THE BOOK
Title: The Art of Lainey
Author: Paula Stokes
Release Date: May 20, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publisher: HarperTeen
Summary:
To win back the one she
loves, she’ll have to go to “war.”
Soccer star Lainey Mitchell
is gearing up to spend an epic summer with her amazing boyfriend, Jason, when
he suddenly breaks up with her—no reasons, no warnings, and in public no less!
Lainey is more than crushed, but with help from her friend Bianca, she resolves
to do whatever it takes to get Jason back.
And that’s when Lainey and
Bianca stumble across a copy of The Art of War. The girls are sure they can use
the military handbook to lure Jason back into Lainey’s arms. So Lainey channels
her inner warlord, recruiting spies to gather intel and persuading her coworker
Micah to pose as her new boyfriend to make Jason jealous.
After a few “dates,” it looks like her plan is
going to work! But now her relationship with Micah is starting to feel like
more than just a game. Can fighting for what she wants help Lainey find what
she really needs?
When she's not working
(rare), she's kayaking, hiking, reading, or seeking out new adventures in
faraway lands. She's petted tigers, snuggled snakes, snorkeled with stingrays,
and once enjoyed the suction-cuppy feel of a baby elephant's trunk as it ate
peanuts from her palm. Her future goals include diving with Great White sharks,
learning Krav Maga, and writing a whole slew of novels, not necessarily in that
order.
THE INTERVIEW
Summarize The Art of Lainey in one sentence:
It’s
the story of a slightly clueless girl who loses her boyfriend and tries to win
him back, finding herself in the
process.
What was the initial spark that created Lainey?
I’ve
been pretty candid about admitting I wrote this book to get over my own
heartbreak. Of course when I say that, some people immediately assume Lainey is me exactly. No, just for the sake of clarification. I’m not a soccer
star or into celebrities. I’ve been a fan of rock and punk and metal music
since sixth grade. The circumstances surrounding the breakup are totally
different. The characters are different. There is no torture-pancake
restaurant…that I know of. Basically my whole life was going good and someone I
cared about a lot bailed on me. And instead of trying to win him back,
warlord-style, I cried and moped for a couple of weeks and then decided to
write about it to feel better. Somehow the sad things in my brain turned into
sort of funny stuff on the page and the idea for the book evolved from there.
Who
was your favorite character to write, and why? Who was your least favorite?
I would have to say I liked writing
Micah the best because he reminded me of people from past who either introduced
me to life-changing music or opened my eyes in some other way. Most people
don’t surprise me. When they do, and they surprise me in a good way? Yeah, I
never forget that. I also really liked writing Trinity because she kind of
epitomizes the person I try to be—kind, thoughtful, brave, comfortable in her
own skin. I didn’t really have a least favorite character to write. I guess the
PC answer here is Kendall but I’m not much for being PC. ;-) Mean girls are fun
to write because you don’t have to censor their dialogue or behavior. I was sad
when Kendall lost a lot of her backstory and a sort of “end moment” in the
revision process, but it was the best thing for the book.
What’s your favorite line/passage in Lainey?
I have lots of favorite passages so
I tend to pick a different one each time someone asks me this. What about:
“Forget The Art of War,” Bee says. “Use The Art of Lainey.”
I peek up at her. “I’m pretty sure that book will not be getting published anytime soon.”
It
took a while for this book to sell. It’s good to be able to poke fun at
yourself. ;-)
What
were some of the subjects you researched?
Off
the top of my head and definitely not all-inclusive: The Art of War, tea leaf reading, espresso machines, fake tanning, modeling
camp, Mexican culture, astronomy, The
Tragedy of Faust, Venus flytraps, One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, shock generators, soccer, tattoos, Mizzou,
scholarships, the Culinary Institute of America. Cool tidbit: Did you know
that a venus flytrap can eat
a frog?
Lainey has a lot of direct quotes from The Art of War by Sun Tzu – each chapter
is even headed by a passage from it. What is your favorite line/passage from The Art of War?
“He
will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” I’m not very
competitive so The Art of War was a
tough read for me, but you can apply this passage to so many things in
life—both in the sense that you have to pick your battles wisely and also that
sometimes not fighting is its own reward.
Paula
Stokes' The Art of Lainey Love List
- Lainey’s character growth
- Micah’s hair (See, my priorities are totally in check ;-D)
- Lainey starting to put makeup on Bianca and then deciding she’s stunning without it
- Lainey’s musical awakening
- Mizz Creants House of Torture (and Pancakes)
- Lainey admitting to herself she likes Micah, but not telling him because she thinks he’s better off with Amber
- Lainey looking down at the party scene and seeing her “friends” for what they are for the first time
- Lainey telling Kendall “I’m remaking myself, and I like the new me better.”
- Trinity
- Trinity’s cat shoes
- The second-best feature joke
- The soccer game scene—last minute addition
- The cookie-breaking scene—last minute addition
- Using the band name Hangman’s Joke as a shout out to The Crow (Best. Movie. Ever.)
- Lainey’s mom talking sex and birth control
- The story about how Lainey’s mom and dad ended up together
- Lainey’s brother learning they’d been wishing on Venus their whole childhood, but not telling her
And that's it! My thanks to Ms. Stokes for the awesome interview! :)
What an absolutely fantastic interview!
ReplyDeleteThis is gonna sound so damned creepy, but the more interviews I read, the more I love Paula!!
I love her love list for TAoL and now I feel like rewatching The Crow again for the upteenth time...