The Story is About   +  novel

Aimee Friedman

Aimee Friedman is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for young adults, including SouthBeach, French Kiss, Hollywood Hills, A Novel Idea, and, most recently, The Year My Sister Got Lucky. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Aimee attended the Bronx High School of Science, but she always wanted to be a writer, never a scientist. Though she does not know how to swim, she loves living on the island of Manhattan, where she also works as a book editor.

Books:

• Sea Change

  

• The Year My Sister Got Lucky

  

• Hollywood Hills

  

• South Beach

  

• French Kiss

  

• A Novel Idea

  

• Mistletoe: Four Holiday Stories

  

Book Site

Sixteen-year-old Miranda Merchant is great at science...and not so great with boys. After major drama with her (now ex) boyfriend, she's happy to be spending the summer on small, mysterious Selkie Island, helping her mother sort out her late grandmother's estate.

On the lush, beautiful island, Miranda finds new friends and a community with a mystical history, presenting her with facts her logical, scientific mind can't make sense of. She also meets Leo, who challenges everything she thought she knew about boys, romance...and reality.

Is Leo hiding something? Or is he something that she never could have imagined?

The cover for Sea Change is beautiful! Was it the first image you were shown of the cover, or did it change during the publication process?

I’m so glad you like the cover. I do, too! Fittingly, Sea Change had a somewhat magical cover story. As soon as I saw the image, I was shocked at how closely the characters resembled the Miranda and Leo who had been living in my head…and it looked like they were underwater! My editor loved it, too, and the super-talented art department created a gorgeous design. It was definitely the smoothest cover process I’ve been through!

Which one of your novels did you enjoy writing the most and why?

Writing each of my novels has been an experience both joyous and painful, often in equal parts. I’d have to say, though, that the “easiest” book to write, the one that was the most pure, unfettered fun was my very first book, South Beach. There’s something so freeing about writing a first novel: you don’t have your editor’s voice in your head yet, you don’t have expectations or questions from fans, you don’t have reviews to disprove or live up to…It is just writing for writing’s sake. And South Beach in particular is such a light, sunny book: my characters had a blast, and so did I.

Have you noticed your 'writer's voice' changing throughout your writing career?

Most definitely. I think all writers grow and change with each book they write, and that’s a good thing. My first book, South Beach--and its sequels, French Kiss and Hollywood Hills--were very much intended to be a chick-lit beach reads. So I deliberately wrote those books in a commercial, light voice. The Year My Sister Got Lucky, which came out a year after Hollywood Hills, was a more personal book: a lot of it was based on my own experiences, so I like to think the voice in that book is a bit more earnest, a bit richer. And Sea Change was a departure for me in that it was the first book I’d written with a touch of the fantastical…so that was a new voice, too. It’s exciting, as a writer, to take on the challenge of new, different voices, and to always push yourself and make sure your voice is maturing and developing as you go.

Describe Sea Change in two words.

Summer. Mystery.

What books do you have in your summer reading pile?

Insatiable by Meg Cabot; Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin; Matched (I got an ARC!) by Ally Condie; and Persuasion—the one Jane Austen I haven’t read!

Favorite summer read of all time?

Baby-Sitter’s Club #8: Boy-Crazy Stacey. It’s the perfect summer story. And for 5 more, check out a guest post I did earlier on this blog tour (@The Hiding Spot)—and enter for a chance to WIN my 5 picks!

Do you have any fun summer plans?

Too many! I’ll be going to the beautiful town of Newport, Rhode Island for my birthday (of course I was born in the summer…). I’ll be hitting the beach as much as possible with my friends: whether it’s the Hamptons or Coney Island. I’ll be picnicking in parks, watching fireworks, eating ice cream, and sunning by the pool. For my list of top ten things to do in the summer, check this out: Word for Teens

If you could travel back in time for one year, where would you go and what there things would you take with you?

Ooh, great question! I would probably go back to the roaring 1920s, to meet my grandmother when she was a young girl. And I would bring with me all my books—to show her what was to come…