’89 Walls

One of the great things about being an author today is meeting a whole world of other authors via email and Facebook.  Katie Pierson is one of them.  Her debut novel ’89 WALLS just came out and I’m looking forward to reading it (I’m admittedly behind on my reading but summer is for catching up, right?).  Katie is a published freelance writer and here’s a blurb about her book for age 15 and up, and a review from an educator:

Blue-collar Seth can’t escape his small Nebraska town. Wealthy Quinn has no choice but to leave. They keep their unlikely new romance a secret: it’s too early to make plans, too late not to care. But it’s 1989. As politics suddenly get personal, Seth and Quinn find themselves fighting bare-fisted for their beliefs—and each other—in the clear light of day.

“Katie Pierson opens a time capsule from the 1980’s for her readers that is filled with all things adolescent: independence, angst, personal identity, death, love and sexuality. Quinn, a driven, popular and successful student finds her world turned upside down when she receives a note from and awkward, brooding, whip smart classmate, Seth. Added to the mix are socio-economic and world issues of the Eighties, making for a thought-provoking, steamy novel that you can’t put down until you read the last page.” –Nissa, educator

And now for some fun Q&A!

Tea or coffee? Flavor? Milk or sugar?

Coffee! With almond milk. I’ve weaned myself down to half-caff. I’m trying to decide if switching totally to decaf will help me live longer or if it will just feel that way.

Favorite season?

Spring. I love the flowers.

Can you deal better with wind or rain?

Rain. I just took a walk in it.

Deciduous or evergreen?

Evergreen. We have eight maple trees in our yard. They are the litterbugs of the tree world.

What’s always in your fridge?

Hard-boiled eggs. They’re cheap, easy, and good for you, and my daughters will eat them.

Favorite comfort food?

Lay’s potato chips.

Chocolate or some lesser nectar of the gods?

Chocolate, obviously.

Food you’d rather starve than eat.

Water chestnuts are the texture equivalent to me of fingernails on a blackboard.

Cat or dog?

Cat but the rest of my family is allergic. We have a Schnoodle named Maisy who—I admit—has worn me down. I’m crazy about her.

Flats or heels?

Flats. I won’t wear anything that itches, pinches or hurts.

Natural fibers or synthetics?

Natural.

Jeans or fancier?

Jeans or yoga pants.

Short hair or long?

Short. It takes me three minutes.

Ideal evening.

Dinner at a quiet restaurant with witty, smart, interesting friends followed by reading in bed.

Ideal vacation.

My family has a cabin on a lake in northern Minnesota. The average day involves sleeping in, taking a walk, eating watermelon, taking a nap, cocktails, dinner and bed.

Favorite board, card, or computer game?

Cribbage.

Favorite sport or form of exercise?

I take a hip-hop class at the YMCA. After ten years I’m still terrible but it’s the fastest hour I spend all week.

Language in which you’d most like to be fluent.

Spanish.

Country you’d most like to visit.

Costa Rica.

Skill you’d most like to acquire.

I’d like to be able to knit something besides a scarf.

Favorite musical instrument.

Violin.

You’re going on a book tour: Plane, train or automobile?

My motion sickness issues are profound: I’d rather set my hair on fire than get on a plane. Car, please (with me driving).

Topic you’d most like to write about.

American racism.

Topic you think most needs writing about.

American racism.

Author you’d like to meet.

Jane Austen

Question you’d ask that author.

“Were your personal sacrifices for the sake of your art worth it?”

What / who gives you spiritual guidance and inspiration?

Nature.

What most surprises you about our current culture?

That we continue to tolerate the behavior of Wall Street robber barons and wonder why regular people are losing ground.

Some favorite books?

Gwendolyn Brooks, Sarah Waters, M.T. Anderson, Laurie Halse Anderson, Elizabeth Wein, and Selden Edwards are my favorite authors of historical fiction. I love Alice Munro’s short stories. Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety is like comfort food. Persuasion by Jane Austen is my favorite book of all time. Cheryl Mendelson is as close as it comes to a modern-day Jane Austen. My favorite YA authors are Chris Crutcher, John Green, Kathryn Erskine, E. Lockhart, Norma Klein and Paula Danziger. John Green is also my famous author boyfriend although he is not aware of this having never met me.

Some favorite movies?

A Room with a View, Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, Band of Brothers, and Juno.

Thank you, Katie!  You made me laugh — and think.  Here’s Katie’s contact info … enjoy!

Website: www.katiepierson.net

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/89Walls

Twitter: @katiedoodles58