Extra: TATTOO

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This entry was posted on 1/30/2007 10:42 PM and is filed under uncategorized.

Many years ago, I was hell-bent on getting a tattoo.

I had the tattoo parlor picked out (this hole-in-the-wall on St. Mark's), I knew which tattoo artist I wanted to do it (this coked-out, strung-out, Keith Richards look-alike), I even had a picture of the tattoo itself (a ladybug).  At the last minute, I backed out.  In retrospect, I'm glad I did; I was getting the tattoo for all the wrong reasons - a guy was involved - and the last thing I needed was a permanent reminder of that episode of my life.

Which is why, these days, I'll settle for the nice, fleeting satisfaction of a temporary tattoo - just like the heroines of  Jennifer Lynn Barnes' new novel TATTOO.  Ms. Barnes' novel has a great concept: four friends don temporary tattoos to create a sensation at the school dance, only to discover that their new accessories come with supernatural powers - which they'll need to save the world.  Check it out: TATTOO

As I mentioned in my last post, Michelle and I will be regularly hosting cool female authors on our blog.  Up first is Jen Barnes - here's my interview with Ms. Barnes:

1) How did you come up with the concept for TATTOO?

I knew I wanted to write a book about four friends who develop
supernatural powers.  I knew a little about their personalities, and I
knew what their powers were going to be- I just had to decide how to
give them the powers.  Then, one day, I came across this really
sparkly temporary tattoo in one of my drawers and I thought, "Wow.
This tattoo totally looks like it could have magical powers."  Then
the lightbulb went off in my head, and I combined that thought with
the characters and powers I'd already been playing around with, and
Tatoo was born.

2) How did you decide on this genre?  Do you see yourself continuing
to write in this genre or do you think you may try other genres?

Tattoo is a cross--genre book, so this question is a little
complicated to answer.  It's written for a teen audience (as are all
of my books), for a very good reason- when I started writing
professional, I was still a teenager.  I wrote GOLDEN (which came out
last summer) when I was nineteen, and Tattoo when I was twenty.  I
didn't (and still don't!) know anything about being a grown up, so
writing for an older audience has never even crossed my mind.  As for
the genre that Tattoo falls into, it's generally described as a hybrid
of two very different genres- chick lit and fantasy.  I think it's a
safe bet that most of what I write will at the very least have
elements of at least one of these genres.  I love the paranormal and
the supernatural, so four out of the six books I've got out/coming out
over the next couple of years have strong fantasy elements, and all
six have a voice that will probably cause some people to call them
chick lit, even though I never meant for that to be the case.  As for
trying other genres, I love trying new things, but since I'm never
really sure how people are going to classify my books when I'm writing
them, I can't say for sure whether or not I'll step outside the genre.
I would like to try writing sci fi, and a realistic mystery, but
those, too, will probably somehow end up being hybrids.


3) Do you find that your novels tend to have an underlying theme? If
so,  what is it?

I never sit down to write a book with a theme, but my books usually
end up with themes nonetheless.  For my first book, Golden, the theme
was basically that there's something out there besides high school,
and that there are worse evils in the world than "mean girls."  For
Tattoo, I don't think the theme can be articulated as easily, but it
definitely has something to do with the power of friendship.

4.) You're a recent graduate of Yale University. I'm also a Yalie (albeit
one from many years ago). Has your Yale experience influenced your
writing?

Yale was such an awesome experience for me.  I loved the research I
did there, and the classes I took, but on the whole, the people
defined the experience for me, and my Yale friends have DEFINITELY
impacted my writing.  They were actually a large part of my
inspiration for writing a book about friendship to begin with.

5.) Alternatively, any thoughts of writing something inspired by your Yale
experience?

I've played around with a few books that are set at Yale, just because
I loved it there and think it's a great setting for a book, but
nothing major so far.  Science was a major part of my life at Yale,
and I definitely want to write something that incorporates that some
day.

6.) Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Never let SELLING your book interfere with your ability to write a new
one.  The first book I sold wasn't the first I wrote- it was the
seventh.  Producing new material allows you to really grow as a
writer, and it also has a handy way of reminding a person that there's
more to writing than selling, which- in a lengthy process filled with
rejection- is something that I think a lot of people (myself included)
need.

 

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