A Dream Within A Dream: You Were Made for Me Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway

Welcome to the You Were Made for Me Blog Tour!

To celebrate the release of You Were Made for Me by Jenna Guillaume on April 1st, blogs across the web are featuring original content from Jenna, as well as 10 chances to win the hardcover!

Description:

“Plenty of early 2000s rom-com vibes and lighthearted mishaps… Guillaume’s cinematic story weaves together beloved romantic comedy tropes touched with magic—or is it science?—and drops them into a fresh, contemporary setting. Despite the playful tone, this isn’t without nuance, taking on serious topics such as male body image, friendship, and asexuality.” —Booklist

YA author Jenna Guillaume is back with a fun and modern feminist twist on the 1985 pop cult film Weird Science.

Sixteen-year-old Katie Camilleri can’t believe she’s accidentally created a teenage boy. A boy six-feet tall with floppy hair and eyes like the sky on a clear summer’s day. A boy whose lips taste like cookie dough and whose skin smells like springtime. A boy completely devoted to Katie. But silly musings and kitchen antics with her best friend, Libby, have definitely taken a whimsical twist into something bigger than Katie could have ever daydreamed. Turns out the consequences of fumbling a human being into existence are rather complicated. More importantly, does Guy, the golden Adonis Katie’s created, like her because he wants to, or because he has to? And will he be Katie’s very first kiss?

From the author of What I Like About Me comes a hilarious feminist twist on a classic narrative, loaded with laughs, mishaps, and plenty of 80s and 90s pop-culture callbacks. Jenna Guillaume’s entertaining romantic comedy novel features a humorous and relatable voice and will appeal to fans of Jenny Han.

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Author Q&A | Discussion Guide

Writing Starter Pack
by Jenna Guillaume

One of the questions I’m most often asked is what my writing process looks like. The truth is, it’s constantly evolving. I’m starting to realize that change is in itself part of the process. That being said, there are some things that have remained consistent across both of my books, What I Like About Me and You Were Made for Me. Here’s what I always need to get into the right creative space:

1. Quiet. A lot of writers like background noise, and enjoy writing in cafés and other public places. I am not one of those writers. I also don’t listen to music as I write. I need as close to total quiet as possible—libraries can work, but most often I much prefer being in my home office, alone. My poor husband often gets yelled at when I’m in the middle of drafting, because if he’s home, the slightest noise he makes can distract me and disrupt my work. It’s not an easy life, living with a writer!

2. A laptop with Microsoft Word. I’m pretty basic when it comes to writing. I use a Word doc, start at the beginning, and add chronological scenes until I get to the end. I very rarely write out of order. Sometimes I do cut scenes, in which case I create a separate word doc usually titled something like “SPARE”, and dump what I cut in there. It occasionally comes in handy again. I also have a doc for notes—observations, questions, and reminders for myself—although sometimes I handwrite these, too. As you can tell, my system isn’t nearly as organised as Scrivener devotees, but it works for me.

3. The internet. I know many writers prefer to minimise their access to the internet while they’re writing—it is one hell of a distraction. But I am frequently using it to do basic research as well as look up words (most commonly googled phrase: “synonym for [insert word here]”). I’m not much of a long-haul writer. I create in short bursts and often need a few breaks within an hour or I go a bit stir-crazy. I usually check Twitter in this time—it gives my brain a bit of space from what I’m writing. It would probably be much healthier for me to just step away from the screen for a few minutes, but I often find that my brain is still stuck in the story space when I do that. Weirdly, the internet helps to distract me in a good way. Or so I keep telling myself as I get lost in a Twitter hole for the third time in a day.

4. Music. I know I said I don’t listen to music as I write, but what I do do is listen to one song as soon as I sit down, to get me in the right mood. It’s like a mental signal to myself that I’m switching into creating mode. I usually pick a song that’s relevant to the character or scene I’m working on that day. Depending on how much time I spend working on that particular thing, I can listen to the same song over and over again for days or weeks at a time. My Spotify end of year wrap-ups are very much affected by what I’m writing.

5. Hydration. Writing is quite literally thirsty work for me. I need to constantly have a (non-alcoholic) drink near me (yes, this has resulted in some damaged keyboards over the years!). My go-to drink of choice is peppermint tea, followed by water and Diet Coke. I am a bit too addicted to the latter.

6. Snacks. I like to munch on things when I’m thinking. Or stressed. Or procrastinating. I find crunchy foods to be particularly soothing and helpful when I’m writing. I am sure there is a scientific explanation for this, but I am a writer, not a scientist, so I cannot tell you what that is. What I can tell you is I consume a lot of pistachios during the course of a first draft.

7. Privacy. This is kind of related to the need for “quiet”, but also separate. When I’m writing fiction, I frequently find myself pausing to play out a scene in my head, putting myself in a character’s shoes. It usually results in me acting out — from my chair—certain expressions or actions the character is taking. I try to take notice of what those things feel like, so I can describe it from the character’s point of view. This means I often look very, very silly while I write, and I prefer not to have witnesses to my embarrassment.

Jenna Guillaume was the editor-at-large for BuzzFeed Australia, where she wrote about very important things like pop culture, identity, feminism, social media, and Chris Hemsworth's biceps. Previously, she spent more than half a decade in the features department of Girlfriend magazine, editing the sealed section (yes, all those questions are real), and writing about everything from bullying and body image to bad kisses and boy bands. She was also a contributor to Girlfriend Life Hacks, an essential guide to navigating a girl's completely-awkward-but-totally-awesome teen years.

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Blog Tour Schedule:

3/29 - BookhoundsYA
3/30 - Book Briefs
3/31 - Novel Novice
4/1 - The Fandom
4/2 - YA Book Nerd

4/5 - Randomly Reading
4/6 - Crossroad Reviews
4/7 - The Young Folks
4/8 - A Dream Within a Dream
4/9 - I'm All Booked Up