I know I've posted like four interviews in two days...can't help it. I'm addicted:P
Today we have the dynamic duo that was behind the masterpiece namely The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading. Hold your breath, and enter the world of Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance.

And by the way, today is Darcy's birthday, so pleeease wish her a happy one on the author website! (http://thegeekgirlsguide.com)

Let’s start with the basics. Tell us something about your latest book, The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading.

Geek Girl’s Guide is the story of two smart, kind of geeky girls who unexpectedly find their way onto their school’s varsity cheerleading squad. It’s the story of their season on the squad. But I like to tell people that it is also a story about falling in love for the first time and about being a good friend to someone, even when they’re not being such a good friend back.

How did you come up with the plot? Was it inspired by your own experiences?

D: Charity came up with the basic plot about five years ago. It’s been through a few transformations since then though. I’ll let her tell you how she was inspired to write the book.

C: The initial premise for the story is based on something that happened to me my senior year of high school. I got talked into trying out for cheerleading and made the squad. (And believe me, I wasn’t the cheerleader type.) The rest of the story? While I’ve pulled a few things from “real” life, it’s pretty much all fiction.

What’re your favourite book/s?

D: I have a gabillion favorite books and every time someone asks me this I seem to come up with a different answer. ; ) But there is one book I love more than any other. It’s A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I’ve read it five times already and, as soon as I make a dent in my to be read pile, I plan to read it again.

C: It’s probably no secret that I love Pride and Prejudice. While in college, I majored in Russian, so I have a fondness for many Russian writers as well. I have a literary crush on Pushkin, the father of Russian literature.

Tell us something about yourself. Anything from your favourite colour to the wackiest quirks works.

D: My favorite color depends on my mood. I like a nice sunny yellow when it’s dreary outside. (BTW, it’s dreary a LOT where I live.) I like green when I’m busy and stressed. It seems to calm me down. And cherry red is just plain pretty. Here’s something quirky about me: I like to find out mostly useless facts about random subjects like, for instance, colors. Did you know that some jails paint special rooms a certain color of pink because it makes people feel less violent?

C: I’m a blue/green girl myself. Here’s something weird about me: I must have short nails when I write. Seriously, my nails get too long, I can’t write. It’s very, very strange.

What would your autobiography be titled if you wrote one?

D: Coming up with titles is not one of my strong points. As evidence of that, the only one I can think of right now is: Dorks with Sporks. Not exactly promising.

C: In thinking about this, I really hope it would be called Unexpected.

What do you do when you’re not writing? As in, hobbies?

D: Writing, and promoting our book, takes up LOTS of time. I love to read though and spend time with my family and friends. Oh, and I love to listen to live music!

C: What Darcy said. Promotion could be a fulltime job and you’d still find things you could do. I love to read, which is good for writing, so I never feel guilty about it. I like to exercise/workout (leftover from my Army days). I used to run, but my knee doesn’t like it so much anymore (also something we can blame on my Army days).

Rapid Fire round! Which fictional character do you find yourself most similar to?

D: I’d like to say someone exciting or glamorous but really, I am probably most like Molly Weasley, Ron’s mom in the Harry Potter series. My family is not as large as hers but I do have a crazy, crowded house where people tend to come and go to seek safe haven and hatch their next plot. I love my family and friends just as fiercely as Molly does and I worry over them just as obsessively.

C: I want to say Elizabeth Bennet, but I’m projecting. I want to be like her, but I’m not nearly as witty.

Why are hot dogs named hot…dogs?

D: Hot dogs are named that way because they are best served hot (but still taste semi-fabulous cold, straight from the package) and because as soon as one smells them cooking one becomes as ‘hungry as a dog’ no matter what one has previously consumed.)

C: As you may have guessed, Darcy and I share a love for processed meat products that are bad for you. The adjective hot does double duty in this case. Yes, the dogs are best served hot, but they’re also hawt. The only reason they’re not called hawt dawgs is so much awesomeness would simply be redundant.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done?

D: I don’t think it’s weird but I do seem to collect strange looks when I attend rock concerts and shows where I am the oldest person there, especially when I sing all the words just as loudly as the teenagers.

C: I once ate Puppy Chow (the real stuff you feed little puppies, not the human snack food). I’ve jumped out of an airplane (five times). I once went forty days without a shower, which is both weird and smelly.

You’re locked in an elevator. Who would you want in there with you to keep you company and why?

D: I would hope it was a big elevator because I’d like to bring my husband, my two kids, a few friends and maybe you, Prodhi. We’d have a party and we just might be a little sad when the elevator started working again because it would be the end of our fun.

C: Oh, sure. And here I was going to say George Clooney, but that just looks shallow compared to Darcy’s answer. So. Never mind. I’m ignoring all of you. Give me a fully charged Kindle and a decent Whispernet connection.

A giant chicken just took over the city. What would Bethany do?

D: Bethany is a practical girl, so I think the first thing she would do is grab an umbrella. Chickens are not too particular about where they, um, eliminate their waste and it would be hard to develop a plan if you had to keep dodging chicken poo.

C: I’m thinking that a giant chicken also means a giant, sharp beak. That umbrella should be reinforced with titanium steel and some Kevlar.

I think Bethany would get everyone at school to help herd the chicken into the football stadium, where they could lock the gate behind it. She would then use her mad journalism skills to write up an article for the paper, which would be picked up by all the wire services. Todd would make a YouTube video that would go viral.

The school would end up selling the chicken to a secretive consortium of large chicken fanatics. And, at long last, the school would finally have the money to get the newspaper/journalism class the new software and computers they need.

Three words to describe yourself and three more to describe The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading.

D: Me = Goofy, Geeky and Gregarious
Geek Girl’s Guide = Funny, Surprising and Endearing (I hope!)

C: Me = Shy, Quiet, Geeky
Geek Girl’s Guide = Fun, Unexpected, Sweet (I hope!)

Awesome answers, much? Seriously, I need to learn how to answer like that! Opinions? Questions? Throw them in the comment box.

Labels: Charity Tahmaseb, Darcy Vance, Tête-à-Tête, The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading

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