Synopsis:
Eva has always wanted to write a modern classic—one that actually appeals to her generation. The only problem is that she has realized she can't "write what she knows" because she hasn't yet begun to live. So before heading off to college, Eva is determined to get a life worth writing about.
Soon Eva's life encounters a few unexpected plot twists. She becomes a counselor at a nearby summer camp—a job she is completely unqualified for. She starts growing apart from her best friends before they've even left for school. And most surprising of all, she begins to fall for the last guy she would have ever imagined. But no matter the roadblocks, or writer's blocks, it is all up to Eva to figure out how she wants this chapter in her story to end.
Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell,Don't Ever Change is a witty, snarky, and thought-provoking coming-of-age young adult novel about a teen who sets out to write better fiction and, ultimately, discovers the truth about herself.
Woody Allen’s Manhattan, the Outback of Rocko’s Modern Life, and Hampden College (a take on Bennington College) from Donna Tartt’s novel, A Secret History.
“There’s something really sexy about Scrooge McDuck.” -- Alice Kinnon (Chloe Sevigny), Last Days of Disco.
Eva is a graduating senior obsessed with becoming a writer, but she doesn’t want to live – just record. Suggested she write what she know by a beloved teacher, Eva spends her summer before college as a camp counselor. She loses her friends, her cool, her mind… Needless to say, she should NOT be left alone with children. The novel is meant to be witty, charming, and hopefully self-reflexive for other such stubborn creatives.
Karoo, by Steve Tesich.
Absolutely Fabulous.
Stardust Memories.
Mighty Real, by Sylvester.
Seaweed. (true)
Steve Dunne (Campbell Scott) from the movie, Singles.
Kate Moss.
Bret Easton Ellis.
Buy books! Real ones with pages!
Hello Amanda! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.
Different writers have different capacities for imagination. I happen to have a very limited mind when it comes to “creating.” I like to look to my own memories, as they morph my experiences into works of fictions anyway. But yes, it’s difficult to write sincerely about things one hasn’t lived through, though there’s earnestness everywhere. Soulful energy is available to you as a writer. Tap into empathy and make it personal.
From selfish to slightly less selfish. From not at all self-aware to slightly more self-aware. It’s a small trip, but a poignant one.
The story is mine, fogged over and altered, of course, through a certain looking glass of time and meta-humor. I love reading while I’m writing, especially books that share a lineage and heart with mine. For this I read Girl, by Blake Nelson.
I don’t have one, haha, but here’s my best friend Ben’s: “Then he nudges me and I nudge him and we nudge each other back and forth until we’re playing our own charades game and the clue is FLIRTING.
Chapter 5: Great. That chapter was all about making myself laugh and imagining Eva at her most naïve and unhelpful.
“Here’s Where The Story Ends,” by The Sundays.
Yeah, watch or read Ghost World. It’s perfect and it’ll transport you to a land of unlikable but awesome female protagonists.
Obvious but SITTING DOWN TO WRITE. Sometimes just doing it feels impossible. I get too much into my head, wanting to be so epic but feeling too paralyzed to write a sentence.
It’s actually okay to quit.
Directing my first feature film, based on a script I co-wrote, called LADYWORLD.
Thank you so much for everything, Amanda!
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M. Beth Bloom is a novelist and a screenwriter. Her fiction has appeared in StoryQuarterly and Dave Eggers's Best American Nonrequired Reading series. She is also the author of Drain You. M. Beth lives in Los Angeles.
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I am super excited for this book! I love the idea of an aspiring writer needing to live before she can write. I always wonder how really young writers have the wisdom to write!
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