*Looks up at the post title*
Y’all, I soooo wish I had a cool last name like that. Doesn’t it just sound freaking cool? Rock. When I was growing up, my last name was Thibodeaux. If you can’t tell, it’s Cajun, but even down there people butchered the spelling and pronounciation. Harris is definitely better, but not as cool as Rock.
Anyhoo, that is not the point of today’s post (*grin*). No, the point of today’s post is to introduce you to the FABULOUS writing team of J.K. Rock. These girls are amazeballs. They’re joining my street team on Monday to kick off a fun challenge filled with goodies that we’re calling #CampFlirt.
Get it? Flirt Squad meets CAMP BOYFRIEND? Isn’t it cute??
The questions below were given by our ultra-fabulous Flirt Squad member, Kayleigh from K-Books. She, too, is amazeballs.
(author note: I DARE you to read this interview and not want to immediately buy/read everything these ladies have written. Seriously, they crack me up!)
So enough of me jabbering. Let’s get to know these ladies!
What’s your name, how old are you and where are you from?
I’m Joanne Rock, I’m old enough to know better, and I’m from upstate New York, close to a spot on the Hudson River where Henry Hudson cruised around with his ship the Half Moon
I’m Karen Rock and in my head, I’m sixteen. My husband says that I’m that age emotionally as well, but sticking my tongue out at him gets him to zip it. See- totally mature! I was born in California, moved to Long Island and eventually to Rouses Point, New York- a town so close to the border that if you take too big a step off your back porch, you’re a Canadian citizen. Not a bad deal, Aye?
What’s your biggest secret?
As a Virgo-girl, secret-keeping is on my list of best qualities, so I can’t bust that here. I can tell you that I keep a secret stash of candy in my house at all times. Both in the office and in the kitchen.
As a Scorpio-girl, I can’t share those kinds of secrets… suffice it to say, if I were in a British girl singing group, I’d be ‘Naughty Spice’. Wait- is that the one that married David Beckham? Shoot- that was Posh… and I’ll never be that. *sigh* There go my dreams. One secret I can share is that I’m addicted to reality TV. I’m as fascinated by people trying to pawn a propeller from a plane they claim belonged to the Wright Brothers as I am by mud-drenched people wrestling with river catfish. And don’t even get me started on MTV’s “Catfish”! Someone should send my name in to A & E’s show “Obsessed”. Seriously. This is a cry for help.- K
What was your dream when you were younger?
I wanted to be a glittering famous person of any variety. That was before I found out I’m actually an introvert and I’m happier with a book and a porch swing than at the center of a crowd- J.
My dream was to write for a daytime soap opera. I wanted to create characters, give them evil twins with scandalous secrets, then kill off the actors that didn’t buy me lunch once in a while. Ahhhhh… the power of a soap opera writer’s pen. If only that dream had come true!- K
What’s your favorite book/author?
My answer to this varies according to mood and what I’ve just read! One of my HUGE favorite authors is Sarah Addison Allen. I love Garden Spells.- J
john green John Green JOHN GREEN!!! He’s indescribably talented, his novels are beyond beautiful, and he inspires me as a person for the intelligent, thoughtful vlogs he does with his brother Hank, and as a writer who crafts books that are the truth. Looking for Alaska was my favorite until Will Grayson Will Graysoncame along (not that I didn’t love An Abundance of Katherines or Paper Towns– awesome) and then The Fault in Our Stars came along and it shook my universe. Wow.-K
What’s your least favorite type of book?
Technical non-fiction, I guess. Say, a manual about motherboards or cyber security. But as for fiction, I can be always be drawn into a character’s world- a Viking, a shapeshifter, a futuristic creature or a mortician- if the story is compelling.-J
My least favorite books are books that I was forced to read in high school. Not that I didn’t fall in love with these works when I read them, on my own, later in life. I remember hating- as in I tried flushing it down the toilet kind of loathing- The Great Gatsby in Eleventh grade. Then I borrowed it from my college roommate and fell deeply in love with it. To this day, I consider it one of the greatest American novels ever written (right after The Fault in Our Stars, of course. Haha) – K
Have you ever committed any bookish crimes and if yes what?
For years, I was brainwashed to think that writing in my own books was a crime of the worst sort (don’t ask where I got this idea… I’m a Virgo, I see rules everywhere.) But now, the books I filled with notes in college are my favorite books ever. I love going back and enjoying them on two levels– for the text, and for the experience of re-living my professors’ insights on those stories.
Okay- back to the subversive, double life of a Scorpio. As a kid, I was the picture perfect reader in my small town librarian’s eyes. I visited my favorite place in the world nearly every day in the summer and every weekend in winters. The only problem was that while I checked out books, I rarely returned them. It got so bad that Mrs. Beehive (okay- that wasn’t her name but it started with a B and her hair looked like one) eventually called the police. Obviously they take dangerous criminals like me quite seriously in the lawless town of Rouses Point. You can imagine my mother’s shock when a squad car rolled up in our driveway, lights flashing, with an officer there to investigate the missing novels. Although I waved a frantic nooooooooooooo, she let him in and they discovered over fifty books under my bed. Seeing all of my beloved books go (they belonged to me in my eyes!) was one of the worst days of my life. So now you know exactly why you need to call A & E about my obsessive behavior. Yes. I am a book hoarder. – K
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Did I mention the hidden candy stashes? Also, spending whole days reading and ignoring the rest of the world. – J
Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus, Linkedin, Pinterest, blog sites… any place that I can chat/comment/post is addicting. (Anyone noticing a pattern here?!) I love talking with and meeting interesting people and social media is such a great place to do that. It also doesn’t hurt that it gives my writing brain a break and lets me have some fun. I mean- who doesn’t want to repin a picture of a shirtless Zac Ephron on one of their boards? It doesn’t matter which one- I think it’s on my “What I Love About Summer Camp” board because who didn’t have a smoking hot older counselor we all lusted after? (And I know I’m not alone on that, ladies! <g>) – K
If you were stranded on a desert island what would be your three items you would take with you?
This question makes me so tense. I always feel like- what if I’m really stuck with only those things because a genie gave me those three wishes only and I’m held to those choices for the rest of time? The farmer’s daughter side of me says I’d like a tent, a weapon and a container. The dreamer in me says I’d prefer a blanket, an endless novel and a guitar. No, I don’t play. But with all the time in the world, I feel certain even I could learn. – J
I would bring The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I’m going to die anyway, so I might as well use the time to finally learn Elvish before taking that final boat ride with Bilbo, Frodo and Gandalf. Ú-bedin edhellen (In case that wasn’t obvious ) – K
If you had to choose between food and books what would you choose?
Having just eaten, I’m going for the books. It would take one day of hunger to hand over my novel, however. I do not suffer well.- J
Do they make edible books? How cool would that be? Once you’ve read it, and you don’t want to stash it under your bed (actually I’ve graduated to closets, shelves and desks now) then you could eat it… See, I’m already hallucinating from lack of food. But since I’ve been known to go an entire day without a meal to finish the latest Harry Potter release in one gulp, then I guess I chose books! – K
If you could only read one genre of book which would it be?
Historical. The escapism is so high… you get all the joy of plot and romance but an added layer of fantasy in travelling back to another time.- J
This is a Sophie’s Choice!!!! I can’t pick between my babies. They are all special in their own way. I literally read and love everything as long as it is well written. Is there a genre for poorly written books? If so, I could narrow it down and exclude those books…then again, they need love too…- K
Thank you, thank you so much for having us. It was fun!!!
