Author Interview: Elizabeth O.

Elizabeth O. sits down with Melissa Hopsky, Inovace's Director of Publication, to discuss her novel You Look Pretty From Here.

At only 24 years old, Elizabeth O. is making waves, bringing back the free-verse novel style with beautiful poetry styled writing. She is the author of YA novel You Look Pretty From Here, a candid cautionary tale of the dangers of being young and the challenges young women face in todays society.

Melissa: The moment I read the manuscript for You Look Pretty From Here, I immediately knew it needed to be published. What was the publication process like from your perspective?

Elizabeth: I queried about 50 publishers before being offered a contract through Inovace. Most publishers weren't interested in my manuscript because of its unique style. The free-verse genre used to be popular, but hasn't been in recent years.

Melissa: Do you have any advice for writes facing rejection?

Elizabeth: Rejection sucks. It's an awful, terrible thing to have to subject yourself to. There's really nothing worse than putting months and months into a piece of writing to have it turned down. You start to question your capabilities as a writer and wonder if you should stop overall. My advice would be to stick it out and keep writing. Even if you don't find a publisher, in todays market, so many self-published authors sell more copies than traditionally published authors. All it takes is one person to believe in you to find that success, and that person could very well be yourself.

Melissa: As for the writing process, what was that like?

Elizabeth: It was a lot of sleepless nights. Once I start writing and I really feel the story, I can't stop.

Melissa: Do you feel connected with Cecelia?

Elizabeth: Absolutely. Cecelia is a young girl that I think most of the targeted readers can relate to. Even if you've never gone through exactly what she has, there are aspects to this book that I think every young girl can relate with.

Melissa: Many readers have expressed disagreeing with a lot of Cecelia's choices. What would you say to that?

Elizabeth: Let them. The whole point was to show a young girl making irrational decisions in the wake of trauma. You were supposed to read it and think "what the hell is she doing?". Cecelia had to come to terms with what happened to her on her own terms in her own time. In reality, overcoming trauma, especially as a teenager, is not so simple. At fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, even well into your twenties, you don't think as logically as someone, say, in their thirties of forties would. We're emotionally driven people by nature, and Cecelia was acting and reacting based on how she was feeling. Not on how she was thinking.

Melissa: You came up with the tagline THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY. Why is that?

Elizabeth: As much as there are romantic elements to this book, it's not a love story. It's a story about love, but loving yourself rather than someone else. Maddox is just as damaged as Cecelia, and he makes poor choices in their relationship because of the issues he's overcoming.

Melissa: What would you say is the moral of this story?

Elizabeth: It's a story of overcoming trauma and loving yourself. I want young girls who read this novel to truly feel like they can take something from Cecelia's story.

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