Title: NOTHING HAPPENED
Author: Molly Booth
Pub.
Date: May 15, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 336
This modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s
Much Ado About Nothing takes place at the idyllic Camp Dogberry, where sisters
Bee and Hana Leonato have grown up. Their parents own the place, and every
summer they look forward to leading little campers in crafts, swimming in the
lake, playing games of capture the flag and sproutball, and of course, the
legendary counselor parties.
This year, the camp drama isn’t just on the improv stage. Bee and longtime counselor Ben have a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that’s complicated by events that happened—or didn’t happen—last summer. Meanwhile, Hana is falling hard for the kind but insecure Claudia, putting them both in the crosshairs of resident troublemaker John, who spreads a vicious rumor that could tear them apart.
As the counselors juggle their camp responsibilities with simmering drama that comes to a head at the Fourth of July sparkler party, they’ll have to swallow their pride and find the courage to untangle the truth, whether it leads to heartbreak or happily ever after.
Welcome Molly!
1. Did you always know you wanted
to be a writer or did you want to be something else?
For a long time I wanted to be a
ballerina! I danced at Boston Ballet pretty seriously through my second year of
high school. Then I wanted to be an actor, then a professional theatre techie,
then a screenwriter. I didn’t figure out I liked writing fiction until my third
year of college! Now I want to be a writer and a teacher.
2. How long does it take you to
write a book from start to finish?
First book took about three years
to finish, and my second book took about a year and a half.
3. How do you come up with themes
for your stories?
I come up with themes in a couple
of ways. One way is if I’m working with a Shakespeare play, which I most often
am, I think about how I want to translate the play’s themes for my particular
story. Another is if there’s a topic I feel passionately about trying to
address, like toxic masculinity in NOTHING HAPPENED. Sometimes a theme
naturally emerges in a draft, and I worked to make it more pervasive on the
next draft.
4. Do you have a schedule of when
you write?
My writing schedule is all over the
place. It’s super stressful, so I’m trying to change it and become more
consistent!
5. How are you able to balance
other aspects of your life with your writing?
It’s really hard! That balance is a
constant struggle. I’m in graduate school, and I live with chronic illness, so
I’ve had to make the difficult choice to slow down school so I have more time
to write. I recently had to be honest with myself that I couldn’t do everything
I wanted to do at once, and I had to find a pace that would allow me energy to
be creative.
6. What elements do you think make
a great story line?
Personally, I love fantasy or
magical realism and will they won’t they love stories. I’m also a fan of
exploring friendships and sibling relationships. And any talking cat just adds
to a story, IMO.
7. What was the hardest thing about
writing a book?
The hardest thing about writing
NOTHING HAPPENED was having faith that I’d actually finish it! SAVING HAMLET
was my first book, and when I finished it, I just assumed I now knew how to
write books. It turns out I only knew how to write SAVING HAMLET though! I had
to re-learn that process for NOTHING HAPPENED. It was a really valuable
learning experience though, and I’m hoping having gone through this will help
me have more faith in myself next time.
8. How many books have you written
so far? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve written two books! I truly
could not pick between them. I love both sets of characters so dearly.
9. Do you have a favorite
character?
Ahhh! So tough! Emma, Stanley,
Lulu, and Cooke, and then Bee, Ben, Claudia, and Hana are all my favs.
10. Where do you write?
Most often at my desk, on my bed, at the library,
and on the bus/train!
11. When deciding on how to
publish, what directed you to the route you took?
I read up on how my favorite
authors were published, and tried to follow those steps. I knew I wanted to try
to find a literary agent to work with.
12. Have you gotten feedback from
family about your book(s)? What do they think?
My mom and siblings are really
supportive of my work, and particularly enjoy the humor, since we’re all
goofballs. I have a sister who’s a teenager, and she likes NOTHING HAPPENED
better than SAVING HAMLET. xD
13. What kinds of things do you
like to do outside of writing?
Reading, teaching, podcasting,
crafting, and taking care of my pets, Suzie and Harriet.
14. What kinds of advice would you
give to someone who wants to start writing?
Read, read, read! Write the stories
you find when you look into your heart. Let yourself write terrible first
drafts. Revision is your best friend.
15. What is your favorite book?
favorite author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to
write?
My all-time favorite book is Which
Witch? by Eva Ibbotson. I have a ton of favorite authors, but Tamora Pierce
will always be one of my most favorites. William Shakespeare’s plays are
definitely my biggest inspiration.
16. Do you have any go to people
when writing a book that help you with your story lines as well as editing,
beta reading and such?
I brainstorm stories a lot with my
sibling, Nellie Booth, and my agent, Alex Slater.
17. Are you working on anything
now?
I have two secret wips. :)
18. Tell us 5 things that make you
smile
Friends & family, tea,
bookshelves, auditoriums, and skulls (Hamlet
aesthetics! xD).
19. Tell us 5 things that make you
sad
Stress, anxiety, homesickness, lack
of sunshine, and when someone I love is hurting.
20. If you could travel anywhere in
the world to visit a place so you could use it as a background for a book,
where would it be?
LONDON! I mean, I’ve already been
there and used it as a background for a book. But I want to go again and use it
as a background for another book. I basically just want to move into
Shakespeare’s Globe.
Molly Booth (she/her/hers) writes books about Shakespeare
and feelings. She's the author of Young Adult novels SAVING HAMLET (2016) and
NOTHING HAPPENED (5.15.2018), both published by Disney Hyperion. In high
school, she was a stage manager for three different community theatres, which
almost killed her. She graduated from Marlboro College and went onto study more
Shakespeare (twist!) at University of Massachusetts Boston. Molly is a
freelance writer and editor and has been published on TheMarySue.com, McSweeneys.net,
HelloGiggles.com, and various other websites. She co-hosts a Bardcentric
podcast, Party Bard, and directs a lovely, hilarious, and fierce group of
homeschooling teen Shakespearean actors. She also speaks and teaches workshops
at schools, colleges, bookstores, book fairs, camps, and libraries. Molly lives
in Massachusetts, where she spends a lot of time with family and friends, and
the rest attending to her queenly cat and loaf-of-bread-shaped
dog. Literary agent: Alex Slater at Trident Media Group.
Tour Schedule:
Week
One:
5/14/2018- The Book Girl- Review
5/14/2018- YA Books Central- Interview
5/15/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review
5/15/2018- Wonder Struck- Review
5/16/2018- Pretty Little Library- Review
5/16/2018- Confessions of a YA Reader- Review
5/17/2018- Books and Ladders- Review
5/17/2018- Sophie Reads YA- Review
5/18/2018- To Be Read- Review
5/18/2018- BookHounds YA- Guest Post
Week
Two:
5/21/2018- Magical Reads- Review
5/21/2018- The Cover Contessa- Interview
5/22/2018- Dani Reviews Things- Review
5/22/2018- Angelic Book Reviews- Review
5/23/2018- Blushing Bibliophile- Review
5/23/2018- Two points of interest- Review
5/24/2018- Bookworm Café- Review
5/24/2018- Novel Novice- Review
5/25/2018- Portrait of a Book- Review
5/25/2018- BookCrushin- Guest Post
This is one of my absolute favorite reads of 2018. It's smart, swoony, and filled with witty repartee and cute moments, but it also has depth and emotional honesty. Teen readers will LOVE THIS.
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