Hey guys! Today we’re hosting a Blog Tour for Shut Outand I got to interview the author, Kody Kelinger!
Shut Out‘s blurb:
Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it’s a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy’s car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend’s attention.
Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: she and the other players’ girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won’t get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don’t count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.
Inspired by Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata, critically acclaimed author of The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) Kody Keplinger adds her own trademark humor in this fresh take on modern teenage romance, rivalry and sexuality.
1. Where did you get the idea for Shut Out?
I was a freshman in college when history teacher made us read Lysistrata, a Greek comedy I’d never even heard of. I wasn’t expecting to like it, but I did. I loved it. I read it and laughed hysterically and told my roommate, “This would be SO GREAT set in high school.” She said, “Do it!” So I did. Lucky for me, my agent knew what Lysistrata was and was just as supportive as my roommate. Thus, Shut Out, a modern retelling of Lysistrata, was born.
2. So, in Shut Out, it seems like the ‘hookup’ strike turns into a boys vs girls showdown. Have people been betting on which side wins yet? (I’m going with the girls.)
Haha! Well, since the book is constantly pitched as a “girl power” book, I don’t think its really a competition, is it? To be honest, though, things do get complicated in the story. Girls make mistakes. Boys make mistakes. No one plays totally fair, so I think there are definitely points when the boys seem to have the advantage. I like to think, though, that everyone wins int he end. As for bets – none yet that I know of.
3. This is your second published stand-alone book. Are you thinking of doing a series one day?
I would LOVE to write a series one day. I am a huge fan of characters and the idea of sticking with one set for a long period of time makes me so happy. As a reader, I adore series myself, and I’d love to do one. However, series and stand-alone books are different beasts and require different types of stories. Thus far, my stories have leant themselves to stand alone tales. My third book, too, stands alone. One day, if/when I come up with a story that will work for a series, I’ll totally pursue it. But for now, the stand alones work for me!
4. Dystopians and supernatural books are very popular right now. Have you ever thought of writing about something besides contemporary YA?
I love dystopians and I love supernatural stories. But for now, the stories that have come to me have been contemporary ones. I know these genres are big right now, but I try really hard not to pursue a book simply because its in a popular genre. If there’s one thing I have learned about myself since I started writing its that I struggle to write something I’m not passionate about. Thus far, the stories I’ve been passionate about have been contemporary. Now, if I ever find myself falling in love with an idea that isn’t contemporary, you better bet I’d write it! But it wouldn’t be because its a trend. It would be because I loved the story enough to spend loads of time on it. In the mean time, I love contemporary and have a few ideas up my sleeve that I am excited about. They’re my first priority.
5. Were you the girlfriend of a jock in high school?
Ha! Nooooo. I wasn’t anyone’s girlfriend. Seriously, the only boy who ever liked me in HS was the kid in my 10th grade history class who picked his nose when he thought no one was looking. But we were. And then five seconds later he’d flirt with me. It wasn’t pretty. So yeah, no to the jocks. I wished pretty hard, though. I thought the baseball players at my school were super duper hot.
Thanks, Kody, for answering my questions! And y’all can read Shut Out now as it’s in bookstores nationwide and anywhere online books are sold.