YA Feature: B. Morgenroth

Can you tell me a little about yourself and how you got into writing?

I suspected I would eventually start writing seriously after all the fun of being a globetrotting photojournalist wore thin. That part of the plan got off to a shaky start when I couldn’t find a job as a photographer and wound up at a stable teaching adorable young girls how to ride. When the owner of the property wanted his barn back, I said “I guess it’s time to start writing.” I was 23. The following year I sold my first book.
　
This talk books:

　
Can you tell us a little about the flash series, Flash and Flash of Light? Where did you get the idea for the series?

I still think of myself as a photographer and one day began to wonder what would happen if a teenage girl moved to Los Angeles and, to earn money, had to become a paparazzo (that’s the singular, paparazzi is plural). One evening while taking photos of celebrities on Robertson Boulevard, Kip Chanin gets a shot of the young actor, Alex Milne. That’s the beginning of their relationship. Any activity with a Milne involved is guaranteed not to go smoothly but the Chanins will give anyone a run for their money.


Do you plan on writing any more in the series?

Most of the ends are tied up by the completion of book 2 but I would like to know what happens next, so maybe yes.

Can you tell us a little about your series Bad Apple?

Someone I knew was murdered and that gave me a sense of how something that happened long ago could have repercussions in the present day. The concatenation of events threads through the three books—Bad Apple, Burning Daylight and Rise.

The series is not entirely about death and violence, although the threat from the killer never diminishes. Neal was taught to play the violin by the victim and the state trooper investigating the case makes it possible for her to meet his son, Truly. Tru might be considered a prodigy; he’s been trying to be musician and perform since he could climb up on the piano bench.

Neal and Tru click. They start a band called Maisie and The Boy’s Night Out. The success they begin to have and the music they create can be seen as nearly as important as the relationship between the two.

There are currently three books released in this series. How many more are planned?

There will be at least one more and if I can tie up all the ends in that one, my fans will be both thrilled and disappointed. I think they would like to follow Neal and Tru forever.

You have a new YA book coming up for release called Unheard. Can you tell us a little about this?

I did a rewrite another of my backlist books titled In Real Life I’m Just Kate, which is now Just Kate, and I saw how my living life improved that book. Nothing changed so very much, she’s still an actress on soap opera, and falls in love with the actor who plays the bad boy on the show. What changed is the depth of their relationship.

Unheard is not unlike Just Kate in that respect. The plot is similar to the original book, Will the Real Renie Lake Please Stand Up, but the troubled young woman and the deaf young man have a much more profound relationship in the rewrite. We come to understand Renie more fully and why she makes some of the boneheaded choices she does. We also can understand Jan and why he’s drawn to her. .

If you could pick which of your books do you think we should pick up first to read, the bad apple series, the flash series or Unheard and why?

Each book has a place close to my heart but I think Flash and Flash of Light are fun, probably a good starting point.

　
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