The Teen Book Scene: Guest Blog: Carrie Harris

I am honored to host Carrie Harris, author of Bad Taste in Boys, on my blog today as part of a Teen Book Scene Blog Tour.  I got the chance to ask Carrie what she does when she's not writing.

Before I sold my book, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about what it would be like to be an author. (Admittedly, if I’d spent less time daydreaming and more time WRITING, I might have found out a lot sooner.) Would people actually want my autograph? Would anyone ever recognize me out in public? Would anything change? Were the rumors true, and did my book deal come with a free sparkly vampiric pool boy?

Sadly, it didn’t. But I’m holding out hope that he might arrive when book 2 hits the shelves.

But really, my life is pretty much the same as it was before. People have asked for my autograph, which is surreal, especially when you open up the cover and realize you have no idea what to write. I think I signed my first book, “May the brains be with you—Carrie Harris,” because I figure you can’t go wrong with a zombie Star Wars reference, and I’m hoping someone will take the hint and give me a lightsaber. People ask me to do interviews and give them writing advice, and that’s pretty surreal. In real life, I’m the kind of girl who you hunt down when you want to know random bits of useless medical trivia or need a name for your new zombie penguin. I’m not the girl you go to when you need to know something, you know, useful.

See, when I’m not writing or doing something related to writerdom, you can find me doing the same things I’ve always done. Usually, that means something that solidifies my geek cred. Yes, I parent and clean the house and things like that, but I also spend way too much time searching for the perfect zombie wallet. (Found it—and it turned out to be my Mother’s Day present.) I crochet ninjas. I make baked goods in the shape of supernatural beasties. I like to swim, which sounds comparatively normal until you realize that I’m in the habit of impersonating merpires when I do so.

A merpire = a vampire + a merperson. They drag their baby pools into your bedroom to watch you sleep. So if you hear a sloshing sound coming from your carpet in the middle of the night, you’ll be prepared.

And then, after a long day of baking cupcakes shaped like skulls and swimming back and forth in the pool yelling, “SLOSH SLOSH SPARKLE SPARKLE,” I go back to my computer, where someone has emailed me to ask for writing advice. I guess the best thing I can tell you is to be yourself. Because it CAN happen, even if you’re a monster-obsessed crazy person.

Trust me. I know these things. Anybody want a cupcake?

Carrie, you seriously crack me up!  And yes, I'd love a cupcake!