Welcome back to another installment of YA Q&A! I’m so excited to introduce Carol Riggs, debut author of THE BODY INSTITUTE. It’s another fresh release from our Fearless Fifteen clan, and I think Carol’s answers give away a bit of what she might have been thinking about when she started drafting this book.
BW: You wake up one morning and, OMG, you’re sixteen again! What’s the first thing you do with your new ability?
CR: Sit on my haunches in a crouch, because my knees haven’t let me do that for YEARS. Woo!
BW: You want to be young again, and your character makes people thin. Can anyone else see the correlation? Hmmm…Sadly, your parents aren’t too happy with your change. They’ve already raised teen Carol and they do not want to do it again. What fictional character do you ask to help you get out of the bind, and how do they “fix” you?
CR: I’d ring up Emmett “Doc” Brown from Back to The Future, because obviously, some serious unraveling of the space-time continuum is going on.
BW: Back to normal, you arrive at school and literally crash into your crush. He/she asks you why you’re shaken up. What do you tell him/her?
CR: “I swear to you, I’m really a senior citizen! But I woke up this morning wearing high-water pants and a bad case of bangs-covering-my-eyebrows.”
BW: Strangely, I know teens and AARP members who both match that description. *wink* Your crush isn’t convinced you’re telling the truth — after all, it’s a pretty far-fetched story. He/she suggests going somewhere to talk about it more. Where’s this dream date taking place?
CR: A lovely sandy beach—one that’s actually warm. Which means it’s probably NOT the Oregon coast.
BW: It might not be true love yet, but there is a Happily Ever After in your near future. As a Fearless Fifteener, your debut is out this year. Tell us about your book in 140 characters or less.
CR: Morgan Dey accepts a job at The Body Institute to lose 100lbs for another girl–& finds she may lose more than the weight she signed up for.
BW: OOOO!!! Love this concept. And y’all totally need the longer summary to really get into this premise.
About THE BODY INSTITUTE:
Meet Morgan Dey, one of the top teen Reducers at The Body Institute. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, Morgan can temporarily take over another girl’s body, get her in shape, and then return to her own body—leaving her client slimmer and feeling great. Only there are a few catches…
For one, Morgan won’t remember what happens in her “Loaner” body. Once she’s done, she won’t recall walks with her new friend Matt, conversations with the super-cute Reducer she’s been text-flirting with, or the uneasy feeling she has that the director of The Body Institute is hiding something. Not only that, suddenly residual memories from her Loaner are cropping up in her mind. She’s feeling less like herself and more like someone else. And when protests from an anti–Institute organization threaten her safety, she’ll have to decide if being a Reducer is worth the cost of her body and soul.
About Carol Riggs:
Carol Riggs lives in the beautiful green state of Oregon, USA. She enjoys reading, drawing and painting, writing conferences, walking with her husband, and enjoying music and dance of all kinds. You will usually find her in her writing cave, surrounded by her dragon collection and the characters in her head.
 Becky Wallace is the author of THE STORYSPINNER and its sequel, THE SKYLIGHTER (available March 22, 2016 from Simon & Schuster). She lives in a happy little village in Texas with her own real-life Prince Charming and their four munchkins. |
2015 YA & MG Debut Authors 