Interview with YA Author Britta Lundin

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Britta Lundin, hyperion, Like Other Girls, screenwriting, Ship It, YA

Southern California-based author Britta Lundin’s YA novel, Like Other Girls (2021, Hyperion) has been on several “Best of 2021” lists. Her debut YA was the popular Ship It. She’s also a TV writer for Riverdale, Betty, and The Big Leap.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! In Like Other Girls, Mara’s angry outburst gets her kicked off the high school basketball team. When she’s (briefly) on the girls’ volleyball team, it’s not a good fit so she joins the football team. At first, being the only girl isn’t really a big deal, but it turns into a larger movement when four other girls join too. In your first YA book, Ship It, (about fandom) you said you wrote what you knew; because of your experiences, you’ve been on the inside “seeing how the sausage is made.” (Love that quote!) Your bio says you were a multi-sport athlete so is Girls another “sausage” story?

Author & Screenwriter Holly Goldberg Sloan on Writing Multiple POV’s & Unreliable Narrators

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Counting by 7s, Holly Goldberg Sloan, screenwriting, Short, writing tips

By Karol Ruth Silverstein

Holly Goldberg Sloan is the author of five children’s novels, including New York Times bestsellers Short and Counting by 7s, and the highly acclaimed young adult novel, I’ll Be There. She has also written a number of successful family feature films, including Angels in the Outfield, The Big Green, and Made in America. Her latest movie is Pure Country: Pure Heart, and will be released by Warner Bros on August 1, 2017. The mother of two sons, Holly lives with her husband, Gary Rosen, in Santa Monica, California. She spoke with Karol Ruth Silverstein about transitioning from film to kid lit, writing from multiple points of view, and the inspiration for her work.

Karol Ruth Silverstein: First, thank you so much for doing this interview! After a successful career as a screenwriter and director, what prompted you to get into writing children’s books?

Holly Goldberg Sloan: I stumbled into writing books. I was on vacation in Mexico. I was working for DreamWorks at the time on an animated project. I couldn’t get email, so I was not able to get the studio notes I was waiting for. I had a lot of free time. I started writing a story. When I got home to Santa Monica I kept working on it. I felt free writing with no plan, no deadline. Six months later that story became the novel I’ll Be There, which was published in 2011 by Little Brown.

KRS: All of your novels are told through multiple points of view – and not major characters, but dozens of different characters, some of whom only appear briefly. Can you explain why you’ve chosen to use this literary device?