{Author Interview} My Heart And Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

   I am so delighted to be interviewing Jasmine Warga about her 2015 upcoming novel, My Heart and other Black Holes. It comes out this upcoming Tuesday and I can't wait. It's been one of my anticipated novels since I found it on Goodreads. And check out the giveaway for your chance to win a copy!!

My Heart and other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Release Date: February 10, 2015
Publisher: Harper Teen
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pre-order Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

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Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.

There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner. 

Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.

Interview With Jasmine Warga

You're in an elevator and someone asks about My Heart and Other Black Holes. How would you describe it when you only have like 30 seconds with them?

To be honest, I'm really socially awkward so I'm terrible at elevator pitches and if this happened IRL I would probably just mumble or inappropriately giggle and wait for the elevator doors to open so I could run out, but in a perfect universe where I am socially-competent human being, I would say: It's about a troubled teenage girl with an infamous father and a grief-stricken teenage boy with a family tragedy who meet online and make a suicide pact and the complications that ensue as the chosen date of their pact grows closer.

How do you feel knowing your debut book is going to be released this year?

A nauseating combination of excitement and nervousness. But also immense, immense gratitude.

What came first when writing: the beginning, middle, or the ending?

The beginning. I always write linearly. If I let myself cheat, I don't fully discover my characters in the way I want to.

Is "My Heart and Other Black Holes" the original name or was it something else?

It actually had a really overwrought and emotional title, The Heaviness of Emptiness, but I decided to change it since I didn't think that a) that title fully represented the tone of the book and b) Aysel, the main character, would've hated that title and that made me have doubts about it. I do realize I sound crazy talking about my character's preferences for titles, but you know.

Was there any particular reason for the cover change?

I think my publisher wanted to find a cover that they thought more accurately represented the book. The new one keeps some of the quirky, irreverence, but also balances those elements with some gravity. I would say this second and final cover more fully captures the texture of the whole book (terrible pun intended!).

How did you react when you saw the pretty cover for the first time (or the second time for the new cover)?

Lots of squealing. I geeked out over every cover that's been shown to me. The Balzer + Bray design team is so creative and talented, and I love seeing what they'd come up with.

Did the book change a lot from the first draft to the last? Or did your original concept/plot stay real close to how you first imagined it?

I like to say that the heartbeat of the novel stayed the same, but the bones of it changed a fair amount. My brilliant editor had some really apt suggestions regarding the timeline of things and so it definitely changed, but the manuscript still feels very true to my initial intent.

Do you have to write the plot down and plan it? Or do you just write and go along with it?

I wing it. If I outline, I get bored. The only way for me to keep writing is being propelled by my own curiosity of what will happen to the characters.

Do you have any plans to work on after the release of your debut book?

Yes. I'm under contract for a second YA book that I'm lucky enough to get to work on with my same editor and so I'm drafting that right now.

   Thank you so much for doing this interview on my blog!! And I can't wait for your book to come out!

About The Author

Hi, I'm Jasmine. I live and write in a small town (technically a village, but that sounds so medieval) that is a few miles outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Since I find it exceedingly uncomfortable to write about myself, I will keep this short. MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES is my first novel and will be published by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins in Winter 2015. My second novel, which is currently untitled, will most likely be published in 2016. You can read more about my books here.

Things I like: Animals (of all sorts!), especially my cat, Salvador, and my puppy, Scout. Surrealist sketches. Iced coffee. The night sky. Old swing sets. Lemonade. Rainy mornings. (This list could get obnoxiously long so I will stop here.)

Things I do not like: Talking about things I dislike.

Author Links:

Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Facebook

Giveaway

 of My Heart And Other Black Holes

Giveaway Details:

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*You must be 13 or older to enter.

*International

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