Author Crush Friday: Gaby Triana
Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.
We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to Gaby Triana, author of Wake the Hollow (August 2, 2016; Entangled Teen). Thank you for talking to us today, Gaby! We’re honored!
GLITTER: How much of The Legends of Sleepy Hollow went into this retelling?
GABY: A LOT. Though it’s not a straight retelling, we have chapters that begin with original Irving quotes, we have Ichabod Crane coming as the out-of-towner schoolmaster from Connecticut, Katrina Van Tassel as the daughter of the richest man in the county (though he’s living in Miami now), and we have Bram Bones as the local town hero. They all have new names in Wake the Hollow, and the subplot is still very much a competitive love triangle, but there’s a whole new main plot driving the story for a modern audience.
GLITTER: How much research went into writing Wake the Hollow?
GABY: I’ve never researched more for a book than I have for this one. The life of author Washington Irving features very much in Wake the Hollow, as well as that of Mary Shelley of Frankenstein fame, so I had to learn as much about them as possible, since a rumor about them features in my book.
GLITTER: How often do you post your grammar videos on your YouTube channel, Cakes by Gaby? We love them!
GABY: Oh, wow. I haven’t made those in a while! But maybe I should. I closed the cake business in 2011, and it’s been full-time writing since then. As for Grammar with Gaby, that started as a joke, because I kept posting on Facebook how tired I was of spotting poor grammar, so I made videos to teach certain concepts while pretending to lose my cool every time.
GLITTER: Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
GABY:
- I made Pitbull’s 30th birthday cake when I owned a boutique cake studio.
- I was dance captain in HS color guard, and I marched at WGI in Alliance of Miami color guard as a rifle.
- I was Teacher of the Year in 2000.
- I speak fluent Spanish.
- I threw a Nightmare Before Christmas party years ago, and the “Jack’s Moon” I made out of a hula hoop has been shared on Pinterest 5.5K times.
GLITTER: Tell us about your journey to becoming a writer.
GABY: I’ve always been writing stories since I was in 3rd grade. I began winning first prize ribbons for my writing in 9th grade. As an elementary school teacher, I wrote a writing middle grade novel called Freddie and the Biltmore Ghost that’s still unpublished, but it wasn’t until 2002 I sold my first YA novel called Backstage Pass. Since then, I’ve published 6 YA novels out of the 11 I’ve written, I’ve ghostwritten 15 more for private clients and bestselling authors, and recently published 3 romance titles under a pen name. That’s a lot of books!
GLITTER: In the Wake the Hollow, what was your favorite chapter/scene to write and why?
GABY: My favorite scene takes place in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery while Micaela is out looking for her cat, Coconut. There were lots of eerie things to describe, even though it takes place in broad daylight, and it made me remember my research trip to Sleepy Hollow in 2008.
GLITTER: What are you working on now?
GABY: I’m working on an adult romance series and plotting out a possible sequel to Wake the Hollow, but don’t tell anybody yet. 😛
GABY TRIANA is the award-winning author of six YA novels: Wake the Hollow, Summer of Yesterday, Riding the Universe, The Temptress Four, Cubanita, and Backstage Pass, as well as thirteen ghostwritten novels for best-selling authors. Originally a 4th grade teacher with a Master of Science in Elementary Education and ten years teaching experience, Gaby earned Teacher of the Year in 2000, wrote her first novel, Freddie and the Biltmore Ghost, then left teaching to launch a full-time writing career. She went on to publish young adult novels with HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, win an IRA Teen Choice Award, ALA Best Paperback Award, and Hispanic Magazine’s Good Reads of 2008. She spends her time obsessing about Halloween, Christmas, and Disney World, as well as hosting parties, designing mugs, making whimsical cakes, and winning costume contests. When she’s not writing, she might be watching Jurassic Park movies with her boys, posting food pics on social media, or helping run the Florida region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Gaby lives in Miami with her three sons, Michael, Noah, and Murphy. She has one dog, Chloe, and two cats, Miss Daisy, and the reformed thug, shooting survivor, Bowie.
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