Author Interview: Jo Treggiari

Hey everyone. So I had the great fortune of interviewing the lovely Jo Treggiari, author of the YA dystopian, Ashes, Ashes. Here's how it went...

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TBP: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

JT: Tall, big-ring wearing, cake-baking writer and voracious reader who loves to hike and catch frogs with her kids.

TBP: Describe Ashes, Ashes in nine words or less.

JT: Post-apocalyptic adventure set in near-future Manhattan fraught with danger.

TBP: What inspired you to write Ashes, Ashes?

JT: So many things. Worries about global warming, war, dwindling resources, natural disasters. The adventure stories I read as a kid. One of the most pivotal scenes in the book was inspired by the experience of one of my closest friends who barely survived the 2004 Indian Tsunami. One minute she was eating breakfast on the beach, the next she was swept away in a massive wave which killed hundreds of people in the town where she was staying.

TBP: According to your Bio you 'penned personalized naughty limericks by request' in highschool. I want an example. :P

JT: A girl named Briana McNair
Had the most beautiful hair
Shiny and glossy
Curly and flossy
It sprung from her head to 'down there' (Hardy har har. :P)

TBP: Your Bio also says you like to bake desserts. Which is your favorite to make?

JT: I make a wicked two layer chocolate ganache cake. (*drools*)

TBP: What was it like growing up in such drastically different locations and what was the main thing you always found yourself having to adjust to? Your favorite? (Canada, Roccasinibalda, Italy and California).

JT: My parents are European and like to travel so it didn't feel that weird to me to spend my school year in Canada and my summers in England and Italy. After I moved to California as a teen we still spent most of each summer in Roccasinibalda, near Rome. I guess language was sort of an issue but I've noticed that kids and teens are always able to communicate with each other on some level. It's adults who get embarrassed and talk too loudly. Also, the Cali dialect isn't so weird once you get used to it ;). My favorite place in the world is and will always be Roccasinibalda.

TBP: If you could shapeshift into any animal, what would it be and why?

JT: A wolf. I love wolves and refer to my kids often as cubs. They are a terribly misunderstood species and preyed upon by people. I am devastated that they recently lost their endangered species status in the U.S. Their sociability and parenting is not so removed from our own. Most of my favorite animals- wolves, crows, rats- have a cruel history of human persecution.

TBP: If you could bring any fictional character to life and marry him, one not of your own creation, who would it be and why?

JT: I'd quite like to marry Ronald Weasley. In fact, I did marry a red-head.

TBP: If the world ended tomorrow, what would your last meal be comprised of?

JT: Sweet potato tempura sushi rolls, stuffed spinach and mushroom pizza from Zachary's in Berkeley, and from Oakland, Cali's Fenton's Creamery, a banana split- it's got like 2 lbs of ice cream and toppings on it. (The pizza and banana split sound amazing!)

TBP: What do you truly think will be our world's greatest downfall in the future?

JT: Greed.

TBP Anything else you'd like to add?

JT: Thanks for the opportunity. I really hope you love reading Ashes, Ashes as much as I loved writing it.

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Thank you, Jo, for letting me interview you. And folks, I hope you all enjoyed reading this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it. Don't forget to enter to win a copy of Ashes, Ashes HERE!

As always, thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what ya think. :D