Summer Reading with Rosemary Clement-Moore

My neighborhood library recently brought in another one of my writer friends for a visit, so this month I've got the scoop on Rosemary Clement-Moore, author of the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil series of young adult novels.

The event was the kickoff for the teen summer reading program, so Rosemary talked about what she likes and dislikes in books, and how that influenced her own work. She was inspired by a suggestion by Chris Baty, founder of National Novel Writing Month, to make two lists: one of everything she loves in books and one of everything she hates in books. The idea is that you put what you like in the books you write and don't put in what you don't like, no matter how much your inner editor criticizes you or tries to insist that you need things you don't like.

On Rosemary's "likes" list were sparkling dialogue, plucky heroines who solve their own problems, smart characters who don't make the same stupid decisions over and over again, humor, a touch of romance, a plot that moves, fantasy, a sense of good vs. bad, a strong sense of place, first-person narration and treasure hunts or quests. She's managed to work most of those elements into her Maggie Quinn books. For instance, her most recent release, Highway to Hell, takes place around South Padre Island in Texas, and she used what she knew from growing up in that area to create a strong sense of the location. "I like to feel like I've really been somewhere when I read a book," she said.

On her list of dislikes were "characters who don't act like anyone in the history of the world has ever acted," she said. She also dislikes heroines who are stupid for no good reason, problems that would go away if people just talked to each other, doormat heroines, the Civil War, babies, stories about shoes and "emo vampires." She said she's avoided most of those things, although her upcoming release, The Splendor Falls (coming in September) does have something to do with the Civil War.

She says characters are extremely important in getting her interested in a book. "I will forgive a lot with the plot if the character has just won me over," she said. In fact, the character was the first thing she knew before she started writing Prom Dates from Hell, the first book in her series. She wanted to write something similar to the television series Kolchak the Night Stalker, which was about a reporter who investigated supernatural mysteries, but she made the character younger -- a teen on the high school newspaper and yearbook staff. Maggie follows the tradition of heroines like Lois Lane, Brenda Starr and Nancy Drew -- the intrepid reporters who like to solve the mystery and get the story. The story grew out of this character.

Rosemary's next book, The Splendor Falls, is a departure from this series. Her editor asked her if she could write something really romantic that might appeal to girls who enjoy the Twilight series. She came up with a Gothic style story in the vein of books by Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels and Phyllis Whitney -- "the ones where the heroine goes to stay in an exotic location in a spooky house and there's usually a ghost," she said. The Splendor Falls is about a young ballerina who breaks her leg and can no longer dance and who then gets shipped off to stay with relatives in a big, old antebellum mansion. "There's a spooky thing and two guys who are hot but not too emo," Rosemary says.

Right now, she's writing a Texas gothic mystery involving conquistador gold, cowboys and magic, and she's like to continue the Maggie Quinn series.