An Interview with Hannah Moskowitz

Hannah Moskowitz is the author of BREAK and her new novel, INVINCIBLE SUMMER. Today, I'm lucky enough to have her on for an interview. Enjoy!

1. Albert Camus is mentioned a lot in Invincible Summer. How has
Albert Camus influenced your life?

I started reading Camus the winter of my junior in high school, when I
was in a very shaky place. I loved that there was something so summery
about him, and I clung to that. Probably for the same reasons Chase
does.

The idea for all of Invincible Summer came to me in a span of five or
six seconds. All the siblings, the entire plot, Camus, the beach,
Melinda, the title. I needed to write a book about summer, I think.


2. Which character in Invincible Summer can you relate to the most?

Noah, absolutely. He's so pissed off about everything.


3. You wrote Invincible Summer in 8 days, which is pretty fast
compared to a lot of writers. When you write, do you have any specific
things you need (music, lucky slippers, etc.)?

Music is great (I always make playlists) but they're usually to get me
thinking about the book when I'm not writing, though I listen to them
when I'm writing as well.

No rituals, really. I set word count goals before I'm allowed to do
anything, though. I can't eat for a thousand more words. I can't go to
the bathroom for 500 more words. It's a good motivator. Especially
when you have to pee.


4. Quick! Describe Invincible Summer in five words.

Haha, I just did this for Kari! Can I use the same words I did then?
Gritty, funny, raw, vaguely incestual.


5. Can you tell us about your upcoming books now that Invincible
Summer is out "in the wild"?

Of course! So INVINCIBLE SUMMER comes out April 19th. My first MG
book, ZOMBIE TAG, about a boy who starts the zombie apocalypse in an
attempt to wake up his dead brother...only the zombies aren't exactly
what he was expecting, is out in December 2011. Then next spring, I
have GONE, GONE, GONE, a YA that is very near and dear to me. It's a
boy/boy romance set on top of the 2002 D.C. sniper shootings. And I
have another MG coming in 2012, too, and that's what I'm working on
right now!