.Xpresso Reads.: Miss World Tour Stop

I'm part of the Miss World blog tour and today I've got Randi here for an interview to learn more about herself and her book. There's also a chance to win so stick around!

Never heard of Miss World? Here's the lowdown:

Miss World
Randi Black
Release date: August 30th, 2011
by Fire Spirit

Goodreads / Purchase

It's 1993. Kim Ho wishes she were Courtney Love, instead of the chubby 16-year-old who clashes with her traditional Chinese parents. Her very own Kurt Cobain arrives in the form of Kevin, a 26-year-old failed musician. But Kevin uses Kim's rock-star dreams to exploit her, and those dreams die along with the real Kurt Cobain.Too scared to tell anyone, Kim conjures up a cross-dressing imaginary friend and dates Walter Riordan, the cute boy from special-ed. Walter helps her recover, but after a joke snowballs into a plot to murder Kevin, Kim's forced to choose between revenge or her sanity. This is a truly daring and original coming-of-age novel about one girl's quest to reclaim her power from those who've stolen it.

Interview with Randi Black

Q. Let's start with telling us a bit about what we should expect from your book, Miss World.

Well, first of all, Giselle, I want to thank you for taking the time to read "Miss World" and being part of this tour!

Since "Miss World" was meant to be a dark and confrontational novel, then this should be a fair warning, LOL. I wrote it as a way of saving myself from this mess I got myself into during my 20s. It's not one of those light-hearted, feel-good books where everyone's happy in the end. Kim isn't pretty or thin or white, like many other protagonists I see in YA. Nor is she the most likable. I've had people tell me they had to put it down for a while because some of the scenes are quite disturbing. Unfortunately, shit like rape and STDs happen in real life, and sugar-coating them would've been a cop-out. But if you can past Chapter 5, it's not so bad anymore.

That being said, expect to be taken for a wild, intense ride. There will be a cross-dressing imaginary friend whose farts smell like angel food cake and butter cream frosting. A dyslexic boy who looks hot in skinny jeans. An unapologetic amount of sex and violence. A scandalous family secret. Willful destruction of property. Bands you may not have heard of and want to check out. Lollapalooza '94 AND '95.

Seriously, though, doesn't that sound kind of fun?

Q. I saw in your biography that you're a rocker chick! How much of yourself did you put into your protagonist, Kim?

Quite a bit. I felt like anything was possible when Nirvana got big in '91, and wanted to be Courtney Love when I bought Hole's "Pretty on the Inside." I was also quite the snob back then (and still kind of am). After Kurt died, I leaned towards more obscure bands because there was no way I was going to listen to Green Day. Kim's musical tastes definitely reflect that. You can also say that we were both truly moved the first time we heard The Gun Club. And like Kim, I used to scream and play bad guitar until bad shit happened. After years of smoking, I like how low my voice has gotten, especially now that I'm singing again. But my guitar playing is still bad.

Q. What song do you have in your head right now?
"Rocket USA" by Suicide.

Q. If you could jump into any book, which would you want to live in?

"We Got the Neutron Bomb" It's about the L.A. punk scene in the late 70s, which was happening when I was still in my diapers.

Q. Is there something you simply have to have with you when you write?

When I really think about it, no. I can even do it with music, coffee, or cigarettes.

Q. Do you have any other books in the works for the future? Any teasers to share?

I'm working on the sequel to "Miss World." It's called "Two Sides of the Beast," and takes place a month after "Miss World" ends. Kim's looking forward to college and engaged to Walter, but he's become physically violent and she suspects he's cheating on her with a model. On the day she moves to the dorms, she meets someone who's totally not her type and decides to use him to get back at Walter. She and this new guy end up falling madly in love and having lots of hot sex. Like her, he's also got lost musical aspirations and being together gives them a second chance at that. But Walter, who has repeatedly betrayed Kim, still won't let go of her that easily.

It took me 7 years to write and edit "Miss World," so I'm really excited about this project because it represents a new chapter in my life. It's scheduled to come out in Summer 2013, and it's probably the cutest novel I'll ever write.

Thanks so much for dropping by Randi. It was wonderful to get to know you!

Randi's Website / Goodreads / Twitter

Once there was a girl who grew up in San Dimas, CA. Her mom loved telling her that she was a difficult child, even before she was born. Whatever, though. Getting A's and playing piano bored her. She preferred writing and punk rock. Then she got accepted into the MFA in Writing program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and became Randi Black. During a fit of insomnia, she started Fire Spirit Press to release "bad books for bad girls." Randi lives in Chicago with her partner and the ghost of their dead feline, Stitchie von Poo.