Blog Tour: The Detour by S.A. Bodeen (Interview)

Hey everyone! I’m really excited to be on the blog tour for The Detour by S.A. Bodeen (October 6th 2015, Feiwel & Friends) and to have Stephanie here for an interview! First, here’s more about the book:

Detour
On her way to a writer’s conference, a bestselling teenage author takes a detour that has been deliberately set up by her biggest fans—a mother and daughter who kidnap her.

Livvy Flynn is a big deal—she’s a New York Times-bestselling author whose YA fiction has sold all over the world. She’s rich, she’s famous, she’s gorgeous, and she’s full of herself.

When she’s invited to an A-list writer’s conference, she decides to accept so she can have some time to herself. She’s on a tight deadline for her next book, and she has no intention of socializing with the other industry people at the conference.

And then she hits the detour. Before she knows it, her brand new car is wrecked, she’s hurt, and she’s tied to a bed in a nondescript shack in the middle of nowhere. A woman and her apparently manic daughter have kidnapped her. And they have no intention of letting her go.

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And now for the interview! Enjoy!

Question: Congratulations! The Detour will be out in the world soon! How does it feel?
Answer: Thank you! Like with every book, it feels a little surreal. And terrifying. But mostly, I’m just happy because it means the book is done and I don’t have to work on it any more.

Question: The Detour sounds creeptastic! Where did the idea for the story come from?
Answer: The initial inspiration struck when we dropped my youngest off at college in Eugene and were driving home on a two-lane highway lined by trees and houses. We passed a girl, standing on a log, playing a flute. For several months, I walked around with that image in my mind before I figured out how to use that in a story…

Question: Your main character is a bestselling teenage author. As an author yourself, did you find it easier or harder to create this character and this world?
Answer: Livvy had a much easier road, publishing-wise, than I did. It was a bit of a fantasy for me to write that part of it, how she got the huge deal and tour, etc. She experienced some things as an author that I still only dream about, so that part was fun to imagine.

Question: Can you discuss the similarities and differences from this book to your others?
Answer: Like so many of my others, this one has a twist or two, which I won’t reveal here. And this one definitely has some unhinged characters, like some of my others. Differences? This one is much more contemporary, in terms of dealing with social networking and the dangers there. My other books were a bit more isolated, and didn’t deal with modern realities so much.

Question: In The Detour, Livvy is dealing with a manic mother and daughter. Have you ever had any crazy reader experiences?
Answer: I was in a town, doing a keynote event at a young reader festival. A retired professor on the committee was tasked with driving me to the after party and took a very circuitous route, shall we say. We ended up back at his house, where his wife was fairly surprised to have an unannounced guest, and it was quite awkward. I was very glad when we finally arrived at the party.

Question: If you were placed in Livvy’s position, what would you do? How would you escape?
Answer: I don’t even like to think about it. Let’s just say that I try not to take road trips on my own.

Question: Craziest thing you’ve had to Google for a WIP?
Answer: It’s in a future book, so I don’t want to say :)

Question: Are you working on anything new?
Answer: Yes, another YA thriller, more middle grade adventures, and even a YA contemporary or two…

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BodeenAbout the Author:
 
S.A. Bodeen grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. She graduated from UW-River Falls with a degree in Secondary Ed., then joined the Peace Corps with her husband and went to Tanzania, East Africa. Her first picture book, Elizabeti’s Doll (written as Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen) was published in 1998, followed by six other picture books.Her first YA novel written as S.A. Bodeen, the award-winning The Compound, came out from Feiwel and Friends in 2008. The novel count is up to five, with two more releasing in 2015. She has lived in eight states, two African countries, and an insular possession. Currently, she lives in the Midwest with her husband and two daughters.

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