Marta Acosta Interview
Chick Lit Chicks: You have received amazing and well-deserved reviews from many different people. For those who have not yet read your books, could you give a brief rundown on the series?Marta Acosta: My series revolves around a funny, very smart, sexy, quirky young woman who finds herself among a group of snobby vampires. She has the rather ridiculous name of Milagro de los Santos, which means "miracle of the saints," and she's trying to succeed as a writer while living in a crummy apartment and dating a series of guys who are like beach reads -- nothing she'd ever bother buying in hardback. After a romantic encounter with a handsome vamp named Oswald Grant, she's accidentally infected with the vampires' "condition." To their amazement, she survives. Her ex-beau is hunting Milagro and the vampires, so they hide her out in their wonderful California wine country estate while she recovers. They think she's a tacky golddigger, and she thinks they may be far more dangerous than they let on.
The series follows Milagro's adventures with the vampires and their enemies. She is, sadly, a freak magnet so lunatics frequently come into her sphere. She loves Oswald, but she's also attracted to another vampire, the charismatic, but decadent Ian Ducharme.
Chick Lit Chicks: I loved how you introduced the vampire theme in your books. You made it sound so real - not roll-your-eye-fake like some other novels. Why vampires, what was your inspiration?
Marta Acosta: I enjoy paranormal stories, but the vampires were always these ancient, suave, filthy rich, undead Europeans who slept in coffins. Well, it would make sense that they would be snobs, too. This sets up conflicts with Milagro, who has a degree from a Fancy University (F.U.), but comes from a working-class family. I'm a very skeptical person, so I created a scientific basis for the origin of the vampire myth. (Actually, I asked a doctor pal of mine to come up with the explanation.) Since the vampires are people with a genetic condition, I was able to draw a parallel with Milagro's sense of being "other" in mainstream society.
Chick Lit Chicks: When you started the first book, did you intend on it becoming a series?
Marta Acosta: No, I wrote the book as a one-off. My editor at Simon & Schuster loved the characters and asked me to continue with a series. Naturally, I was delighted.
Chick Lit Chicks: I loved the main character in your books. Is she anything like you or did you base her on someone you know?
Marta Acosta: Milagro and I share a snarky attitude, a similar education, and our Latino ethnicity. But I really based her those characters I've always loved in fiction. Like Jane Eyre, she's alone in the world, yet brave and intelligent. Like Anne Elliot in Jane Austen's Persuasion, she tries to do what's right over what's personally advantageous. Like Bertie Wooster in the hysterical P.G. Wodehouse novels, she's good-natured, eager for fun, and a little bit clueless.
Chick Lit Chicks: What are you currently working on?
Marta Acosta: I'm working on the third book in the series. It will come out in 2008. I regret to say that once again I'm putting Milagro in dangerous situations and emotional turmoil. She runs into a clever hoaxster, meets with the vampires' Council in New York, and has to plan out her wedding to Oswald despite her growing feelings for Ian.
Chick Lit Chicks: What is your favorite chick lit book and why?
Marta Acosta: I can't choose one. Sophie Kinsella can turn a phrase that makes me laugh out loud. I'm very fond of Jennifer Weiner's In Her Shoes and the development of the young sister's character. I really enjoy the hip London scene in Lauren Henderson's Sam Jones series, including Black Rubber Dress. Emily Barr's Backpack was a darker story, but one that really stays with me. There's a writer named Katy Munger and I think her Casey Jones series is hilarious, but her books are generally categorized as mystery. On the paranormal side, I really like Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series.
Chick Lit Chicks: How did you get into the chick lit genre? Was it on purpose?
Marta Acosta: I think that the period of life when one is really coming into adulthood can be so exciting and interesting. And I love writing humor. I never said, "I'm going to write a chick lit book," because my readers have always been women and men. I thought that I'd write a funny novel with some substance and a character that readers could really like. I love it when young women tell me they identify with Milagro, and when male readers tell me they've got a crush on Milagro.
Chick Lit Chicks: What do you find the hardest thing about writing to be? What about the easiest?
Marta Acosta: I find it most difficult to pace the plot, so that the reader doesn't get bored, but doesn't feel as if things are missing. I also have a darker side, and sometimes I have a problem decide what is too dark for a comic novel. I often write things that I think are hilarious, but no one else is amused. I'll reluctantly cut them out, but then I'll try to sneak them in somewhere else.
The easiest thing about writing is that I can daydream about scenes and dialogue while I'm walking my dog or gardening. I occasionally steal phrases directly from my best friend while we're having a girls' lunch out. That's pretty easy, too.
Chick Lit Chicks: Is there an author that inspired you to write or that you idolize?
Marta Acosta: The writers who've inspired me are a mixed bag and include Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Henry James, P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, and Kurt Vonnegut. But I can't discount all those wonderful writers who wrote just one book that is utterly delightful. There's such joy in getting so totally engrossed in a story that you're racing to the end, and also dreading finishing it. I don't read any one style or genre, and I can be as thrilled with a mystery as with a sci-fi novel or literary fiction.
Chick Lit Chicks: Do you have any advice for those who want to pursue a career in writing? Would that advice be the same for those who want to write specifically for the chick lit genre?
Marta Acosta: I hate to quote an American football cliche, but winners never quit and quitters never win. Writers who succeed are those who continue writing despite discouragement, obstacles, and rejections. The hardest thing to do is to find someone who can give you valid, worthwhile criticism and to listen to that criticism. Always work to improve your craft.
Those who want to write chick lit or comic fiction really need to get feedback on the humorous elements in their writing. Many people can find agreement on sad elements (sickness, death, heartache, kittens lost in a storm), but humor is much more idiosyncratic. I see a lot of forced metaphors that are being passed off as humor in chick lit. You can learn by watching the word play and timing of standup comics and sketch comedy. I was watching a re-run of "Frasier" the other day, just marveling at the clever dialog and the way the action was structured. Joe Keenan, who is a incredibly funny novelist, was the creative director of that show. That's another great thing about being a writer: you can watch sitcoms and call it work.
Marta Acosta's website is www.martaacosta.com, and her blog is www.martaacosta.blogspot.com.She loves to hear from readers at marta@martaacosta.com.
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