Christmas Countdown: Day 7: Interview w/ Julie Chibbaro

It's Day 7! I have three things in store for you guys: an interview, a review of Deadly and two chances of getting the prize pack of signed books that we will be giving away on December 25!


Julie Chibbaro is the author of Redemption and Deadly, which will be published on February 22, 2011!

What or who inspired you to write Deadly? Why?

Deadly is about a typhoid epidemic, and I have to confess, I’m rather fascinated by the mystery of disease.  Why can’t we find the cure for even the simplest of viruses?  Drives me crazy.  So I decided to take up this story, and see what it might be like to hunt down the cause of an epidemic.

What lessons will readers pick up from your book?

Prudence, the girl who is writing this diary that is Deadly, is challenged by the limits of her society.  She wants to be more than is expected of her – to break out of the chains of being just a “pretty girl.”  I hope readers will walk away from my book thinking it’s cool to be smart and curious about the world around them.

What is the focus of Deadly?

The main focus of Deadly is, I would say, Prudence’s transformation.  She finds her path.  I think that’s hard for us humans to do, especially today, with all the demands on us.  It’s hard to listen to our inner voice telling us who we really are.

Why do you write for teens?

My first book, Redemption, had a young protagonist, and my agent said, “This is a teen book.”  That set me on my path.

How do you prepare for Christmas?

Actually, that’s been the question of my life.  My parents were divorced when I was very young, so with my mother we celebrated Hannukah, and with my father we celebrated Christmas.  I always had two holidays.  I’m in an interfaith marriage, so we do the same.  I hope it doesn’t confuse my daughter too much, but she seems to embrace anything that offers chocolate and presents.

As an author/writer, are you doing something special this Christmas?

Yes, this interview on your blog!

Does your family have a Christmas tradition?

We mostly focus on our daughter.  My husband and I give each other small gifts, and then fill the room with our love for our four-year-old girl (which translates to more presents than she can handle).

Do you take advantage of the Christmas vacation and write?

Actually, I intend to take advantage of the holidays by taking a break from writing!

As a writer, do you think it would be better to gift books for Christmas? why? Have you ever done this before?

I almost always gift books for Christmas.  I think a book is a very personal object, and if you can find one for a special person that really speaks to them, it’s even more appreciated, because it shows you know them really well and care enough to think about them and what would give them pleasure.

If you were to gift one book to any person, what book would it be?

I really wish my mom had been alive to read my first book Redemption.  Aside from that, I think I’d give Roget’s Thesaurus to all my writing students.  It’s really my fave book, and gets my imagination going every time.

Thanks for sharing Julie! 

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A few days ago, the trailer of Deadly was released. Here it is:

For this post, there's no required comment because there's no individual giveaway for the featured book. But you will earn an entry for each comment you leave on any of the posts of Christmas Countdown starting today. There will be a prize pack of signed books up for grabs soon - on Christmas Day. Guess what? A signed ARC of Deadly is included in that prize pack!

Later (after lunch, since it's 11:53am here) I'll be posting a review of Deadly. So watch out for that. :)

If you missed any of the posts, click here to see the line-up for the event.

We're giving away signed copies of The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith, Picture of the Dead by Adele Griffin, Prophecy of Days by Christy Raedake, Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala, The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder and The Candidates by Inara Scott.