Interview with Cyn Balog

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Cyn Balog at the NJSCBWI conference last June, and I thought she was pretty awesome.  My hypothesis was proven correct when she agreed to do an interview for the YA-5.  Her newest book, SLEEPLESS, is currently in stores.  It's about a sandman who falls in love with a human girl, and if the awesome premise doesn't sway you, then the yummy cover definitely will.

And without further ado, Cyn Balog!

Me:  Okay, so your most recent book is Sleepless, about a sandman who falls in love with one of his charges. Where did you come up with the idea?

Cyn:  I was driving home from work and listening to I'm A Little Teapot or some other mind-numbing tune because my daughter was in the back of the car, and I was probably really sleepy because all of the sudden I imagined a guy sitting outside a girl's bedroom, waiting to lure her to sleep, because he was a sandman and that was his job. He'd been with her since she was young and had fallen in love with her, but she didn't know he existed.

Me:  That's pretty cool.  So far you've had two books come out, both Young Adult.  What do you like most about writing YA?

Cyn:  The readers are so passionate about it. I'll get emails from readers who are so excited about the book, but I don't think adults would be so interested. The YA world is a world of firsts, of freshness and excitement. The adult world is all been-there, done-that. Pretty dull. I've tried writing adult stuff and it's never been as fun.


Me:  What are you working on right now?

Cyn:  Well, I am procrastinating, an art I have perfected. I am the world's best procrastinator because even though I do it all the time, I still manage to hit my deadlines (knock on wood). Anyway, I have the first draft of my fourth book, LIVING BACKWARDS, due to my editor in March. That's about a boy who remembers his future. And I just finished a proposal for a new book about paranormal happenings during a whitewater rafting trip in Maine. Which incidentally, is based on a harrowing whitewater rafting trip I took when I lived in Maine.


Me:  Note to self, avoid whitewater rafting.  So back to Sleepless, in the book Eron can communicate with people through their dreams. Whose dreams would you stalk if you had that power?

Cyn:  My daughter's. She always comes into my room in the morning and tells me about all these wild dreams she has, but they're always happy, involving rainbows and princesses. They sound nice and unthreatening.


Me:  Aww, you're much nicer than I am.  In your first book, Fairy Tale, Cam is a fairy. So, would you rather be a fairy or a sandman, er, sandlady?

Cyn:  A fairy, probably. It's actually a chore to have to put people to sleep night after night, and you have all these rules you need to follow. Fairies have cool magical powers. At least my fairies could heal people and do all sorts of neat things.

Me:  Okay, so the age old question: What's your favorite Ben and Jerry's flavor?

Cyn:  Karamel Sutra.... yum. Caramel and Chocolate is the food combination of the gods. Urgh, now you made me hungry.


Me:  Yeah, I'm pretty good at that.  Any books you want to rave about?

Cyn:  Oh yes, I just finished reading Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus and it was delicious. I probably just said delicious because of question #6. Now I must go raid the freezer. :)


Thanks a lot, Cyn!

Make sure you run out and buy SLEEPLESS or Cyn's first book, FAIRY TALE.