Simmone Howell Week

This week I will be shining the Persnickety Snark spotlight on the Australian author, Simmone Howell. I am very excited to host Simmone as my very first author and am extra pleased that it is a fellow Aussie. Her books are terrific with biting dialogue, well crafted characters and most importantly, tons of humour.

Simmone is the award winning writer behind - Notes from the Teenage Underground and Everything Beautiful (review).

Notes from the Teenage Underground was Simmone's debut novel. It won her the 2007 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for YA Fiction and the 2007 Gold Inky, Inside a Dog’s teenage choice awards.

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Gem feels as if she's beginning to drift away from her best friends, Lo and Mira, with whom she's formed an alliance against the "sucker peers" they call "barcodes." In the spirit of Andy Warhol and his Happenings, Gem comes up with the idea to make an edgy film to screen at an underground party, she thinks this project will bring the three girls back together again. As scriptwriting and production begins, however, she starts to feel that the project is getting out of control. When Lo and Mira plan a series of final-exam pranks without her, Lo rewrites Gem's admittedly heavy-handed but heartfelt script, and Mira hooks up with her crush, Gem knows it's time to break ties with her so-called best friends.

Simmone's second novel is Everything Beautiful.

Summary: Riley Rose, atheist and bad girl, has been tricked into attending Spirit Ranch, a Christian camp. There she meets Dylan Kier, alumni camper and recent paraplegic, who arrives with a chip on his shoulder and a determination to perfect all of his bad habits. United in their personal suffering and in their irritation at their fellow campers, they turn the camp inside out as they question the meaning of belief systems, test their faith in each other, and ultimately settle a debate of the heart.

There are a few sites you should check out:
Simmone's Website (check out the pretty the graphics)
Simmone's new blog
NFTU website complete with competition

Without further ado, here's Simmone take on the Persnickety Snark Author Snapshot:-

1. Which book is memorable from your teen years?

I have to say Lace by Shirley Conran, a doorstop potboiler about four finishing school girls. One of them has a baby in secret and they all work to support the child. But then the war happens and the child is lost and later turns up as an ingénue of questionable reputation, who seeks out the women in order to ask the question: which one of you bitches is my mother? My favourite character was Pagan, the ‘carelessly marvellous’ daughter of broke rich folk. There was a mini-series at the time starring Phoebe Cates. It had French Chateaus and swarthy Arabian princes and fat farms and sex scenes. Not necessarily in that order.

2. Describe your high school English teacher in three words...

...cranky, sarky, smart

3. Your book of the moment?

NON FIC: How to be Free by Tom Hodgkinson. Sample chapters: Throw away your watch, Get out of the city, Be a Happy Wanderer, Stop moaning and Be Merry.

FICTION: I have just started Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar. From the back: “elegant werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, friendly werewolves, homicidal werewolves, fashionista werewolves, warriors, punks, cross-dressers, musicians …” It’s a big book, so I’m taking it slowly.

(Adele - sounds like a cross between Underworld and Velvet Goldmine! Fabulous)

4. What do you use to mark your page when reading?

I am a page-turner-downer. But I’m trying not to be. Unfortunately all I can ever seem to find to mark pages are receipts and used tissues.

5. Favourite place to read?

In bed.

6. Favourite book store?

City Basement Books in Elizabeth Street or Sybers Books in Windsor.

This is Simmone Howell Week so make sure you drop by in the next few days for an interview and guest blog. Thanks to Simmone for gracing me with her presence!