One of our last posts before our planned June hiatus comes winging its way to you today, an interview with Carlyn Greenwald! I’m sure you’re aware that Carlyn released an adult sapphic romance earlier this year, but she’s also co-written a coming-of-age sports romance with Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner, Time Out, which releases tomorrow, and is the subject of this interview.
Before we start, you can follow Carlyn on twitter and there’s still time to preorder Time Out here & order Sizzle Reel here!
Have you always known you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you wrote your first story?
Not exactly. I had a brief couple periods as a young child where I wanted to be a paleontologist and a cancer researcher, but I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was in fifth grade. I suppose we can call that my first story — it was Pirates of the Caribbean fan fiction that my mom discovered on my computer and scolded me for because it contained too much swearing. Despite that, I wrote my first novel when I was in seventh grade and continued on from there (and my parents have wholeheartedly supported me ever since).
What pieces of media would you say were formative for you? Do you see any of their features in your own writing?
While it doesn’t exactly align with what I write, my formative media was, hilariously, Avatar: the Last Airbender and an Oceans Eleven-for-children-esque heist PS2 game called the Sly Cooper series. I do think you can still see shades of both those properties. From what I really remember sat with me about both was these multi-layered characters with deep history with each other and bouncy, highly entertaining dialogue. From Avatar: the Last Airbender in particular I think I also gleaned the power of building up narrative urgency and intensity of emotion with each passing page of a story. Really keeping the reader and their potential reactions in mind as you craft your roller coaster for the characters.
When you close your eyes and imagine an apple, what do you see? An actual apple, a sketch of one, a blackness? Do you think that impacts your writing process?
I see a sketch of an apple! I’ve never thought about this, but come to think of it, unless I really attach a character to an actor, I tend to see my characters as drawings/sketches. Whether the characters come into my head as animated or real world, I absolutely see everything as a movie or TV show.
If you wanted to learn about craft, which three authors would you suggest reading?
Oooh, what a difficult question! I’ll stick to YA authors for simplicity, but—-
Rachel Lynn Solomon, especially when it comes to developing a romance that readers will root for and that feels real. She’s also an absolute master at romantic and sexual tension being woven into the line level and in every detail.
Tiffany D. Jackson, especially for reading the art of the plot twist and the building of suspense in a narrative. I come from a thriller background, yet I’ve always found the process of keeping up pacing and maintaining reader interest the way thriller authors do can be applied to every genre of book. You always want the readers asking more questions and keeping readers going to the next chapter, even if the questions are just “will my two favorite characters get over themselves and fall in love?”
Ruta Sepetys, especially for crafting an immersive, beating-heart-of-a-character setting. I also love using historical for learning about really digging a reader into a setting. Sometimes with contemporary it’s easy to draw broad strokes and let the readers pick up the lack, so reading historical to me makes it really obvious when a good painting is being made of a setting and I try to apply that craft to my contemporary setting.
When you’re building your world, what do you focus on? How do you try to make it come to life?
Hah, perfect coming off of the last question! I think with setting, I try to focus on first and foremost, the key locations that my character will be spending time at. For YA, it’s often the character’s home, school, and maybe an after school job or usual hang out or something like that. So, I make sure I understand those three places first — how big is it, how does a character walk through the space, what colors are prominent, how does it smell, what sounds do you hear, that sort of thing. I also try to establish any lore to a place, what memories a character has in any given space. Then, I’ll move out to fill in the details for the town that encapsulates all those core places. What do the streets look like? What are the known restaurants, shops, parks, stuff like that. If it happens to be, like, LA, I’ll try to walk through the area and take photos to remember specific details. If it’s somewhere I’ve never been, Google Maps and reviews of stores there is a huge help.
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
Oh man, I have way too many answers for that. I’m always trying to convince my poor agent to try to sell whatever outside-my-genre flight of fancy I come up with, but currently — I’ve got my second adult romcom off with my editor and my agent and I are prepping a YA thriller for submission. In my free time, I’m drafting a new Adult romcom, already thinking about my next YA thriller, and have an idea for a YA fantasy. Everything would feature a bi protagonist and LGBTQ+ supporting cast, which I love. The contemporary ones would also feature Jewish main characters.
Three pictures that capture the aesthetic of your book?
Three songs you would put in your book’s soundtrack?
I’m a Mess by Avril Lavigne ft Yungblud
Boy with Luv by BTS ft. Halsey
Life’s a Bit by Noahfinnce
What would be your dream project?
My absolute dream is to one day have a multi-season animated fantasy project for a teen/adult audience. Book wise, I’m still really hoping to write a horror novel one day.
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
From Time Out, absolutely Amy and probably Christopher. I just feel like those two have plans. But Barclay and Zack would probably be very good at running out and fetching supplies. Use that athletic prowess for good.
You’re stuck on a desert island and you’re allowed only three (LGBT) books. What are you taking?
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Felix Ever After by Karen Callender
Sadie by Courtney Summers
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
I have this deep rooted need (probably from going to film school and being pretentious, whatever) to collaborate with Jodie Foster where I write and she directs a dark, character-driven crime/mystery/thriller film with a sapphic lead. It would be a festival darling and win some actor an Oscar nomination at least. But we’d be aiming for the win.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carlyn Greenwald is an author, graphic novelist, and screenwriter hailing from Manhattan Beach, California. She’s a USC alumni with degrees in English, Screenwriting, and Forensics & Criminality and holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from The New School. She is a YA 2016 Pitch Wars mentee, AMM R4 mentee, Pitch Wars 2020 mentor, and AMM R6 mentor. Her one-hour drama pilot was recognized as a semi-finalist in the CBS Writers Mentoring Program in 2018. She currently works for story kitchen Cake Creative. Her debut adult novel, SIZZLE REEL, will be published with Vintage Books April 18, 2023 and her YA debut, TIME OUT, cowritten with actor and producer Sean Hayes and producer Todd Milliner, will be published with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers May 2, 2023. When she’s not writing, she’s deep in pop culture YouTube, gaming, and hanging with her dogs.
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