Susan McBride may have never been a debutante herself, but growing up, she was immersed in enough of the Deb culture to pen seven novels set in the Texas social scene. Below, she explains how she began writing the new YA series, The Debs, and shares some of the real-life inspirations behind LOVE, LIES AND TEXAS DIPS.In case you’re wondering how a nice girl like me got into telling tall tales about Texas debs, the truth is that I sort of fell into it. I was never actually a debutante, though I used to pal around with debs during high school and college. I was even invited to their cotillions. But, my parents never coughed up the cash so I could wear a tiara and poofy white dress and do the Texas Dip before a roomful of society types. (FYI: the “Texas Dip” is a larger-than-life curtsy, not a salsa-inspired appetizer.) Writing about Texans is fun besides, and I was one for a long while so that part is true enough.
I lived in the Lone Star State for 20 years, 11 of that in Houston where I went through junior high and high school. I spent my freshman year at the University of Texas in Austin, going through sorority rush and joining Pi Beta Phi before I left UT and transferred to the University of Kansas. Post-college, I moved to Dallas and stayed for nine years. It was there I first toyed with the idea of writing about the Dallas debs who practiced their curtsies in the sorority’s study hall. The memories inspired BLUE BLOOD, the debut of my Debutante Dropout Mysteries, which feature a web designer named Andy Kendricks who disappointed her socialite mom by shucking her debut. I set the series in Dallas, sprinkled the pages with real-life locales, and poked fun at my ex-debutante classmates.
In the midst of writing five Deb Dropout novels, my agent had lunch with an editor from Random House who was seeking an author to write “a Southern Gossip Girl series.” Always eager to stretch my literary muscles, I wanted to give it a try. My proposal for THE DEBS read a lot like “THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS meets GOSSIP GIRL with a Texas drawl,” and it was quickly accepted.
So, you ask, what is THE DEBS? Well, I stole a bit from my own school days in Houston by setting the series in H-town, making up a posh prep school that sits on the grounds of a former elementary school, and having one of the characters live on a street very similar to my old stomping grounds. I even borrowed bits and pieces of people I knew and infused them in my debutantes: Laura Belle, who’s anything but a cookie-cutter beauty; the tough-on-the-outside but soft-on-the-inside Mac Mackenzie; environmentally conscious Ginger Fore, who always crushes on the wrong guys; and beauty pageant product Jo Lynn Bidwell (think Tiaras & Toddlers), whose perfect looks belie her messed-up head.
Laura reminds me of a gorgeous girl in my high school class who gained a few pounds through the years. I remember how differently the guys looked at her when she wasn’t a size 6 anymore. I wanted Laura Belle to succeed even if she isn’t a toothpick, and I wanted her to have a hot guy after her. I mean, why the heck not? Ginger’s name was borrowed from a college friend who was very granola and sweet. Since the Ginger in THE DEBS shared those traits, it’s sort of like paying homage to her. As for the nickname “Mac,” well, I just plain liked the sound of it. And Jo Lynn is borrowed from a fellow varsity cheerleader and such a spot-on Texas name that I couldn’t resist.
Working out the plot lines for a YA series was definitely a learning curve. In my mysteries,
every novel had a conclusion with each thread of the story wrapped up. I had to channel my inner soap opera scribe and repeat the mantra of “storylines never die, they just split into more and more secrets” as I wove my tall Texas tales from THE DEBS through LOVE, LIES, AND TEXAS DIPS and GLOVES OFF (due out in 2010).
With LOVE, LIES, AND TEXAS DIPS out in June and GLOVES OFF done, I’m ready to start working on a non-series YA book due to Random House next. So while y’all are heading back to school, I’ll be keeping my fingers on the keyboard and my tiara firmly ensconced in my big ol’ beehive of hair, all the while hoping that more and more readers discover THE DEBS and cheer on the three , Mac, Ginger, and Laura, while “boo-hissing” Jo Lynn, a true Miss Un-Congeniality if there ever was one.
-- Susan McBride
