Beige by Cecil Castellucci

BEIGE

by Cecil Castellucci

Commercial Young Adult
Candlewick Press
www.MissCecil.com

5 Signed Copies will be given away on March 20, 2009






About the Book:

Exiled from Canada to Los Angeles, Katy can't believe she is spending the summer with her father—punk name: the Rat—a recovered addict and drummer for the band Suck. Even though Katy feels abandoned by her mom, even though the Rat's place is a mess and he's not like anything she'd call a father, Kathy won't make a fuss. After all, she is a girl who is quiet and polite, a girl who smiles, a girl who is, well, beige. Or is she? From the author of BOY PROOF and THE QUEEN OF COOL comes an edgy L.A. novel full of humor, heart, and music.

1) So this book is very centered around Punk music, as the main character’s dad is in a punk band. What inspired you to pick this genre of music as your plotting springboard?

I, myself, used to be in a band. It was an indie rock band, and I sang and played guitar. I loved the free spirit of indie rock, which is a cousin to punk rock. One thing I have always appreciated about punk is how it asks you to ask questions and pay attention. When I moved to Los Angeles at the request of the label that was putting out my first CD, I got a job working at Epitaph Records. There I was immersed in the Southern California punk rock music scene. It was awesome, but I felt so boring and beige next to all of those colorful musicians. I was interested in writing about a music scene from an outsiders point of view.

2) Have you ever hung out with a real punk rock band?

Yes! When I moved to LA I used to write in a café that was owned by Eric Melvin from NOFX. I also hung with Tim Armstrong from Rancid, who used to be my neighbor. Through my friendships with them, I saw a lot of their shows where I got to sit on the side of the stage cheering them on and meeting and seeing a lot of great punk bands.

3) The main character is nicknamed Beige by a kinda/sorta friend because of her bland personality. What’s your own personality like? Do you have a tendency to be beige or are you very colorful?

Isn’t it funny how you can feel as though you are both things at the same time or under different circumstances? In general, I would say that I’m a pretty colorful person, and it’s not just because of the blue in my hair! But I think I probably feel most colorful when I’m in my element and with my tribe of kindred spirits. I think that I feel beige sometimes when I’m uncomfortable or out of my comfort zone like Katy feels when she gets to Los Angeles.

4) So you’ve written a few books now. If you could time travel back and visit yourself when you were writing that first book, what advice about publishing and/or writing would you give yourself?

I would tell myself that as much as I think what I am writing sucks that it probably doesn’t suck as badly as I think it does and that when I don’t think I can finish, that I can. I would also remind myself that each novel is its own journey and is going to be a different process. These are things I tell myself still! Most of all I would say “Don’t Freak Out!”

5) I read that you’re also a filmmaker, actress and singer/songwriter. Um, wow! How do all of your interests influence the others?

You know, for me, they are all the same thing, a way to tell stories. I think that the great thing about telling stories in different ways is that it allows me to not have to shove every idea into one way of telling it. I like that freedom. I feel as though the story tells me how it wants to be and then I just follow it. If it’s a song, a play, a film, or a novel, it gets to be that. Each of those styles have different narrative strengths. It also keeps me on my toes which keeps it all very fun!

About the Author:

Cecil Castellucci is an author, filmmaker, actress, and singer-songwriter. She says, "When I first moved to Los Angeles from Montreal, I wrote in a café owned by Eric Melvin from NOFX, had Thanksgiving dinner with Tim Armstrong from Rancid, and had my taxes done by a guy who was in the Circle Jerks. Everyone was So-Cal Punk crazy and I felt so . . . beige. I wondered what it would be like to grow up around adults that cool, especially if you were plopped into that scene when it wasn’t yours." She lives in Los Angeles. Visit her author website at: www.MissCecil.com