Bookburger interview: Niki Burnham

We have loved men named Georg (no, not George--definitely not George!--GEORG...pronounced gay-org) ever since we first saw The Sound of Music. Seriously, Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp is the very model of a smokin' man-in-uniform, don't you agree? Remember how the Baroness purrs his name..."oh Georg..." The more we see that movie, the more we wish she had nabbed him. We're kind of over the chirpy nun.

ANYHOW...Niki Burnham's YA novels Royally Jacked, Spin Control, and the latest, Do-Over (or Doover, as we like to call it) are all about a sweet young American girl who meets a Euro-prince named GEORG in a ski resort in the Alps. Can't get much more fabulous than that...until complications ensue. These are seriously fun novels (and see her site for other books she's penned). We're fans, so we asked Niki to pop on by and take our pop quiz...and she did:

Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?

I really enjoy reading Lynda Sandoval and Alyson Noel.  They both write books I stay up until 3 am to
finish.  People have probably heard of them, though. 

What kid or teen books rocked your world growing up?

I thought Trixie Belden was the bomb.  She solved mysteries, she defied her brothers when they were
being jerks even though she loved 'em like crazy, she had fantastic friends, and she got the cute (and smart!) guy in the end.  What's NOT to like? 

Describe your ideal place to write.

Anywhere that I have coffee and decent back support is good.  Also, I need to make sure I'm giving off sufficient, "don't talk to me vibes" that I'm left alone. I hate when I'm mid-paragraph and someone wants to chat.

Your life is a TV series. Name the theme song, one event that would be on the "best of" episode,
and one that would be on the blooper reel.

While I would like to think of my life having a sweeping soundtrack by John Williams (think Star Wars, etc.), I'd probably have some silly ditty about moving around a lot.  Not Movin' On Up, like The
Jeffersons, but moving AROUND.  My dad was in the army, so I moved all over the place as a kid, and
I still travel a lot.

Highlight reel:  Meeting my husband (there would be an "ooohh!" on the laugh track.)

Blooper reel:  Just yesterday, my cat threw up in my laundry basket.  It's quite disturbing to pull
clothes out of your laundry basket to wash them, then see they're stuck together with this nasty
mystery goop.

What humiliating outfit did Niki once wear to pay the rent? What fixins would she like on her honorary burger? The interview continues here.