Welcome and happy book birthday to Lynn Weingarten whose latest book, THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS hits shelves today from HarperTeen. If you missed my review, I called it “a fun and thought provoking read that was anything but predictable, and will leave you wondering if it’s ever okay to break a heart.” I’m dying to talk about the ending with somebody, so hit me up when you read it :) And if you want one of the very cool swag pack containing some exclusive heartbreakers tattoos from the book, check out the giveaway below.
ATUF: The mythology behind the Heartbreakers was deceptively simple on the surface. How did you come up with the idea and can you explain it briefly?
LW: The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers is a group of girls who break boys’ hearts and use their broken-hearted tears to perform magic. In order to join them a girl must have had her own heart broken and then sometime within the next seven days, break a boy’s heart and bring his broken hearted tear to the SSH.
Then they’ll make the girl’s heart heal back in an instant, and she’ll be one of them – a magical girl with an unbreakable heart.
I first got the original seed of the idea after reading a non-fiction book about picking-up-women told from the point of view of a guy who studied with a professional pick-up artist (professional in that he made his living teaching other guys how to do it). In the book, groups of guys would go out together to hit on women and I started thinking about how it would be fun if there were a book about a group of girls who did a similar thing. The rest of the idea grew out of that.
ATUF: Lucy has arguably one of the best guys friends a girl could have in Tristan, the blues playing, lollipop loving, insomniac. I loved him from the first scene. How important was it to have a character like Tristan in THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS?
LW: He was a really fun character to write and I’m very glad you liked him! I think we need him in the story for a couple different reasons but most importantly because he helps show us things about Lucy that we might not otherwise know. The Lucy we meet early in the book is a bit of a mess, this is not who she is all the time, it’s who she is when she’s just had her heart broken. But you can learn a lot about a person from looking at who their closest friends are, and Tristan is her very best friend. This says something about her.
In addition to this, he’s important because he lightens things up and provides a counter-point for the mostly sly and knowing sisterhood. He’ll play an even bigger role in the next book.
ATUF: In a story featuring a trio of beautiful but dangerous girls who prey on guys in order to break their hearts, I was surprised not to see more obviously despicable guys in this book. Was that a constant decision to create ambiguity for both Lucy and the reader in regards to the Heartbreakers?
LW: It was definitely a conscious decision. I didn’t want this to be a book about a group of mean girls who go around getting revenge on jerks – I wanted it to be a little more complicated than that. The idea in the book is that the SSH break the hearts of those who deserve and, more importantly, those who can benefit from it. The SSH don’t just dole out broken hearts as punishments for wrongdoings because, ultimately, having your heart broken isn’t necessarily a punishment. When you’re going through it, it hurts like hell. But going through the process of having a broken heart and then having your heart heal up, can also help people learn a lot about themselves, about the world and about other people. A broken heart can make people wiser and more compassionate.
All of that said – it’s not always clear who is right or wrong in this book. I think most readers will have mixed feelings about most of the SSH. And that is also part of the point.
ATUF: The entire ending of THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS was a complete shock to me. How did you settle on such an unconventional ending, and was it as big a surprise to you as it was to me?
LW: I loosely plotted the whole book before I started writing, and one thing I knew for sure was the ending. There will be a sequel coming out a year from now which will explain some things.
ATUF: The book trailer for THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS looks almost like a movie trailer! What can you tell us about the production of this very cool trailer?
LW:Thank you so much! The reason it looks like that is because of an amazing filmmaker friend of mine.
The whole shoot took place on a Saturday afternoon in his apartment in NYC. The girls in the trailer are friends of ours (very nice and generous friends who just agreed to help out!) so while the shoot was a lot of work it was also really fun – we played good music and ate lots of snacks. Some of the scenes we planned out ahead of time – for example, I knew I wanted there to be a bit where the Heartbreakers are playing a game with boy playing cards, and I knew I wanted the last moment of the trailer to look like the book cover. But much of what ended up the trailer was ad-libbed. It was like when you’re a kid and you and some friends say, “I’m bored of this video game…let’s make a movie!” Except one of those friends happens to be an award-winning filmmaker.
Note: if anyone wants to see more of my friend’s stuff, or ask him to make a trailer for YOU (he’s expanding his business next year to include book-trailer-making) his name is Aaron Lewis and his website is lewisfilm.com.
ATUF: If THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS were ever made into a movie, who would your dream or, to keep things interesting, nightmare cast be?
LW:Nightmare cast: The Muppets. I love those guys! But I’m not sure they’re seductive enough (except for Miss Piggy of course).
ATUF: What other projects can we look forwarding to reading from you soon?
LW: I’m currently working on the sequel to the Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers, which will be out at the end of 2012. I’m also in the process of coming up with ideas for what’s next.
ATUF: What are some of your favorite titles/authors in the paranormal genres?
LW: Madeline L’Engle and Stephen King.
ATUF: Finish this statement with as much/little detail as you like: You'll like THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS if . . .
LW: . . . you’ve ever had your heart broken.
ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by Lynn. Come back anytime!
-------------------------------------------------
About the author:
|
Her second book, The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers (HarperTeen 2011) received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, is on Kirkus's list of Best Teen Books 2011. Before writing full-time Lynn edited and developed young adult and middle grade fiction for Alloy Entertainment. |
| Visit Lynn Weingarten online: Want to read more from Lynn Weingarten? |
Lynn Weingarten is a writer of YA books, eater of snacks, and friend of dogs. Hello! Her first young adult novel, Wherever Nina Lies (Scholastic Point, 2009) was named an ALA Top Ten Popular Paperback for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a YALSA Teen's Top Ten Nominee and has been published in German.
Giveaway provided by Lynn Weingarten
3 winners will receive a signed swag packet including 5 tattoos (pictured) and more!
Book Details
THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF HEARTBREAKERS by Lynn Weingarten
Available now from HarperTeen
Description:
When her boyfriend breaks up with her on the first day of sophomore year, Lucy has no idea how she’s going to make it through homeroom, let alone the rest of her life. Enter three stunning girls with a magical offer Lucy can’t refuse. All she has to do is get a guy to fall in love with her in the next seven days, and then…break his heart and collect one of his brokenhearted tears. As the girls teach Lucy how to hook a guy (with the help of a little magic), she quickly discovers how far she is willing to go—and who she is willing to cross—to get what she wants.
Fans of Lauren Myracle, Jodi Lynn Anderson, and Meg Cabot will love this tale of breakups, friendship, new crushes, and magic. Told with wit and charm, The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers is sure to be one of this winter’s most irresistible reads!
Enter the giveaway via the widget below
Interested in being interviewed on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME
I would cast a spell to make him fall in love with me all over again. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com
ReplyDeleteI would cast a spell to make him feel as bad as I did for twice the amount of time I felt it.
ReplyDeletemiztik_rose@yahoo.com
I would cast a spell that everytime he broke another girls heart he would physicaly feel the pain of an actual heartbreak.
ReplyDeleteIf my heart were broken, I would cast a spell to make him repel other girls. He would have plenty of acne, bad breath, and improper etiquette (on the road to becoming a social outcast).
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the giveaway!
~ Lecea
I would cast some sort of repulsion spell so no one would want the guy ever again for breaking my heart.
ReplyDeleteI would cast some type of spell to make him feel the pain he caused me and the girls that followed, until he knew how it really felt. Thank you so much for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI would cast a spell that would make the guy feel my heartbreak, and then would make him cautious from then on about his relationships.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I would cast a spell that would make him age by the number of hearts he's broken.
ReplyDeleteWhat magic spell would you cast if you heart had been broken?
ReplyDeleteI would cast a spell that would make the person feel the same thing.
I would cast a spell to have the guy be able to "walk in my shoes" and feel what it feels like to have a broken heart.
ReplyDeletenancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net
I would cast a spell that the guy would never hurt another girl again
ReplyDeleteaudie(at)wickerness(dot)com
I would cast a spell that would grant him no success with females until he reformed his ways.
ReplyDeletecook[dot]jacqueline[at]gmail[dot]com
I would cast a spell that would prevent him from breaking anyone else's heart
ReplyDeleteIt depends on if he was really a jerk or not. If he's not, I'd cast a spell to make my heartache stop. If he was a jerk, I'd cast a spell a la Beastly; turn him into a beast until he found someone to love him as is, and if he couldn't...oh, well.
ReplyDelete