Blog Tour: Interview (+ Giveaway) with Erica Lorraine Scheidt, Author of Uses for Boys

1. Tell us 5 interesting facts about you?  

1. I only discovered poetry after falling in love.  
2. I moved to New Orleans to become a Great American Writer. It didn’t work. Later I tried to moved to Borneo to become a Great American Writer. That also didn’t work. 
3. I own about 17 millions pairs of blue jeans. 
4. I grin. A lot. I have a smile bigger than a house. I try really hard to look serious, but I just don't have it in me. 
5. I have a hound dog puppy. I love my hound dog puppy. My hound dog puppy might be the death of me. 

2. Describe your book in one sentence?

Uses for Boys is the story of a sixteen year old girl looking for a place to belong and using sex as a way to get there. 

3. Which animals do you think best represent your characters?

Hmmm, tough question. I'm not sure.   

4. What was the hardest part about writing Uses for Boys?

I didn't give Anna something outside herself to work towards, like most of us had art or athletics or music or school, and without that, it was hard for her to find her place in the world.  

5. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in Uses for Boys?

No, not necessarily, but when I was done I was eager to start a novel about a character who wasn’t lonely. 

6. What do you believe is the most important element in a book?

The first sentence. 

7. Why YA?

Because I believe in kids. I find teenagers surprising and honest and earnest and filled with urgency and bravado and uncertainty.

8. What are you currently reading and what are you reading next? 

I’m reading an amazing graphic novel, Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki and after that I’m starting a new manuscript by Elana K. Arnold, the author of Sacred and Burning. She’s wonderful.

9. Any advice for aspiring writers? 

Be patient. Keep writing. It takes so much longer than you expect.  

10. Random Question: Who is your favourite superhero and why? 

I was always a big fan of the Wonder Twins. But the whole setup is wierd. One takes the form of an animal, I get that. But the other? The other one has to take the form of water, you know? Like ice or rain or a waterfall. What’s that about?

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Uses for Boys

by Erica Lorraine Scheidt
January 15, 2013

St Martin’s Press

Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna's new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can't know.

Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer. Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical,  Uses for Boys  is a story of breaking down and growing up. 

Check out the rest of the blog tour here!