From ZOE GAETJENS, Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans is a warm and funny teen romance set at an Art School, filled with life-drawing, life-lessons, and first kisses.

Read an interview with the author.

What first sparked the idea for Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans?

It’s a strange way to answer but it started with an image from a dream. It wasn’t a particularly interesting image, a teenage couple were sitting at a high table with their feet touching. I woke up and I had no idea who they where or where they were, but there was something romantic about it which I liked. I thought about their setting and decided that perhaps they were at a table in an art room and they were sitting on stools. I built the rest of the story out from there.

Was there a moment in your own teen years that directly inspired part of the story?

When I was in year 11 I was invited to a life week long life drawing course during the school holidays. I travelled an hour and a half into Sydney each day and drew many naked bodies of different ages, shapes and sizes. It was quite an eye opening experience for such a naive 16 year old. When I decided to write a YA novel and worked out that my couple were in an art room it didn’t take me too long to realise that actually, a life drawing class would make an excellent setting for a novel. It set up a bit of a fish out of water scenario and provided fun opportunities for humour whilst also allowing character growth to be sign posted along the way.

Cleo is navigating friendships, romance and self-discovery – how did you capture what it’s like to be a teenager today?

Rather than trying to specifically capture what it’s like to be a teenager today I tried to remember what it felt like to be teenager. What I felt like at that age, the insecurity and the unease along with the excitement. In each situation I really tried to put myself into my main character’s shoes and imagined how she would be feeling. I think that despite the world changing dramatically, and despite there being numerous new challenges for teens these days the core of the adolescent experience is still the same. It’s essentially a search to understand the world and your place in it and I think that’s what I was trying to capture.

What challenges or joys of being a teen did you most want to explore in this book?

I really wanted to write a coming of age romance because that’s the type of YA novel I love to read. I wanted to explore the delight of meeting and getting to know someone you really like and then the challenge of not knowing how to deal with that. I wanted to explore the dual challenge and joy new scenarios and opportunities bring. I also wanted to capture how difficult it can be to grow and move forward when you can’t let go of the past.

Cleo’s summer before Year 12 is full of unexpected challenges. What do you hope readers will learn from her journey?

I really hope readers might recognise that not having your future planned out when you are 17 or 18 is perfectly fine. I also want them to recognise that who you are in high school and the success you have there either socially or academically does not have to be a barometer for future success.

When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always enjoyed writing but it took me a while to work out that I did want to write for publication. When I was still at uni and working part time in a public library I had the thought that I’d like to write a picture book. It took me at least 10 years before I gave it a go. (I’m a slow starter!) I only began after a friend told me she had started writing and I felt like I was missing out on a dream that I had held onto for a long time. I’m forever thankful to my friend for giving me the momentum I needed. From there it was almost another 10 years and many, many picture book and junior fiction manuscripts later before I took the plunge and attempted a much longer word count. Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans was what I came up with.

Do you have a particular writing routine or writing habits?

I wish I did! I literally have no routine except to try and write when I have spare time which is fewer and further in between at the moment. That said, I do love a deadline, even a self imposed one. I work better and prioritize writing when I have a deadline.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As a year 11 student, Zoe Gaetjens attended a life drawing workshop where she failed to plan anything significant. She has since traded her charcoal for a laptop and writes books for children and young adults. When Zoe is not writing, she works as a high school English teacher. She believes that the books you love as a teenager stay with you forever. Zoe lives just outside of Sydney with her husband and three kids.

Follow Zoe Gaetjens on Instagram here

Visit the publishers website here