AUTHOR BIO:
Author, Scientist, Professor, and Medical Student! A true Renaissance young woman that has lived in Boston, New York and Washington D.C. Born and raised in Michigan she attended the prestigious private school Detroit Country Day from Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade.
Miss Wolff is an '07 alum of Wellesley College, a women's college renowned for its prominent alumni, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, and Diane Sawyer. Throughout her Wellesley years, she conducted biological research at Duke, Wayne State and MIT. She graduated with a B.A. in Neuroscience.
Additionally, she holds a Master of Science (MSc) from Wayne State University's School of Medicine. During the 2009-2010 academic year, she moved to Washington D.C. to conduct research at the National Institute of Health (NIH) as an Intramural Research Award Fellow.
Writing the Galstanberry series is just one of Miss Wolff's many accomplishments. She has been the recipient of multiple awards, such as the Hitachi Foundation's Yoshiyama Award; and featured in national publications such as, Ebony Magazine (October ‘09) and Essence Magazine (June ’10), for her mentoring program, OfficialCityPrep.
Currently, Miss Wolff is a medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM).
Author, Scientist, Professor, and Medical Student! A true Renaissance young woman that has lived in Boston, New York and Washington D.C. Born and raised in Michigan she attended the prestigious private school Detroit Country Day from Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade.
Miss Wolff is an '07 alum of Wellesley College, a women's college renowned for its prominent alumni, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, and Diane Sawyer. Throughout her Wellesley years, she conducted biological research at Duke, Wayne State and MIT. She graduated with a B.A. in Neuroscience.
Additionally, she holds a Master of Science (MSc) from Wayne State University's School of Medicine. During the 2009-2010 academic year, she moved to Washington D.C. to conduct research at the National Institute of Health (NIH) as an Intramural Research Award Fellow.
Writing the Galstanberry series is just one of Miss Wolff's many accomplishments. She has been the recipient of multiple awards, such as the Hitachi Foundation's Yoshiyama Award; and featured in national publications such as, Ebony Magazine (October ‘09) and Essence Magazine (June ’10), for her mentoring program, OfficialCityPrep.
Currently, Miss Wolff is a medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM).
Author bio courtesy of The Girlz of Galstanberry WEBSITE.
Book cover courtesy of GOODREADS.
Character pictures courtesy of author, G.S. WOLFF.
I received a finished copy of THE GIRLZ OF GALSTANBERRY as part of a blog tour arranged by TEEN BOOK SCENE.
Describe yourself in five words.
1) Spunky
2) Determined
3) Confident
4) Sassy
5) Clever
Interestingly, those are the 5 exact adjectives I use to describe my Galstanberry girlz…
What author and/or book has influenced your writing the most?
Authoress Isabelle Allende! Her book, House of Spirits, is pure genius. Seriously. Although she writes magic realism, I’ve learned tremendously from her. My writing reflects her use of vivid details in order to make characters and settings jump from the page. For example, I meticulously detail the sacred pearling ceremony in Book #2, from the grand tent to the faculty’s robes. Narration is also one of Allende’s literary gifts. Like her, I want readers to feel like they have a companion reading with them. A narrator that can emphasize the seriousness of particular moods, while joking about others.
How difficult was it for you to write in five different, yet distinctive, voices?
Great question! It was definitely a challenge to write 5 distinct voices. Each Galstanberry character represents an aspect of my personality. However, they are fully expressed in a particular character. For example, Lillian embodies the spunky and fun part of me. From singing while walking down the street (despite the strange stares) to performing at a fair—I am Lillian and she is me! The other material for the characters comes from my diverse group of girlfriends.
Was there one character that was harder to write than the others?
Nisha was perhaps the most difficult. She is quite complicated and although I can sympathize with her struggles, I’ve never experienced them to the degree she has. Regardless, it’s this complication that makes her very intriguing and relatable to girls.
Out of the five girls, which one is the most like you were at their age?
Funky Fei Chen! She marches to her OWN drum and thus reflects me 100% at 12 years old. I was (and still am) very confident and uninfluenced (to some degree) by others’ opinions. While some girls hung out at the mall, I was busy wrapping a hot dog in foil and seeing if it would cook under the hot sun in our backyard. Nerd—No; Adventurous—Yes.
1) Spunky
2) Determined
3) Confident
4) Sassy
5) Clever
Interestingly, those are the 5 exact adjectives I use to describe my Galstanberry girlz…
What author and/or book has influenced your writing the most?
Authoress Isabelle Allende! Her book, House of Spirits, is pure genius. Seriously. Although she writes magic realism, I’ve learned tremendously from her. My writing reflects her use of vivid details in order to make characters and settings jump from the page. For example, I meticulously detail the sacred pearling ceremony in Book #2, from the grand tent to the faculty’s robes. Narration is also one of Allende’s literary gifts. Like her, I want readers to feel like they have a companion reading with them. A narrator that can emphasize the seriousness of particular moods, while joking about others.
How difficult was it for you to write in five different, yet distinctive, voices? Great question! It was definitely a challenge to write 5 distinct voices. Each Galstanberry character represents an aspect of my personality. However, they are fully expressed in a particular character. For example, Lillian embodies the spunky and fun part of me. From singing while walking down the street (despite the strange stares) to performing at a fair—I am Lillian and she is me! The other material for the characters comes from my diverse group of girlfriends.
Was there one character that was harder to write than the others?
Nisha was perhaps the most difficult. She is quite complicated and although I can sympathize with her struggles, I’ve never experienced them to the degree she has. Regardless, it’s this complication that makes her very intriguing and relatable to girls.
Out of the five girls, which one is the most like you were at their age?
Funky Fei Chen! She marches to her OWN drum and thus reflects me 100% at 12 years old. I was (and still am) very confident and uninfluenced (to some degree) by others’ opinions. While some girls hung out at the mall, I was busy wrapping a hot dog in foil and seeing if it would cook under the hot sun in our backyard. Nerd—No; Adventurous—Yes.
