Welcome to the FFBC: Finding Felicity by Stacey Kade-- Interview & Giveaway

Finding Felicity

by Stacey Kade
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 20, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:

Caroline Sands has never been particularly good at making friends. And her parents’ divorce and the move to Arizona three years ago didn’t help. Being the new girl is hard enough without being socially awkward too. So out of desperation and a desire to please her worried mother, Caroline invented a whole life for herself—using characters from Felicity, an old show she discovered online and fell in love with.

But now it’s time for Caroline to go off to college and she wants nothing more than to leave her old “life” behind and build something real. However, when her mother discovers the truth about her manufactured friends, she gives Caroline an ultimatum: Prove in this first semester that she can make friends of the nonfictional variety and thrive in a new environment. Otherwise, it’s back to living at home—and a lot of therapy.

Armed with nothing more than her resolve and a Felicity-inspired plan, Caroline accepts the challenge. But she soon realizes that the real world is rarely as simple as television makes it out to be. And to find a place where she truly belongs, Caroline may have to abandon her script and take the risk of being herself.

You guys!!!  I can't even convey how excited I am about this tour!!  Stacey Kade is seriously one of my favorite authors of EVER.  I mean, The Ghost and the Goth anyone???  I was so excited to get to talk to Stacey about herself and this book-- and now I get to share it with you:



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Favorite Book?


Oh, gosh. It’s impossible to pick just one! If you’re going based on the number of times I’ve read the book, it would have to be Pride & Prejudice.


Favorite TV show?

At the moment, I’m eagerly awaiting Season two of Jessica Jones. I don’t really have a favorite show that I’ll watch over and over again, except Friends.


Favorite movie?

Too many to choose from! The first one that pops to mind is Galaxy Quest.


Your Favorite Song?

At the moment, it’s Mama’s Broken Heart by Miranda Lambert. I love the lyrics! Particularly this: “Leave it to me to be the holding the matches, when the fire trucks show up and there’s nobody else to blame.” Yeah. I feel that.


Favorite Food?

Culver’s Butterburger with fries.


Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.

Pemberly (Darcy’s home in Pride & Prejudice)
Misselthewaite Manor (the big creepy house in The Secret Garden)
The U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-D (Star Trek: the Next Generation)


What were your favorite books when you were growing up?


This Place has No Atmosphere by Paula Danziger.
Royal Pain by Ellen Conford.
Strangers by Dean Koontz
And, of course, Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews.

I’d like to point out that YA as it is now did not exist back then. ;)


Favorite Quote?


“So here we go, you and me. Because what else are we going to do? Say no? Say no to an opportunity that may be slightly out of our comfort zone? Quiet our voice because we are worried it is not perfect? I believe great people do things before they are ready.” –Amy Poehler, Yes Please


What are you doing for fun when you aren’t writing?

Knitting! I’ve just learned how in the last couple of years, and I’m always searching for fun projects that are still within my newbie capabilities. So far, I’ve done scarves, fingerless gloves, and cowls. I’m moving on to hats next year, I think!


What recent book would you recommend to our YA fans?

Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm! Oh, I loved this book. My cheeks ached from smiling by the time I was finished!



ABOUT THE BOOK:


Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about FINDING FELICITY?

FINDING FELICITY is about Caroline Sands, a girl who, after moving to a new town in high school, makes up a whole social life based on an old show she finds online and loves—Felicity. She adores that Felicity can be her awkward, sometimes embarrassing, self and people still love her for it, when that has never been the case in Caroline’s own life.

Caroline’s fake social life comes crashing down when her mother throws her a surprise graduation party, and no one comes. Her mother is worried about her and thinks she should stay home. But Caroline is desperate to leave her hometown and reinvent herself at college to find a real version of the friends she invented in high school.


Can you tell us a little bit about Caroline??  What are her faves, what would she wear to class, etc?

Her faves: her laptop, her vintage Keri Russell poster, her Netflix and Hulu subscriptions, and her favorite comforter at home, which might be covered in accidental popcorn grease splotches.

Caroline is deeply internal. Sometimes she speaks without thinking, but more often she’s thinking too hard before speaking. Always trying to anticipate reactions before she opens her mouth. Caroline is probably more like me than any other character I’ve ever written. (I maaaay have tried to script out conversations ahead of time in high school. )

She would wear to class whatever she thinks should be wearing, based on what everyone else does. In fact, there’s a throwaway line about that in the book. When Caroline first goes to class at Ashmore, she’s stunned to find people in pajamas and flip flops. No more dressing to impress like in high school.


So, I have to ask some things to do with Felicity!!  Are you TEAM BEN or TEAM NOEL??  Do you have a favorite episode?  What did you think about the haircut heard around the world?

--Team Ben or Team Noel is a complicated question, for which I have a complicated answer! At 22, when I first saw the show, I was very much Team Ben. Like, Noel who?

Now that I’m *ahem* older, I think she should have left Ben in the dust and snapped Noel up so fast that his geeky head would have spun.

It sounds terrible, but Ben was too preoccupied with his own issues, at least at the beginning, to be a good partner in a relationship. I mean, let’s be real, you’re in bed and gross with the flu—who is bringing you soup, tissues, and a cool book to read? And who says he’ll bring you soup and doesn’t show up? You see what I mean?

--I have two favorite episodes! The pilot, just because I feel like you can’t beat your introduction to Felicity Porter, particularly the moment when she asks Ben to sign her yearbook. And the really strange Twilight Zone-homage episode, Help for the Lovelorn (S2, Ep11), where we learn what Meghan’s been keeping in that box she carries around.

--All right. The haircut. I hated it. Mainly because I felt like that was such a superficial way to show her changing. Yep, she’s impulsive—uh, following Ben to New York after one conversation—but I felt like this was supposed to be “meaningful” in some way and it fell flat for me.

Then it was made worse when I read an interview with J.J. Abrams (yep, for those who did not already know, the new Star Wars guy created Felicity!) and his rationale for writing in the script was that he and another writer had talked to a bunch of college girls, and that was what they seemed to be most preoccupied with—whether or not they should cut their hair. So, that’s what they had Felicity do. Ugh.


Tell us your favorite quote from FINDING FELICITY.

“No one has it all figured it out. Some people are just better at faking it than others.” Lexi says this to Caroline toward the end of the book, and I think it’s so true.

AND

“Never trust anyone who likes icebreakers. If that’s not a bumper sticker or a fridge magnet, it should be.” Caroline’s observation, which happens to match with my opinion. Icebreakers are the worst for introverts like me/us.


What 3 hashtags would you most associate with your book? (Could be a word or phrase or anything that would instantly make you think of FINDING FELICITY.)

#queenofawkward
#icebreakersareevil
#vomitstall


If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for  FINDING FELICITY – Which one would you pick? 

Human by Christina Perri


Is there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read FINDING FELICITY (specific music, snacks…)? 

For the perfect mood, some microwave popcorn for that dorm-living experience, a playlist that includes angsty late nineties songs (hello, Sarah Maclachlan), and—if you can manage it—a sullen roommate glaring at you from the opposite end of the couch.


Which character (from any of your books) would you most want to hang out with and why?

That is a tough question! I think I’d like to hang out with Alona and Will from The Ghost and the Goth series. Writing them made me laugh—they were so snippy with each other even though that attitude masked other, deeper feelings. I think it would be fun to see that in person. And, as a born people-pleaser who has trouble speaking up for herself or handling conflict, I admire Alona’s take-no-prisoners attitude. There’s a good chance that Alona would say something snarky, and I’d get my feelings hurt.  Oh, well, life is risk, and I’m willing to chance it.


What’s next for you? 

So many things! I have several YA ideas that I’m really excited about, and I just turned in a draft of an adult sci-fi thriller, something well outside my comfort zone. But fingers crossed! :D


Thank you so much Stacey!!  We are SO excited about your book!!

Thank you for having me!

The daughter of a minister and a music teacher, Stacey Kade grew up reading Harlequin romances on the sly in the basement. Kade is the author of two young adult series (The Ghost and Goth trilogy and the Project Paper Doll series). Her first adult contemporary romance, 738 DAYS, was released earlier this year.

Prior to writing full time, Kade worked as an award-winning copywriter for several Fortune 500 companies. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Greg, and their two retired racing greyhounds.

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