it get this far? Who knows. I mean midterms are coming up. I really do not have time to go to hell.
Goldy also answered some interview questions:
Who are your top five favorite authors and in what ways do they ignite your creativity?
This is a tough question– there are so many authors that I love. In the YA world I will read anything by Jandy Nelson and Gayle Forman. Nelson writes contemporary but her work still feels like there’s an element of magic to it. When I read her I really feel like the story she’s telling is one that I have never heard before. And I just love what Forman does with the relationships in her novels. I get so attached to her characters. And Libba Bray. I love that she can genre-hop and that her stories always have humor to them. Outside the YA world, I love Junot Diaz and Chuck Palahniuk. I find myself coming back to Palahniuk a lot when I’m trying to think of a new idea. My own work is nothing like his but I love how you can be influenced by someone and still end up doing something totally different. I love how shocking he is and how creative his descriptions are. I can taste his books. But my all-time favorite author is John Irving. Irving made me love books. (That’s six authors for the price of five!)
There’s definitely an element of magic of Nelson’s fiction–I also heard she wrote I’ll Give You the Sun with the curtains drawn. And speaking of great voices, I really admired yours in KILL THE BOY BAND. Did the characters come to you immediately, or did they form while you wrote them?
Thanks! Characters usually come alive for me as I write. A lot of times the plot informs what the characters will be like, or which characters I’ll need. There were a couple of characters in KTBB that didn’t show up in the novel until a few drafts in just because I thought the book could use a bit more “noise,” and they turned out to be crucial. But I knew from the beginning that I wanted four girls at the center so I started the novel with four girls even though I wasn’t sure what their personalities were at first. They took shape with every new draft.
I love when characters reveal unexpected layers, and yours were so unique I couldn’t put them down! Last month, there was a Goodreads giveaway for KILL THE BOY BAND. What other promotional methods have you used, and what have you learned so far from the lead-up toward your book’s debut?
I am SO SO fortunate to be with Scholastic, who have been taking such good care of me and KTBB. As a debut author who really doesn’t know what she’s doing at all they’ve really taken me under their wing. We’ve been giving out ARCs and bookplates and I’ve been fortunate enough to end up on some pretty incredible lists with incredible authors. As for what I’ve learned, I guess it’s that it passes really quickly so soak it up, enjoy it, and be open to everything.
Sounds like a plan! What are some of your current projects?
My next book is a comedy but much lighter in tone than KTBB even though it exists in the same universe. It takes place at a summer camp . That’s all I can say!
I’m so glad you’re continuing the unique humor from KTBB! Thanks, Goldy, for such great answers!
To grab KILL THE BOY BAND for yourself, click the links below:
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