Joëlle: Hmmm…I’ll have to ask my grandmother if she’s ever heard that. My favorite piece of advice came from my grandmother who said, “Don’t sit on the cold wet grass or you’ll get hemorrhoids.” She said, “When you’re in high school, do not date boys who are out of high school.” The best piece of life advice I got was from my mother. Suzanne: In the writing world, the best piece of advice I got was from a writer with a very long career who said, “The worst mistake writers make is staying with the wrong agent for too long.” This piece of advice is the reason why I’m published today. Joëlle: What’s the best piece of advice, writing or otherwise that you’ve been given? Joëlle: Do you eat right, get plenty of exercise and eight hours of sleep, or are you too busy writing? Suzanne: Smithsonian Magazine and if I’ve read that, then I’m stuck with my husband’s latest edition of Surfing Magazine, which is really boring. Joëlle: Fess up…what do you read in the bathroom? Good lit? Bathroom humour? Suzanne: I just downloaded Adele’s “Chasing Pavements” and, though I’m not usually a country fan, I really love Sugarland and just downloaded “It Happens” and “Something More”. I might have to go reread it! So, if I picked up your iPod, what kind of music would I find on it? Joëlle: Oooh…I love The Crystal Cave myself. The one writer I never connected with was Jane Austen. Suzanne: I’m remembering sweeping historical romances like The Thornbirds, The Crystal Cave and then there was the Fitzgerald period, and the Herman Hesse period, and the Steinbeck period. Joëlle: What were your favourite books as a teenager? Suzanne was nice enough to answer some questions for me today. Her YA, Saving Juliet, was one of my Fave Fifteen of the year, and her latest book, Coffeehouse Angel is one you don’t want to miss.

I feel particularly lucky about this, not just because of what she said, but because I have been a fan of Suzanne’s fantastic writing for a very long time.

You may have noticed that the blurb for my book is by Suzanne Selfors.

Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors