Friday, January 11, 2019

Pretty in Punxsutawney by Laurie Boyle Crompton-- Author Interview & Giveaway


Pretty In Punxsutawney by Laurie Boyle Crompton
Publisher: BLINK
Release Date: January 15, 2019
Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:
A mashup of Groundhog Day and Pretty in Pink, the book stars a senior who is forced to relive the first day at her new school in an endless loop. Andie is convinced she needs true love's kiss to break the curse, but instead discovers how a high school filled with cliques and misfits can find common ground despite everyone's differences. Publication is set for January 2019.


  • I am so excited to have Laurie Boyle Crompton here today to answer some of my Q's!!  I've been a fan of this author ever since I read BLAZE many years ago.  The fact that her books are mostly set in the area around where I live (Western PA) is a major bonus!!  I can't wait to dive into PRETTY IN PUNXSUTAWNEY-- not only do I LOVE Groundhog's Day stories, but Pretty in Pink is also a fave!!  I can't wait to see how these 2 stories blend!
  • Now, on the the interview:




If you could go back and tell your YA self one thing, what would it be? 

I would say to embrace the weird and awkward parts of yourself! It can be tempting to try to fit in and feel ‘normal,’ but there’s nothing extraordinary in striving to be ordinary! The fact that you crave alone time doesn’t make you a freak, it makes you an introvert and that will help you fulfill your dream of becoming an author. Oh, and also, your writing is your superpower!
(I actually wrote an extended letter to my teen self, archived on my old blog here:https://lboylecrompton.livejournal.com/54073.html )


Are there any specific days in your life that you’d like to live again (maybe just because it was awesome!!  Or because you’d like a re-do)? 

I like the idea of having a re-do opportunity! What a fun idea! The very first date I went on with my husband was a series of small errors which ultimately led to his keys locked in his car and us taking a taxi-ride to his house to get the spare key. Since my curfew was approaching, the taxi driver dropped me off at home on the way back to unlock the car and we awkwardly said goodbye to each other in front of the cab driver. I told my friends the next day that if the guy ever called me again it would be a miracle. Of course, he did, and now twenty-five years of marriage later, I guess I wouldn’t redo a single thing about that night!! So I guess I’d pick reliving the stressful/wonderful day that I sold my first book.


What were your favorite books in elementary/middle school? 

I was a Judy Blume fan all the way, but I also fell in love with Stephen King’s books at an inappropriately young age. JB would convince me that I wasn’t alone in feeling like an outcast and growing up, and SK would convince me I wasn’t alone period and needed to sleep with the lights on all night! Seriously, Pet Semetary had me checking under my bed for months and I didn’t actually find clowns creepy at all before reading It. I read one of King’s short stories aloud to my class as an assignment for speech class one day and will never forget how much I shocked everyone.


I live about 20 miles from Punxsy— did you visit the town in order to write this book?  Also, I noticed BLAZE lived in Butler— do you have ties to Western Pennsylvania (and are you a Steeler fan????) 

I grew up in Butler, PA which is about an hour north of Pittsburgh and so in other words, OF COURSE I’m a terrible-towel-waving Steeler fan to the core! My step-father had season tickets to the Penguins and our high school band played during intermission at a Pirate game once, so I’m black and gold through and through. Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, I couldn’t wait to run off to start a new life in New York, and now here I am all these years later writing books that take place in Western PA. Ha! I love rural settings and while New York has been my home longer then Butler ever was, I need to get myself into the woods from time to time in order to reconnect with my true self.


Do you have any favorite Groundhog’s Day-type books or movies? (I read 2 books this past year that had characters reliving the same day over and over— and they’re definitely making my 2018 favorites list). 

For me the gold-standard of Groundhog’s Day-type stories is the original Groundhog’s Day movie starring Bill Murray. It’s just so perfect! Murray’s Phil has the most gorgeous character arc with him growing from a full-on jerk to the sweet, thoughtful and well-rounded guy he becomes in the end. It is a testimony to his loveable charm that we willingly invest ourselves in the story of a guy who is so selfish and terrible to the people around him at the start of the movie! Of course, the humor hooks us in and it isn’t long before we’re all rooting for him to wake up, change his ways and win the girl!


What are your 3 favorite books that you read in the past year? 

Danny Gregory’s book The Creative License
The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
And She Was by Jessica Verdi





Laurie Boyle Crompton is the YA author of the upcoming PRETTY IN PUNXSUTAWNEY (Blink/HarperCollins 2019) as well as ADRENALINE CRUSH (Macmillan/2014, Square Fish/2016), BLAZE (or Love in the Time of Supervillains), THE REAL PROM QUEENS OF WESTFIELD HIGH and LOVE AND VANDALISM (Sourcebooks/2013, 2014, 2017). Growing up in ‘Pennsyltucky’ in the 1980s, Laurie couldn't wait to escape rural life. After saving up her tips from waitressing at a local greasy spoon at 18 she packed up her acid wash jeans and moved to NY. Where everyone else had stopped wearing acid wash.

She graduated first in her class from St. John’s University with a BA in English and Journalism. Since then she’s written for national magazines like ALLURE, survived a teaching stint at an all-boy high school, and appeared on Good Day New York several times as a Toy Expert. And yes, ‘toy expert’ is an actual profession. Really.

She has lived in places like Orlando, Florida where she and her husband spent all of their spare time and money visiting theme parks before moving to the Cotswolds in England for six months, which was every bit as cool as that sounds. The Cromptons are now back in New York where their two children resent never going to Disney.

Laurie occasionally enjoys hanging out in fields of blooming flowers
and also refering to herself in the third person.






  • 5 finished copies of PRETTY IN PUNXSUTAWNEY by Laurie Boyle Crompton
  • US Only
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2 comments:

  1. Oooh, this one sounds so good! I LOVE Pretty in Pink, so a book with those vibes sounds right up my alley!

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  2. As a child of the 80s, I loved the sound of this book and am looking forward to reading it with my teenage daughter! Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy!

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