Release Date: November 21, 2017
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 320 pages
Elliot Gabaroche is very clear on what she isn't going to do this summer.
1. She isn't going to stay home in Sacramento, where she'd have to sit through her stepmother's sixth community theater production of The Importance of Being Earnest.
2. She isn't going to mock trial camp at UCLA.
3. And she certainly isn't going to the Air Force summer program on her mom's base in Colorado Springs. As cool as it would be to live-action-role-play Ender's Game, Ellie's seen three generations of her family go through USAF boot camp up close, and she knows that it's much less Luke/Yoda/"feel the force," and much more one hundred push-ups on three days of no sleep. And that just isn't appealing, no matter how many Xenomorphs from Alien she'd be able to defeat afterwards.
What she is going to do is pack up her determination, her favorite Octavia Butler novels, and her Jordans, and go to summer camp. Specifically, a cutthroat academic-decathlon-like competition for a full scholarship to Rayevich College, the only college with a Science Fiction Literature program. And she's going to start over as Ever Lawrence, on her own terms, without the shadow of all her family’s expectations. Because why do what’s expected of you when you can fight other genius nerds to the death for a shot at the dream you’re sure your family will consider a complete waste of time?
This summer's going to be great.
“This is a wonderful book that explores the desire to be loyal to family and to create a space that belongs solely to
oneself. Ever’s is a fresh and welcome voice that unashamedly embraces her geekiness.”
—School Library Journal
“Smart, strong, and confident, Ever is a likable protagonist...and fans of The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You will
joyfully greet the return of major characters. Good geeky fun.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Fans of Anderson’s debut novel, The Only Thing Worse than Me Is You, will recognize some characters and delight in
the steady flow of witty banter and sci-fi references.”
—Booklist
“NOT NOW, NOT EVER definitely lives up to even the highest summer-camp novel expectations, and watching Elliot gain
her stride and find herself at a summer camp for genius nerds is extremely entertaining…This is a strong novel with a
solid cast of supporting characters surrounding Elliot, one of the most charismatic heroines in recent memory.”
—Romantic Times
1. Who's your favorite character in NOT NOW, NOT EVER?
Definitely Elliot. She’s so different than me—she’s sporty where I’m slothy and brave where I’m scared and into Sci-Fi where I’m into romance novels and musicals. I loved being in her head for the year I was writing the book.
2. What is your writing process? Are you a pantser? (That would be especially interesting given the literary conversation with the plays). Outliner?
I’m an outliner and my outlines get more serious with every book. With NOT NOW, I outlined a three act structure which was basically “Elliot runs away. Elliot is at camp. Camp is really hard.” If I were outlining the same story now, it would have a chapter by chapter breakdown with character beats.
3. Please give the elevator pitch for Not Now, Not Ever.
Using The Importance Of Being Earnest as a guide, Elliot Gabaroche runs away from home to compete for a college scholarship.
4. Without spoilers, what was your favorite scene to write?
Any scene that happens in the Mo-Lo library. As a librarian, I took particular joy in creating a giant fantastical library of my dreams (and putting some swoon inside).
5. What do you most hope that readers take away from your novels (either or both)?
I want all my readers to take away a sense of happiness. NOT NOW, NOT EVER and its predecessor, THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU, are fluff. Hopefully well crafted, artisanal and organic fluff but fluff nonetheless. NOT NOW is very much a story about choosing a path, but also realizing that the paths don’t close behind you. I want my readers to have hope for Elliot’s path and their own.
6. What is next?
My next book, UNDEAD GIRL GANG, comes out from Penguin Razorbill on May 8, 2018! It’s Veronica Mars meets The Craft in the fat Wiccan Latina book I’ve always wanted to write.
7. Do you have a dream cast for if there was ever a movie version of NOT NOW, NOT EVER?
In four or five years, I think that Marsai Martin (Diane from Blackish) and Finn Wolfhard (Mike from Stranger Things) would be a perfect Elliot and Brandon. Wendell Cheeseman, the professor in charge of Camp Onward, was written with Paul Scheer (from my all-time favorite podcast, How Did This Get Made, and TV shows like Fresh Off The Boat and The League) in mind.
Lily was nice enough to answer a couple of our questions as well:
8. Is writing something you always wanted to do or is it something that just happened?
I have always written. I won my first writing contest when I was in first grade for a poem about olives. (Olives are good/olives are great/you can put them on your fingers/you can put them on your toes/but Mom will really yell at me/if I put them up my nose). I wrote poetry and fan fic until I was about fourteen and started writing original characters.
9. On a Harry Potter note, which house do you belong to?
Ravenclaw for life!
LILY ANDERSON is an elementary school librarian and Melvil Dewey fangirl with an ever-growing collection of musical theater tattoos and Harry Potter ephemera. She lives in Northern California. She is also the author of The Only Thing Worse than Me Is You.
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