All About Tanya Lee Stone
My guest today is the fantastic Tanya Lee Stone who wrote A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, a novel told in poems. She worked for years as an editor and also has a Masters Degree in Education (so she’d be one heckuva English teacher). She has written nearly 90 books, mostly for younger readers (like the new Elizabeth Leads the Way and the soon-to-be-new Sandy’s Circus, coming Sept 4th!). One really cool fact about her – Mandy Patinkin once personally showed her the Inigo Montoya swords from The Princess Bride! I’m so jealous! That’s one of my favorite movies of all time.

You can learn more about Tanya at her official website.

About A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl
Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva are three very different girls who all meet the same bad boy with an irresistible knack for getting into their blood and under their skin. Will the choices they make and the paths they take lead them where they want to go?

It’s been compared to both Judy Blume’s Forever (which features in the book) and to the Vagina Monologues. Sound intriguing? It is.

The Q&A
Here’s my question for Tanya…

I’m dying to ask about Mandy Patinkin, but I’ll be good and ask a book-related question instead. I read your post about the best thing that can happen to a non-fiction writer over at I.N.K. (which was SO awesome, by the way) – so, as someone who also writes fiction, what would be the best thing that could happen to you related to that?

And her answer…

Well, there are two best things—and they’ve happened! The first, hands-down, are the readers who write to me. There’s no feeling in the world that compares to knowing that someone connected with something you wrote for them. And the trust that the teens show me who write in can’t be beat. Those emails make me tear up.

The second thing was meeting one of my heroes—Judy Blume. You could have mopped the floor with me when I found out we were going to meet for lunch. And the best part was—she was as absolutely cool as I had imagined she would be.

And Tanya’s question for me…

Okay, Kimberly—your turn! I have two questions for you. Where, oh where, did you get that fabuloso hat you’re sporting in your author pic? And, when oh when, do you find time to sleep? With all you do, you’re like the energizer bunny! Give the woman a Standing Ovation! (hands clapping wildly in cyber-space)

And my answer…

LOL, well, the hat I actually got at an art show. I wish I could remember the name of the lady I got it from; she made AWESOME hats. It was my Kentucky Derby hat (we lived in Louisville briefly). Isn’t it a cool hat? People should wear hats more. I’ve actually collected hats (mostly old) since I was a teenager. I don’t wear them too often though. Not enough opportunities.

As for sleep…lately, it’s catch as catch can! I’m behind on EVERYTHING since the baby was born (he’s 5 1/2 months old now and the cutest little peanut you can imagine). I can tell you, I sure don’t feel like the Energizer Bunny!

The Giveaway

So, If you haven’t read A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl yet, now you’ve got the perfect chance. To win a copy, all you have to do is go visit Tanya’s site and then email me at kim @ kimberlypauley.com with the subject line “Go Tanya! Go Girls!” and tell me…why did Tanya don thigh-high rubber boots? (Hint: look on the Biography page). Remember to enter by September 5th!!

And don’t forget to check out the main Book Launch Contest Info post for all the details and links! Seriously. You want that monster prize pack. Trust me.