This is a brand new feature for the blog! This is where I ask publishing professionals (authors, marketers, and bloggers) some awesome questions!

Today I am happy to have Sara Benincasa on the blog! She is the author of Great, a book I absolutely loved myself, check out my review here. Without further ado, here is Sara!


1. Explain what part of the Publishing world you are a part of (ie. Publisher, Author,

Blogger etc.)

I'm an author. I wrote a memoir called "Agorafabulous!: Dispatches From My Bedroom." And my new book, "Great," is a YA novel inspired by "The Great Gatsby" but with teen girls in the Hamptons in 2014.


2. Who is your favourite author of all time, and why?

I just think Neil Gaiman is the freaking best. It does not get any better in my world. Love, love, love all his stuff.


3. Who would you chose to play you in the movie depicting your life?

The late, great John Candy, obviously.


4. What was/is your favourite candy or snack from your childhood?

I was big into Reese's Pieces. I heard they invented them for "E.T." but that might be apocrypha.


5. Who is your favorite fictional character, and why?

Ooh, tough one. Gandalf is pretty rad. Then again, so is Young Pete from The Adventures of Pete & Pete. 


6. Do you have a TV show that is your guilty pleasure? If so which one is it?

I love "Bar Rescue" on Spike TV and I have zero guilt about it. I am obsessed. Host/executive producer Jon Taffer is the world's greatest bar consultant AND LIFE CONSULTANT.


7. Do you have a bucket list? If she what is one item on that list?

I do not have a bucket list. I could die at any moment, and I won't regret not having gone skydiving. I just hope I don't freak anyone out when I die. Oh and I hope my funeral isn't too awkward or boring for anyone.


8. Are you a Mac or PC

I am a Mac, a 2010 Macbook Pro, actually.


9. Do you have a favourite fictional couple?

Miss Piggy and Kermit really make it happen for me. As for a couple I've created, I do love Skags and Jenni, the couple on the periphery of "Great." I'd like to give those girls their own story.


10. What is your most anticipated movie you cannot wait to see, and why?

I'm not actually a huge movie buff, but I'd love to see the film adaptation of "Sandman" that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is attached to executive produce.


11. What season is your favourite, and why?

I do love the spring. It used to be the fall, as that's when my Scorpio birthday falls. But I take such joy in the spring. Of course, here in Southern California, it's sort of always summer.


12. If you could do any profession, other than your own for a day, which would it be and why?

I would be a rocket scientist as I've always wondered what it might be like to be good at mathematics and science.


13. Who was your first ever concert?

Oh, I went to see Debbie Gibson on the Electric Youth tour. It was so loud that I cried and my mother got me earplugs.


14. Where is your favourite reading spot, and why?

I like to read on the couch, or in bed. I don't read as much as I should! I spend so much time writing and I don't think I spend enough time reading.


15. Did you have a nickname as a child? If she what was it?

The kids on the bus called me Medusa back in fifth grade. They said I was so ugly I could turn men to stone. Also, my hair was curly, which passed for ethnic in Flemington, NJ. Thank God I grew up to be a stone-cold FOXXXXXXXXXX.


16. What posters did you hang on your wall when you were younger?

I'm sure there were some Tiger Beat-related posters of Jonathan Taylor Thomas at some point in time.


17. What is your favourite genre to read, and why?

I like narrative nonfiction and graphic novels.


18. If you could describe yourself as a potato chip flavour, why would it be and why?

I would be BBQ Chicken Fried Awesome, which is also what I hope is on my tombstone.


19. Do you agree with the notion that over time, ebooks will eliminate print books?

I think that print books will eventually become popular among the folks who cannot afford e-readers. They will also become popular among the wealthy, who will show off their libraries of actual print books to their fancy friends. And the wide swath of folks in between will just use e-readers.


20. What book are you most looking forward to reading this year?

I hope to read Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" finally. I know it's not a 2014 book but I still haven't gotten around to it.


BONUS!

Who would you love to see fill out this survey? Mary Todd Lincoln, just because that would be quite a feat.

About Sara:


Sara Benincasa is an award-winning comedian and author of the book "Agorafabulous!", from William Morrow (a division of HarperCollins), a book based on her critically acclaimed solo show about panic attacks and agoraphobia. She blogs for Jezebel and XOJane. Sara is currently working on her second and third books, both YA novels. "Great" will be released in the United States in April 2014; the ARC is currently available via Edelweiss.

To Follow Sara Benincasa:

Twitter | Facebook | Website | Tumblr| YouTube




About Great:

Everyone loves a good scandal.

Naomi Rye usually dreads spending the summer with her socialite mother in East Hampton. This year is no different. She sticks out like a sore thumb among the teenagers who have been summering (a verb only the very rich use) together for years. But Naomi finds herself captivated by her mysterious next-door neighbor, Jacinta. Jacinta has her own reason for drawing close to Naomi-to meet the beautiful and untouchable Delilah Fairweather. But Jacinta's carefully constructed world is hiding something huge, a secret that could undo everything. And Naomi must decide how far she is willing to be pulled into this web of lies and deception before she is unable to escape.

Based on a beloved classic and steeped in Sara Benincasa's darkly comic voice, Great has all the drama, glitz, and romance with a terrific modern (and scandalous) twist to enthrall readers.