What's Fresh with Kristina Springer's My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours

Seventh grade was supposed to be fun, but Tori is having major drama with her BFF, Sienna. Sienna changed a lot over the summer—on the first day of school she’s tan, confident, and full of stories about her new dreamy boyfriend. Tori knows that she’s totally making this guy up. So Tori invents her own fake boyfriend, who is better than Sienna’s in every way. Things are going great—unless you count the whole lying-to-your-best-friend thing—until everyone insists Tori and Sienna bring their boyfriends to the back-to-school dance.

Hello Kristina, it's great to chat with you on YA Fresh! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Kristina: I have a Masters in Writing from Depaul University and I was a technical writer and also taught technical writing at DePaul. I started writing young adult fiction about five years ago. The Espressologist was the second book I ever wrote (first sold) and a few weeks after getting an agent the book went to auction and I got a two-book deal with Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

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.

Kristina: I don’t have a set schedule. I write whenever and however I can squeeze time in. I have four kids 7 and under so this is usually a couple of hours at night here and there.

Please tell us about your latest novel My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours and what we can expect from your characters.

Kristina: My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours

Friendship can be hard sometimes, but so far in seventh grade, Tori Barnes’s BFF, Sienna Baker, is making life downright impossible. Forced into making up a boyfriend to rival Sienna’s, Tori is soon entangled in a whole mess of lies, and she knows that only the truth can fix things.

Available August 31, 2010 from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

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

Kristina: My fall 2011 book is tentatively titled Pumpkin Princess. It's about a 17-year-old girl named Jamie Edwards who has loved growing up on her family’s pumpkin patch in Average, IL, and has always dreamed of one day being the town’s Pumpkin Princess at the annual Pumpkin Festival. Her rich and famous cousin, Milan Woods, comes to town and turns Jamie's world upside down though. Jamie knows she has to expose Milan for who she really is and teach her that life’s not all pumpkins and apple butter at the patch.

Best of luck, Kristina! Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Kristina: Keep at it—don’t let the rejections deter you.

Kristina Springer is the author of THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS and the forthcoming PUMPKIN PRINCESS (fall 2011). She has a Masters in Writing from DePaul University and she resides outside of Chicago with her husband and children. Visit her at www.KristinaSpringer.com.