Q: How will your book be different from other books in the Ears series?
A: First of all, I don't think that there is really one set tone, or style of book in the Ears series. From what I've read of the other books so far, each one is almost entirely different because of the person who wrote it. As for one thing that sets my book apart, I would say that I focused in on the details that I felt I knew less about before starting the DCP. I did a lot of research before coming down here for my program, and there were a lot of things that came up everywhere in my research, and some that didn't come up at all. I wanted the focus of my book to be the things that didn't come up at all. A lot of the Ears books also tend to focus heavily on advice for future CPs, and mine does that to an extent, but not about the same things. If you're looking for advice on which apartment complex to live in, you'll probably want to read one of the other books, because I only discuss Vista Way very briefly (as that's where I lived.) Information like that can be found on numerous blogs, and in other books, so I did not want to spend time reiterating what you've probably seen elsewhere. I carefully chose which areas of the DCP I wanted to go into detail about, based on the things I didn't know before I got there. I went into a lot of detail about training, not just the technicalities of it, but what it actually felt like to be new, and training at Walt Disney World, and rather than including a chronological summary of my program, I focused in on some of my best and worst moments to show an overall picture of what the program was like for me.
Q: Will your book include photos?
A: It will have some photos, but I did not want to include too many for fear that it would look scrapbook-y if that makes sense. I really took writing the book seriously, so I don't want it to turn out looking like a Facebook page, I'd rather it come across as a more serious memoir. I've also included my Facebook, Instagram, and blog links, so readers can still see photos from my DCP without putting a ton of them in the book.
Q: Where are you working in the Spring, and will you be writing a book about that experience?
A: My Spring DCP will be in Attractions, at Lights, Motors, Action! at Hollywood Studios. As of right now, I'm not planning on writing a book about my experience, but I will likely be keeping up with my blog more if I don't end up working on another book. As much as I would love to write another book, I think it makes sense to at least give it some time after just finishing my last book. I do write in a journal every day though, so it's always something that could happen in the future.
Q: What was the most difficult part about writing your book?
A: Obviously it was difficult writing it while I had so many other things going on. When I wrote the introduction and the first couple of chapters, I was still in school full time, so that was a lot on my plate. When I arrived in the DCP I was working for Disney full time, and writing articles for Disney Questions and Disney Fanatic still, so even with school being over it was still a lot. I would say that the most difficult part though was actually sitting down and writing it. I don't mean to say that the whole book was difficult-- what I mean is that writing a book about yourself is difficult. I would literally sit down with my journal next to me while writing, and it's a very strange feeling knowing that any random person can pick up my book and read things I've written in my journal. Writing about work was difficult too. In case you didn't know, I didn't absolutely love my work location, and getting my feelings towards it across well in my book was difficult. I don't want it to sound like I hated it, because I didn't completely hated it, it just wouldn't have been my first choice. Everyone I worked with was super nice, and even my trainer, who you'll notice in my book was (in my opinion) unreasonably strict, was truly a great person. I really wanted to let my readers know that if you don't like your work location it's not the end of the world. I didn't like Dinoland at all as the location where I'd be working for five months, but I still have some awesome memories from there.
Q: Is there anything shocking/surprising in your book?
A: Maybe. It all depends on what you consider to be shocking. I was surprised by a couple of things during my DCP, a lot of those things having to do with the way you are trained while working for Disney, and some of the things you'd see backstage. If you're looking for something along the lines of the "Mousecatraz," or "Cast Member Confidential" type books, that's not how mine will be. There are a few things in mine that are NSFM (not safe for magic) but on the whole I didn't want to focus my book on anything crazy like that.
Q: You've mentioned that your book has a bit of sarcasm to it, can you expand on that?
A: I used sarcasm to get my personality across. I am a sarcastic person in real life, but only when certain situations call for it, and my book comes across in the same way. Sarcasm was helpful to differentiate from what I needed to be saying aloud, from what I was actually saying during my college program. I found sarcasm as a literary device to be particularly helpful in this kind of a book. Although Disney Cast Members have to be smiling and happy all the time, that is realistically not necessarily the case-- they are putting on a show for guests. An example of the sarcasm used in my book would be that I'd quote the words I was actually saying while spieling inside a game, but I'd also mention how it actually felt to be inside the game, with the microphone, in the Florida heat for a couple of hours.
Q: Is there anything you'd like to have had in your book, but it didn't make it in?
A: Of course! Now that I think of it, that's actually a difficult part of writing a book as well-- deciding what to include and what to cut out. In my opinion, I've covered all of the big important topics that I think my readers will care about most, it's more just smaller anecdotes that didn't make it in. I might expand on these later on my blog, but some of these things include:
-weight loss (or gain) on the DCP. I lost 25 pounds being here, but a lot of my international friends gained weight here. I guess that says something about American eating habits.
- roommates. I didn't write too much about roommates because the roommate situation here is really not any different from roommates in college. You can read about what it's like to live with other people at a number of other places, so I simply didn't think it was worth taking up the space in my book.
- parties. I didn't really party during my DCP. If you have questions about what it's like I can answer them for a blog post, but I didn't party enough to include it in my book.
-housing events. Because I didn't go to that many of them, and I felt like you could read about them in a number of other places. I was often working during them, or opted to go to the parks instead. Don't worry though, the important ones, like graduation, made it in there.
Q: Now that you're done with your book, what's next?
A: Oh God.. well I'll still be in Orlando until May, working at Lights, Motors, Action! After that I'll be going back home to Massachusetts, where I'd like to find a full time job. I want to go back to school eventually for my Masters, it's just a process of deciding on a program and school, oh and a way to pay for it since I'm still paying for my undergrad. And now I have a wedding to plan. So what's next? Err... I'll keep you posted on that one.
"Brittany Earns her Ears" will be out in February 2015 for Amazon and Kindle. Don't forget to follow @brittanyearnsherears on Instagram to enter my contest for a free copy next month!
