Aimee Agresti was voted “Quietest” of her high school class–probably because she spent too much time with her nose buried in books. Clearly, becoming a writer was the only possible choice. She now happily toggles between the realms of fact and fiction. The author of the young adult novel ILLUMINATE, she’s also a former Us Weekly staff writer and entertainment journalist whose work has appeared in People, Premiere, DC Magazine, Capitol File, The Washington Post, Washingtonian, The Washington City Paper, Boston magazine, Women’s Health and the New York Observer to name a few. Aimee has made countless TV and radio appearances dishing about celebrities on the likes of Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, E!, The Insider, Extra, VH1, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, Headline News, A&E, and ABC News Now. She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and lives with her husband and son in Washington, DC, where she can often be found skulking around the Smithsonian museums on slow writing days waiting for inspiration to strike.
YOU CAN SEE THE REVIEW OF AIMEE’S NOVEL, ILLUMINATE, HERE.
A Midsummer Night’s Read (MSNR): Hello, Aimee! I want to welcome you to A Midsummer Night’s Read, and thank you for giving us the honor of interviewing you for our readers! Congratulations on the release of your first Young Adult novel, Illuminate!
Aimee Agresti (AA): Thank you so much! And thank you for having me, it’s an honor to be featured!
Aimee Agresti (AA): Thank you so much! And thank you for having me, it’s an honor to be featured!
MSNR:What made you make the transition from Journalism to creative writing?
AA: That’s a great question! I absolutely love the magazine world. I went to journalism school and I’ve been working in magazines ever since. Most recently I was at Us Weekly, which was tons of fun—how could it not be?!–and I still miss it. But I always dreamed of writing novels and even during my magazine days, I was always writing fiction on the side, just for me. So to have ILLUMINATE on the shelves has been so exciting for me!
AA: That’s a great question! I absolutely love the magazine world. I went to journalism school and I’ve been working in magazines ever since. Most recently I was at Us Weekly, which was tons of fun—how could it not be?!–and I still miss it. But I always dreamed of writing novels and even during my magazine days, I was always writing fiction on the side, just for me. So to have ILLUMINATE on the shelves has been so exciting for me!
MSNR:Do you prefer one over the other? Or do they go hand in hand for you?
AA: I love them both! They’re apples and oranges, they’re so different in such wonderful ways. Journalism gives you a chance to meet so many fascinating people. I love interviewing, finding out what makes someone tick. But then fiction lets your imagination run wild. There are no constraints, you get to just create, which is so thrilling and freeing–especially when you’re so used to dealing with facts all the time!
AA: I love them both! They’re apples and oranges, they’re so different in such wonderful ways. Journalism gives you a chance to meet so many fascinating people. I love interviewing, finding out what makes someone tick. But then fiction lets your imagination run wild. There are no constraints, you get to just create, which is so thrilling and freeing–especially when you’re so used to dealing with facts all the time!
MSNR:Was the transition rough? Meaning, did you have to be careful not to sound too analytical or professional when writing Illuminate?
AA: I definitely notice that the process of writing nonfiction is much different than writing fiction. When I’m writing for magazines, I’m writing in the voice of that magazine, I’m thinking of those readers. But when I was writing ILLUMINATE, I had to really become Haven, my protagonist. For fiction, I have to listen to the right music, I have to get away from email and Facebook and Twitter, it requires a different kind of focus. You have to fall down the rabbit hole into the world you’re creating when you write fiction.
AA: I definitely notice that the process of writing nonfiction is much different than writing fiction. When I’m writing for magazines, I’m writing in the voice of that magazine, I’m thinking of those readers. But when I was writing ILLUMINATE, I had to really become Haven, my protagonist. For fiction, I have to listen to the right music, I have to get away from email and Facebook and Twitter, it requires a different kind of focus. You have to fall down the rabbit hole into the world you’re creating when you write fiction.
MSNR:Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration for Illuminate?
AA: Of course! Well, I’ve always adored The Picture of Dorian Gray and I loved the idea of updating it. I just kept thinking: high school is such a tumultuous time, what would you have given your soul for back then? That was the first germ of the idea. Then I added some twists and turns and, of course, some angels and devils to up the fantasy quotient even more!
AA: Of course! Well, I’ve always adored The Picture of Dorian Gray and I loved the idea of updating it. I just kept thinking: high school is such a tumultuous time, what would you have given your soul for back then? That was the first germ of the idea. Then I added some twists and turns and, of course, some angels and devils to up the fantasy quotient even more!
MSNR:Did you do a lot of research on 1920s Chicago and Al Capone for this novel, or did you already have a plethora of knowledge about the subject?
AA: I went to college in Chicago and picked up a lot of the background during my years there. I just fell in love with Chicago’s great history from the gangsters to prohibition to those tunnels that ran beneath the city. I tucked it all away in my mind until I decided to write ILLUMINATE and then pulled it all out. I just always knew it was the perfect place to set a mystery. I brushed up on some of the details and did a little more digging into Capone’s old hangout, the Lexington Hotel, and then I was good to go!
AA: I went to college in Chicago and picked up a lot of the background during my years there. I just fell in love with Chicago’s great history from the gangsters to prohibition to those tunnels that ran beneath the city. I tucked it all away in my mind until I decided to write ILLUMINATE and then pulled it all out. I just always knew it was the perfect place to set a mystery. I brushed up on some of the details and did a little more digging into Capone’s old hangout, the Lexington Hotel, and then I was good to go!
MSNR: I really like that the story isn’t focused on a love triangle or a main relationship, but can you give us any details about Haven and the men?
AA: Thank you! I really wanted all of my characters to have depth and to be full of surprises, including the boys. I wanted them to keep you guessing. And to keep Haven, herself, guessing!
AA: Thank you! I really wanted all of my characters to have depth and to be full of surprises, including the boys. I wanted them to keep you guessing. And to keep Haven, herself, guessing!
MSNR:What about the person writing in the empty journal? Will readers find out their identity in the second novel?
AA: I’m so glad you asked! I promise you WILL find out who it is—and it’ll surprise you!–but…I won’t tell WHEN you’ll find out! Stay tuned. And in the meantime, here’s a fun scoop: I briefly entertained putting that person’s identity in ILLUMINATE, but quickly changed my mind. I can’t give it away too soon!
AA: I’m so glad you asked! I promise you WILL find out who it is—and it’ll surprise you!–but…I won’t tell WHEN you’ll find out! Stay tuned. And in the meantime, here’s a fun scoop: I briefly entertained putting that person’s identity in ILLUMINATE, but quickly changed my mind. I can’t give it away too soon!
MSNR:What can you tell us about the second novel, without giving too much away? Don’t want to get you in trouble with your publisher!
AA: That’s very sweet of you to not want to get me into trouble, thank you! Let’s see, I can tell you that the gang heads to New Orleans in the second book and they’ll encounter some new devils!
AA: That’s very sweet of you to not want to get me into trouble, thank you! Let’s see, I can tell you that the gang heads to New Orleans in the second book and they’ll encounter some new devils!
MSNR:How does it feel to be a published author in the YA genre?
AA: It feels like I’m dreaming! I feel so lucky to have my book on shelves and so grateful to readers like you for taking a look at it!
AA: It feels like I’m dreaming! I feel so lucky to have my book on shelves and so grateful to readers like you for taking a look at it!
MSNR:Do you have any suggestions for aspiring creative writers or journalists?
AA: Write, write, write! What I love about writing is that the more you do it, the better you get, and you can always improve. Whether you’re working on short stories or writing articles or keeping a journal, all of that writing makes you stronger and it will all help bring you closer to whatever your ultimate goal may be. I wrote so many short stories and none of my fiction was ever published until ILLUMINATE but I know that all that writing made me better. And I like to think I continue to improve with every day I spend at my laptop.
AA: Write, write, write! What I love about writing is that the more you do it, the better you get, and you can always improve. Whether you’re working on short stories or writing articles or keeping a journal, all of that writing makes you stronger and it will all help bring you closer to whatever your ultimate goal may be. I wrote so many short stories and none of my fiction was ever published until ILLUMINATE but I know that all that writing made me better. And I like to think I continue to improve with every day I spend at my laptop.
MSNR:Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy promotion schedule to stop by A Midsummer Night’s Read! I really enjoyed Illuminate and am looking forward to the sequel!
AA: Thank YOU so much! I’m so happy to hear that and I so appreciate getting to be part of your lovely blog. By the way, your “bard” rating system is just fabulous!
AA: Thank YOU so much! I’m so happy to hear that and I so appreciate getting to be part of your lovely blog. By the way, your “bard” rating system is just fabulous!
Moving! 