Please help me give a big Hoosblog welcome to Sonia Hartl!
Sonia Hartl is the author of Heartbreak for Hire (Gallery), The Lost Girls, Not Your #Lovestory, and Have a Little Faith in Me (Page Street), which received a starred review in BookPage and earned nominations for the Georgia Peach Book Award, YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, and ALA’s Rise: A Feminist Book Project List. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s enjoying pub trivia, marathoning Disney movies, or taking a walk outside in the fall. She’s a member of SCBWI and the Managing Director for Pitch Wars 2020. She lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and two daughters. Follow her on Twitter @SoniaHartl1.
I first met Sonia when we were on a panel together at the paperback launch party for my friend Erica. I’ve enjoyed watching her success with Have a Little Faith in Me and am excited about her new book!
Tell us about your book.
#PlaneBae meets Gilmore Girls in this hilarious and heartfelt story about the addictiveness of Internet fame and the harsh realities of going viral.
Macy Evans dreams of earning enough income from her YouTube channel, R3ntal Wor1d, to leave her small, Midwestern town. But when she meets a boy named Eric at a baseball game, and accidently dumps her hotdog in his lap, her disastrous “meet-cute” becomes the topic of a viral thread. Now it’s not loyal subscribers flocking to her channel, it’s Internet trolls. And they aren’t interested in her reviews of VHS tapes—they only care about her relationship with Eric.
Eric is overly eager to stretch out his fifteen minutes of fame, but Macy fears this unwanted attention could sabotage her “real-life” relationships—namely with the shy boy-next-door, Paxton, who she’s actually developing feelings for. Macy knows she should shut the lie down, though she can’t ignore the advertising money, or the spark she gets in her chest whenever someone clicks on her videos. Eric shouldn’t be the only one allowed to reap the viral benefits. But is faking a relationship for clicks and subscribers worth hurting actual people?
(I love that we both have a Paxton in our latest books, even though mine is not a good guy.)
Buy Not Your #Lovestory:
Amazon | B&N | IndieBound
Now for the fun stuff!
What’s your favorite genre? Do you read what you write?
Romance is my favorite genre to read and write.
Saaaaaame. I was just saying the other day that I just really need kissing in my books.
What’s your favorite part about writing?
Banter and humor. I especially love crafting settings that create conflict with my characters in humorous ways.
Humorous conflict is the best! Because really, that’s how life usually is.
What’s the hardest part of writing for you?
Keeping characters consistent, while also making sure they change over the story.
That is a struggle, right? Our characters need to change during the story, but they still have to be themselves.
What’s an activity unrelated to writing that you love?
I love playing board games. We have family game night every Saturday and a closet full of games, and we’re always looking for new ones to try.
I wish I had more people to play board games with! My husband plays every now and then, but he’s not as into it as I am.
Who’s your biggest cheerleader?
My family.
That makes life so much easier!
Now I’d like to play a fun little game called This or That. As a writer, I find that a lot of interviews ask the same questions, so I always appreciate sharing something new about myself. I’m super excited about these questions—and I hope you enjoy them!
Introvert or extrovert? Introvert
Morning or night person? Morning
Coffee or tea? Tea
Sweet or salty? Salty
Eternal summer or four seasons? Four seasons
Mountains or beach? Mountains
Dogs or cats? Cats
Over 5’5” or under? Under
Left or right-handed? Right
Hoodie or yoga pants? Yoga pants
I love that as a fellow Michigander, you prefer four seasons. There’s so much beauty in the different times of the year!
Sonia, thank you so much for spending this time with me and my readers. Readers, you can find Sonia at these links—and be sure to check out Not Your #Lovestory!
Website | Twitter | Instagram
Amazon | B&N | IndieBound
If you missed the previous interviews, you can read them here.
