Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters - Interview with Meredith Zeitlin (+Giveaway)

I am THRILLED to have debut author, Meredith Zeitlin on the blog today! Her book, Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters, is being released today! It is the, by far, the funniest and sarcasmatic book I've read in a very long time. I hope you all pick yourself up a copy. Welcome, Meredith!

You were a, uh....theatre geek (ducks) and a gifted singer. Anything online I can take a gander at? 
Hey, I went to Stagedoor Manor and Northwestern. How could I not own being a theatre geek!? So no need to duck... YET. (Mwahahahaha.)

I don't think there's anything online of me singing, except maybe a clip or two on my cartoon reel, though I'm voicing a little girl and a fish in those, so maybe not a great example. But here is a LINK to the playbill notice for an off-broadway show I was in about a thousand years ago before I stopped performing onstage. You may recognize my castmate and friend Billy Eichner, who is now starring in his own hilarious show on Fuse (very proud of him, obv)! Oh, and also me looking totally hideous. What is that pose about, exactly?!

Enjoy. Okay... that's enough now. Stop that laughing!

Here is a duet with a darling boy named Patrick Gagnon. I come in second... no idea how to alter the beginning, so your readers can just enjoy the whole thing. This is "Email Love Song," and it is about email. (because at the time email was brand new.) This is from the 1997 Waa-Mu show, Northwestern's huge (and huge deal, believe it or not, as in "stayed up all night to find out if I got cast") student-written musical. I was a freshman and it was a CRAZY huge deal that I had an actual part in the show with my own song - only 2 freshman girls were cast, period. Once again, I had juniors getting mad at me. Getting cast was one of the non-disasters. There were, of course, many disasters (like almost puking on the director after my audition because I was so nervous, for example). But that's a different post... ;)



Can you dish a little bit about the cover for FRESHMAN YEAR?

Well, I knew from a friend's experience with her debut novel that I would have exactly zero say about the cover - so I was prepared. The only thing I asked (read: begged) for was that they not use a picture of a real girl on it, because I always like to make up what characters I read about look like. Also, sometimes they change the covers later and put a different girl on there and you end up being like, "What!? That is NOT what Anastasia looks like at ALL!"

Review - Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin
March 1st, 2012 from G.P. Putnam's Sons

Freshman year will be the start of something new for Kelsey Finklestein. She is determined to make her mark and get herself noticed. Try out for the school musical, grab a starting spot on the soccer team, nail down the cutest boy in her class, whatever it takes...Kelsey is going for it! Within just a few days into the new school year, Kelsey has gotten some attention, all right. Only, not in a good way! She is the target of a scary (and quite large) soccer team captain and gets a lot of neg publicity from the school newspaper. Why is her picture always plastered on the front page when she is looking her worst? She decides to take the bull by the horns and find out who keeps snapping bad photos of her. Just as soon as she tracks down The Crush and gets fitted with a fat suit and beard? Wait, what?