Interview with Flynn Meaney

The population of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, is shrinking as families move to cities and towns with greener pastures, and the local high school is hurting: nearly all of the area's most eligible guys have moved or transferred schools.

With little competition, the remaining boys find their stocks on the rise, and even the most unlikely candidates have a good chance at making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming slacker HUNTER FAHRENBACH has made an art of blending into the background, but now desperate coaches are recruiting him and popular girls are noticing his scruffy good looks. With a little help, Hunter might even by boyfriend material...

Down-to-earth KELLY ROBBINS has a simple wish for her junior year: "one normal, nice boy to crush on." Kelly and Hunter have always been friends, but is there something more to their platonic relationship? And can Kelly overcome the odds? After all, dating is hard enough without a four-to-one ratio.

.......................................................................................................................................

Thank you very much Ms. Meaney, for the opportunity of having you on our blog today!

1.How and why have you started to write? Were there something or someone that gave you an impulse?

My parents both studied literature at college and my dad is a journalist, so writing is definitely in my genes. I was always writing stories for fun when I was younger, and when I was seven I wrote a funny little book called The Crazy Class for a school assignment; my classmates loved it because I put them all in the book as characters. That was my first work of comic fiction!

2.Tell me something about your book The Boy Recession.

The Boy Recession is a romantic comedy told by two different narrators. Hunter is a relaxed, low-key boy who becomes popular after the popular boys transfer out of his high school. Kelly, Hunter’s friend, starts to realize she likes him—but unfortunately she doesn’t realize she likes Hunter until he becomes popular, and then she has to compete with another girl to win his heart. The action really heats up as the school prom approaches—so you’ll have to read it to find out what happens!

3.While youre writing, have you discovered a character that you where developing feelings of love for? And was there a character that gave you headaches?

One of the minor characters I ended up liking was Hunter’s friend Derek. I just kept thinking of funny things for him to say, and he ended up being the character I would most like to hang out with in real life.

There wasn’t really a character that gave me headaches, but at first I had trouble finding Kelly’s voice because I had never written a female character before. It’s so funny because I’m a woman myself, but my first book was told from a boy’s point of view so I had never actually written a novel as a girl, and I had trouble distinguishing Kelly’s voice from my own voice.

4.How have you done your research for this novel?

The only research I had to do was learning more about the real town in Wisconsin where I chose to set the book. I had never been to the town of Whitefish Bay, so I searched the town on Facebook and got in touch with a great girl named Rachel Markwiese who told me all about the town. I asked her things like what was popular at her high school, where teenagers hung out on weekends, and where high schoolers would go on a date.

I’m happy that I’m doing this interview, because now if I set a book in Romania, I already have someone I can ask for information about it!

5.Is there a book that inspired your writings?

When I was much younger, I read a lot of Maud Hart Lovelace and Beverly Cleary, and those two authors taught me so much about writing realistic fiction with relatable characters. Then as a teenager, I loved Louise Rennison’s books, which are absolutely hysterical. My friends and I would get in trouble for reading her books in class instead of paying attention to the lesson!

6. In the end, would you like say some words to your fans from Romania?

First of all, I’d like to say that I’m SO impressed by the community of book bloggers in Romania! Several Romanian readers and bloggers have connected with me on GoodReads and through mail, and I’m amazed by their very professional blogs and their passion for reading.

Next, I’d like to let readers know that I’m working on a campaign to get The Boy Recession published in Romania. If you would like to take part, please send an email to Epica Publishers office@edituraepica.ro telling them you’d like them to publish The Boy Recession. If you email them before May 1st, forward me the email you sent (flynnmeaney@gmail.com) and I will send you a signed copy of my book as a thank-you!