OUR SONG GIVEAWAY!

Hey all! Today I am VERY HAPPY to host my lovely friend and fellow writer Jordanna Fraiberg on the blog to talk about her second novel, OUR SONG. Her first novel, IN YOUR ROOM, was one of my favorites from my days as a baby editor at Penguin/Razorbill, and I’m so happy that she is gracing the reading world with another thoughtful and lovely contemporary romance. 

Jordanna was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about OUR SONG, which tells the story of a girl named Olive who begins to hear a mysterious melody after surviving a near-death experience. Then she meets the darkly handsome Nick and…OMG SO ROMANTIC. Just read it.

We’re giving away a SIGNED copy of OUR SONG to ONE LUCKY READER so make sure you enter here. Points will be given for tweeting or re-blogging this entry!

1) First of all, where did you come up with this idea?

I was interested in what happens when someone comes to the end of her identity, when she is no longer able to live the way she has been until that point. The literal fact of Olive’s death becomes a metaphor, in a way, for the idea that she’s been figuratively dead her whole life, and that something drastic had to happen to wake her up. I’m fascinated with the idea that we are all constantly changing and evolving, often in ways that we aren’t fully aware of until we’re forced to. But when it happens for the first time, when we first become fully conscious of our interior life, it’s both a painful and powerful experience, and that’s what I tried to explore with Olive.

2)  I love the different kinds of families you portray in the book! Would you say your family growing up was more like Olive’s, Annie’s or Nicks?

That’s a great question and one I hadn’t contemplated until now! My family growing up was probably most like Annie’s. Her open-minded and non-judgmental mother, and her home’s artsy Bohemian style were definitely influenced by my upbringing.

3) A lot of the book is about second chances. Do you believe in them?
 Yes, I absolutely do!  But I don’t believe that second chances always come neatly wrapped with a bow. In fact, they rarely do. The best ones come about because of our own action and our own hard work. They can be messy and painful, but those are the second chances that help us grow and thrive the most.

4) Are there really support groups for people who have died? Are they really filled with people talking about their journeys on the astral plane?? How did you research this?

Yes, such support groups really do exist! Once you tap into this community, it’s amazing just how many people have had near death or transcendental, out of body experiences. A quick internet search will yield thousands of stories, and I read many of them while researching the topic. But the best research I got was from actually attending a meeting of the Los Angeles International Association for Near-Death Studies. I based the Near Death Society in the book on this group, as one of the things I was most surprised to discover was that, like in the book, not a single participant had actually ever died.

5) Did you have any kind of teenage rebellion like the one Olive goes through?

I think I probably went through a much quieter, more internal form of rebellion. I never really felt comfortable in my own skin as a teenager, or like I could relate to most kids in my school. So my rebellion was playing squash, a sport that pretty much no one had ever heard of, and I spent my afternoons, weekends and days off from school training with other players practically the same age as may parents at the time.

6) Annie is so awesome. Was she inspired by anyone you know?

She’s not modeled after any one person, but I think she’s the voice of reason and compassion that I look for and find in most of my friends. And now that I think about it, her boldness and empathy are two of the traits I admire most in my husband. The thing about Annie that compelled me is that she’s awesome, but isn’t perfect. She’s not always able to be honest with herself in the way she demands of Olive, which I think is true for most of us. And what makes them so close is that they’re able to tell each other the hard stuff without imploding their friendship.

7. In both OUR SONG and your first book, IN YOUR ROOM, music is incredibly integral to the plot. Can you discuss why? Are you a  big music fan? Who are some of your faces?

I really love music, but I didn’t specifically set out to have it be such a big part of each book. When I write, I tend to listen to music that matches up with the characters or the tone I’m going for, and from there, the music organically finds its way into the pages.  My mother is a concert pianist so I grew up with live classical music wafting through the house every day. It became integrated into my life in an almost subconscious way, which is why I think I like to listen to it to set the mood for a writing session. I’ve become a much bigger music fan as an adult, mainly because my husband is constantly playing and discovering new music, so he’s like my own personal DJ. He’s introduced me to a lot of the bands and artists I listened to while writing Our Song, like Death Cab for Cutie, Ra Ra Riot, and Lana Del Rey.

8) If any song could describe your future what song would you want it to be?

So many songs I love represent a specific time or moment from my past, and then the newer, current faves definitely feel very of this moment for me, so it’s tough for me to think of a song in that way! I guess (and not to sound too corny!) it’s that a I feel the future is so fluid.  It’s like that Natasha Beddingfield song — “the rest is still unwritten.”

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I don't get why Harry Potter fans bash on Twilight so much.

I love Twilight and Harry Potter. This isn’t a competition. They’re both about two completely different things, so comparing them makes no sense. Saying “Harry Potter is better than Twilight!1!!!11” And starting fights for no reason is stupid. You like Harry Potter more? That’s great, but they’re two completely different things so comparing them to each other is stupid. It’s geared towards two totally different audiences/genre’s.