Today I’m hosting author Paula Chase Hyman on her Del Rio Bay Blog tour.
Paula Chase Hyman, writing as Paula Chase, is the author of the Del Rio Bay series, which includes So Not The Drama, Don’t Get It Twisted, That’s What’s Up!, Who You Wit’? and Flipping The Script.
Her series helped launch Kensington Books YA line in March 2007. Dedicated to working with teens, she co-founded the Committed Black Women in 1993, a high school mentoring group and coached a competitive squad for five years.
She is also the co-founder of The Brown Bookshelf with five author friends. The site honors vanguard authors and other talented African American children’s lit authors and illustrators flying under-the-radar of librarians, parents and teachers.
Q: One thing that I love about your series is that it is fresh and fun but also deals with real-life teen experiences. Where did you first get the idea of Del Rio Bay?
You know how you get these ideas, while you’re sleeping, but then they turn to vapor when you’re fully conscious? Well one Saturday morning I had this fully developed teen in my head. I knew her name was Mina Mooney and that she lived in a neighborhood called The Woods. She didn’t turn to vapor the second I jumped out of bed, so I acted on it and outlined the characters. Once I wrote the initial outline and knew that she was a freshman about to adjust to high school, the rest fell into place and came about from my own experiences as a Black suburbanite growing up in a predominately Black neighborhood but in a predominately White school system.
Q: Did you know in advance how your characters would grow? Were you surprised what you learned about the characters writing the series?
I didn’t. I never knew what was going to happen in each book until I sat to write it. That’s what was magical about the series. Now that I’m done and on a new project it’s way more strategic and that makes me sad. I loved the “by the seat of my pants” style that I wrote the DRB series. All the more reason I credit that series to my muse. I mean it was all her.
Still, I wasn’t very surprised by the things the experienced. Each situation felt so real to me. So much so, that sometimes I was quite emotional. I was almost shaking when it came to Mina losing her virginity because I wanted to keep her and the other characters so pure. But that would have cheated my readers and the characters. I had to let them go where they went.
Q: Hey, I took your Clique Chick quiz on your website. What kind of Clique Chick are you?
Oh, I’m totally a Mina!! But Cinny holds a lot of what I wish I’d been like as a teen.
Q: You host a monthly chat on your website. How passionate are you about talking with your readers on teen issues?
Very. I like connecting with them to chat like I’d chat with any other female friends. It’s great to hear their take on life and give them mine. I’m not there to give advice, simply to share that there are different paths and different perspectives to everything.
Q: You have always described the novels in your series as “multi-culti” literature. Why do you think this is important?
Because I wrote the book to show a slice of life that is so often ignored or glossed over – the duality of being Black in a multi-cultural world. The world isn’t only one race and only some of us have the “luxury” of living in a neighborhood that’s so homogeneous we assume everyone has the same viewpoints. Never mind, that’s rarely true to begin with. We’re all different no matter the race or culture we share.
Still, I wrote my books because I was tired of seeing characters of color portrayed within only one facet. Despite feeling like the multi-cultural label is secret code for “this book may not sell,” it’s important to me that people know my books are going to offer them more than one flavor.
Q: You are very involved in different areas on the Web (website, listservs, Twitter, FaceBook). How important is it for a writer to have a presence on the web?
That is such a tricky question. On one hand, honestly, I wish all I had to do was write and not be seen. I’m a social person but having a web presence takes up A LOT of time. And sometimes I resent that it does. I resent how much I have to bust my hump to stay visible. But it’s par and parcel with the job. Fact is, if you want to be a writer today and maintain some sort of presence, you need to adopt some level of web presence. I won’t say you have to do this platform over that or you have to blog or whatever, but you’ll have to pick a poison for sure.
Q: You have a day job as publicist plus you’re also involved in cheerleading coaching in addition to family obligations. How do you find the time to write?
Gah…this is the million dollar question. When I wrote the series, I sacrificed a lot of sleep to get it done within my full life. A lot! I refused to sacrifice family time and bills had to be paid so I couldn’t cheat my full-time job. So sleep was the only thing I was willing to give up. I awoke early or stayed up late to write.
Now, with the series done and me no longer obligated by a contract I’m taking a different approach. My writing is more scheduled and it’s in smaller bits of time. You can only sacrifice sleep for so long.
Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Writing the novel is the easy part. So enjoy the process. It may not feel like it at the time, but once the reality of being published hits, you’ll realize that writing the unsolved novel was the easiest part of the journey of all – even if you can only see it in hindsight.
Q: What is the best experience you’ve had so far being a published author?
Talking to readers who enjoyed the books. I never tire of hearing that someone enjoyed it or related to this character or that scenario. Once you put your art out there for public consumption, you’re never sure what may come back in the way of feedback. So I take every good comment, put it in my back pocket and try to remember them during the very lonely hours when I’m struggling to write more.
Q: What writing project are you working on now?
I have two projects in my head. But the one that I’ve actively started is a stand alone novel about a young girl who has a very shaky and fragile relationship with her mom. If the writing Gods are willing, I’ll get it done before ’09 ends. I hope they heard that!
Thanks so much Paula for including the Musings of Novelista blog as one of your stops on your fabulous tour!
To learn more about Paula and her books, follow her on the Del Rio Bay blog tour:
September 15: Shades of Romance
September 16: Devyn Burton
September 17: Rawsistaz
September 18: Linda Gerber
September 21: Melissa Walker & Readergirlz
September 22: Mitali’s Fire Escape
September 23: YA Fresh
September 24: Color Online
September 25: APOOO Book Club
Paula/Karen,
What a great interview! I love being able to get a peek inside the writer’s head, especially as it relates to finding time and balancing things. I also love the work you’ve done with The Brown Bookshelf.
My daughter isn’t quite old enough to read the series, but I look forward to sharing it with her. And while this may be the end of this series, I hope you will continue to write for our young readers.
-Tee
Thanks Tee. I’ll stick around as long the industry will have me. :-)
Palua, Thanks again for stopping by and doing the interview!
Tee: I’m glad you enjoyed it. Paula is definitely a writer to watch.
Thanks for this GREAT interview, Karen! And Paula, thanks so much for sharing your writing life and process. It’s such an inspiration to hear!
And yes, I love THE BROWN BOOKSHELF, too! I look forward to that list in February now . . . :)
Crystal: I’m glad that you liked the interview. I hope that your own writing is going well.
Thanks for a terrific interview, you two! Paula, I especially love seeing all of your books laid out together like they are above! Brava to you for creating such a wonderful series for teens of all ages :).
Fantastic interview, both of you! Paula, thanks for offering us ‘more than one flavor’ — it’s a much-needed gift!