The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing in Parenting Discipline, have the cops come and arrest your kid. Who knew? I'm reading this to my two hellions today!

And now, nothing to do with parenting, discipline, or hellions. Today we're going to talk about authors with great titles. Today's guest is Johanna Edwards, author of The Next Big Thing, a book about a plus-size heroine becomes a reality TV show contestant and discovers she's already beautiful enough to be the next big thing.

Johanna (and yes, the 'h' is NOT silent), has a job that lets her talk books with authors. Another fab job. I asked Johanna about some of her experiences on the show, and here's what she wrote back:

Johanna: When I was in college I got invited to go out to Hollywood to attend movie press junkets. My first time out was for "Road Trip" and Dreamworks hosted a huge after party with the cast. I managed to cozy up to Seann William Scott (who is so gorgeous in person). We had beers together and even played pool for, like, five minutes. He was so flirty and sweet. I totally thought he was putting me on and being fake but the next day, when we had roundtable interviews over breakfast, he came up, gave me a hug, and said, "What's up! It's my friend Johanna from Memphis." That still stands out as one of my favorite moments.

Kathleen: Another thing I've noticed since trying to be more faithful on the blogging trail is that it's difficult for me to switch between blog-person and author-person, and I asked her if she has some of the same problems.

Johanna: I've found it to be really easy to switch back and forth. When I was a journalist I always started out by transcribing my interviews. Then I would build my stories around the most interesting quotes. I write fiction the same way. I focus mainly on writing the dialogue and then I go back and "fill in" the description and action scenes between the characters' speeches. As far as rituals, I MUST listen to music while I write. Usually U2, No Doubt, Tori Amos, Moby, Green Day, and so on.

Kathleen: And for those of you who don't know, Johanna is from Memphis and I was curious if she had a cool, Tennessee accent. Here's the answer:

Johanna:I think I have a strange accent. I have a light southern accent mixed with a few British sayings here and there (a holdover from my time in England). My voice is sort of deep for a girl. People used to always tease me and say I sounded like a phone sex operator. Oh, dear. That's certainly never been my goal. You can actually hear me speak on the "Book Talk" website. That's my voice on the "open" and "close" of the show.

Kathleen: Last thing, I'll be speaking at the RWA New York City chapter tomorrow on creating characters. If you haven't to be in the neighborhood, please feel free to stop by. I'll be the one who sounds like a frog.