Okay, so I was no different from any eight year-old; I too told my little white lies in an effort to impress my friends. In my case, I had this magic cave in my backyard that could only be accessed by a special two-handed knock.  I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous...but, boy, did my friends envy me that summer!

I guess that's why I can totally identify with the concept of Lauren Barnholdt's  new novel THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY , the story of a teenage girl whose made-up stories about her popularity backfire when her new friend moves to town and discovers the truth.

Here's our chat with Ms. Barnholdt:

1) How did you get the inspiration for the book?
 
When my friends and I were in junior high, we were dating this group of guys from another school.   So we made it seem like we were super popular at our school, and that all the boys wanted us.  Which wasn’t even close to being true.   One night some of the guys we lied to played basketball against some of the boys from our school who supposedly wanted us, and I just kept thinking, God, I hope none of them talk.   And that was the inspiration for THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY.  Only, unlike in my situation, poor Devon’s lies catch up with her.

2) Are you working on something new right now?
 
My latest YA book, TWO-WAY STREET will be out in June, and right now I'm writing my second tween book, which will be out sometime next year.

3) What is something about you that would surprise your readers?
 
That I'm actually really shy!  I tend to be kind of scandalous and funny in my blog, but in real life, I'm a lot quieter!

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion