A.S. King Talks about PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ

Sara interviews author Amy (A.S.) King about her recently released second book, PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ. (First book, DUST OF 100 DOGS, is one of my favorites. I've devoured both.)

Do you realize this is a seriously awesome book?
You know, maybe this time I had a feeling it was a bit special because I said, “If  this is the last book I ever publish, I’ll be happy.” Then again, for a long time before I said that, I thought it was stupid. It’s like ping pong, isn’t it?

What sort of responses have you gotten from readers?

So far, it’s been pretty overwhelmingly great. I mean, from readers and from critics. Mostly, people seem to really connect with Vera and feel that “she could be my best friend.” I love that because I feel the same way about her. It’s got three starred reviews so far—from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and Booklist, so that kinda indicates that it might rock and could have a chance at a nice life. I mean, if the chain stores would actually stock it.

How much of Vera’s experiences are based on your own pizza delivery days?

Well, the ins and outs are certainly based on my experiences. Folding boxes, washing dishes, doing prep work, filling the cooler and mopping the floor. Also, driving around with pizzas and delivering them to an array of stunningly bizarre human beings. And the stupid baseball hats we had to wear. But outside of that, nothing. Okay. The concussion too. But the story behind it is completely different. Kinda. But yeah, that’s all. The rest is completely made up in my head. I never drank like Vera did. I chain-smoked and ate too many $100,000 bars.  

What’s your all-time favorite pizza? Or did you get sick of them after delivering so many?

I hated pizza then because of the obvious—I smelled like pizza all the time. But now, I’d take a Sicilian with extra cheese and pineapples and extra crispy crust or a white pizza from this little place down in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Best white pizza I ever had.

What was your best pizza delivery experience? Your worst?

Best = $20 tip from nice family who had like 15+ pizzas delivered to a huge birthday party.

Worst = tie between the guy cleaning his gun, the half-naked guy (bottom half), the guy with the roaches on his kitchen table when we eventually had to call the cops, or the guy with the Nazi flags. You choose.

What age range of readers do you have? (I devoured DUST OF 100 DOGS without having any idea it was young adult – recommended for 14 and up, right?)

I write for all ages and all genders from about 14 and up. So I have fans as young as 12 and fans as old as 94. All genders, races, sexual orientations and religions.

Did anyone give you any flak over having chapters from the pagoda’s viewpoint? (PHOTO BY MATTHEW SMITH)
Not yet. I like the pagoda mostly because people from here in the area (you know the pagoda is a reality, right? in my local town?) might get turned off by Vera’s dislike of it and the pagoda sticks up for itself. “Just who are you calling a monstrosity?” I love that. But no. No flak yet. I’m sure it’ll come along any minute, though.

Was it odd writing from the viewpoint of a male (Vera’s dad, and Charlie)?

Not at all. I’m a really gender-neutral person. I know that probably sounds all wrong, but I also know that you, Sara, know EXACTLY what I mean. My next book is entirely from the male POV too, so no, I don’t find it odd. It’s not that I’m not feminine. I am. I’m just the kind of feminine that can wire your house and hates shopping.

Is it true that you got dropped on your head and knocked unconscious as Vera does?

Yes. Unconscious for only a few moments. I had a horrible concussion—lump like a baseball on my forehead. Still have the [reduced-in-size] lump on my head. You can touch it for $10. All proceeds will go to some group that fights haters like the wanker who dropped me on my head.

In the writing of PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ – did it flow out much as it is now? Or did you move around perspectives and events and timeline?

You know, I had to answer this question last week and it was only then that I realized it pretty much came out this way. I mean—some stuff had to get moved a little, but all in all, it came out very close to this order. That said, MANY things inside the story had to be honed and fixed and fleshed out. My editor was amazing at finding those things and pointing at them. To be more specific, my characters are often sketches at first, so she was great at asking me to be more specific in the right places.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing life, and how you squeeze in writing novels between working as a contractor and rearing children?

My writing life is a bit insane until my youngest gets into school full-time. Though lately, thanks to the economy, it’s a bit better because not many people are renovating their homes. That means more time for me to write. But it also means less money. So, luckily, we have our old self-sufficiency budgeting skills to fall back on. I am extremely lucky to have a husband who does everything the way I can do everything when he is off doing cabinetmaking work full-time. We are interchangeable and it makes a huge difference, because when I’m writing I barely manage to shower and brush my teeth. I certainly wouldn’t be able to remember a karate lesson or to send in a pre-school snack.

How much of your writing time goes to writing, and how much to editing, promotion, and other publishing-related activities?

Sigh. Big freaking sigh. This is changing as more books get out there. The summer was 70% editing book three, 20% trying to re-organize book four so I can start writing it again, and 10% promotion and getting ready to launch VERA. The last two months have been 50% editing and 45% VERA promotion and 5% wishing I could be writing. Once this book three is done, I will be very happy because I can start working on four…well, until copyedits come…in November or so. Which is…uh…next month. Shit. Can I say that on your blog? Shit.

On the serious side – this book deals with parental abandonment, friendships gone wrong, betrayal, and other painful and awkward real-to-life topics. Do you get some blowback from adults over this? If so, what do they object to (without giving away your plot) – and do teens ever object?

So far, I’ve received a lot of compliments more than anything. About BEING REAL. About talking about the stuff that’s really facing teens and parents. About looking bad parenting right in the eye. About openly discussing domestic violence, which is still happening on your block and mine because something is WRONG and no one is TALKING ABOUT IT. Which is what Vera Dietz is here to do.

Teens so far have been blown away by the characters—that’s the biggest response I get. Just the love for either Vera or Charlie or both. Adults, so far—and keep in mind most of my adult feedback has been from academics, librarians, teachers, psychologists and trade critics— have stayed positive.

But considering I’ve been approached by crazies in the past—you know, “You are going to rot in hell for using the words bullshit and whore” (apparently, she did not get all that far into the book)—I’m sure I will get objections over talking about the truth of the world. Most people who talk about the truth to teens get flak somewhere along the line. But like Vera, I just could never figure out what’s so great about lying to teenagers. Most of them are smarter than we are.

In closing - could you tell us anything about your third book, EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS?

ANTS is about a bullied kid, Lucky Linderman, who mysteriously communicates with his MIA grandfather in Laos in order to help him solve a lot of the things that are wrong with his life. It’s due from Little, Brown in Fall 2011, we think. There are no flow charts this time. But there are ants.

Note from Sara: One of the nicest things you can do for this author - and yourself and for other people, because this is a great book that deserves lots of readers - is to call your local bookstore and ask them to order this book. Because for some bizarre reason the big chains chose not to stock it.