Ditched by Robin Mellom

DITCHED
A Love Story

by Robin Mellom


Young Adult

Hyperion
www.RobinMellom.com
www.un-requiredreading.com


5 Signed Copies will be given away on Friday, January 20, 2012!

About the Book:

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat, handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together -- stain by stain on her thrift-store dress -- exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

Check out our Exclusive Interview with the Author here:

1) How did you get the idea for the novel?

My agent suggested I write a humorous teen novel. So I thought back on the crazy things that had happened to me and recalled one incident at a formal dance my freshmen year of college involving a semi-blind date. I say “semi” because we went to dinner one time before I would agree to go to this formal with him. At dinner, he was extremely shy and quiet, but also well-mannered and nice so I agreed to go with him. (You can already tell this won’t end well, right?) So on our second date—the night of the dance—his fraternity brothers convinced him to drink way too many shots of vodka and he turned into a MUCH different person—like Jekyl & Hyde different and I was shocked. The guy thought it would be “oh-so-hilarious!” to run around unzipping girls’ dresses (including mine) and I spent most of the night in the bathroom fixing my zipper and cursing his name. Needless to say, there wasn’t a third date with that boy.

But that zipper-malfunction-incident went on to become the nugget that led to me writing DITCHED which led to my first published book. Aaah, closure. Love it!

2) When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Have you had other jobs along the way?

I was the type of little girl who would write stories on folded up paper and make title pages and draw a cover and then NEVER let anyone read them. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but first I became a teacher. Middle schoolers are my favorite people on the planet (seriously!) and the subject I adored teaching them most was creative writing. I would give them an assignment and then write along with them. Over the years, I’ve also worked as a social worker for children with autism and a news assistant at a newspaper. It took over eight years of serious writing “on the side” before I got my first book deal.

3) Which came first, the title or the novel?

Actually, the first chapter. The book was called “Prom Story” when I first started (not super catchy), but when I got to the end of the first chapter, the word DITCHED immediately came to mind. It felt obvious yet perfect.

4) If your main character, Justina, could give one piece of advice to teenage girls/boys, what would it be?

Justina would say, “Never assume you know what someone else is thinking. And never dress for prom the way your mother did.”

5) If there was one thing about Justina’s life that you’d like to have in your own life, what would it be? What about the one thing about her life that you’d NEVER want to have?

I love that Justina has a willingness and openness to change. She wants to erase some things and make a fresh start and isn’t afraid to look at her own role in some of the messes she’s made. She’s not a blamer—that’s a quality I want to have.

There are a few things about her life I don’t want to have: her crankiness when she gets hungry, her slightly overbearing mother, and her excessive need to overcapitalize things. Gosh, That’s Silly.

You can read the first chapter of Ditched here: www.robinmellom.com/books/teen-books/ditched

About the Author:

Robin Mellom has taught grades five through eight and has a master’s degree in education. Ditched: A Love Story is her first novel. Her new middle grade series, The Classroom, launches in June 2012. She lives with her husband and son on the Central Coast of California. Follow her on Twitter (@robinmellom) Visit the author online at: www.RobinMellom.com.

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