INTERVIEWS
Not only do other people want to write about my books, sometimes they actually want to talk to me. (That’s probably because they don’t really know me. At least that’s what mom says.) Anyway, here a round-up of some interviews:
I read because I would feel empty if I didn’t. Interview with Guys Lit Wire
Life in a Fishbowl
Vlahos may be a bookseller as well as an author, whose startling new young-adult novel, Life in a Fishbowl, is due this week from Bloomsbury and follows two critically acclaimed books for teens, The Scar Boys and Scar Girl, but he’s a little louder than your stereotypical bookworm.–Interview in Westword by Jason Heller
“Just because it’s on a screen does not make it true. We have an obligation to seek and accept the truth when it’s presented.”—The Story Sanctuary
Meet the Life in a Fishbowl characters…—Swoony Boys Podcast
“When I lived in metro NYC, I did most of my writing on the commuter train to Grand Central Station. It was the perfect place; good ambient noise, no distractions, poor cell signal; anonymity.”—Peace Love Books
The Scar Boys
Well, I think playing the bongos would be a safer bet for you than performing head transplants at schools, though the latter would definitely be a hit with the kids. I’m just saying..Interviewed by John Corey Whaley for his Tumblr, on the occasion of being The Scar Boys a Morris Award finalist.
In writing as in life, the perfect is the enemy of the good. Interview with The Compulsive Reader
It’s the story of how music can give a kid confidence, can help a kid make friends and can really save a life. From “Stamford Author’s Debut Novel ‘The Scar Boys’ Draws From the Healing Power of Music, Connecticut Post
Music is a better sedative or stimulant than anything found in nature or in a laboratory. It literally keeps me grounded. Plus, I’ve met some of the best friends in my life through music.from interview with Teenreads
Songs on Woofing Cookies only album were envisioned and composed in Athens, [Vlahos] said. I drew a tremendous amount of inspiration from my time there. Interview/review in the Athens Banner Hearld
Music plays such an important role in the life of teens. As people get older, they tend to lose that immediate connection. Interview via Kirkus Reviews
Each chapter is named for a song from the 1970s or 80s, from Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road to Punk Rock Girl, performed by the Dead Milkmen. Interview with Publishers Weekly
I read because I would feel empty if I didn’t, because I like to talk to other people about books, because I like being exposed to new ideas, and because television (though I do watch some) rots my brain. I read because I love it. Interview with Guys Lit Wire
I never experienced anything like Harry, but I wasn’t a total stranger to bullying… If music was going to save Harry, he needed to be in a place where he needed saving. Interview with I Read Banned Books
Music, to me, is a kind of magic. It can make a person and you’re right, especially a teen feel every range of human emotion in just four bars.Interview with Mother Daughter Book Club
While it was hard to stand in the shoes of someone with physical challenges, it was easy to live in the skin of a teenager who feels isolated and alone. Interview with A.L. Davroe
When I started writing this, it wasn’t a story about a badly disfigured boy; it was about a boy who felt overwhelmingly isolated. That’s something that every person feels at some point in his or her life. Interview with KellyVision
Playing in a touring band and getting stranded in Georgia was a transformative period in my life, and I spent many years trying to tell that story. Interview with Cynsations
I would love to tell you! that I’m a kid on the inside and in a lot of ways I am, but at the end of the day, I’m not. Interview with Darien High School Newspaper
GUEST POSTS
So people want to write about The Scar Boys, and people want to talk to me. All well and good. But not nearly as good as when they invite me to write something for their readers. Here then is a round-up of Guest Blog posts and other media:
“Dear Loud, Obnoxious, Sixteen Year-Old Nitwit: Just shut up and listen.” Dear Teen Me
Life in a Fishbowl
If we are given permission and media implicitly gives us that permissionwe will watch anything. And worse, we will believe anything. Here’s to Happy Endings
One of the things people find most surprising about the process of getting published is that the publisher, not the author, chooses the title of the book. WhoRU Blog
Much like the story inside Life in a Fishbowl, my journey in writing the book took me down unexpected and dark roads, following twists and turns I never anticipated. It Starts at Midnight
The Scar Boys
There was no gesture large enough to repay Peter for his time and industry, so we left a case of beer on his front porch with a thank you note Woofing Cookies to The Scar Boys (or How Peter Buck Keeps Being Really Nice to Me) on R.E.M. HQ
How can you possibly enshrine rebellion in a hall of fame? Some Thoughts on the Rock Hall of Fame on Powells.com
Music has been fueling the very beats of my pulse for as long as I can remember. The Superpower Song, on Read Now, Sleep Later
I say that we found each other, because that’s how it is with books. They’re searching for you just as hard as you’re searching them. Cross Pollination, on Nerdy Book Club
Dear Loud, Obnoxious, Sixteen Year-Old Nitwit: Just shut up and listen. Dear Teen Me
The entire tour was conducted in my parents two-door, gray Oldsmobile Omega that we had, for reasons now long forgotten, named Boris Top Ten Road Trips on Geo Librarian
May 1978 My parents buy me a junky acoustic guitar for my thirteenth birthday. It changes my life. How the Heck Did I Get Here? A Chronology, on The Book Monsters
“I love the concept of Wish I’d Written, because, if I’m being honest, I think about it with almost every book I read. Wish I’d Written” on Adventures in YA Publishing
I love lists. I have spent uncountable hours throughout the course of my life discussing the top ten this or top five that. My Holiday Music, on Fiction The New Reality