Q&A with Joanne Levy

Happy book birthday to you, happy book birthday to you, happy book birthday dear Joanne, happy book birthday to youuuuuuuu!

How cute of a name is Small Medium at Large? So frigging CUTE. And today it’s officially out in the wild, so run to your nearest bookstore and grab a copy (I’m lacing my sneakers as I type).

Here’s a bit about the book:

After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her over-opinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel.

Joanne was nice enough to stop by and answer a few question.
Lavender Lines: First off, thanks so much for stopping by the blog, Joanne! And don’t worry, my questions aren’t very heavy hitting. 🙂
Joanne: Thanks so much, Colleen! I’m happy to be here—As you know, I’m Canadian, so I LOVE hanging out with my fellow Canucks!

LL: What was the inspiration for Small Medium at Large?
J: I actually woke up with the title in my head one morning. I know, not that exciting of a story. But I recognized that it was a pretty cool title, and about a year later (I was working on other projects when I came up with it) I figured it was time to write the book.

LL: Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what kind?
J: I don’t. I can have a bit of background noise—like my husband watching hockey in another room (as long as it’s not the playoffs, because then he yells a lot and it gets a bit distracting)—but I can’t have music on when I write. That said, I’ve been known to make playlists for books and use music to get in the mood for writing specific scenes.

LL: Tea or coffee?
J: Depends on the time of day. First thing, I NEED my coffee, but after that one big mug, I’m a jasmine tea drinker for the rest of the day.

LL: Yoga pants or jammie bottoms?
J: Jammies!

LL: If you could get every kid in the world to read one book, what would that book be (besides yours, of course!)?
J: Ha! That’s a hard one, because there are so many great books out there and every kid is different in what they will enjoy. But, that said, I’ve been thinking about my favourite books a lot lately and which ones I want my niece to read most, and keep coming back to ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (and someday I WILL get to PEI and when I do, let’s have lunch). I re-read it recently because of an essay I was writing, and was reminded how much I love it. It is a lovely, well-rounded book with amazing characters that has obviously stood the test of time and continues to delight new generations of kids. AND it stands up when read as an adult, too—there were several times when I laughed out loud and wanted to hug Anne. And the Matthew part, well, you can imagine what happened to me when I got to that. Yep, I do love that book so.

Thanks for taking the time to chat, Joanne!

If you’re looking for Joanne online you can find her at her website or Twitter.