Blog Tour: Keris Stainton Q&A

Today I have the honour of hosting a stop on the Emma Hearts LA blog tour and I managed to drag Keris away from Twitter long enough to answer a few questions for me. 

1. Is there a specific time or place you do your best writing in?
I've learned recently that I work best out of the house away from distractions (Twitter, mainly). So I'm trying to do that more. Terrible cake temptations though. And I get a bit giddy from too much coffee.  


2. If you were only allowed to take three books to a desert island, what would they be? Why?
Gah. Imagine that. Um. The first would have to be Catherine Newman's Waiting for Birdy. I've re-read it three times I think anyway and it would be like having a friend there with me. I'd want to take all of the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin, but that's cheating, so I suppose I'd just have to take the first one. They're probably my favourite books of all time and the characters feel like family, so that would be comforting too. Third... I don't know. I keep thinking The Bible, because I've never read it (I'm not even slightly religious). It'd keep me going for a while, at least. 

3. Is there a novel you wish you’d written?
Oh blimey, there are loads. But years ago I wrote a note to myself about a girl being a fly on the wall (of what, I didn't say), but I never followed it up cos I couldn't think how to do it. And then E Lockhart wrote her brilliant book Fly on the Wall. I must admit I tutted when I saw it. (Sophie: I loved Fly on the Wall! Brilliant idea.) 

4. Would you prefer to live with Jessie in New York or Emma in LA?
Oh gosh. That's a hard one. I don't think I could choose. Six months with each would be perfect, don't you think?  

5. I loved the relationship between Emma and Bex. What made you decide to give them a friendship instead of the traditional sibling rivalry?
Thank you. It's funny, I've been thinking about this a lot since I first read your questions and I just don't think it ever occurred to me to have them not be friends. Maybe because I kind of did the sibling rivalry thing with Della Says: OMG!, I don't know. But right from starting writing Emma Hearts LA, Bex was slightly irritating (to Emma), but basically a sweetie. 

6. Of all the places in LA, what was it about Venice that made you set Emma Hearts LA there?
I read about the canals in a non-fiction book a while ago and assumed they must have been filled in or be dry or something, because otherwise I was sure I would have heard all about them. When I looked them up online, I couldn't believe how gorgeous they were and I knew I had to set a book there. And then Venice Beach itself is just fascinating - so exciting and eclectic. It would be an amazing place to be a teenager, I think. 

7. Are you working on anything at the moment? Can you tell me anything about it?
I'm working on two books, but I don't know if either of them will get picked up. One is Bex's book, so it would be a companion novel to Emma Hearts LA, and the other is something completely different: MG with a bit of magic. I'm really enjoying them both. 


Thank you, Keris! I’m really loving the sound of a companion to Emma. You can read my reviews of Keris’s debut, Della Says: OMG!, her second novel, Jessie Hearts NYC, and her latest, Emma Hearts LA, and visit her all over the web: Twitter, blog, website, UKYA, Goodreads.


Sophie