Guest Post from Author Brenna Yovanoff

Hi, everyone,

I'm really excited to be guest-posting here on Kirsten's blog!

Last month, I was lucky enough to have Kirsten as a guest on my own blog, and I got to ask her a few questions. In the Eternal Ones, main character Haven Moore and her good friend Beau run a very successful business making formal dresses for their classmates, so naturally I wanted to know if Kirsten was a whiz with the sewing machine. (I'm an incredibly nosy person and I always want to find out if authors really are skilled in the pursuits they write about.)

In my novel The Replacement, which just came out on Tuesday—holy surrealism, there is a lot of music-talk. Mackie loves music. He loves listening to music and going to shows, and he particularly loves playing the bass. And lately, I've been discovering that there are other people out there who are just as curious/nosy as I am. They read about Mackie, and then want to know if I play any instruments.

Now it's time for a confession: I'm terrible at music. And I don't mean in that tone-deaf, when-I-sing-karaoke-your-ears-bleed kind of way. Although, that too. I mean, I'm really terrible at music—terrible on a fundamental level. I simply Don't Get It.

How bad, you might ask? Well, I will tell you. I'm so bad that I actually failed my introductory music class in high school. Not just “didn't do that well,” but failed it. I didn't even have the self-possession to be upset, because I was so confused. It was the first time in my life that I had ever failed something where I tried really hard and showed up every day. Also, if high school had taught me anything, it was that if you try really, really hard, they will probably give you a pity grade. Nope, no pity grade. Just a big fat F.

So when people ask me if the scenes where Mackie talks about music are based on personal experience, the answer is no, no, and absolutely no flipping way. Luckily for me, there's fiction, and the great thing about fiction is, no matter how slim the odds are of you ever playing a really rocking solo, it lets you pretend.

Thanks for having me, Kirsten!