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Author Crush Friday: Michelle Levy

Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our  weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.

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We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to Michelle Levy, author of Not After Everything (August 4, 2015; Dial Books).  Thank you for talking to us today, Michelle! We’re honored!

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GLITTER: For those who haven’t read your work yet, how would you describe your writing style?

MICHELLE: Um, I don’t know, edgy? The reviewers say it’s unfiltered, raw, and emotional. Ugh, this feels like bragging. I’m so bad at this. *blushes*

 

GLITTER: What is the main plot of Not After Everything

MICHELLE: Seventeen-year-old-golden-boy Tyler Blackwell has to re-learn how to function after he finds his mother having just committed suicide. He must navigate the growing abuse of his alcoholic father, who refuses to pay for anything, while holding down several jobs so he can buy frivolous things like food and toilet paper. And then a friend from the past re-enters his life refusing to pity him and he slowly lets down his guard for her. Can she help him move on with his life or will he have to work things out for himself?

 

GLITTER: What one message would you like readers to walk away with when they’re done reading Not After Everything

 

MICHELLE: I hope it helps readers to realize that it’s okay to accept help. Even, or especially, when they think they don’t deserve it.

 

GLITTER: Did any one moment in your life help push you forward? 

MICHELLE: I think the thing that pushed me forward the most in my life was a big breakup with a guy I had been with for seven years. It made me realize I wasn’t really going after my dreams because I had basically put myself on hold so he could go after his. After we broke up, I landed my first casting job and never looked back.

 

GLITTER: Has anyone ever told you that you couldn’t do something? 

MICHELLE: Oh, yeah. Many times. I have over 150 literary agent rejections under my belt, but that didn’t stop me. In fact it made me want to try harder and prove them wrong.

 

GLITTER: What jobs have you had in the past? 

MICHELLE: I’ve had my current day job as a casting director for film and television for over fifteen years, but before that I did jobs ranging from cleaning houses to trying to sell coats (not particularly pretty coats, mind you) to stores for the manufacturer. Most of that job required cold calling, which I’m pretty sure is the ninth circle of hell for an introvert. I’d rather clean houses over that nightmare any day.

 

GLITTER: What genre do you prefer writing?

MICHELLE: I really love writing contemporary, but I also have a thing for magical realism like Cassandra Clare’s series’.

 

GLITTER: Who inspires you?

 MICHELLE: My mom. She’s the kind of person who has always provided a safe haven for my friends and my brother’s friends when they had difficult times. She is one hundred percent Abnegation.

 

GLITTER:What one piece of advice could you give any teen going through difficult times now?

 MICHELLE: As someone who suffered some pretty harsh bullying from elementary school all the way through my sophomore year of high school, I would like to tell you: it’s not you, it’s them! It’s incredibly hard at times, believe me, I know, but you need to remember that they’re not worth it and it gets better. It really does.

 

GLITTER: What are you currently working on?

MICHELLE: I’m working on a book that deals with bullying and psychological disorders. Plenty of material to draw from for all the bullying scenarios. So, see? Someday those unbearable moments can be used for good.

 

author: Michelle Levy; photographer: Michael Levy

 

Michelle Levy was born and raised in Colorado, but at eighteen moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in casting for film and television. In her many years of casting she has been privileged to work on projects such as Six Feet Under,DeadwoodBruce AlmightyMr. Popper’s PenguinsVampire Academy: Blood Sisters, and many more. This is her first novel.

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