What's Fresh with Suzanne Young's The Naughty List

As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn't enough responsibility! Tessa Crimson's the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn't be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa's own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa's sneaky ways end in catastrophe?

The Naughty List. Is your boyfriend on it?

Hi Suzanne, thank you for joining us on YA Fresh! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Suzanne: I actually started writing in the 7th grade. I wrote murder mysteries starring my friends—always involving an impossible twist. Really? The Pillsbury Dough Boy did it? Thankfully I got better. And I went to college and got a degree in Creative Writing. My book sale was a crazy roller coaster involving querying editors and agents reading my blog posts. But luckily, three offers later, I sold four books to Razorbill. The title was originally Smitten Kittens-later renamed The Naughty List.

Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

Suzanne: I’ll warn you—it’s not glamorous. I wake up, down a cup of coffee and get the kids to school. I then check my email obsessively, drink another cup of coffee, and open my manuscript. I zone out with my work—never getting up—until about one. Then I eat lunch, shower and pick up the kids. I work a little bit longer after that. The next day—I do it all over again. Revise. Rinse. Repeat.

Please tell us about your latest novel The Naughty List and what we can expect from your characters.

Suzanne: My book is The Naughty List-Feb 4th, 2010 from Razorbill/Penguin. It’s about a group of cheerleaders who investigate cheating boyfriends. I like the fact that my girls are not the norm for cheerleaders in YA books. I hope readers are charmed by them.

What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

I’m just finishing up the third book in the series: A Good Boy is Hard to Find. I’m also working on a non-Naughty List project that I hope to have news about soon.

It was great to chat with you, Suzanne! Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Suzanne: I always tell people that it wasn’t my first book that sold. Or my second. Third. Fourth. It was my fifth novel. So my advice is always: Keep Writing!

Suzanne Young is a brilliant scientist. Not really. But she is a former middle school teacher turned zookeeper (mother). When Suzanne’s not fending off zombie squirrels or narrating her daughter’s Barbie soap operas, she can be found camping on the Oregon coast or writing obsessively. Suzanne is the author of The Naughty List series coming February 4th, 2010 from Razorbill/Penguin. The Naughty List is about a group of cheerleaders who investigate cheating boyfriends. Which Suzanne never did. Or at least, not that you can prove.