Mundie Moms

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Take A Bow Interview with author Elizabeth Eulberg

I am so excited to have Elizabeth Eulberg on the blog today to talk about her upcoming release, Take A Bow! If you've not yet pre-ordered this book I highly recommend you do. In some areas I know you can already go pick it up at your local store...run in there and do so! 



I love that there are 4 characters we get to meet in Take A Bow. Did you find yourself relating to one character more than the others? If so, who and why?

Emme. I’ve spent a lot of time “in the background” so to speak when I was a publicist, and I struggled a bit when I had to come out and be the author. I’m not a shy person, but it was really uncomfortable for me to talk bout my books and myself at first. So I related to Emme’s struggle the most. What’s funny is that I didn’t even realize the corollary until I was almost done writing the book. But I started working on Take a Bow right after I was done promoting my first novel, The Lonely Hearts Club, so I apparently had some stuff I needed to work through!



What inspired you to write a story centered around the performing arts?

I’ve been obsessed with performing arts high schools since I was a kid, probably because of Fame. I loved playing music so much, I really wish I could’ve gone to a school where the arts were the focus, but there wasn’t one near the small town in Wisconsin that I’m from. So I was in every type of music program/band my high school had (orchestra, jazz band, pep band, marching band). I always knew that I wanted to write a book set in a performing arts high school and once I did the research and realized how competitive they can be, the story began writing itself.


Out of the four, Sophie, Emme, Carter and Ethan, who do you feel grew or changed the most from your rough draft to the published book?

Definitely Carter! When I originally came up with the idea for Take a Bow, Carter was going to be a secondary character. He was only Sophie’s boyfriend, the former child star. Then I realized he had a secret and knew that he had his own story to tell. I also think out of the four of them, he grows the most throughout the book.


How would you describe each of your characters using one word?

Emme: Sweet

Sophie: Driven (although I’m sure people have a different word they’d use to describe her!)

Carter: Conflicted

Ethan: Self-destructive 


Who would you have been friends if you had gone to school with Sophie, Emme, Carter and Ethan?

Emme - we have a lot in common (we are both a little too trusting for our own good). I also think I would get along well with Carter, but his famous past would’ve probably intimidated me. 


Is there a YA book you've read recently that you'd recommend we go pick up and read?

Yes! Being Friends with Boys by Terra Elan McVoy! I LOVE this book, if books could have best friends, Being Friends with Boys would be Take a Bow’s. BFWB also features a girl who’s in a band with guys (and likes to be in the background), but it’s a completely different story than my book. I’m in awe of how well Terra writes the music scenes, you feel like you’ve been given a backstage pass into her character’s world.


Do you have one piece of writing advice you'd like to share with aspiring teen writers?

WRITE! I hear a lot from teens who get stuck on a story or aren’t sure what they should write or how to get published. The most important thing is to write. Everything else can come later. If you’re stuck on a story and it doesn’t appeal to you anymore, write something else. Just write!


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Thank you Elizabeth for stopping by and chatting with us today about your newest release! 

Please be sure to visit Elizabeth via her Website | Twitter | Facebook

You can read my review for Take A Bow, and meet Carter.



Published by: Scholastic
To Be Released on: April 1st, 2012
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble



From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.
Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform. -quoted from Goodreads

Thank you to Elizabeth, she's offered to give away a published copy of her book, Take A Bow! 

To enter, please fill out the form below. 

- Open to residents in the US
- You must be 13 yrs & older (if under you must have a parent/guardian's permission to enter)
- 1 entry per person
- This giveaway will end on April 14th, 2012

Book Review: Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg


Published by: Scholastic
To Be Released on: April 1st, 2012
Source: ARC/book from publisher to review
4.5 stars: I Really Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble


From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.
Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform. -quoted from Goodreads

Elizabeth Eulberg has a talent for writing books that connect me with her characters, engage me with her story telling and leave me wanting more when the story is done. With Take A Bow she does all that and a little more. I loved getting to meet Carter, Emme, Ethan and Sophie. I was completely blown away at Elizabeth's talent for creating and writing four distinct voices whom I never had to ask myself who was talking through out the course of reading the book. Elizabeth made it so easy to not only get to know each character, she created an incredibly engaging story for me to love. 

Even though I don't know what it's like to be a child and teen actor like Carter does, I'm not in a band like Emme and Ethan are and I have no desire to be an aspiring singer and actress like Sophie does, Elizabeth made it easy for me to relate to and identify with each of her characters. Sure they go to the prestigious CPA performing arts school for the gifted, but they are just like every other teen. This is their senior year and like many seniors they're trying to figure out what they want out of life, as well as finding their place in the world. Some of them deal with heartbreak, betrayal, rejection, and others fall in love, learn to say no, find their own and take hold of their destiny. What I loved about these characters is how easy it was for me to connect with and identify with them. I fell in love with them (well most of them), enjoyed getting to know them and admired them for how much they changed/grew as the story progressed.

I am extremely picky when it comes to reading books with multiple points of views, but I loved the way Elizabeth wrote Take A Bow. She not only kept the story progressing with each of the four character's points of views, but also allowed me to get to know them on an individual level, as well as see how all four of them interact together. While Sophie angered me to know end, Emme, Ethan and Carter made it so easy for me to love them. The reason being is that they're characters who are flawed, they're real, realistically portrayed and they all inadvertently do things to help each other out. These three characters are the ones I felt grew the most, and they all do so in extremely different ways. I didn't care much for Sophie and how shallow she was through out the entire storyline, but I did appreciate what her character added to the story. Emme was the one that grew the most for me. Carter had me rooting for him from the beginning and Ethan is the one I left with a stupid grin on my face. 

Elizabeth Eulberg does such a beautiful job at creating characters I fall in love with, root for and want to go hang out with. With Elizabeth's book I always know I'll feel completely satisfied with the story, will love with her writing, her story telling and her characters. Without fail her books always give that little pick me I needed and leaving me grinning when I'm done with them. If you're looking for a book that will whisk you away from reality for a bit, give you a richly written dialogue between four distinct well written characters and leave you feeling all hopeful and completely after reading it, than I highly recommend picking up Take A Bow. 

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