| Interview with Robin Palmer |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.
com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for
taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for
your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I think I always knew I wanted to be a writer...I remember I’d write short stories in the second grade
that the teacher would then read to the class. But after I graduated from college, I moved out to L.A.
and became a television executive, where I helped other writers make their work better, rather than
writing myself.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
At my thirtieth birthday party I had one of those “Wait a second—how’d I get this life?” moments and
realized that even though my life in Hollywood looked super exciting and glamorous to the rest of the
world, it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing anymore. A year later I left my job at Lifetime Television and
started to write novels rather than screenplays which is a very strange thing for someone in L.A. to be
doing. I wrote a variety of different things – literary fiction, a collection of essays, a memoir – but none
of them sold. Then one night at dinner my agent asked me if I had ever thought about writing a YA
book. The next day I was walking down the street in NYC, where I was living for the summer, and the
image of Cindy Ella Gold in her flip-flops popped into my head. About a year later, my agent called me
to say that Speak/Penguin was offering me a three-book deal for modern retellings of fairy tales.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
I like to think of Cindy Ella as an anti-princess, meaning the coolest thing about her is that she’s not
waiting around for anyone to save her. Rather, she saves herself by being true to who she is no
matter what other people think. If I had to tell readers one thing...hmm...I guess I’d say that as a 39
year-old woman who’s tried it both ways – first trying to please other people and fit in while thinking
that someone is going to swoop down and fix everything, and then – after that didn’t work – taking
responsibility for myself and getting comfortable with who I am and trusting that the right people (both
friends and guys) are going to find that attractive, like Cindy does, I highly recommend the latter.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Hmm...that’s a really good question. I would say that my greatest inspiration for my YA writing would
definitely be Judy Blume. I just remember feeling so understood whenever I’d read one of her books,
and that meant so much to me.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My family has been so incredibly supportive of my writing. I think they all thought I was nuts when I left
my job, but once they got over the shock, they’ve always been super encouraging whenever I would
start to doubt my decision. When I called my dad to tell him that Cindy sold, he started to cry and said
that next to the day I was born, it was the happiest day of his life. Which, of course, made me cry!
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Definitely cupcakes. Specifically the ones from Billy’s Bakery on Ninth Avenue in NYC, which is where I
now live.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Immediately make coffee (one of my few vices left!), check my email (an even bigger vice) and read
the New York Times.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
Probably that I’m super unorganized. (Don’t tell anyone ;)
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to
know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
This is easy – I’d be red. I love, love, love red. If I get married, I’m going to wear a red dress. And my
most favorite thing I own are my red cowboy boots which I wear as often as I can.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
When I was little I always loved Polly Purebread, who was Underdog’s girlfriend. I thought she was the
pretty woman (or, rather, dog) I had ever seen!
Which cartoon character is most like you?
I have no idea...is there a cartoon character who does a lot of yoga? If there were, that would be me.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in
history, where and when would it be—and why?
Paris in the 1920s. I think one of the hardest things about being a writer, or any kind of artist, is that it
can be incredibly isolating at times and back then, some of the most creative minds in history were
living there and supporting each other’s efforts.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
Over the last year or so I’ve gotten increasingly old school – lots of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob
Dylan. To me, that stuff is like reading poetry. I wish I could listen to music while I’m writing, but I find it
very distracting. If I do, it’s got to be something instrumental like jazz or ambient stuff.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last
movie you saw at the theater?
I don’t watch a ton of TV, but I love Flight of the Conchords on MTV. I can’t remember laughing so
hard in years. Plus the two of them are super hot ;) Movies I watch over and over – all of John
Hughes’ stuff, of course. Who can ever turn off Sixteen Candles or Pretty In Pink if they’re flipping by?
And Lost In Translation – I think I’ve seen that like 20 times! Last movie I saw in the theatre was Juno
which I loved. I’m very lucky because I’m a member of the Writer’s Guild which means that I get free
screeners of all the movies that are hoping to be nominated for awards, so I get to watch all the latest
stuff at home rather than in the theatres. Which, when it’s 25 degrees out, like it is right now, is a good
thing ;)
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
I would remind them that nothing lasts forever. So no matter how hard it may be to be a teen at times,
there will come a time when you’ll be on the other side of whatever problem you’re dealing with at the
moment. And part of what’s so great about going through tough things is that you’re then able to help
someone, if only by letting them know you understand how they feel!
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I just finished a modern retelling of The Frog Prince which will be released in Spring ’09. Not sure what
the title is yet, but if you go to my blog at robinpalmer.blogspot.com, I’ll keep you updated!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for
taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for
your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I think I always knew I wanted to be a writer...I remember I’d write short stories in the second grade
that the teacher would then read to the class. But after I graduated from college, I moved out to L.A.
and became a television executive, where I helped other writers make their work better, rather than
writing myself.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
At my thirtieth birthday party I had one of those “Wait a second—how’d I get this life?” moments and
realized that even though my life in Hollywood looked super exciting and glamorous to the rest of the
world, it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing anymore. A year later I left my job at Lifetime Television and
started to write novels rather than screenplays which is a very strange thing for someone in L.A. to be
doing. I wrote a variety of different things – literary fiction, a collection of essays, a memoir – but none
of them sold. Then one night at dinner my agent asked me if I had ever thought about writing a YA
book. The next day I was walking down the street in NYC, where I was living for the summer, and the
image of Cindy Ella Gold in her flip-flops popped into my head. About a year later, my agent called me
to say that Speak/Penguin was offering me a three-book deal for modern retellings of fairy tales.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
I like to think of Cindy Ella as an anti-princess, meaning the coolest thing about her is that she’s not
waiting around for anyone to save her. Rather, she saves herself by being true to who she is no
matter what other people think. If I had to tell readers one thing...hmm...I guess I’d say that as a 39
year-old woman who’s tried it both ways – first trying to please other people and fit in while thinking
that someone is going to swoop down and fix everything, and then – after that didn’t work – taking
responsibility for myself and getting comfortable with who I am and trusting that the right people (both
friends and guys) are going to find that attractive, like Cindy does, I highly recommend the latter.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Hmm...that’s a really good question. I would say that my greatest inspiration for my YA writing would
definitely be Judy Blume. I just remember feeling so understood whenever I’d read one of her books,
and that meant so much to me.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My family has been so incredibly supportive of my writing. I think they all thought I was nuts when I left
my job, but once they got over the shock, they’ve always been super encouraging whenever I would
start to doubt my decision. When I called my dad to tell him that Cindy sold, he started to cry and said
that next to the day I was born, it was the happiest day of his life. Which, of course, made me cry!
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Definitely cupcakes. Specifically the ones from Billy’s Bakery on Ninth Avenue in NYC, which is where I
now live.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Immediately make coffee (one of my few vices left!), check my email (an even bigger vice) and read
the New York Times.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
Probably that I’m super unorganized. (Don’t tell anyone ;)
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to
know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
This is easy – I’d be red. I love, love, love red. If I get married, I’m going to wear a red dress. And my
most favorite thing I own are my red cowboy boots which I wear as often as I can.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
When I was little I always loved Polly Purebread, who was Underdog’s girlfriend. I thought she was the
pretty woman (or, rather, dog) I had ever seen!
Which cartoon character is most like you?
I have no idea...is there a cartoon character who does a lot of yoga? If there were, that would be me.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in
history, where and when would it be—and why?
Paris in the 1920s. I think one of the hardest things about being a writer, or any kind of artist, is that it
can be incredibly isolating at times and back then, some of the most creative minds in history were
living there and supporting each other’s efforts.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
Over the last year or so I’ve gotten increasingly old school – lots of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob
Dylan. To me, that stuff is like reading poetry. I wish I could listen to music while I’m writing, but I find it
very distracting. If I do, it’s got to be something instrumental like jazz or ambient stuff.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last
movie you saw at the theater?
I don’t watch a ton of TV, but I love Flight of the Conchords on MTV. I can’t remember laughing so
hard in years. Plus the two of them are super hot ;) Movies I watch over and over – all of John
Hughes’ stuff, of course. Who can ever turn off Sixteen Candles or Pretty In Pink if they’re flipping by?
And Lost In Translation – I think I’ve seen that like 20 times! Last movie I saw in the theatre was Juno
which I loved. I’m very lucky because I’m a member of the Writer’s Guild which means that I get free
screeners of all the movies that are hoping to be nominated for awards, so I get to watch all the latest
stuff at home rather than in the theatres. Which, when it’s 25 degrees out, like it is right now, is a good
thing ;)
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
I would remind them that nothing lasts forever. So no matter how hard it may be to be a teen at times,
there will come a time when you’ll be on the other side of whatever problem you’re dealing with at the
moment. And part of what’s so great about going through tough things is that you’re then able to help
someone, if only by letting them know you understand how they feel!
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I just finished a modern retelling of The Frog Prince which will be released in Spring ’09. Not sure what
the title is yet, but if you go to my blog at robinpalmer.blogspot.com, I’ll keep you updated!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
| Visit Ms. Palmer on MySpace! |