Q & A: Maya Rock ’02 on Her Novel Scripted

Q: What is your novel about?

A: The book is set on an island whose inhabitants are on a reality show that’s filmed 24 hours a day. They’re all aware of it. If characters get poor ratings, they’re cut, and no one knows what happens to them.

Scripted explores identity using the lens of reality television.  The people on the show — the characters — have to figure out how much of their identity is self-generated and how much comes from performing for an audience.

Q: You worked as a literary agent. How did that background help you?

A: Having been a literary agent kept me from romanticizing publishing. It was easier for me to believe that rejection and criticism weren’t personal because I had rejected and criticized so many manuscripts.

Q: Your book is for young adults, a category that has soared in popularity recently and has lots of adult readers. Why did you want to write a YA book?

A: When I was growing up just outside New York, I had access to the New Rochelle Public Library, which has a great children’s and young adult collection. I started writing as a hobby, and I experimented with writing in a lot of different genres, but this was the only one I’d managed to write a novel in. On a gut level, YA always felt fun to me.