What's Fresh with Lauren Strasnick's HER AND ME AND YOU

First love, broken friendships, and heartache all play a part in this evocative, voice-driven novel about Alex, a girl whose world is ripped apart when her father’s affair splits her family in two.

Alex moves with her mess of a mother to a new town, where she is befriended by hot, enigmatic Fred–and alternately flirted with and cold-shouldered by Fred’s twin sister, Adina. Others warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, whose sibling relationship is considered abnormal at best, but there’s just something about Fred–and something about Adina–that draws Alex to them and makes her want to be part of their crazy world, no matter the consequences.

Hello, Lauren, thanks for sharing with YA Fresh! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Lauren: I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I thought for a while I wanted to write movies and television, so I moved to LA and worked in TV for several years. After some serious burnout and disillusionment, I went back to school and got my MFA in writing. I spent the year following graduation subbing my thesis, a YA novel, to agents. After a ton of rejection, I scrapped that book and started another, sending the completed MS to a few agents who had been encouraging the previous year. I signed with ABLA soon after that, and we sold my book, NOTHING LIKE YOU, to Simon Pulse/S&S a couple of months later.

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.

Lauren: I try try try to be all clean and fed by 10-ish, then I generally write until 6-ish, taking breaks throughout the day to answer emails, take care of promotional stuff, cook and eat things, pet the cat, and peruse style blogs.

Please tell us about your novel, HER AND ME AND YOU and what we can expect from your characters.

Lauren: HER AND ME AND YOU (out October 5th from Simon Pulse/S&S!) is about Alex, a girl who moves to a new town after her parent’s split. There she meets twins, Fred & Adina Bishop. They hang out incessantly. One twin behaves badly! Messiness ensues.

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

Lauren: I’m working on another book for Simon Pulse, DAKOTA WEBB IS MISSING. Mystery! Obsession! Rock & Roll! Should be out Spring 2012.

Sounds great! Thank you again, Lauren, for sharing. I wish you the best with your writing. Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Lauren: Read everything. No better way to learn.

Lauren Strasnick grew up in Connecticut, now lives in Los Angeles, and is a graduate of Emerson College and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) MFA Writing Program. NOTHING LIKE YOU is her first book. Visit her website, www.laurenstrasnick.com.