Women Who Rock Wednesday: Linda Gerber!

I know they have been few and far between lately, but I finally have a Women Who Rock Wednesday interview for you. And it is with a fabulous YA author, who truly does rock: Linda Gerber! She is one of my Teen Fiction Cafe sisters and I got to meet her in person and do an event with her this summer in New York at Books of Wonder. Ever since I heard about her new book TRANCE, I've been extremely psyched to read it and I'm glad it is finally coming out tomorrow!

Let's meet Linda and hear about TRANCE!

Q: Please tell us what your new book is about and what inspired you to write it.

Linda: In TRANCE, two sisters share prescient visions – each sister receiving only a part of the vision so that they have to piece together what they see like a puzzle to know what it means. TRANCE is the story of what happens when one sister doesn’t see her half of the vision, and the fatal consequences that follow.

Several years ago, I had a very vivid dream about an airplane crash. Some of the details were so clear and disturbing to me that I wrote them down, just to get them out of my head. Then, a couple of weeks later, I saw an article in the paper about a plane crash on the other side of the country. The real crash was eerily similar to the one I had seen. It really shook me up.

Later, when I was finally ready to talk about it, I shared the dream with one of my sisters. She told me that she had also had dreams before about things that hadn’t yet happened.

It made me think… what if there were sisters who shared precognitive visions?

And what if each one of them only got part of the vision and the other one got the other part, so they had to put the pieces together to see the whole?

Oooh… and what when they had the visions, they went into trances, which made it really hard to hide what was happening from their family and friends?
And what if they wrote clues about the meaning of what they were seeing while they were in the trances?

And what if those clues weren’t given in words, but in numbers? (Actually, my ingenious editor came up with that idea.)

So, long story short, the idea for TRANCE evolved from a long string of what ifs, and my quest to find the answers.

Q: Who were some of your inspirations to become a writer or the inspirations that keep you writing? Feel free to include other authors, teachers, parents, or people in other creative fields, whoever is an inspiration to you!

Linda: My sisters are a huge inspiration, particularly for this book. Also, my husband, who is my biggest cheerleader.

Q: Even though music plays in so heavily into my storytelling, I rarely can actually listen to it while I'm writing. Can you? How does music fit into your writing process?

Linda: No, I can’t listen to music while I write. I always end up singing along instead of working. I do listen to music before I write, though. Dark music when I’m going to tackle a tough scene, lighter music when I need to keep the mood up.

Q: What is next for you? What are you working on now?

Linda: In January, the DEATH BY BIKINI Mysteries (Death by Bikini, Death by Latte, and Death by Denim) will be released as a bind-up in trade paperback.

My next release will be my Middle Grade series, LIGHTS, CAMERA, CASSIDY, about the daughter of popular TV travel show hosts, and the trouble she manages to get into every time she goes on location with them.

Q: I have two questions that I always ask my Women Who Rock, the first is a two-parter. What was the first album you bought and the first concert you attended? Be honest, we don't judge, we like to see the roots of our women who rock!

LINDA: My first album(s) came through the Columbia Record Club. You know, where they told you how you could get TEN albums for ONE Penny? Yes, I was sucked into that. I can’t remember which records were mine and which were my sister’s (we got kind of fuzzy about possession sometimes…) but I do remember getting the Yellow Brick Road album (Elton John) as one of the picks, and listening to Funeral for a Friend/Candle in the Wind like a million times because I thought the organ music and wind was spooky. We also got the Beatles White Album and Three Dog Night and some other old classics I wish I still had.

The first concert? I think it was Bread. They were about the only group my parents though were tame enough for a pre-teen. What? You don’t remember Bread? Ha. I must be a little older than you…

Q: Tell us about your biggest rock star moment, perhaps it's a moment of real success in your career, a time when you met someone super cool and had that Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" moment, or just a time where you felt like you got the rock star treatment. I get a huge variety of answers for the questions, so it's pretty much whatever "rock star moment" means to you!

Linda: These “rock star moments” keep changing when they get topped by something else. : ) One of the best author moments I’ve had so far was when I was invited to Harding University to participate in the Literacy Lab and they really treated me like a star. Catered dinner in my room, monogrammed tote of thoughtful gifts for my visit (including diet coke and chocolate – they did their research!) Teachers lined up for the signing… It was fabulous.

Today's Contest:

I don't know about you, but the story about how Linda came up with the idea for TRANCE makes me want to read it anymore. If you are feeling that way as well, you are in luck. Linda is putting a signed copy of TRANCE up for grabs!

Please note that due to postage costs, this contest is for US residents/mailing addresses only.

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment. However you can gain additional entries:

+1 for tweeting or posting on facebook about this interview
+1 for tweeting or posting about TRANCE.
+5 for blogging about TRANCE.

Note your additional entries in your comment as well as giving me an email address or some way to contact you if you win. Because I will be drawing the winner next Wednesday and more likely than not, simply emailing them rather than announcing it so please please please leave a way to contact you if you enter.

Good luck!