Q&A with Jennifer Pearson

From my Q&A with Jennifer Pearson, author of Drop Dead Famous:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

My working title for Drop Dead Famous, a YA story about a girl who investigates the murder of her superstar sister Blair Baker, was Homecoming. I think this title worked in some ways – Blair is killed during the opening act of her homecoming tour, and it hints that the home is an important part of the story, but I don’t think it was quite strong enough for the YA audience. It doesn’t mention murder or death, words which are frequently found in YA thrillers as they serve as good genre touchstones. By the time the book went on submission to publishers, I had changed it to Drop Dead Famous which I think does a good job of signalling the core themes of murder and fame to the reader.

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I think I’m quite instinctive when it comes to...[read on]

Visit Jenny Pearson's website.

My Book, The Movie: Drop Dead Famous.

The Page 69 Test: Drop Dead Famous.

Q&A with Jennifer Pearson.

--Marshal Zeringue