Bits 'n Pieces - Suzanne Supplee

Suzanne Supplee is the marvelous author of the YA novel, Artichoke's Heart. Not only is the cover amazing, but the premise sounds great! :) You can visit Suzanne's site here, to learn more about her and her books. Enjoy the interview!

This or that:
Rain or shine? 

Shine. Definitely, shine.
iPod or mp3 player? 

Pink iPod
Movies or TV? 

I like both, except I hate movie theatre popcorn. I much prefer my salt-less, butter-less brand. Seriously.
City or country? 

Oh how heavenly to have both. I spent lots of time on my grandparents’ farm as a kid, so I love the country and rural people and cows and all that stuff. But, there is just nothing like going to New York and seeing the sights and feeling that energy.
Mountains or beaches? 

Beaches, and I have the skin to prove it. I’m now much better about wearing sunscreen.
Dots or stripes? 

Dots on my kids. Stripes on me.
Dogs or cats? 

I am very allergic to cats, so I have no choice but to be a dog person. Right this very second, Iris, my Jack Russell terrier, is sleeping on the chair next to me. Dogs are great company, especially when you work alone, as I so often do.
Cooking or eating out? 

You know, I admire people who are passionate about cooking, but I just don’t have that strand of DNA. I mean, I do cook, of course, but I don’t really feel the food joy. Going out is nice, but so often it’s not in the cards, especially on a school night. In a perfect world, my husband would really love to cook.
Coffee or tea? 

Diet Coke.
Books or magazines? 

Both! I love a good magazine. It’s like a guilty pleasure, but I can’t imagine not having a huge stack of books next to my bed.

Favorites:
Book- 

Too many to count. It would take all day to list my favorites.
Book store- 

Now that’s a very political sort of question, especially for an author.
Movie- 

Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Oh, I sooooo love this one.
Music artist- 

U-2 is my favorite band. Rolling Stones is a very close second. Rod Stewart is my favorite male singer, and I would have to say that Gwen Stefani and Roberta Flack are probably my all-time favorite female singers (now that’s a combo you don’t see every day!)
Website- 

I’m hooked on Sarah Dessen’s blog.
Designer- 

I don’t know his/her name, but whoever invented sweats really deserves a medal.
Coffee chain- 

One that serves Diet Coke.
Guilty pleasure- 

Diet Coke (I swear, that’s the last time I’ll say it).
Restaurant- 

There’s this amazing restaurant in Baltimore called The Helmand. It’s my all-time, all-time favorite.
Color-

My favorite color has always been yellow.

Have you ever:
Lived abroad? 

I wish, but there’s still hope!
Gotten a tattoo? 

No. I hate needles, and I can’t keep the same hairstyle for more than a few months. A tattoo would spell disaster for me.
Stayed up for the midnight release of a movie or book? 

No, but it could happen.
Disliked your job? 

Yes. In college, I worked behind a cosmetic counter, and I really hated touching strangers’ faces, especially noses—you know, like when you’re applying foundation? Ick.
Cried during a movie? 

I cry in movies that aren’t even supposed to make you cry. Last year, I saw U-2 at Imax, and I cried.
Sang karaoke? 

No. I don’t need a microphone to make a fool of myself.

Questions:
If you were on a desert island, what 5 things would you bring with you?
My husband, children, and dogs (assuming family counts as one thing)
A dictionary
My computer
Sunscreen
Diet Coke (sorry)
What’s on the list of things you have to do during your life?
Travel more
Learn French
Act in a play again (I haven’t done this since college)
Meet the president
If you could have one super power what would it be?
I would love to read minds, but I’d also want to understand why people think the things they do.
What’s your perfect music playlist?
A mix of country, rock, blues, bluegrass, and jazz.
What’s the one food you could eat day after day and not get sick of?
Peanut butter
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I’m pretty fixated on Paris right now. It seems like a place I should’ve visited already.
What moment in history do you wish you could’ve experienced?
I’m not sure, but it would probably be music related—the Beatles coming to America or Elvis driving his gold Cadillac through the gates at Graceland.
What does your dream library look like?
I have LOTS of books, so my dream library would have LOTS of shelves!
When you walk into a bookstore, where do you head first?
The YA section. I love to write YA novels, but I also love to read them.
If everyone had to read one book, what would you have it be?
The Bible.

Thank you sooo much Suzanne! And you're not alone on the Diet Coke thing I swear, it seems like every author who's ever done Bits 'n Pieces has mentioned it somewhere. Or is that just me? :P