manicpixiedreamgirl by Tom Leveen

manicpixiedreamgirl

Tom Leveen

First of all, congrats to Buttah who is the winner of The LastCamellia! Please email me your full name and address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com and I'll get your copy of the book to you! Congrats!

I love a good Young Adult and I've had the pleasure of featuring Tom Leveen and his book PARTY on the blog in the past so I was excited to have him on again for his latest novel called — also a favorite title because check it out — there's the word MANIC in it:

manicpixiedreamgirl 

Really cool title, and it's a really cool book, about a boy who's been in love with a girl since freshman year but dates another girl for a pretty long time because … well, because he's a guy who can't figure out the next step of getting his head out of his ass and making the right move, really, like all high school guys, hah hah hah!

I really liked this book - it's fun and kinda sad with very unique and bold and flawed characters and it's told from a guy's perspective which is a great change of pace from the usual women's fiction I lunge after, and it's mostly told from one night working its way back into the past leading up to the grand finale. I think you'll really enjoy this one!

Here are Tom's THESE THREE THINGS:

1. I often give tertiary or walk-on characters the names of close friends or family. In the case of manicpixiedreamgirl, I named Ty and Syd’s English teacher after a dear friend known locally as The Book Babe (she’s one of several, actually). It’s sort of a hat-tip and Thank You to people who have made or continue to make a big difference in my life.

2. manicpixiedreamgirl was originally entitled Mustardseed, after Becky’s nickname. I briefly considered writing a sequel called, of course, Sparky, from Becky’s POV.

3. manicpixie originally began as a NaNoWriMo project, which I did not complete on time. In fact, I’ve never completed NaNoWriMo, a source of ongoing shame… [Note from Stephanie: for those of you who don't know NaNoWriMo is when writers attempt to write 50,000 words during the month of November, which I personally think is crazy -- WHY November -- the month of Thanksgiving and the month before the busiest holiday of the year? Why not March -- when there is practically NOTHING going on? Hmmmm....] 

And then because I wanted to dig a little deeper into the story, I asked Tom a few questions about the book: 

I'm curious as to if any of the book is based on your own personal high school experience and if so, can you tell me about it, and I'll maybe share part of that in the feature? 

The outline of manicpixiedreamgirl  is true enough – there was a girl, then there was a girl (or two) that I dated, and never the two shall meet. That’s about it, though. It is true in an emotional sense, in that the things Tyler experiences in his own head are certainly things I felt as well, but the facts of my case and the facts of his are wildly different. We were both stupid, but at least he wasn't as big an ass about it as I was. 

Did you know a manicpixiedreamgirl or dump a "Sydney" for one during high school? 

In all fairness, I think I must say No to both questions. My “dream girl” was not a manic pixie. As I got to know her, I did discover she was much more of a genuine goofball than I’d believed at first, but I don’t think she really qualified as a manic pixie. As for “Sydney,” that character is sort of a composite of many people I knew, some of whom were girls I dated and many of whom were not. I never dumped anyone because there was someone else waiting in the wings, though. None of that is to say I was a good guy; I don’t think I was. 

Do you get a lot of book ideas from your theater group?

When Is What It Is Theatre (1995-2006) and Chyro Arts Venue (2007 – 2010) were in full swing, I’d say I got a lot of technique from them. Not really book ideas, per se. I talk a lot about utilizing the craft of theatre in my dialogue classes, and always encourage fiction writers to get involved in live theatre for those same reasons; but ideas for books always came from other places, not theatre. I think it’s because directing or acting in a play requires intense concentration, so there’s not a lot of room for outside ideas. That’s probably why I didn’t try to publish sooner – my theatre calendar was just too full. 

You currently are a theater teacher, right? What do you love more? Theater or writing? Or, rather, if you could only do one, which would you choose, and why? 

I am not currently a theatre teacher, but I have taught before – I’ve taught basic acting classes, stage combat, that sort of thing. I do currently teach a variety of writing classes across all age groups whenever I can. (Hire me! www.tomleveen.com!)

January of 2013 marked the first full year period during which I did not do any theatre of any kind since 1988. I’ve directed about 35 plays, been in about as many, and that doesn’t include a variety of classes and performances all over the place. I think it’s safe to say my theatre ship has sailed; I did pretty much every play I ever wanted. There’s a few stragglers out there, though, and I would not be surprised if I blew the dust off my promptbook and directed another show or two some day.

Forced to choose, I’d have to stick with writing. Part of the reason for that is that while I am a storyteller, I am not a playwright. I only directed a bare handful of original plays, and all of them more than once, and only a couple with any real success. So being able to write fiction – particularly YA – is more fulfilling for the storyteller in me; I get to be fairly autonomous and not have to work with what some other storyteller has already written (in the form of a play). I was always telling my interpretation of someone else’s story instead of my own. So I’m happy with where I’m at. But I do miss my actors and technicians a lot. 

What are you writing next? 

That’s at least a two-part question!

The next thing that’s coming out is SICK (Abrams/Amulet) on October 1, 2013. It’s about a group of kids who get trapped in their high school drama department during what amounts to a zombie apocalypse. The publisher is calling it The Breakfast Club meets The Walking Dead. Spoiler: They are not actually undead, so technically, not zombies.

What I’m writing, on the other hand, is a variety of contemporary YA novels. I’m starting to play again with multiple-POV, like in PARTY; maybe another horror YA; and hopefully soon, my first middle-grade adventure. We’ll see! 

Want to win a copy? Tell me an angsty story about how you loved someone from afar when you were in high school, because really, we all did. I had a crush on the cutest guy who was deaf when I was a sophomore, and it would have been a perfect relationship, because he wouldn't have to listen to me! Seriously! He was SOOOO cute!  

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If you're new to Booking with Manic, thank you for stopping by! We love new readers! Some notes - If you're entering to win a book, please leave a comment on this post and use an identifying name when commenting. It's usually a great idea to include an email, which I will never give out to anyone else. You can only enter once please. You'll need to check back here in a few days to see if you've won the book -- I will either list the winner in a new post OR highlight the winner's name at the top of this post, or tell you where you can find the winner's name at the top of this post. I do NOT personally contact the winners. It is YOUR responsibility to come back to see if you've won. Most books are supplied directly through publishers, publicists and the authors. Winners will receive books directly from the publisher or author within 3 weeks from the time you provide me with your address, unless I send you the book (sometimes I will). Sorry, but we can only ship to U.S. and Canada so if you're from another country, thank you for coming by to read and discover new authors, but we can't send you a book. Any questions on how I run the blog or suggestions on who you would like to see featured, please email me at stephanieelliot[at]gmail.com. Thank you for your support!