Allison L. Bitz on The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom

Bridget Bloom is perfect for the front stage, so it’s no wonder she’s enrolled at the Richard James Academy, a pre-college boarding school with a prestigious music program. However, due to her low score in music theory, she is neither eligible to perform nor eligible for the sponsorships needed to pay for her tuition. Worst of all, her Dean of Students, Octavia Lawless, demands that she acquire her humility. . . By not singing at all. We had the pleasure of speaking with Allison L. Bitts about her delightful debut. The unstoppable Bridget Bloom.

First of all, congratulations on your novel debut!How was your writing? The unstoppable Bridget BloomDid it live up to your expectations?

Thank you for your kind words! It’s a dream come true for me (and Bridget) to get her story into the hands of readers who want to hear it.
write in The unstoppable Bridget Bloom It was honestly a lot of fun. In fact, that’s why I wrote this book. It was pure entertainment for me at the time. 😊 I started writing the first draft of this book a long time ago in 2018. I had just finished drafting a very serious book containing dark subjects and then realized that I wanted to spend my time writing something light and slightly silly with the intention of making myself laugh. rice field. . The more I “hear” Bridget’s voice, the more I fall in love with her story. I wrote her first 80,000 word first draft in about 60 days simply because it was fun.
To answer your question, I’m not sure what I expected from this process, but I definitely enjoyed it.

What made you want to tell stories about theater and music? What is your own musical background?

Telling a musical story felt very in line with my past self. I still love music, but it was everything to me as a child and teen. I spent hours each day immersed in bands, choirs, piano lessons, percussion ensembles, whatever I could get my hands on. I played multiple instruments and attended sleepover music camps every summer. In high school, I was frustrated with my school’s vocal arrangements. stars and stripes [The American national anthem]rang, so I took the sheet music home and wrote another arrangement. I also had a minor in music (playing the piano) in college for a short time. (I quit the ship after learning that taking a minor in music on top of a liberal arts major would take too long.) There was no musical theater. options to explore.

I ultimately wrote Bridget as a musical theater genius because this is how I saw her character perfectly. Because she has her strong desire to perform and be in front of her, which makes her feel secure and she feels that she is being watched. I really had to ditch my knowledge of music theory (and learn to write music again!) to write this book.

And what made you want to tell a story where Bridget doesn’t care about her size?

I wrote Bridget as the teen I wanted to be. When I was in high school, I wore the same size clothes that Bridget wears in the book, and unfortunately I got a lot of messages (explicit and implicitly), and I embraced those messages within. . It’s been years of hard work learning and remembering that I’m equally worth whatever body type I’ve ever worn. (I’d like to say more about this in the author’s notes in the book!) In a nutshell, I’m beautiful, graceful, talented, fat, and her body size is I wanted to write a character that wasn’t an issue or a focal point. simply what it is.

Bridget Bloom can be quite self-centered at times. Was she worried that her readers would judge her so harshly that she would hate reading her book?

Bridget’s characteristics are that she is short-sighted, a little troublesome, and an unreliable narrator. It was meant to make her readers see through her girlfriend and laugh a little at her girlfriend, just as I did when I wrote her. To me, her extreme self-confidence, down to her benign narcissism, is the funniest thing about her, and she’s a bit of a caricature. (The character that inspired me to create Bridget is cutie blondeRachel Berry Gree and Disney Arial little mermaid.) I personally think that witnessing her growth and the way the book ends brings great emotional reward, so I hope they stick with Bridget, even if readers are initially quite annoyed with her. I hope you will read her story to the end.

It’s nice that the students at Richard James Academy aren’t fighting with each other all the time. Why did you choose to describe the school in this way?

To be honest, this was not a deliberate choice. Did I just write a boarding school with a music program the way I wanted it? was beyond the scope of the story I was talking about. So I think what this shows about me is that I notice and value cooperation, I tend to see the good in people, and I can be a little naive at times. . (And it all seems right.) Also, remember, Bridget gets into a bit of a fight with her roommate Ruby, which is a strong subplot of the film. The unstoppable Bridget Bloom.

Finally, what advice would you give to young people struggling to find a balance between humility and space occupation?

absolutely. Finding this balance is undoubtedly difficult and a proposition that needs to be visited again and again in life. Because you change a million times over the years. I think it helps to have a trusted friend or adult who can ask you for honest feedback on this. For example, “Do you think I talk too much about myself or not enough?” Do I consider your needs or do I tend to prioritize my needs? ” Simply self-reflecting on these questions can also help. If you’re a friend who rarely voices his opinion or never sets the agenda for group activities, you’re probably not taking up enough space. If the group always does what it wants and thinks it’s the main character in every interaction, it may be taking up too much space.