Congrats to Deborah Blumenthal for her new release THE LIFEGUARD (love that cover). She agreed to visit my blog to talk a little about her novel.

Tell us a little about The Lifeguard.

The Lifeguard is my new young adult novel about 16-year-old Sirena Shane who is sent off to spend the summer at the Rhode Island shore with her Aunt Ellie, because her parents, at home in Texas, are going through a difficult divorce.

It’s a summer that will transform her life – forever.

She moves into a beach house filled with ghosts, falls hard for a mysterious lifeguard with extraordinary looks and mysterious healing powers, and meets an 80-year old Brazilian artist and shaman who bequeaths her an unusual gift.

Tell us a little bit about your how your writing career evolved.

My first book, The New York Book of Beauty, was an extension of my work as a beauty columnist for The New York Times Sunday Magazine. It was a guidebook to the best beauty resources of New York City. “Research” involved going to different salons for manicures, pedicures, haircuts, massage, etc. In other words, equal parts work and fun.

But my entree into children’s book began with a tantrum — my younger daughter’s, not mine. We were on our way home from a play date and because she was hungry and tired, she had a total meltdown. That led to my first picture book, The Chocolate-Covered-Cookie Tantrum, written as therapy.

My first young adult novel, FAT CAMP, grew out of an article I wrote on weight loss camps for The New York Times Sunday Magazine. I was hooked on writing YA after that

How many books have you written?

Thirteen.

How much of yourself and your own life do you put into your stories?

Even though my stories aren’t based directly on my own life experiences, I think you can’t help but put your own hopes, dreams, fantasies, and fears into the stories that you write.

In The Lifeguard, you create a portrait of a lifeguard with extraordinary looks, not to mention magical healing powers. Never mind the powers, did you base him on someone that you know – or knew?

Actually there’s a top male fashion model who has an extraordinary face, and I kept thinking of him when I created the character of Pilot.

Any advice for struggling writers?

Don’t give up. Keep reading. Keep revising. And if something isn’t working, put it away for a while and revisit it after enough time has gone by so that you can see it with a fresh eye.

What are you working on now?

A new young adult novel as well as some picture books.

How can readers find out more about your books?

On my website:

www.deborahblumenthal.com