Stealing Parker (Hundred Oaks #2)
by Miranda Kenneally
Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.
Now Parker wants a new life.
So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?
But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depository | Indie Bound
Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into writing.
I’ve been writing since I was about 8 years old. I wrote these really crappy stories about girls who had like seven sets of twins as siblings and all she wanted to be was a twin herself. Now I am 30 and sometimes I still write really crappy stories.
Both Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker about girls who play sports.
What inspired you to write about sporty girls?
I played sports growing up — softball and soccer, but more importantly I wanted to show girls that they can do anything they want to do.
What life experiences did you draw upon to write these stories? What kind of research did you do for areas where you didn’t have ask much experience?
I didn’t have to do much research for Stealing Parker because I played softball growing up, but I didn’t know much about football at all when I started writing Catching Jordan. I went to a bunch of football games (NFL, college, and high school) to do research and I asked my husband, brother, and dad lots of football questions!
What do you feel is the most important thing to writing YA contemporary?
Making sure that the story is realistic, but still shows lots of hope. YA is all about hope.
Hope is definitely something I like to see in YA. I love your way with words and how your characters express themselves. Using lines from Stealing Parker, would you tell us about one of your favorite characters in the book?
Thanks to all the years he’s spent baling hay on his dad’s farm, Corndog has gone from not to hot, from scrawny to sinewy, from geek to god, and now has to beat girls off with a stick. He makes my heart slam against my chest. I’ve never wanted to kiss someone this much in my life.
Nice choice. Corndog was one of my favorites as well! How do you come up with such relatable characters and crushworthy guys?
For the guys, I just imagine the kind of guys I would’ve wanted to date in high school, but I still try to keep them pretty realistic (perverted, inappropriate at times, silly).
For the girls, I try to use my own emotions and think of how I would’ve reacted in certain situations. I was a very emotional and crazy teenage girl. 😛
I can relate to the crazy of teen years 🙂 If you could spend a day with a character from the Hundred Oaks books, who would it be and what would you do?
Joe Carter! He is an excellent cook and I bet he’d make all sorts of yummy snacks. In my fourth book, Racing Savannah, he opens a new restaurant in the town of Franklin where the books take place.
Good food is always a plus! What are you working on right now?
I am editing my fourth book, Racing Savannah, which is about a girl horse jockey who’s dealing with an on-again/off-again relationship with the horse farm owner’s son. I’m also plotting my fifth book, which might be about a girl training to run a marathon in honor of her friend who died.
Thanks for interviewing, Miranda!
Growing up in Tennessee, Miranda Kenneally dreamed of becoming an Atlanta Brave, a country singer (cliché!), or a UN interpreter. Instead she writes, and works for the State Department in Washington, D.C., where George W. Bush once used her shoulder as an armrest. Miranda loves Twitter, Star Trek and her husband.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Stories After Twelve says
I love this interview. Loved when she said 'YA is all about hope'. So true! : )
Crystal says
Thanks. "YA is all about hope" is my favorite line in there. That's what the genre represents to me.
Giselle says
Aww I <3 Miranda! I love the question where she had to use lines from the book! So cool! And "YA is all about hope." is so true! I would love to read what she considers a crappy story, I bet it would rock my face off! 😀
Crystal says
Thanks Giselle. I <3 Miranda too and would read anything she writes 🙂
Danny says
Ah!! I cannot wait for all the other books Miranda is planning and ! OMG NO you do NOT write crappy stories! On the contrary :))
Crystal says
I absolutely can't wait for her other books either!!! She's an awesome writer 🙂