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 I’m talking with novelist
Sandra Byrd this month. I’m a big fan of Sandra’s Friends for a Season
series and am eagerly awaiting her new teen series based in London.
Sandra, catch us up. What have you been doing lately?
Writing, writing, writing! I’m
thrilled to be writing this London Confidential series, taking my
readers (and myself) to London. I’ve been talking with British and
American girls who have lived in Britain, investigating British food
(bubble and squeak, anyone?) and reading up on Princes William and
Harry. It’s all great fun and I can’t wait to present the books to my
readers.
Tell us more. What’s
the London Confidential series about?
The series is about an American
teenage girl whose family moves to London. Savvy (short for Savannah)
has to make her way in a new school and a new country. She knows the
school newspaper is the right place for her, but she doesn’t have the
required experience, and the cute editor in chief is not looking to
train anyone. She has to come up with a way to prove herself and nab
the one available position on the newspaper staff at Wexburg Academy.
The tag line for the series says
it all: London Confidential is a new series where British fashion,
friendships, and guys collide, and where an all-American girl learns to
love life and to live out her faith.
What inspired you to
write this series?
 I love to travel, and
I think a lot of teenagers would love to travel, especially to Europe.
We share a common history and language with Britain, so that makes it
easier for us to understand one another, and yet we’re distinct in many
ways, which makes things fun. London seemed so fun—a beautiful place,
fashion and shopping, great theater, kind people. I also wanted to show
that how, even though we have many nationalities, Christians from all
places have the most important thing in common: Jesus Christ. He is the
same everywhere. We are truly sisters!
The first book is
called Asking for Trouble and the second is Through
Thick & Thin. When do they release?
The books launch April 1. I have
an amazing giveaway on my Web site, and will have more soon, so please
sign up for my newsletter before the launch in order to qualify for
them.
What
research did you do for this book?
I did a lot of Internet
research, of course. I also have several friends who live in and around
London who were very helpful. My very close friend and her family moved
from Seattle to live outside of London for two years, and I have a good
group of focus readers, British and American girls, who read the
manuscript for me. I am a lifelong Anglophile—someone who loves all
things English—so that didn’t hurt, either.
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Have
you been to
London?
My family is going for two weeks
this spring. I can’t wait!
Do you have a “day
job”? If so, how do you fit in your writing along with the rest of your
life?
Like most freelance writers, I
cobble together different writing and teaching jobs. I am a mentor for
the Christian Writer’s Guild, an organization that I am proud of and
thankful to have been involved with for nearly a decade. I teach
Language and Literature to several classes of high schoolers for whom
English is a second language, which is delightful. And of course, I am
always busy writing books.
What other books/series
have you written for teens?
 I have written three
series with
Bethany House: Friends for a Season, Girls Like You, and the Hidden
Diary. I’ve also written the Secret Sisters series for WaterBrook
Press. All told, including this new series, I have penned thirty-four
books for tweens and teens.
What is the last book
you read that impacted you? How did it affect you?
I loved the book The
Help for its honest, fresh voice. And I am reading Au
Revoir to All That right now, which reminds me to eat lots of
French cheese and chocolate!
Tell us something
surprising about yourself that readers may not know.
I eat kimchi almost every day,
even though I am not Korean.
Where else can readers
find you or your writing online?
Please visit me at
www.sandrabyrd.com. I love to hear from readers, and I hope you’ll take
a few minutes to poke around the various pages of my Web site. Thanks
for stopping by, and I hope to hear from you soon!
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