On Tour with Sugar Lump by Megan Gaudino

How not to love small towns secrets? I have them here, in Sugar Lump by Megan Gaudino, a Contemporary, Young Adult Novel. And the cover simply amazing! Also, I have the pleasure chit chat with Megan, and she’s amazing. Look by yourself.

Hi Megan, and thank you for being with us today. So, how did you come up with the idea for your book?

It came from my love of The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. Sugar Lump is a town much like Stepford, where everything is seemingly perfect. But, of course it isn’t really. I wanted to explore what a YA version of the story would look like, and Sugar Lump is that story.

If your story had a soundtrack, which song would it be?

In Sugar Lump, the main character, CC, is 90s obsessed. She mentions a couple different bands and songs in the story, all of which you should check out, but if I had to pick one song that defines this book, I’d go with The Sign by Ace of Base. It’s a 90s song and I think it really captures the vibe of the story.

A fun fact about writing your book.

Sugar Lump, the town, is loosely based on my favorite place to road trip to, Sugarcreek, Ohio. Both towns are absolutely lovely, but Sugarcreek isn’t harboring any major secrets. That I know of…

What are you working on now?

I’m currently writing my 10^th book and it is the book I’ve always wanted to write. It’s a loose, modern, YA retelling of my favorite story of all time, The Little Mermaid. It’s still in the early stages but I have most of the plotting worked out and I started a draft. I’m so in love!

Do you have a day job?

I do have a day job. I work in a library and it’s absolutely perfect for me. I get to be constantly surrounded by books.

What started you on the path to writing?

I think like most writers it was my love of reading. I just fall in love every time I read a good book and I really wanted to take a shot at writing my own. I always had all these ideas and plot point running through my mind and then I finally decided to sit down and do it one day. And here we are, almost 10 novels later.

What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?

I think they think it’s pretty cool. I put a lot of elements from my life in my writing, people and places, so I think it’s fun for them to see it in a published book. Plus, they usually ask me to sign their copies which is always funny. I try to think of funny notes to write to them.

A hidden or uncommon talent that helps or makes it harder to write the story?

I don’t know how uncommon it is, but I swear I have the best memory. I can recall, word for word, a conversation I had with someone weeks ago. Being able to remember stuff like that helps me when I’m writing because I don’t have to constantly go back and check my notes.

The biggest surprise you had after becoming a writer.

The first question I’m asked is, “So, how much do you make?” I totally appreciate anyone being interested in my writing or my books at all, but that’s one question I’d rather not answer.

What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?

A high school student in California did a report on my book and asked if she could interview me for the paper. I was blown away by that and thought it was the coolest thing.

Is there anything about the writing life that you think is misunderstood by the public?

Maybe how hard it is? Almost everyone who finds out I’m a writer (after they ask how much money I make, of course!) says something like they’d like to be a writer too, or they have this great idea for a book, but they never actually write. I know I’m guilty of it too. My first book was my baby. I loved it. I worked on it constantly. It was still trash.

In my mind it was so detailed and well thought out. In reality it was vague, corny, and nonsensical. It’s really hard to get all those awesome ideas into someone else’s brain.

The toughest critic that’s ever been given to you as an author?

Someone once told me my dialog was unbelievable for teenagers. Now, you can never make everyone happy, and even amazing, amazing books have people out there who don’t like them, but this feedback really got to me. First of all, I work in a high school and since I write YA I’ve made it a habit to pay attention to speech patterns. Second, not everyone speaks exactly the same. The character I was being called out for wasn’t a “typical” teenager in any sense of the word, so it made me feel like the reader didn’t pay attention at all. Ugh. Okay, rant over.

Rant on, I’d never stop a good one! What are your top three favorite books of all time?

This is so hard because there are so many I love but, Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, and The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I do a lot of reading but I’m also Instagram-obsessed. I spend a lot of time taking pictures of books and going places with books to get good pictures. If you’d like to see my efforts you can find me @mkgaud!

Thank you so much for coming by!

As always, you can follow the whole tour to read more interviews, fact about the sotry and so on. You can find the schedule here http://xpressobooktours.com/2017/11/28/tour-sign-up-sugar-lump-by-megan-gaudino/

SugarLumpTourBanner Now let me tell you all the details about this story.

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old travel blogger CC is stuck on a never-ending road trip with her wanderlust-addicted father. When her dad lands the job of his dreams in Sugar Lump—wedding capital of the world—CC finally finds a place to call home. Complete with two quirky best friends and a quixotic guy to crush on, Sugar Lump is more shades of perfect than she can possibly count.

But when CC accidentally overhears the mayor complaining that she has to “take out” a rogue employee for not fulfilling the terms of his contract, the idyllic town’s facade crumbles. Devastated by the possibility of having to move yet again, CC discovers everyone has been keeping a massive secret from her—including her own father.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36679262-sugar-lump

Purchase:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Lump-Megan-Gaudino/dp/1773395459/

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sugar-lump-megan-gaudino/1127705015?ean=9781773395456

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/sugar-lump

Megan-1 AUTHOR BIO:

Megan Gaudino works in a high school library by day and on her own books by night. She’s made up of a mixture of black clothing, iced coffee, and a desire to go adventuring. Those things sort of come together naturally to form a writer. She lives in Pittsburgh where you can find her reading, writing, and Instagraming.

Author links:

https://twitter.com/mkgaud

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14238281.Megan_Gaudino

Giveaway:

Tour-wide giveaway (INTL)