(Author of Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee)
*During the summer of 2016, I added this feature to the blog which was called "Season #ONE". This first season ran from June of 2016 to March of 2017.
*I started up the interviews again in June of 2017. It was great to get back to Season #TWO. This season ran throughout the summer.
*Season #THREE ran during the school year of 2017/2018.
*The next season (season #FOUR) of interviews took place during the summer and fall of 2018. With each interview I became more and more impressed with the authors I was having interactions with.
*I started up the interviews again in June of 2017. It was great to get back to Season #TWO. This season ran throughout the summer.
*Season #THREE ran during the school year of 2017/2018.
*The next season (season #FOUR) of interviews took place during the summer and fall of 2018. With each interview I became more and more impressed with the authors I was having interactions with.
*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.
*This is the EIGHTH interview of what I'm calling Season #FIVE.
*Thank you to Jeff Zentner for being the Seventy-Ninth author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.
*Here are links to the first Seventy-Eight interviews…
SEASON #ONE
SEASON #TWO
Interview#38 with Terri Libenson (Author of Invisible Emmie)
Interview#39 with Tony Abbott (Author of The Summer of Owen Todd)
Interview #40 with Rob Buyea (Author of The Perfect Score)
Interview#39 with Tony Abbott (Author of The Summer of Owen Todd)
Interview #40 with Rob Buyea (Author of The Perfect Score)
SEASON #FOUR
Interview #54 with Jonathan Auxier (Author of Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster)
Interview #55 with Sharon Creech (Author of Saving Winslow)
Interview #56 with Stacy McAnulty (Author of The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl)
Interview #57 with Kelly Yang (Author of Front Desk)
Interview #58 with Jennifer A. Nielsen (Author of Resistance)
Interview 59 with Christina Collins (Author of After Zero)
Interview #60 with Eric Walters (Author of Elephant Secrets)
Interview #61 with Phil Bildner (Author of The Rip and Red Series)
Interview #62 with Erin Soderberg (Author of Milla in Charge)
Interview #63 with Laura Shovan (Author of Take Down)
Interview #64 with Donna Gephart (Author of In Your Shoes)
Interview #65 with Alan Gratz (Author of Grenade)
Interview #66 with Barbara O'Connor (Author of Wonderland)
Interview #67 with Lindsey Stoddard (Author of Just Like Jackie)
Interview #68 with Katherine Marsh (Author of Nowhere Boy)
Interview #69 with Dusti Bowling (Author of 24 Hours in Nowhere)
Interview #70 with Christina Uss (Author of The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle)
Interview #71 with Adam P. Schmitt (Author of Speechless)
SEASON #FIVE
Interview #72 with Dan Gemeinhart (Author of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise)
Interview #73 with Abby Cooper (Author of Sticks and Stones)
Interview #74 with Abby Cooper (Author of Bubbles)
Interview #75 with Abby Cooper (Author of Friend or Fiction)
Interview #76 with Padma Venkatraman (Author of The Bridge Home)
Interview #77 with Anne Ursu (Author of The Lost Girl)
Interview #78 with Corey Ann Haydu (Author of Eventown)
*I absolutely adore Jeff Zentner novels. When I read The Serpent King I was blown away. I didn't think it could get much better than that story. Then Jeff wrote The Goodbye Days and he ruined me emotionally. Those are two novels that I tell everyone to read. I was thrilled when I found out Jeff had written a third novel. He was awesome and sent me an ARC of the book to share with my #bookexpedition group.
*After finishing the new story, I reached out to Jeff to ask if he would be willing to do another interview with me. He was kind enough and did two previous interviews with me about the first two novels. I think Jeff is the first author that I've featured three times on the blog.
*After finishing the new story, I reached out to Jeff to ask if he would be willing to do another interview with me. He was kind enough and did two previous interviews with me about the first two novels. I think Jeff is the first author that I've featured three times on the blog.
*Jeff Zentner was kind, gracious, and giving with his answers to the questions. It is an honor to post his responses here on the blog.
*Thank you Jeff for writing this book...
Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee
by Jeff Zentner (February 26, 2019)
How did you come to know Delia and Josie?
One Saturday night, I came home and flipped on the TV and started channel surfing. I ended up on my local public access station, which was showing a show called Midnite Mausoleum, in which two young women hosted a horror movie. It was so homemade and utterly delightful. The two girls looked like they were having a ball doing it. They were from rural Iowa, and here I was watching their labor of love. I wanted to get to know the kind of people who make a show like that, and the way I get to know people who fascinate me is to write about them. That’s how Delia and Josie were born.
I think it has to be their unconditional love for one another. They’re going to be best friends for life, through thick and thin.
Is there anything you wish they would have changed or done differently in their story?
Anyone who seen how many tattoos I have knows that I’m not big on entertaining regrets. So no, I don’t think there’s anything I would’ve done differently or had them do differently. That’s not to say that I think it’s a perfect book; it’s just the best that I could do.
What do you think the two girls can offer to other young adults that are experiencing similar situations to what they went through?
You have to live your life for yourself. You can’t live it for anyone else. If you’re shining your light for someone else, you’re always going to be unhappy. That means that you have to pursue your destiny, even if it means going separate directions from a dear friend.
How did you research the girls and the circumstances they found themselves in?
One of the reasons I write about what I write about is that it doesn’t require a ton of research. I have a day job keeps me very busy, so don’t have a lot of time for research. I did, however, do some research into the world of public access television, by interviewing a friend who directed a public access show.
Do you and the girls share any similarities?
Both of the girls are intensely loyal to each other. I’m intensely loyal to my friends. Delia has abandonment issues; I have abandonment issues. Josie believes she’s destined to reach people; I always believe that about myself.
What was the hardest scene to write about them?
The two girls don’t fight much, but it was always painful to write the few times that they did fight. I love them both and I know how much it hurts them to fight.
Who do you think was their biggest supporter and why?
I think Delia’s mom is the girls’ biggest supporter. Josie has a good support network, so she doesn’t need quite as much help as Delia. Delia’s mother is really all she has.
Why do you think some young adults can remain true friends no matter what happens to either of them, while other friends drift apart for “minuscule” reasons and can’t seem to find their way back to each other?
I think the young adults who stay friends for the long term are the ones who really work on their relationship. They talk about real issues of importance to them and develop a real emotional intimacy that survives the distance that normally drives a wedge between friendships.
What do you think Delia and Josie are doing as the present time?
Without offering too many spoilers, I think they’re shining their lights and pursuing their dreams.
The two girls don’t fight much, but it was always painful to write the few times that they did fight. I love them both and I know how much it hurts them to fight.
Who do you think was their biggest supporter and why?
I think Delia’s mom is the girls’ biggest supporter. Josie has a good support network, so she doesn’t need quite as much help as Delia. Delia’s mother is really all she has.
Why do you think some young adults can remain true friends no matter what happens to either of them, while other friends drift apart for “minuscule” reasons and can’t seem to find their way back to each other?
I think the young adults who stay friends for the long term are the ones who really work on their relationship. They talk about real issues of importance to them and develop a real emotional intimacy that survives the distance that normally drives a wedge between friendships.
What do you think Delia and Josie are doing as the present time?
Without offering too many spoilers, I think they’re shining their lights and pursuing their dreams.
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