1--What is the title of your latest release?
BECOMING CARLY KLEIN
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
What if 15-year-old Carly Klein could become a different person? What if instead of being a rebellious and unhappy student failing out of her uptight, private girls’ school in Manhattan, she could pose as a Barnard College sophomore and become the girlfriend of her psychiatrist mother’s blind patient, Daniel, a sexy senior at Columbia? Because Daniel cannot see her, Carly finds an ingenious way of making this happen. Neglected by her self-absorbed parents, who wind up divorcing, Carly is sustained by her best friendship with unconventional and artistic Lauren, with whose warm and caring French mom, Tibou, she would like to swap mothers. When Lauren and her family move away, Carly ramps up her passionate pursuit of Daniel and takes us on a rollercoaster romp through the exhilaration as well as disappointment of first love and the unintended consequences of disguise, deception, and discovery.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Writing Becoming Carly Klein has been inspired in many ways by my life in New York City, where I grew up and spent much of my adult life. I know well and love its many neighborhoods, especially the Upper East Side where I was raised and where Carly lives, and Barnard College and Columbia, on the Upper West Side, which I attended and where parts of Carly’s story also unfold.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I’d love to hang out with Carly. I not only identify with her — I spent much of my adolescence wishing I were anyone but me — I’m totally in her corner as she struggles through the many challenges she faces, not least the problems she brings upon herself by faking an identity as a Barnard College student in order to form a relationship with Daniel, unbeknownst, of course, to her mother.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Feisty, curious, rebellious.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned that writing about healing actually helped me heal. Something about Carly’s own lack of self-confidence and the ways in which she overcomes immense hurdles on the way to discovering the joy of being herself has inspired me to take a lead from my own leading character. The most magical part of my Becoming Carly Klein journey has been the confidence I’ve gained and the satisfaction I’ve experienced in bringing this novel to fruition.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
One of the things I love about working on a computer is the ability to edit right along as I draft. It makes the process flow and, I believe, helps to produce a smoother, more organic whole. Sometimes when I’m not sure of how I want to say something, I just serialize and leave on the page a few different versions as I go, and later when I have a fuller draft, I go back over them and select the one that works best.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Ice cream is right up there, especially butter pecan! But since I have zero self-control, my rule is that I don’t keep ice cream at home and only allow myself to indulge when I go out. I also love Castelvetrano olives, but unlike with ice cream, I manage just fine keeping a bottle of these in my fridge without eating them all at once. Oh, and I adore French cheese!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have a rustic “writing cabin” on my property, converted from a garage, that faces the Peconic Bay on the East End of Long Island. It’s good to have a place that’s separate from my actual living space. This way I’m not tempted to do all the other stuff – like cooking and cleaning and making flower arrangements and streaming movies – that distracts from getting the writing work done.
10--Who is an author you admire?
I admire so many different authors, but one who has captured my imagination over the course of the six-volume series of Clan of the Cave Bear is Jean Auel. I’ve been enthralled with her story of a little girl named Ayla who’s found and raised by Neanderthals following the massive earthquake that destroys the Cro-Magnon tribe into which she was born. I love the way Auel’s saga imagines our anthropological origins in scrupulously researched detail and dramatically displays the richly layered process of human evolution.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Not one single volume but reading books in general has expanded my experience and enhanced my life in countless and invaluable ways, including inspiring me to take up a pen (and now a computer) and write my own books.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I worked on Becoming Carly Klein for a long time before it was accepted for publication by SparkPress, so “over the moon” would be a good way to describe how that felt!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love reading YA, to which I’ve gravitated over the course of my 40 years since my first YA novel, Footfalls, was published. Reading (and writing in) the voice of an adolescent connects me with my impressionable and formative teenage years, which are key to who I’ve become and to the work I’ve been doing.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The list goes on and on and includes: “Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” “Broadcast News,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” “The Perfect Storm,” “The Pledge,” and the t.v. series “Little House on the Prairie” and “Gilmore Girls.”
15--What is your favorite season?
I love the long hot days of summer when time unfolds slowly and feels like it lasts longer.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With my loved ones over a simple meal. Nothing too lavish or festive is needed, just the warmth and love of those nearest and dearest to me. Oh, and ice cream for dessert, along with the cake!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I love the TV series “This is Us,” whose grownup character Jack Damon is played by the gifted actor Blake Stadnik, whom I envision playing the role of my blind character, Daniel, in the miniseries of Becoming Carly Klein that I hope will be made some day.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I love all sorts of food, especially Asian cuisines, all of them!
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I’m very domestic and love to cook and putter around the house. I also love to stream movies and series. And I’m pretty much a tennis watching fanatic. I park myself in front of the t.v. during all the slams and follow the progress of favorite players.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
My next project is an historical fiction set toward the end of World War II in the Alpine region of Haute-Savoie. This novel’s lead character is a young French girl whose family produces a traditional French cheese called Reblochon. Unbeknownst to her father, who sympathizes with the collaborationist Vichy government, Cécile is provisioning her boyfriend’s troop of Maquis (Resistance fighters hiding out in the mountainous countryside), with wheels of Reblochon to sustain them as they organize attacks on the occupying Nazi forces. To avoid, spoilers, I won’t say more, but I’m thrilled to be working in a format that draws on my skills as a YA novelist and my nonfiction experience writing historical biography. Not to mention my love of French cheese!
Fans of contemporary coming-of-age young adult fiction will root for Carly Klein as she fights to find her place in the world—even if she has to lie to everyone in her life to get there.
Neglected by self-absorbed parents who wind up divorcing by the time she’s sixteen, Carly Klein is sustained by her best friend, Lauren. But when Lauren and her family move away, Carly is forced to find new ways to entertain herself. It doesn’t take her long to locate the perfect subject: her therapist mother’s patients.
Carly soon becomes obsessed with one patient in particular—Daniel, a blind junior at Columbia College—and, desperate to become part of his life and knowing he’ll never go for a high school girl, gets close to him by pretending to be a student at neighboring Barnard College. Becoming Carly Klein follows Carly on a roller coaster romp through the exhilaration and disappointment of first love—and the unintended consequences of disguise, deception, and discovery.
Young Adult Coming of Age [SparkPress, On Sale: September 17, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781684632664 / ]
Elizabeth Harlan's journey as an author is deeply rooted in the vibrant tapestry of New York City, where she spent her formative years and where Carly’s captivating story unfolds. A versatile writer, Elizabeth has crafted compelling narratives spanning young adult novels to probing literary biography tailored for adult readers.
At the heart of her work lies the poignant exploration of mother-daughter dynamics. Having mothered two children and grandmothered four grandchildren, despite the passage of time and the roles she has embraced, Elizabeth’s soul remains intertwined with young girls navigating the labyrinth of adolescence and struggling to grow out from under the oppressive yolk of maternal control.
Residing on the picturesque East End of Long Island and a bridgeless barrier island off Florida’s Gulf coast, Elizabeth draws inspiration from the diverse landscapes that surround her, infusing her prose with an evocative sense of place and emotion. Her stories resonate not only with authenticity but also with a profound understanding of the human experience, inviting readers to embark on transformative journeys of self-discovery and connection.
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