Ontario Teen Book Fest Blog Tour: Spotlight on Amy Spalding
Hi, everyone! I am very excited for today’s post which is a part of the Ontario Teen Book Fest blog tour. OTBF is a super fun event that takes place every year and is a full day of fun with some amazing young adult authors. I’ve been going for quite a number of years now and I always look forward to it.
I am really excited to be hosting Amy Spalding today. Amy is the author of some fantastic books which include The Reece Malcolm List, Ink Is Thicker Than Water, Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys), The Summer of Jordi Perez, and the upcoming We Used To Be Friends.
If you have met Amy or follow her on social media, you know that she has an amazing sense of style. I had a fun chat with her about fashion and style that I hope you enjoy. We also hope to see you in Ontario in less than 2 weeks!
Ontario Teen Book Fest
Date & Time:
Saturday, March 9, 2019 –
9:30am to 5:00pm
Location:
Colony Branch Library
3850 East Riverside Drive
Ontario, CA 91762
This event is a completely free and un-ticketed event! Priority seating WILL be given to teens, but come one, come all! There will also be giveaways and raffles at the Fest, also free! Also, keep scrolling to find a giveaway held by us bloggers!
You can visit the website, to see the full schedule of the day by visiting the official Ontario Teen Book Fest website.
You can visit the website, to see the full schedule of the day by visiting the official Ontario Teen Book Fest website.
Books WILL be available for purchase at the event, available from Once Upon a Time Bookstore :) They are an amazing company so definitely bring your books from home, but try and support Once Upon a Time by purchasing a book!
There is also free lunch provided by Panera Bread!
About Amy
Amy Spalding grew up in St. Louis, but now lives in the better weather of Los Angeles. She has a B.A. in Advertising & Marketing Communications from Webster University, and an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School. Amy studied longform improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. By day, she manages the digital media team for an indie film advertising agency. By later day and night, Amy writes, performs, and pets as many cats as she can. She is the author of five young adult novels, including her latest, the bestselling The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles).
You can find amy at theamyspalding.com.
Seventeen, fashion-obsessed, and gay, Abby Ives has always been content playing the sidekick in other people’s lives. While her friends and sister have plunged headfirst into the world of dating and romances, Abby has stayed focused on her plus-size style blog and her dreams of taking the fashion industry by storm. When she lands a prized internship at her favorite local boutique, she’s thrilled to take her first step into her dream career. She doesn’t expect to fall for her fellow intern, Jordi Perez. Abby knows it’s a big no-no to fall for a colleague. She also knows that Jordi documents her whole life in photographs, while Abby would prefer to stay behind the scenes.
Then again, nothing is going as expected this summer. She’s competing against the girl she’s kissing to win a paid job at the boutique. She’s somehow managed to befriend Jax, a lacrosse-playing bro type who needs help in a project that involves eating burgers across L.A.’s eastside. Suddenly, she doesn’t feel like a sidekick. Is it possible Abby’s finally in her own story?
But when Jordi’s photography puts Abby in the spotlight, it feels like a betrayal, rather than a starring role. Can Abby find a way to reconcile her positive yet private sense of self with the image that other people have of her?
Is this just Abby’s summer of fashion? Or will it truly be The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles)?
Interview with Amy Spalding
Hi Amy! Thanks for agreeing to come onto the blog today. While your books are fantastic, one of the things I’ve always noticed and admired about you is your amazing sense of style and fashion. Where did your love of fashion come from? Have you always been into fashion and style?
I would say that my interest in fashion and style has changed over the years. While I’ve always loved it, on a hypothetical level, for so long, plus-size fashion was pretty terrible and limiting, and so it was easy for me not to care. A little over 15 years ago, Torrid opened a location in my hometown, where I was still living at the time, and that was a huge game-changer for me. Once I had a more varied selection, it was easy to fully embrace fashion, and be able to look the way I wanted.
Who were some of your style icons growing up?
I was a tween in the mid/late 1980s, so all of the big pop stars at the time were huge to me, especially Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. Madonna was extremely cool but her outfits were not necessarily good for a Catholic school uniform-wearing dork to replicate in her daily life.
Does fashion play a role when you create your characters?It can! Some of my characters (Abby from Summer of Jordi Perez, Devan from Reece Malcolm List) love clothes and fashion and how it helps them present themselves to the world. Jules from New Guy cares about looking responsible and presentable, but a lot of my other characters barely care at all. But, of course, like the famous Miranda Priestly cerulean blue quote, the absence of fashion is still a response to fashion, so that can become a characteristic as well. Riley in Kissing Ted Callahan, for example, is way busier thinking about music and kissing a lot of guys than she is worried about what she’s wearing, whereas someone like Devan has a thousand things to worry about and still wants to make sure her outfit is good. That’s part of the fun of writing characters.
Are you willing to suffer for fashion or does comfort rule?
I’m probably somewhere in between. If I truly embraced comfort, you would only see me in sweats, because sweats are amazing. I probably love nothing more than changing out of fancy clothes and putting on sweatpants. Sweatpants are like best friends. But I like to put thought into outfits, and so that means I am probably not as comfortable as I am in sweats. That said, I stopped wearing high heels several years back because I realized how limiting they were to me, personally, and I’ve only worn flat shoes, with very few exceptions, since.
Favorite outfit to write in?
I have a full-time dayjob and a busy life, so whenever I can write, no matter what I’m wearing, works for me.
Outfit that makes you feel like you can conquer the world?
Usually brand-new outfits are really exciting.
Do you have any literary fashion icons (ie fictional characters whose style you admire)?
I’m pretty obsessed with Millie from Julie Murphy’s Puddin’, because she makes twee unstylish choices sometimes, and she totally owns it. Of course I love Lara Jean Covey from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series and her perfect sweet looks. I just read an early copy of Abdi Nazemian’s Like a Love Story, and I’m obsessed with everything Judy wears.
Fashion trend you wish would go away?
A lot of the clothes from the 1990s that I thought we all agreed were bad choices are suddenly back, and it makes me feel extremely old and cranky. Get off my lawn!
Fashion trend you wish would come back?
In general I worry less about this because if things I like aren’t in style at the moment, I will just wear them anyway. It just means that I have way too many items in my closet because I get terrified to get rid of anything. Sorry, Marie Kondo.
If one item of clothing (or accessory) could represent you as a person, what would it be?
My favorite cat dress!
Where you do find all of your amazing dresses?
Mainly Modcloth, but I try to pay attention to the brands of things I like so I can hunt them down elsewhere.
What’s the key to being confident in your fashion choices?
It’s not easy, but it really comes down to dressing for yourself and not the approval of others. If you love what you’re wearing, it doesn’t matter what’s in style that season or what others think. Confidence comes from within.
If your characters were a pair of shoes, what kind of shoes would they be?
Devan (The Reece Malcolm List) – sweet color-coordinated ballet flats
Riley (Kissing Ted Callahan [and Other Guys]) – Dr. Martens boots
Reid (Kissing Ted Callahan [and Other Guys]) – whatever the girl he has a crush on at the moment says is cool
Abby (The Summer of Jordi Perez) – summery sandals
Jordi Perez (The Summer of Jordi Perez) – black Vans
Lightning round:
Favorite color: Red
Favorite item of clothing: my cat dress!
Favorite lip color: Red
Favorite accessory: my faux switchblade necklace
Favorite era for clothing: 1962
Last question – What are you working on now/what’s next for you?
My next book, We Used to Be Friends, is about the pain of a best friend breakup, and will be out January 2020!
The Blog Tour
February 26th
Spotlight on Abdi Nazemian – What A Nerd Girl Says
February 27th
Spotlight on Cindy Pon – Bookchelle
Spotlight on Suzanne Young – Movies Shows N Books
February 28th
Spotlight on Isabel Quintero – Read Now Sleep Later
March 1st
Spotlight on Amy Spalding – Nite Lite Book Reviews
Spotlight on Julie Buxbaum – My Fangirl Chronicles
March 2nd
Spotlight on Demetra Brodsky – Adventures of a Book Junkie
Spotlight on Kayla Cagan – Movies Shows N Books
March 3rd
Spotlight on Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka – BookCrushin’
March 4th Spotlight on Jeff Sweat – Movies Shows n Book
Spotlight on Robin Reul – What A Nerd Girl Says
March 5thSpotlight on Jessica Brody – The Readers Antidote
March 6th
Spotlight on Stephanie Garber – Adventures of a Book Junkie
March 7th
Spotlight on Jennifer Brody – Bookschief Managed
Spotlight on Carrie Arcos – Read Now Sleep Later
March 8thSpotlight on Nicole Maggi – Bookchelle
Spotlight on Mary Weber – BookCrushin’
The Giveaway
The prize for the giveaway is an Ontario TBF poster signed by all attending authors. This giveaway is sponsored by What A Nerd Girl Says and we cannot guarantee that all of the authors will sign the poster. If you would like to enter the giveaway, please check out the link below. Good luck!
OTBF Rafflecopter giveaway
