What's Fresh with Wendy Toliver's Lifted!

Being bad never felt so good.

Poppy Browne never stole anything in her life before moving to Pleasant Acres and meeting Mary Jane and Whitney. But when Poppy walks out of the mall with her two new friends and her first pair of stolen jeans, she's hooked.

Before long, Poppy is lifting whenever she gets the urge—it's never about the merchandise, it's always about the thrill. But when her secret gets out, Poppy's clique turns on each other. As she watches her life collapse around her, Poppy must decide where her loyalties lie...and how far she'll go to protect herself.

Hello Wendy, always a pleasure to chat with you! Please tell us about your latest novel Lifted.

Wendy: Hi Kelly! Thanks so much for having me today! My book is called Lifted. June 8, 2010 was its release date and it’s published by Simon Pulse. It’s about a girl who moves to a very religious Texas town and gets involved in a shoplifting clique.

Sounds very cool! What was the most difficult part of writing this novel?

Wendy: I think the most difficult part was transitioning from writing funny, romantic stories and taking on a story that’s more complicated, edgy, and emotional. Poppy is a very deep, complex character and it took a lot of research and thinking on my part to bring her to life.

Could you tell us what type of promotion you or your publisher are doing for your novel?

Wendy: We made a fun little trailer and I’m making purse-sized hand sanitizer gels (my friend Anna came up with the idea, “sticky fingers” – get it?) to hand out at book signings or whatever. Speaking of book signings, I have lots of trips planned for this summer so I’ll be doing lots of them in various states. Other than those things, I’m just playing it by ear!

haha, how fun! Please list one similarity and one difference between yourself and your main character.

Wendy: We both have had a supposed friend who did something terrible to us. One difference is Poppy and her mom have a very strained relationship whereas my mom and I are the best of friends.

Thank you again for sharing, Wendy, could you please tell us one of your favorite lines from the book?

Wendy: Sure! “If He forgives people for murdering their own kids or burning down entire villages or creating ghastly computer viruses, He’ll forgive you.”

Born in Texas, raised in Colorado, and now living in Utah, Wendy Toliver has successfully eliminated “y’all” from her vocabulary. However, she still managed to marry a pickup man. They have three young sons and an assortment of furry, scaly, and slimy pets. She is the author of three novels for teens: The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, Miss Match, and Lifted. Visit her website www.wendytoliver.com.