2016 Debut Author Bash - Interview: Jenny Manzer (Save Me, Kurt Cobain) + Giveaway

Sonntag, 5. Juni 2016


   Welcome!
   I am incredibly excited to be part of this years Debut Author Bash hosted by YA Reads. Today I am bringing you the second of my four posts promoting amazing debut authors and their incredible books, along with giveaways giving you the chance to win them!
   For todays post I had the chance to ask by Jenny Manzer, the author of Save Me, Kurt Cobain, a couple of Qs- Check out her amazing As, along with her book and the giveaway below!

Save Me Kurt Cobain by Jenny Manzer
Published: March 8th 2016 by Delacorte Press
Number of Pages: 272 Pages (Hardcover)
Series: No

   What if you discovered that Kurt Cobain is not only alive, but might be your real father?
   Nicola Cavan has been an outsider since age four when her mother vanished from their home in Victoria, British Columbia. Now 15, Nico is determined to find her beautiful, music-obsessed mother. After glimpsing “Cobain” on a ferry from Seattle, Nico follows the man with the blazing blue eyes to a remote Vancouver Island cabin—and her life will never be the same.
   “Save Me, Kurt Cobain is: Utterly gorgeous. Mesmerizing. Hypnotic. I was intoxicated by Nico's quest for her mother, father, and self, as well as by Jenny Manzer's magnetically lovely writing. I love this book.”
   –Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
   “Raw and authentic.” –Jennifer Mathieu, author of The Truth About Alice and Devoted
   This nuanced and bittersweet YA debut will keep you guessing until the end. (goodreads.com)

Interview with Jenny Manzer


   1 – Describe Save Me, Kurt Cobain with a haiku or a twitter pitch.
   A Haiku:
   Girl in woods wonders:
   Could Cobain be her father?
   Unsolved mystery.

   2 – What sparked the idea for this novel? Why Kurt Cobain?
   The idea came from a news article about a mysterious and sparsely attended Nirvana show in Victoria, British Columbia, on March 9, 1991—just months before the band went galactic with the album Nevermind. Cobain—well, he was so talented, and charismatic, and troubled—he is a compelling figure and always will be.

   3 – What do you like most and least about your protagonist Nico?
   Nico is smart, funny, independent and a survivor—but she ends up hurting her loved ones by making impulsive decisions in her search for answers.

   4 – What do you think makes Save Me, Kurt Cobain stand out?
   I think both the focus on music, and on the real life of Kurt Cobain. The book has a strong non-fiction thread, which is a little unusual. It’s a quirky book, for sure.

   5 – In retrospective, is there anything that you’d change about the story or are you happy with the way it turned out in the end?
   That’s hard to say. Some readers feel there is too much about Cobain and Nirvana. For other readers, this is what makes it a memorable story for them.

   6 - How long did it take you from first idea until publishing deal? Out of curiosity, how many queries did you have to send before you found ‘the one’?
   I started writing SAVE ME, KURT COBAIN in September of 2012, and my book deal was announced in May 2014. I have a wonderful agent now, but I did have to send out dozens of queries—and revise my manuscript once—before I made that breakthrough.

   7 - How did you feel when you first realized that this story you wrote would soon be read by hundreds of people and how do you feel now, a couple of weeks after the publication?
   Excited and nervous! Time was passing too quickly and too slowly as we approached launch date. I think these are the typical symptoms of DAS (Debut Author Syndrome).

   8 – What lead you to writing and wanting to be an author? Is it the way you imagined it would be?
   I am a journalist by training, so I write as part of my daily work, but I have always loved making up stories as well. The facts can only take you so far! I don’t think I had a clear picture of what being an author would involve—it can be so many things. One thing I’ve really enjoyed is connecting with other debut authors. As a Canadian on the west coast, it has been thrilling to share stories with authors from around North America—and to meet fabulous bloggers, too.

   9 – Seeing as you’re a YA author I’m sure you also read YA, so I wondered, what were the last three books you’ve read and what did you think of them?
   I recently read HOW IT ENDS by Catherine Lo, THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner, and FIRSTS by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn and they were all wonderful in very different ways.

   10 – What advice could you give aspiring authors?
   I’ll do another Haiku:
   Keep moving forward
   Write every day, with a goal
   Revise, read, and learn.

   11 – If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
   I would like to shoot lasers from my eyes—that would be an awesome addition to my parenting toolbox. However, I will say: time travel. The possibilities would be endless!

Giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway


About the Author


   Jenny Manzer is a writer in Victoria, British Columbia.
   She has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and an investigative journalist, and has loved writing stories ever since she was a little girl. Now that she has two children of her own, she does most of her writing (and listening to Nirvana) at night while they’re asleep.

6 Kommentare:

  1. Thanks so much for joining the 2016 Debut Authors Bash!

    -N

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  2. I want to win this book to read and share with my niece.
    I love to encourage her to keep reading, she is "music obcessed" and I am a sucker for a good myetsry.

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  3. This interview has really sparked some curiosity in this book! I'm definitely interested in reading this!

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  4. I'm curious to find out what happens.

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