{Tour} Sasquatch, Love, and Other Imaginary Things by Betsy Aldredge and Carrie DuBois-Shaw (Author Interview & a Giveaway!)

***INTERVIEW***

Hi, ladies! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. We’re excited for our readers to get to know you both a little better. Let’s get started!

We had been watching a lot of reality television about ghost hunting and mythical creatures. We especially loved how sincere and enthusiastic the participants tend to be. Coupled with our long term obsessions with YA literature and classic British literature, and it just kind of came together. There may have been some wine involved, too.

It’s so hard to choose a favorite scene, but perhaps when the Bergers show up for the first day of filming and meet their competition. While everyone thinks their family is embarrassing, poor Sam’s is in a whole different league. We’re also pretty fond of the kissing scenes…

Betsy: I typically write after my daughter goes to bed at night. It usually involves a huge cup of Twinings English Breakfast tea, my couch, and my black cat curled up next to me. His name is Poe because we got him around Halloween and he looks like Edgar Allen Poe in cat form.

Carrie: I usually work at my desk in the spare bedroom – partly to get away from the TV and the fridge and other distractions, but mostly so that I can refer to my giant wall of post-it notes. I like to outline each scene in different colors and get a visual of where the story is going – sort of a big, colorful, non-eco-friendly storyboard.

Sam would love to be best friends with Cath from Rainbow Rowell’s Fan Girl. They could sit around and geek out together for hours.

We spent way too many hours lurking on message boards, watching Bigfoot documentaries, and reading books about Squatching. We even took a trip to a Bigfoot museum in Santa Cruz, California. It’s totally believable that something could be out there. Maybe it’s a misidentified bear, or an undiscovered species of ape, or even an alien/ape hybrid. Who knows? We won’t rule out the existence of Bigfoot, because it’s too fun to imagine.

Betsy: Well, she’s a Jewish feminist with out of control curls, which I am as well…she also is overly responsible and uses humor as a self defense. I’m guilty of that, too.

Carrie: I too use snark as a weapon (which is why Betsy and I are such great friends.) And like Sam, I have a goofy family – especially my dad, who invents Rube Goldberg machines and weird robots and has convinced our family to do very silly things in public (like contests where we dress up as silly characters and race homemade soap box cars).

Aw. Thanks. He’s our version of Mr. Darcy, since this is a Pride and Prejudice retelling. Unfortunately, we don’t know him personally, but if any Mr. Darcy types are reading this and want to become better acquainted…you know where to find us.
Yes, Devan was so fun to write. He’s a little restrained and prickly on the outside, but we love his dry sense of humor, his intelligence, and how loyal he is to his friends and family.

Betsy: I’d tell myself to relax a little more, to allow myself to fail every once in a while. I was the type of student who turned papers in a month early. I think I made Hermione look like a slacker. Um, I may not have changed so much since then.

Carrie: She hasn’t. ☺ I would encourage myself to be a bit more adventurous and less anxious about everything. I was the kid who was always saying things like, “…um…you guys, I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”

Yes! The Chemical Garden series by Lauren DeStefano is probably one of our favorite dystopian series. The Replacement by Breanna Yovanoff is really good and creepy. In terms of recent debuts you may have missed, we highly recommend Soulmated by Shaila Patel, such a beautiful paranormal romance with a swoony love interest. Natalka Burian’s debut, Welcome to the Slipstream, is a rock and roll adventure, with some really rich, unique characters.

• E-book or Printed Book? Betsy: Printed. Carrie: either, but I can read my E-book (in its super waterproof case) in the tub
• Introvert or Extrovert? Betsy: Introvert. Carrie: Extrovert
• N’SYNC or Backstreet Boys? Betsy: N’SYNC for the Justin Timberlake factor alone. Carrie: agreed
• Classic or Current? Betsy: Classic. Carrie: yup, Classic.
• Chocolate or Vanilla? Betsy: Vanilla with lots of chocolate cookies thrown in. Carrie: Vanilla.

Betsy: Adrian from the Vampire Academy/Bloodline books is way, way up on the list. Yes, he’s broody, but he’s a character with a lot of depth and growth, and such great banter.

Carrie: I kinda fell hard for Carswell Thorne in the Lunar Chronicles. He tries so hard to be the charming, handsome bad boy, but just can’t ignore his heart of gold. Swoon.

Thanks so much for stopping by!