Debs Blog Tour: Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

Hello all!  It's Debs Blog Tour time but before I get to the meat of this post I wanted to give a huge shout out to Sarah Cross who's fantabulous debut, Dull Boy, hits shelves today and to Aprilynne Pike who's debut Wings, just took the #6 spot on the NYT Bestseller List!  Congrats!!

Now on to Danielle Joseph and her debut, Shrinking Violet!

About the book:

Shrinking Violet is about high school senior, Tere Adams and her one dream-to be a DJ. By day she is paralyzed when she has to talk to people, but at night, she rocks, doing mock broadcasts in her bedroom. Her confidence is further eroded by her mom, who still sees Tere as the chubby, pale kid, the other children called Snowball. Mom thinks that Tere’s dreams are just silly fantasies, but her new husband, Rob, offers Tere an internship at his top-forty radio station. Her best friend, Audrey, the only person truly aware of Tere’s vast music knowledge, encourages her to take the job. From there Tere must learn to come out from behind her mask. In doing so she confronts the bullies in her life, stands up for herself and falls in love.

About the author:

Danielle was a college DJ for five years on the Gyroscope, a world music show, and interned at several top Boston radio stations. She has taught Creative Writing and English to Middle school students. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Danielle now lives in Miami with her husband and two young sons. She is addicted to flip flops, chocolate and YouTube. These days when she’s not writing, you can find her cruising around with the tunes blaring and her internal DJ hard at work.

The interview:


What's been one of the most exciting moments in your journey to publication?

I really have enjoyed the whole ride but it was really cool to recieve my author copies a couple of weeks ago. I had a big box from Simon & Schuster waiting for me on my front steps when I arrived home from picking the kids up from school. And there's nothing like the smell of brand new books!

Is there anything you can't write without?

There is nothing specific that I have to have but I do often enjoy a cup of coffee, tea or Diet Coke when I write, depending on the time of day. And for some reason if my office is nice and clean I feel like I'm more productive.

When stuck on a story which do you choose: write make-out scene or explode something?

I'd probably choose the make-out scene because I haven't had any explosions in my novels as of yet. I even googled kissing techniques once. that was fun!

Can you share a favorite line you've written either in this book or a WIP?

"Revenge. And I didn't even inflict it. How sweet it is."

Finally: pro fast zombie or anti fast zombies?

Definitely fast zombies and if they have a sense of humor, that would be a real plus!

You can find out more on Danielle's website or you can follow her on twitter here!