AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: JUSTINE MANZANO
Today, I am featuring YA author Justine Manzano, and her latest book, NEVER SAY NEVER, out now from Sword and Silk Books. After her parents divorce, Brynn Stark swears she’ll never fall in love…until the meddling goddess Aphrodite tries to change her mind. Brynn is sharp-witted and outspoken, and readers will find her a relatable, honest heroine. I would recommend Never Say Never to anyone who has dealt with or is dealing with parental divorce, as well as girls who feel like they don’t fit in with their peers. There’s much to admire about Justine Manzano’s writing, but she really stands out as a writer who understands and respects her intended audience. Often, adults reading YA expect YA heroes/heroines to act like adults. But these books are written for teens, not adults, and Justine does not shy away from compassionately showing Brynn’s anger, cynicism, and conflicting feelings. I loved this book so much.
THE FULL SYNOPSIS
After she walks in on her mom doing the horizontal mambo with a man that’s decidedly not her dad, Brynn Stark swears off love. One of her friends–Val–is determined to change her mind, no matter the consequences. Prickly and cynical, Brynn tries to avoid Val’s attempts at setting her up, until Val reveals her true identity–Aphrodite, goddess of love, who promises to show Brynn why she shouldn’t lose faith.
Brynn’s job, school, and the various love connections Val tries to make keep her busy enough, but in her spare time, she struggles to navigate her own role in her parents’ divorce. With her other best friend recovering from a breakup of her own, and Val dead set on playing matchmaker, Brynn’s forced to rely on the fourth member of their friend group, Adam, for moral support. Adam, Val’s boyfriend.
Realizing she’s beginning to fall for Adam, Brynn throws herself full-force into dating Val’s picks, hoping one can lure her away from the bad situation she’s hurtling towards, but even when she finds one with a spark, she can’t stop thinking about Adam. Brynn’s forced to decide if she’ll choose her goddess-given fate, or risk it all for the wrong-but-right guy. One thing’s for sure. Love sucks. And it’s all about to blow up in their faces.
And now for our interview:
Paulette: Can you tell us about Never Say Never and what inspired you to write it?
Justine: Never Say Never is about a girl named Brynn who has sworn off love. Her parents are going through a rough divorce and her best friend breaks up with her longtime boyfriend, and love just starts to feel like something that hurts more than it helps. But what she doesn’t know is that one of her friends is secretly Aphrodite in disguise and Aphrodite sees Brynn as a challenge.
I wrote this book as a love letter for children of divorce. My parents had a rough divorce when I was fifteen, and while the Starks aren’t anything like my parents, the feelings you get from watching your family break around you remain the same. I wanted to make sure people that grow disillusioned from this aren’t alone. Add that to the love of Greek mythology I’ve had since childhood, and Never Say Never was born.
Paulette: I was the same age as Brynn when my parents divorced, and I remember feeling a lot of the same things Brynn experiences as I worked through my emotions. I just kept wanting to give her a hug and tell her she’s amazing. I also loved Nina and Val. You’ve really created a cast of characters that you can’t help but fall for.
I always enjoy hearing about a writer’s process. What does yours look like?
Justine: When I get an idea, I sit on it for a long time. I start a planning document in Google Drive and I ruminate on it for a long time, just randomly throwing things in there. Character ideas, setting ideas, snippets of dialogue, bits of things I dig up from any reading I do on the subjects involved in the book. After I’ve sat with it for a few months, I’ll zero in on it and spend time creating an actual plot line from the madness. I’ll work on it for a while until it genuinely starts to look like a coherent plot. Then, I’ll dive in. Once I begin writing, I’m usually thoroughly immersed. I usually work through NaNoWriMo—either the camp versions in April and July, or in November—so once I get to that point, I eat, sleep, and breathe the book until it’s complete. Things may change in the outline I create. That’s okay. I just go with it.
Paulette: Your process sounds very similar to mine. I love that you aren’t afraid to adapt your outline as you go. I see hesitancy sometimes among writers when it comes to using any sort of outline, because they feel they’re too constraining (I used to say the same thing when I was a pantser), but now I feel like my best ideas come about because the structure becomes a sort of failsafe net that I can fall back on as I “play.” There’s a lot of freedom for discovery writing within an outline, but we all have a process and it’s so important to find what works best for you.
Speaking of the writing process, what are your favorite and least favorite aspects of the process?
Justine: I truly love the editing process. It always completely breaks my heart, but the sense of accomplishment I get from solving the issues in my manuscript, and the brain exercise in itself, makes me so happy. My least favorite part is the outlining process. I require it in order to write the book, but it’s always such a slog. I often wish I was a pantser so I could get to the fun part, but alas...if I don’t outline, nothing gets written.
Paulette: Writing is so hard, but all of that work is so worth it once you have a finished book in your hands! What are some ways you’ve celebrated your milestones as a writer?
Justine: I’ve been on a diet for my health, and I ordered a big old cheesy Italian dinner for my book release. I feel like I’ll only write so many books...I can probably stand a very rich dinner for those moments.
Paulette: Absolutely! Treating yourself is so much fun. I plan on getting a big old book cover cake for my release week!
We all have people we look up to and admire in the writing world. Can you share some of your biggest inspirations?
Justine: I have so many that are my actual friends, who grew with me, and maybe don’t have books out yet, but that’s probably not what you’re asking about. (winky face)
Kelley Armstrong taught me that there were people who wrote the way my voice sounded in my head. I wanted to write with my own voice, and she was the first author I read that had a similar voice to me.
Patrick Ness is just completely unafraid to go to very dark places. I met him once, and he told me to write what scares me. It completely changed how I view my writing.
Leigh Bardugo taught me to write characters that did things that made them questionable, and make my readers love them anyway.
I wouldn’t be the writer I am without them.
Paulette: I love Patrick Ness’s advice to you! Writing what scares you helps break down boundaries—whether that’s trying a new genre, a new process, or anything else that might intimidate you. It’s so important to push ourselves out of our comfort zone from time-to-time so that we can grow.
Any advice you might have for aspiring writers?
Justine: Keep trying. Writing is an endurance game. It’s really hard. It’s really rewarding. But if you give up because of rejections, or because your writing dream didn’t go the way you thought, you’ll never reap any of those rewards. So keep trying. Keep rewriting. Write new things. Learn everything you can. And most importantly, keep going. You’ll get there.
Paulette: That’s such wonderful, encouraging advice. It really is so much about learning, endurance, and not giving up. Thanks for sharing your insights today, Justine!
You can purchase Never Say Never from Boogie Down Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or request it from your favorite local indie bookseller.
Justine Manzano is the geeky author of geeky YA novels. Her fiction is tough on the outside and sweet on the inside, like an M&M or a hard candy with a gooey center, delivered with sass and snark. A freelance editor, she also serves as an Editor-in-Residence at WriteHive. A proud Bronxite, born and raised, Justine lives there with her writer/editor husband, Ismael, her amazing son, and a cacophony of cats. She and her husband often spend nights sharing the couch as they watch television, laptop to laptop, communicating in that nearly telepathic fashion that comes with years of marriage. Together, they work to raise their own little padawan in the way of the geek. This project is developing quite well so far. She and can usually be found at all the usual social media haunts. If you’ve looked in all these places and can’t find her, she’s probably off reading fanfiction. She’ll be back soon.
You can connect with Justine on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram, or on her website: justinemanzano.com