Author Interview: Robin Mellom

Robin Mellom is the author of Ditched. (Click here for my review) She has also written The Classroom, which come out in June, and Busted, which she is still working on.

Me: Where did you get the idea for Ditched?
Robin Mellom: I wanted to write a humorous teen book. Some of it is based off of personal experience, and I got some disastrous prom stories from other people.

Me: Did you want to be a writer growing up?
RM: Yes. I wanted to be the next Judy Bloom

Me: How long did it take you to write Ditched?
RM: 6 months

Me: Did you plan before you started writing?
RM: No, I just came up with the idea and started writing.

Me: Did you base any of the characters off of yourself?
RM: Justina has a similar personality to me; she worries a lot about what other people think.

Me: How much of an impact did your editor have on your book?
RM: My editor helped me with the romance and figuring out what Ian and Justina meant to each other.

Me: If Ditched was turned into a movie, who would you want to play Justina?
RM: Victoria Justice, because she looks similar to Justina.

Ditched

Title: Ditched: A Love Story

Author: Robin Mellom

Rating: 2 stars

Summary: High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat, handle first.
Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.
Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.
And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together -- stain by stain on her thrift-store dress -- exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

Review: This was a cute book. I was intrigued by the amnesia factor, but it turns out Justina didn't really forget prom night. The summary made it seem like she had, though. What actually happens is that she has to repeat the story to these random ladies with their judgmental interjections. Not horrible, but not my kind of book.