Interview with Lori Goldstein for Screen Queens

Screen Queens

by Lori Goldstein
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: June 11th 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

Synopsis:

The Bold Type meets The Social Network when three girls vying for prestigious summer internships through a startup incubator program uncover the truth about what it means to succeed in the male-dominated world of tech.

This summer Silicon Valley is a girls' club.

Three thousand applicants. An acceptance rate of two percent. A dream internship for the winning team. ValleyStart is the most prestigious high school tech incubator competition in the country. Lucy Katz, Maddie Li, and Delia Meyer have secured their spots. And they've come to win.

Meet the Screen Queens.

Lucy Katz was born and raised in Palo Alto, so tech, well, it runs in her blood. A social butterfly and CEO in-the-making, Lucy is ready to win and party.

East Coast designer, Maddie Li left her home and small business behind for a summer at ValleyStart. Maddie thinks she's only there to bolster her graphic design portfolio, not to make friends.

Delia Meyer taught herself how to code on a hand-me-down computer in her tiny Midwestern town. Now, it's time for the big leagues--ValleyStart--but super shy Delia isn't sure if she can hack it (pun intended).

When the competition kicks off, Lucy, Maddie, and Delia realize just how challenging the next five weeks will be. As if there wasn't enough pressure already, the girls learn that they would be the only all-female team to win ever. Add in one first love, a two-faced mentor, and an ex-boyfriend turned nemesis and things get...complicated.

Filled with humor, heart, and a whole lot of girl power, Screen Queens is perfect for fans of Morgan Matson, Jenny Han, and The Bold Type.

Can you briefly describe SCREEN QUEENS and their main characters? 

SCREEN QUEENS follows three high school graduates as they enter a technology competition in Silicon Valley in hopes of winning a prestigious internship at the hottest social media company in the world. But this being male-dominated Silicon Valley, they’re not just battling their fellow contenders but a culture of discrimination and harassment that forces them to bond together personally and professionally. Ambitious and driven Lucy grew up in Silicon Valley and lives in the shadow of her successful mom who has high expectations Lucy never seems able to meet. Sarcastic and aloof Maddie from Boston is a talented designer who enters the competition solely to boost her resume and has every intention of returning home to her little brother, the only person in her life she can open herself up to emotionally. Finally, shy and loyal Delia is a coding genius attending on a scholarship, desperate to have a future in the tech world, but whose lack of confidence makes her constantly compare herself to others and feel like she never measures up. 

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why? 

There’s no way to claim a favorite! This was my first time writing multiple points of view and I loved the experience, partly because I was able to find something in each girl that intrigued me and I loved the storytelling experience of seeing this competition from three very different perspectives. I love how genuine Delia is and how she looks to find the best in everyone around her. I admire Lucy’s no-holds-barred drive and total confidence in herself. And Maddie’s history of not quite fitting in and being wary of trusting others is something I think we can all relate to. Together they complement one another and create a strong foundation for their friendship. 

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere? 

I’m inspired by real life most of the time and that’s no different here. One of my favorite podcasts is called StartUp by Gimlet Media, which chronicles the issues faced by new businesses, especially tech-based ones. The second season centered on two women trying to grow their dating app. The struggles they encountered as female founders, things their male counterparts didn’t have to, affected me. Such as offers of funding from venture capitalists coming with the strings of dinner, drinks, or more attached. This led me to books like Brotopia by Emily Chang and articles in places like The Atlantic that offered deep insights into what it’s like to be a woman in the field of tech. The harassment and discrimination is a big part of the reason women leave the industry, which happened to a very good friend of mine who left her career as a coder. And it is also a barrier—among many barriers—for women entering the field. We all know that jobs in the future will be those related to tech, and we need to encourage more young women to consider this option from a young age, something I never did. 

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be? 

I think it would have to be Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You” as much for the song as for the great video for it. A runner up has to be Beyonce’s “Run the World,” name-checked in the book. 

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

First it would be super fun to see SCREEN QUEENS as a movie, wouldn’t it? As a huge Game of Thrones fan, I think Maisie Williams would make a great Lucy. I could see Janel Parrish from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and Pretty Little Liars as Maddie, and for Delia, Abigail Breslin (and not just because she was in the aptly named SCREAM Queens!). 

Summer is coming and we love to go out and enjoy the sun. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date? 

The girls head into San Francisco a couple of times, which is a city of hills. It makes for a tough workout, but you are constantly rewarded with amazing views. The perfect location is any spot that takes some climbing to lead you to a great vista, be it a city skyline, a water view, or mountaintop. The best drink would match the cover . . . maybe an ice-cold mango smoothie with a twist of lime! 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish SCREEN QUEENS? 

If you are looking for another great book set in the summer with a female lead struggling to determine her future (with a good dash of swoony romance), I can recommend the YA contemporary NIGHT MUSIC by Jenn Marie Thorne. If you are looking for some more female empowerment and #metoo, then the adult WHISPER NETWORK by Chandler Baker, out July 2 is for you. Kelly Loy Gilbert’s PICTURE US IN THE LIGHT is a beautiful book showcasing Gilbert’s impeccable writing, and for a great mystery, TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET by Karen McManus. 

What’s next for you? 

While I can’t give details, I am working on another YA novel with a timely spin on what’s going on in our country with respect to politics and the media.

Author of SCREEN QUEENS, coming from Razorbill, June 11, 2019, and available for preorder now (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound) about three teen girls who attend a startup incubator in Silicon Valley and learn what it means to compete in the male-dominated world of tech.

My Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy series Becoming Jinn and Circle of Jinn is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan).

Obsessed with books, beach, and Game of Thrones, Find me at @loriagoldstein and follow my blog and sign up for my newsletter at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com, my Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/lorigoldstei... and my Tumblr at http://lorigoldsteinbooks.tumblr.com.

Like my author page on Facebook for fun book-related photos, tidbits, and happenings as well as news on upcoming releases.

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Circle of Jinn (Becoming Jinn #2) by Lori Goldstein

Circle of Jinn (Becoming Jinn #2)
by Lori Goldstein
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: May 17th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mythology

Synopsis:

Being Jinn is Azra’s new reality. As she grants wishes under the watchful eye of the Afrit council, she remains torn between her two worlds—human and Jinn. Soon, secrets spill. Zars are broken. Humans become pawns. And rumors of an uprising become real as the Afrit’s reach extends beyond the underground world of Janna.

Straddling the line becomes impossible. Aware of her unique abilities, Azra must not just face but embrace her destiny. But when the role she must play and those she must protect expand to include a circle of Jinn greater than her own, Azra will be forced to risk everything. A risk that means there’s everything to lose, and at the same time, everything to gain—for herself and her entire Jinn race.

In this dramatic sequel to Becoming Jinn, Azra’s story comes to a heartfelt and thrilling conclusion.

Follow the Circle of Jinn by Lori Goldstein Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

My debut novel, the Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Becoming Jinn, is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies. The sequel, Circle of Jinn, releases May 17, 2016 (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan).

Too much of my day involves chatting books, obsessing over The Vampire Diaries, and perfecting the art of efficient writing through Twitter. Find me at @loriagoldstein and follow my blog at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com, my Tumblr athttp://lorigoldsteinbooks.tumblr.com, or my Instagram athttp://www.instagram.com/lorigoldstei....

Like my author page on Facebook for fun book-related photos, tidbits, and happenings as well as news on Becoming Jinn.

I am represented by Lucy Carson of The Friedrich Agency.

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Becoming Jinn (Becoming Jinn #1) by Lori Goldstein

Becoming Jinn (Becoming Jinn #1)
by Lori Goldstein
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: April 21st 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Mythology

Synopsis:

Forget everything you thought you knew about genies!

Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit. 

To the humans she lives among, she’s just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she’s learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny. 

Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters”, Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn . . . and that her powers could endanger them all. As Azra uncovers the darker world of becoming Jinn, she realizes when genies and wishes are involved, there’s always a trick.

This is the hardest question ever. Nothing opened the world of YA writing to me more than the Harry Potter series, and nothing entranced me as much as those books when I first read them and every time I re-read them. 

The Vampire Diaries

Fight Club

Currently, the entire 1989 Taylor Swift album, but of those, I’m into “This Love” right now.

Ice cream, or is that a category?

Hogwarts, Westeros, but only Highgarden, I think, the museum in The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Levi from Fangirl

“Real life was something happening in her peripheral vision.” ― Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl

See the above answers to number 7 and 8 and you’ll know: Rainbow Rowell. Her writing and humor are such an inspiration to me.

The queen of it all: J.K. Rowling.

I was an obsessive reader before I was an obsessive author. Reading books, finding new authors, and talking about all of it with others who love books as much as I do is what makes me happy. Readers are my people. Hugs to you all!

Hello Lori! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.

I’m thrilled to be here. You and all of your bloggers are amazing and have been asking the best questions during this tour!

Becoming Jinn is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies. So there are no lamps or bottles, no flying carpets, and no three wishes. The genies in my book are Jinn, which are spirit beings prominent in North African and Middle Eastern cultures. Becoming Jinn mixes the lore of the genies we know with that of the Jinn and is set in our contemporary world, in my home state of Massachusetts. The story follows my main character, Azra, from the day she wakes up on her sixteenth birthday and receives the magical silver bangle that forces her to start granting wishes. And I say force because the tradeoff of being able to use magic is that she’s now also tied to the Afrit, the dictatorship-like council that rules over the Jinn world. There are five other Jinn girls who Azra’s grown up with who feature strongly in the novel. There’s also Henry, a human and Azra’s next-door neighbor; the two share a past and rekindle their friendship at the start of the novel. And there’s a love interest, Nate, who, despite his underwear model exterior, is as unsure of himself and struggling to find his way as everyone else is.

At her age, I’d have acted pretty much the same. I was a bratty teenager. (Mom, please stop nodding your head.) I disliked things just to dislike them. (Mom, I said stop it.) As an adult, with perspective, I’d be less defiant about it and more apt to try to find ways to outsmart the Afrit and to use my powers to do what I wanted and to help my friends, which, actually, is something Azra comes to as well.

Becoming Jinn was inspired by a name I heard on the news. A few years ago, there was a devastating earthquake in Turkey. A mother and her infant daughter were pulled from the rubble and both miraculously survived. That baby’s name was Azra, which is my protagonist in Becoming Jinn.

YA paranormal and supernatural has always been a genre I loved, and in hearing this name and thinking of what would be a cool story for this girl, somehow it all sparked the idea of writing a book featuring Jinn, which for some reason I knew was the term for spirits derived from North African and Middle Eastern lore. 

In terms of inspiration, it’s hard to have a book with magic in it without acknowledging the master that is J.K. Rowling, but I knew I also loved contemporary books like those from Rainbow Rowell. And I love The Vampire Diaries, which is paranormal in a contemporary setting with a lot of sarcastic humor. All of that, subconciously at least, influenced the direction I took with Becoming Jinn.

Well, no pressure there…so much of what I’d choose is spoiler-y, so I’m going to go with a pretty heartbraking one that comes early on in the book:

“I close my eyes and see Jenny’s fingers wrapped around the metal chain next to me. Higher and higher, we rode the swings on the set in my backyard, me promising her that just a little more and we’d be able to touch the tulip-shaped cloud in the sky.

“I’m flying, Azra!”

She was. She did. And then all that was next to me was the metal chain. The day she died was the day I realized magic couldn’t fix everything.”

Yes! It comes toward the middle of the book and involves Azra and her coworker, Zoe, at the snack bar at the beach. I can’t say more, but it’s a pivotal point in Azra’s journey to becoming Jinn and it was a blast to write.

I love Azra’s refusal to take things at face value and her need for reasons and answers. It comes from a place of wanting things to be different and better. Once you understand why something is the way it is, that’s when you have the ability to change it.

Right now, another me! Things are hectic before a book’s release, everyone!

But seriously, I’d be pretty standard here with wishing for good health for me and my loved ones, the ability to keep living my dream by writing books, and, well, why not: a house on the beach.

Funny, in my playlist for this tour, there is one song that leaped out as encompassing the full story. I’ll snag that here as a little preview of the playlist that will be coming.

Ho Hey by The Lumineers – I love this song to death. For Jinn, it has a great meaning for Azra, staring with the lines of “I’ve been living a lonely life,” up through the pull Azra starts to feel between the people in her life. In particular, the lines, “So show me family . . . I don’t know where I belong,” and concluding with the realization that “I belong with you, you belong with me.” In fact, this makes it a song that from start to finish encapsulates Jinn.

The perfect way to read Becoming Jinn would be on a beach, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing and snacking on something of the chocolate nature. At least for me—that’s the way I like to read everything!

I have a very busy spring full of exciting events, festivals, and bookstore visits to support the launch of Becoming Jinn. I’m looking forward to all of it! A full list of my events can be found on my Web site (http://www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com/news-events/). In terms of writing, Becoming Jinn has a sequel, tentatively titled Circle of Jinn, and I’ve just put the finishing touches on it. I’m sad to leave Azra and this Jinn world, but I also have many other stories and characters running around in my head, and once the release of Jinn is a bit behind me, I can finally start paying attention to them and get one of them on the page. I have a favorite now and I’m in thinking mode about it, which is a very fun place to be because anything’s possible.

Thank you so much for everything, Lori!

Thank you for having me. You have been so kind to have me and I appreciate more than I can say. Thank you!

Click here for more information about the Pre-order giveaway hosted by Lori Goldstein.

Follow the Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

My debut novel, the Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Becoming Jinn, is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies. It will be released on April 21, 2015, by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s. The sequel will follow in Spring 2016. I am represented by Lucy Carson of The Friedrich Agency.

Too much of my day involves chatting books, obsessing over The Vampire Diaries, and perfecting the art of efficient writing through Twitter. Find me at @loriagoldstein and follow my blog at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com or my Tumblr at http://lorigoldsteinbooks.tumblr.com. Like my author page on Facebook for fun book-related photos, tidbits, and happenings as well as news on Becoming Jinn.

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