Featured on Friday: Tina Ferraro

Tina Ferraro lives with her husband and children. She has published three books so far: Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, How to Hook a Hottie and The ABC’s of Kissing Boys.

1. Is there a specific time or place that you do your best writing in?
I love to write first thing in the morning at the computer in my family room.

2. Who were your favourite authors as a teenager? Are they different to your current favourites?
I read everything I could get my hands on as a teenager, so some of them were already "dated" when I picked them up. But favorites included the books by Beverly Cleary, Stephen King, and GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell--all of which I still love. My favorites have since expanded to include books by Jennifer Donnelly, John Green, Shannon Hale, Caroline B. Cooney--and my critique partner, Kelly Parra.

3. If you were only allowed to take three books to a desert island, what would they be?
Hmmm...how about GONE WITH THE WIND, AN IDIOT GIRL'S CHRISTMAS by Laurie Notaro (who is my favorite humorist) and probably a guide to survival on a desert island?

4. Are you sporty like Parker from The ABC's of Kissing Boys?
Not really. I was a competitive swimmer for 11 years, but what differentiated me from Parker was her drive to win. While losing races disappointed me, it rarely inspired me to work harder. (Unlike in my writing career, where deadlines, disappointments and dangling carrots definitely motivate me.)

5. Which of your characters are you most like?
Nicolette in TOP TEN USES FOR AN UNWORN PROM DRESS. But she's spunkier, said the things I would only have thought. I like to say she's the teen I would have been if I'd been on my A-Game!

6. Do you have a piece of clothing, or anything really, that you treasure as much as Nic does her prom dress?
Not really, and that's what made her love of her dress a stretch for me. But my friend, who is into fashion, and my editor, helped me make those things real.

7. You deal with issues such as, family break-ups and the resident mean girls. Do you feel that these are things are important to include when writing YA fiction?
They are for me. Most girls deal with issues at home and at school, although specifics and degrees of severity differ. And besides, my humor and insights are always strongest during some sort of adversity, when it's kind of a me- or us-against-the-world thing.

8. Are you working on anything at the moment? Can you tell us anything about it?
It's called WHEN BAD FLINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD GIRLS, and the tag I'm using is, "How far will a good girl go to save her family?" Look for it next year!

Thank you very much, Tina! You can visit Tina at her website here and read my reviews of her books here, here and here.

Sophie