Guest Author: Karen Bass

Today's guest is Karen Bass, retired librarian and author three books for teens.  She joins us to discuss her most recent release, the contemporary novel Drummer Girl. 

Photo by Kristen Bass

LEC: Your first two books, Run Like Jäger and Summer of Fire, feature modern teens who travel to Germany and are drawn into the history of World War II.  In contrast, Drummer Girl is 100% Canadian and 100% contemporary.  What prompted you to take your third book in a completely different direction?

KB: I originally wrote Drummer Girl because a publisher was running a contest for contemporary teen novels. I didn't win, but I had so much fun writing the story, and I actually liked the result, that I began what turned out to be a succession of revisions. (This is what happens when you write a very fast first draft.) There is a certain freedom in writing contemporary stories - namely that I don't have to do quite so much research to make sure the setting and related details are right - that it is very appealing. I might have to try it again.

LEC: You mention in Drummer Girl's acknowledgments that you're not a musician.  How did Sid become a drummer?  Tell us a little about the research you had to do to portray her passion authentically.

KB: Sid had to be coaxed from the shadows. The first thing I knew about her was that she was a tomboy, and when she finally emerged into the light, she was dressed in an oversized black band shirt - that's when she confessed her interest in drumming. (I assume she took form somewhere in the recesses of my mind before making her appearance.) So yes, she made me do some research to get up to speed on drummers. I read how-to books, borrowed "Anatomy of a Drum Solo" with Neil Peart of Rush, checked out all sorts of drumming websites. One of the most helpful things I did was to interview my son's friend who is a drummer. Kaleb answered some pretty strange questions with abundant good humour.

LEC: Throughout the book, you draw parallels between Sid's attitude towards drumming and her attitude towards life.  It seems to be that her association with the band is also bookended by parallel disasters - the vehicular death of Fourth Down's original drummer, and the motorcycle accident that causes Sid to re-evaluate what's most important to her.  Tell us where this aspect of the story came from.

KB: My stories evolve fairly organically, so I can't say that the bookending was intentional. What I did know is that I didn't want Sid and Taylor to be heavily involved in a drinking/partying culture so when I started exploring why, the idea of knowing someone who died from drinking and driving surfaced, and as I thought about it I realized this could be a way to open the door for Sid's drumming aspirations. I'm pretty sure my subconscious thinks about these things more than I do, because I learned about Taylor's accident the same time Sid did. It intuitively felt balanced to me and it wasn't until the editing process that I saw why. Calamity as a catalyst for change is something that probably shows up a lot in my fiction - I like putting my characters in situations where they are forced to realize what is truly important to them.

LEC: Drummer Girl is a book about consequences - specifically, how seemingly small decisions could have enormous ripple effects.  It's also about being judged (incorrectly) by your appearance.  How much were these ideas influenced by your own high school experience?

KB: I think authors always insert bits and pieces of themselves into their characters, to greater or lesser degrees. My common ground with Sid was being a tomboy, and being outside that group of cool kids every high school seems to have. My high school self was tall, plain and smart - someone you wanted to have in your group project, perhaps, but not someone judged as worthy in the ways so many teens crave. So much of high school's social aspects seems to be about striving to fit in, and we are often our own harshest judges in that regard. We also sometimes do foolish things to fit in, so yes, in high school I did suffer some consequences from things I did, but not at all in the way Sid does.

LEC: I was the queen of the group project too... What's the most important thing you'd like teens to take away from this story?

KB: Dare I use that old cliche and say it's okay to march to the beat of your own drum? Being unique is not a crime, and your uniqueness is often the very thing that will open doors and take you on wonderful adventures when you are finished high school.

LEC: What are you working on now?

KB: I am striving to finish up revisions on a WWII story set in Alberta. At the same time a few shiny new ideas - a contemporary fantasy, a time travel adventure, a contemporary story - are trying to lure me down their paths. But which one to follow?

LEC: Whichever way you go, I'm sure the result will be worth reading!

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For more info on Karen Bass and her books, visit her website.