Interview with Angela Morrison, author of Sing Me To Sleep

Back in November, I posted about a book that was such a profound reading experience, where I was brought ot tears. That book was Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison. Sing Me To Sleep will be released from Razborbill on Thursday, March 4th, and I hope people will read this book and have the same experience I did.

In honor of Sing Me To Sleep's release, I asked Angela for an interview about how she came up with the story, why she writes young adult books and her love of scuba diving.

KB: Can you tell us your publishing journey? How long did it take you to become published?

Angela: It seemed like it took forever! I have an inch thick file of rejection letters. I wrote TAKEN BY STORM as my creative thesis for my MFA in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I revised and marketed it for three and half years after I graduated before I landed a contract. I kept getting read--one editor looked at four different versions of the manuscript before crushing my hopes with a final rejection. A that point, the novel was broken. I'd changed it for her in a lot of wrong ways. I asked myself how I wanted to tell the story. That's when I started changing it into the collage format. I met my editor at a gorgeous abbey north of Paris. The SCBWI group in Paris put on a wonderful retreat. I conferenced with her about STORM, and she was enthusiastic. I went home and rewrote the first chapter so she'd fall in love with Michael. And it worked. About a month later I had a two book contract with Penguin.

KB: Have you always wanted to write Young Adult books? Is there any other genre you would like to write?

Angela: I wanted to write middle grade novels. Those are my favorites to read. And I love historical novels, too. But when I went back to school, Michael and Leesie's romance pushed my middle grade time-slip adventure out of the way. And I've been a YA novelist ever since.

KB: How did you come up with the idea for Sing Me To Sleep?

Angela: SING ME TO SLEEP was born of desperation. Razorbill decided they wanted a stand alone novel for my second novel instead of the sequel I'd planned for TAKEN BY STORM. I went through my idea files and brainstormed. My daughter sang with the Junior Amabile Singers when we lived in London, Ontario, and I always wanted to write a book in that world, but I didn't have a story. But a tragedy happened in their boys choir that inspired me to put together a plot outline and pitch it to Lexa. We kicked the outline back and forth. She insisted Beth needed a boy back home, wanted lyrics woven through the story, and convinced her boss that the novel would work. And I started writing. Of course, as Beth, Derek, and Scott emerged as characters the storyline changed a lot. It always does. That's the part I love the most about writing--the discovery.

KB: Sing Me To Sleep is very romantic and brings up the topic of love and sex between a teenage girl and boy. There is also a lot of kissing and intimacies shared between Beth and Derek. How important was it for you to show how these two care for one another but not too far with keeping in mind the teenage audience who’s reading?

Angela: It's very important to me. I won't talk down to my readers--it's got to be authentic--but at the same time I won't write explicit material. I care about my readers. I want them to feel safe when they read my novels. So if you see my name on the cover, you know you're going to get a frank discussion of teen sexuality, honest emotions, lots of great kissing scenes (I love writing slow, romantic kissing scenes), but nothing explicit. SING and STORM are both rated 12 and up. Not 14 and up. In the industry, 14 and up means there will be rough language and/or explicit scenes. I'm working hard to perfect the art of steamy, but clean. I would write that way for anyone--teens or adults.

KB: You’re a certified scuba diver. Any interesting stories you can share scuba diving? What is it like diving?

Angela: Diving is like weightlessly floating through another world. Water filters out yellows and reds as you get deeper, so underwater it looks like Mars--everything blue, green and purple. My favorite place to dive is Grand Cayman. I love the spotted eagle rays. They literally fly by. And the water is clear and deep there. The whole island is coral, and we dive sheer walls that plunge a thousand feet down. When you float away from the wall over the abyss, it feels like you're flying along with the rays. And then you can look up and see the sun filtering down from the surface a hundred feet up.

KB: Is there any advice you can give to aspiring authors trying to get published?

Angela: Qualify yourself. You wouldn't try to be a professional football player without any training, right? Or a concert pianist. Or brain surgeon. If you want to do this professionally, you need to be trained by professionals. SCBWI is a great place to start. They have conferences all over the country. Vermont College's program changed my life. If you are serious, check it out.

KB: Who are your favorite authors to read? If someone who’s not a big reader asked for books to read, what books would you recommend?

Angela: I love Jane Austen, Tolstoy, and so many others. I'm a huge fantasy fan--Ursula LeGuin is my favorite. But when I want to relax, I grab a beat up copy of one of Mary Stewart's romantic suspense novels. I love those. My favorite children's author is Katherine Paterson. And I love THE BOOK THEIF by Markus Zusak.

I've had some readers write to me and tell me they weren't readers before they read my books. I love hearing that.

I'd guide non-book lovers to take a look at some of the great verse novels that are out. SHARK GIRL, by Kelly Bingham and RUBBER HOUSES by Ellen Yeomans. Ron Koertge and Norma Fox Mazer's classic YA novels are fantastic and not difficult to read. And I think they'd like SHATTERED by Kathi Baron and SHIFTY by Lynn Hazen. And everyone should read Kathi Appelt's Newberry honor book, THE UNDERNEITH. It's a kid's book, but it's to die for gorgeous and everyone will love the story.

KB: What does the future hold for you? Any future projects you can tell us about?

Angela: This fall I wrote the sequel to TAKEN BY STORM--UNBROKEN CONNECTION. Penguin is considering it. I hope to have good news one of these days, but there is no guarantees in this business. Next, I'll work on the third Leesie/Michael novel, CAYMAN SUMMER.

I also have an historical heartbreaking romance, MY ONLY LOVE, that I'm still revising. And I'm thinking about replacing my obnoxious tween boy hero in that time slip novel I told you about earlier with a Bronte-esque Victorian heroine. Think Jane Eyre meets the Terminator--but this guy ain't no robot. He's way too hot for a middle grade adventure. See, everything I write turns into YA. I love the coming of age journey and how love plays a part in it.

KB: If you had a chance to make either of your books into movies, what directors or actors would you like to be involved?

Angela: Oh, wow. I have no idea. I don't let myself daydream about movie deals. Way too tempting. We are working on a video trailer for SING, though. I found the perfect red choir dress for Beth! And the Amabile Young Men's Ensemble with a soloist from the Amabile Youth Singers (the girls choir) are going to record "Beth's Song" for the trailer. That's as close as I'll get to a movie for now. Who knows though? SING would make a great film.

KB: What words would you use to describe Taken by Storm and Sing Me To Sleep?


Angela: I'd call them both poignant. Romantic--of course. And meaningful.

If you would like to know more about Angela and her thoughts on Sing Me To Sleep, check out her Blog Tour. My review will be up next week.