It’s time to meet the 7th featured authors of the SSS! Introducing… Perdita & Honor Cargill!
When Elektra is discovered by an acting agent she imagines Oscar glory can’t be far away (all she has left to do is work out what to wear on the red carpet), but instead she lurches from one cringe-worthy moment to the next whilst (mostly) maintaining her sense of humour.
Just how many times can you be rejected for the part of ‘dead girl number three’ without losing hope? And who knew that actors were actually supposed to be multi-lingual, play seven instruments and be trained in a variety of circus skills?
Off-stage things aren’t going well either, she’s fallen out with her best friend, she’s stuck in the friend zone with the guy she has a crush on and her parents are driving her crazy. One way or another Elektra’s life is now spent waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for callback.
Buy Links: Amazon ~ Waterstones
Waiting for Callback is a fabulously fun book, perfect for readers aged eleven and over. It’s written by a mother and daughter writing partnership (Perdita and Honor Cargill) and is to be published by Simon & Schuster on 28th January 2016. It is the first book in a series and they are currently writing book 2.
Character Interview
By Elektra
It all kicked off when I stood on a stage, dressed as a spider, and impersonated a carrot and (against the odds) was noticed by an agent for child actors. So next step decide what to wear to the Oscars? Well no. Think more a succession of mildly humiliating (and largely unsuccessful) auditions in draughty church halls, occasional moments in weird, unpaid student films and my chance to ‘star’ in a real feature film being ruined by an unfortunate and improbable case of mistaken identity. Mostly though I just developed an unhealthy obsession with the phone (which didn’t ring)…
Waiting for Callback is very much Elektra’s story so I caught up with her between auditions (unsuccessful auditions) to ask her some questions.
What would be on your playlist?
I so want to list ten really cool indie tracks to impress you but if I’m honest (and I usually am honest) there’s a lot of Taylor Swift (especially Shake it Off if it’s been a really bad audition).
There are a lot of mentions of chocolate and biscuits and cakes in Waiting for Callback. Do you have a sweet tooth?
I’mfifteen, I eat a lot of chocolate (especially Maltesers). And biscuits (especially Oreos and Party Rings). This is normal right? My mum punishes me with lots of vegetables so I have to take matters into my own hands.
Do you have a celebrity crush or do you only have eyes for Archie?
Are you mad? Of course I have a celebrity crush. I have multiple celebrity crushes. Current top crush is probably Daniel Booth (because well, cheekbones). Also I’ve got a bit of thing for Prince Harry even though he’s ancient and going through a bit of a beardy phase. And my current girl crush is Kristen Stewart (fashion goals). I nearly forgot to mention Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick). Nobody should ever forget to mention Chuck Bass.
What’s your favourite book?
That’s an impossible question. It changes all the time (except for the five year phase where I only wanted to read Ballet Shoes over and over). I’ve just finished reading Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and I really liked it.
Favourite film then? Torr (my best friend Moss’s boyfriend) keeps telling me I should be watching meaningful and experimental Scandinavian films (the ones where everything is dark and people communicate through meaningful pauses) but if I’m honest its still Mean Girls, Easy A and Zoolander (don’t judge me).
And if you did ever get to go to The Oscars what would you like to wear?
Moss and I do spend a lot of time imagining what we would wear to parties that we are never going to go to – the Oscars, Prince Harry’s wedding, Prince Harry’s second wedding… A very short, very flattering and ridiculously expensive dress by Miu Miu would be perfect.
And to finish, can you give us your best life advice?
So leaving aside the fact that I’m a fifteen-year old disaster completely unqualified to hand out advice… I’d say only do professional acting if you want to do it and don’t expect it to be easy. I really love it but some of my friends have found it super stressy and have given up and that’s a cool choice. I asked Eulalie (my mad, sassy French grandmother) to help me with this one and she turned (as she so often does) to Chanel, ‘The most courageous act is to think for yourself. Aloud.’ This is good advice that I try to follow (but not always at school or I’d get even more detentions).
Thank you Elektra.
No, thank you. That was fun.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER PERDITA AND HONOR’S SUPER SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!!!
What a great mother/daughter accomplishment! I wish them loads of success on the books in this series and in their future writing careers.
Ooh, this sounds interesting! Adding to my TBR list!
Zoolander is one of my favorite movies too!!
This book is really fun! Thank youm for the giveaway!
Prince Harry is ancient?! Teenagers these days, sheesh. LOL
sounds fun
I’m going to be reading Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda soon too!
I hope you enjoy!