Interview & Giveaway With Pure Author Julianna Baggot

Hey everyone! Thanks to Grand Central Publishing, I have the honor to interview Pure author Julianna Baggott on my blog today. If you haven't heard, Pure is the latest dystopian novel to hit the scenes, and it's pretty intense. Without any further ado, please welcome Julianna!

1. What inspired you to write PURE?

Inspiration is part-beast part-myth. On the one hand it can attack you, but on the other hand it might not exist. You can't wait for the attack of inspiration. You can try to sit in a field covered in honey and hope for bears but, you know, it won't get you through a 400 page novel.

2. Do you have a favorite place you like to write or read?

I flop anywhere. I'm a floppy reader. I read most often at night in bed by a dull lamp because my husband is already asleep. I stay up too late... sometimes to wee hours. I'm probably going slowly blind. I write in a dormerless slant-roofed room at present, but I'll do that anywhere too. Bomb shelter? Yes, I'd love it.

3. What are you currently reading?

I'm not allowed to read at night right now. I'm in edits on FUSE, book II, and my brain is dreamy at night and that's where I get most of my ideas. (I still read though -- just recently a brilliant not-yet-published novel by a student of mine named Dario Sulzman. I'm sneaking Adam Johnson and Lauren Groff too.)

4. What's your favorite dystopian novel?

I think the work of Southern writer Tom Franklin is dystopian -- except it's often set in the contemporary South.

5. Any advice for bloggers who'd like to become published authors?

I think it all feeds the greater good of building language and thought. Words on pages. Reading what you love -- they're all blueprints to what you can write... It's all good. So keep going and then send your beloved book out into the world of agents and editors and madness.

6. In twitter speak (140 characters or less), how would you sell PURE to someone who hasn't heard of it?
Main character is a 16 yo girl with a doll-head fist. Laini Taylor says JUST READ IT.


Thank you so much, Julianna, for taking the time to answer a few questions. And now a treat for all you readers out there. Again, thanks to Grand Central Publishing, I am giving away a copy of Pure to one lucky winner. All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is only open to US/CA participants and ends March 10th. Extra entries will be rewarded to those who follow Julianna on twitter, tweet about the giveaway, and/or follow my blog. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.


a Rafflecopter giveaway