Books are known to have (or at least promise) the solution to any number of life’s myriad problems. But it’s rare that a book goes so far beyond the promise of its title. And The Girls’ Guide to Rocking is this week’s example, proving that yes, it IS possible for a book to teach you how to start a band, book gigs, and get rolling to rock stardom. Not only that, it’s a true show of value added when you learn that same book can also…rid you of unwanted hair (what?!)…and help you chop your potatoes into perfectly shaped French fries. Bold claims, for sure, and I can only speak for my copy –which happens to be a wiz at getting stains out of anything. (Oh, and I’m currently recording my first hit single.)

In the form of a late night infomercial, here’s the secret to getting your fries right from smart and irreverent The Girls’ Guide to Rocking author Jessica Hopper.

The Girls’ Guide to Rocking ft. Josh of Flosstradamus from Alan Del Rio Ortiz on Vimeo.

Welcome to Inside the Author’s Studio, where we give you a peek into the minds of your favorite Workman authors.

This weekend SXSW, the music-film-interactive festival, kicks off in Austin, TX, and to celebrate we visit the studio of music maven Jessica Hopper, author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking and freelance music and culture critic whose work appears in Chicago Reader, LA Weekly, SPIN, ANP, and Chicago Tribune–and here and here. Oh, and she’s also the music consultant for the public radio show, This American Life! Here, we ask her a few questions, speed round style.

Recent book you loved/learned from

The Impressionists. I was hungry for each new chapter and wowed as the story unfolded. And/or Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw, for the Top Chef gossip.

Favorite bookstore

Myopic Books, a sprawling 4 floors of affordable used to get lost in, here in Chicago. I park on the couch between gardening, essays and cookbooks–the intersection of my interests.

Hidden talent:
I can draw.

Bookmark, dog-ear, or virtuality?

Dog-ear.

Book you are most ashamed never to have read

The bible. Started, never finished.

Most frequent form of writerly procrastination

Oh, there is finer point I can put on it beyond “puttering”.

Favorite childhood book

Harriet The Spy.

Alternate ambition (i.e. If you weren’t a writer, you’d be…)

A farmer.

Your perfect meal (on tour or at home)

Flamkuchen pizza and a beet salad.

Big dream

Have three more kids, write three more books, have a house in a quiet place with a giant garden and a big dumb Burmese Mountain dog big enough for my children to ride, a la the Clifford books.

Super power of choice
A peace laser that I can shoot from my hand, that makes peace.

Book tour or band tour?

Book tour with a band. You can have it both ways.

Favorite name for future chart-topping girl band

Peace Laser.

What Workman book would you like to receive as compensation for your involvement?

Birthday Monsters, it’s the only Boynton book we do not have!

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See Jessica’s studio above, but to get a sense of what really goes on behind the scenes, we’ve been told that this is a pretty accurate representation of general day-to-day operations:

The Girls’ Guide to Rocking // Adventure from Alan Del Rio Ortiz on Vimeo.

Jessica Hopper is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking.

What do a personal finance guru, an acclaimed music journalist and the founders of an indie record label have in common? They’re not only exceptional authors of ours, but they’re also joining the massive gathering of music and tech-junkies also known as South by Southwest (SXSW).

Held in Austin every spring, SXSW is a festival that merges the arts (namely film and music) with the latest in interactive technology (think Twitter on steroids). Bloggers, artists, musicians, and journalists meet to share ideas with their cohorts, submerge themselves in new music and be surrounded by the most tech-savvy of our generation.

Here’s what Ramit Sethi, Jessica Hopper, Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance have planned:

Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich will be presenting at the interactive panel Building A Bulletproof Personal-Finance System on Saturday, March 13 at 11am, at The Hilton G by the Austin Convention Center. Click here for more details.
Following will be a book signing at 1:50pm at the South By BookStore, top floor of the Austin Convention Center.

Jessica Hopper, author of The Girls Guide to Rocking will be reading from and signing copies of her book on Saturday, March 20, 3pm, at Domy Books (913 E. Cesar Chavez). Click here for more details.

Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, authors of Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small will be reading from their book, performing covers of songs from selected bands mentioned in the book, and will do a book signing afterwards. Reading is set to begin at 6pm on Wednesday, March 17, at Book People (603 N. Lamar Blvd). Click here for more details.

Everyone with an instrument has had the inspiration at least once-let’s start a band! But things often fall apart when it becomes apparent that mere possession of an old guitar isn’t enough to push you to stardom. Luckily, today’s youth has Jessica Hopper’s The Girls’ Guide to Rocking-a guide to starting a band, writing songs, becoming a rock legend, and all of the roadblocks along the way.

Click here to read an excerpt

The Girls’ Guide to Rocking // Adventure from Alan Del Rio Ortiz on Vimeo.

When we arrived at The Girls’ Guide to Rocking cover photo shoot, we were ready to do some serious styling.

To our surprise, 14-year-old model Shayanne walked in already looking like a rock star, with wrist cuffs, pocket chains, and a studded skull belt to boot. We were able to send her right into the first shot without changing a thing–a historic moment!

It’s always a pleasure when a model can connect with a project in terms of style and attitude and jump right in, and that she did. She jumped, and kicked, and screamed, all in the name of rock.

Photographer Gabrielle Revere, who has shot artists such as Avril Lavigne and Carrie Underwood, captured Shayanne’s inner (and outer!) rock star, with her Papillon assistant Bijou by her side.

The shots came out so well that they ended up not only on the cover, but also on the back cover, inside pages, and even on the spine of the book.

Check out The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, in stores later this month!

Click here to read an excerpt from The Girls’ Guide to Rocking.