Lo& C: Well, hello there, pretty! Oh how we miss your face!<\/strong> <\/strong>PARANORMALCY<\/a> was an instant fave because, as a Buffy<\/a> fan, I love the kick-a**, smart-mouth chick protagonist. But also: there was Reth. If David Bowie called you tomorrow and said that he would travel back in time to 1980 and film himself in the role of Reth, would you be on board with this plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n KW: You know what\u2019s funny, I never once pictured Reth as David Bowie. Then one day we were putting our children through the requisite we-were-children-of-the-eighties-and-therefore-must-subject-our-own-offspring-to-the-terrifying-wonder-that-is-Labyrinth<\/a>. David Bowie showed up on screen and my daughter said, \u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d Without a pause my husband said, \u201cReth.\u201d And\u2026it kinda works. So actually, yeah. Younger David Bowie as Reth. I\u2019m good with that. Though his pants might kick us down a ratings notch for disturbing content. [Lo says, “And maybe the hair, too.”]<\/p>\n You write really fast. As in, you once wrote a book in nine days<\/em>. Are you a pretty polished-up-front writer, or do you then take longer to revise?<\/strong> I think as I\u2019ve gone along I\u2019ve gotten better at drafting very solidly structured novels. PARANORMALCY was written in three weeks, but went through several months of revisions, including cutting 10k words. MIND GAMES<\/a>, my nine-day novel out early 2013, is rather shockingly intact. Structurally there were no significant changes, just tweaks throughout.<\/p>\n Contrast this, however, with my Fall 2013 book about a girl named Isadora that took me eighteen months and five false starts to finally complete. So, yeah. Sometimes it\u2019s magic and FAST. Sometime\u2019s it\u2019s not. I think they all read about the same in the end, which is both maddening and comforting.<\/p>\n I have always felt like my very best work\u2014the best lines, the best scenes\u2014comes out in my first drafts, though.<\/p>\n Will it feel weird, do you think, to see ENDLESSLY<\/a> on the shelves and know that it\u2019s the last of that series? Would you ever consider writing a prequel novella or posting short drabbles?<\/strong> I\u2019m very much a The Story Is DONE When It Is Done sort of person. I started it where it was supposed to start, and I ended it where it was supposed to end, and writing shorts within the world feels false to me somehow, almost like writing fanfiction of my own work, if that makes sense. (Which isn\u2019t a slight against fanfic\u2014I think fanfic is awesome. I just don\u2019t want to write it about my own characters.)<\/p>\n *Lo looks at C* I think when she says that FanFiction is awesome, she means this <\/a>and this <\/a>and OH LOOK ESPECIALLY THIS<\/a>.<\/strong> Aaaaanyway! Tell us about teenage Kiersten. What made her swoon & girl-cheer, and what books that are out now would she have loved?<\/strong> Pretty much Teen Kiersten was a bundle of emotions too big for both her tiny frame and her lack of years. She wanted everything to mean more and be more serious and feel more than it did (or should have) at that age. She liked ALL OF THE BOYS, but ALL OF THE BOYS were kind of intimidated by her.<\/p>\n She would have loved swoony romantic comedies like Stephanie Perkins<\/a>\u2019 books, and I think she would have been all over darker stuff like Nova Ren Suma\u2019s IMAGINARY GIRLS<\/a> and AS King\u2019s, PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ<\/a>. She would have bawled her eyes out over THE BOOK THIEF<\/a> (oh who am I kidding, Adult Kiersten did that). Also she would have been a hardcore Nerdfighter<\/a>.<\/p>\n And then when no one was looking she would have re-read TWILIGHT eleventy-billion times. (<–do we seriously need to link this??)<\/p>\n WEIRD BLIP IN THE MATRIX: Which author would you love to see re-write their own version of PARANORMALCY?<\/strong> Such a fun thing to think about, because I\u2019ve always felt like the reason PARANORMALCY works is because<\/em> it\u2019s so heavy in my voice. I\u2019d love to see how another author would tell the same story.<\/p>\n I saw this <\/a>question on Lenore Appelhans’ site<\/a> and thought it was brilliant: which book character would be Evie\u2019s best friend? [This question was asked to a writer friend of mine about her MC, and the first character I thought to ask that about was Evie because I\u2019d be so interested to see who she\u2019d really click with out there in the fiction world.]<\/strong> Cool as Katniss is, I think she\u2019d kill Evie pretty quick. But probably feel bad about it. Bella would be super pissed when Evie bagged and tagged Edward. Harry would be like, \u201cYes, obviously supernatural creatures exist and I\u2019m sorry but I don\u2019t watch any television and don\u2019t know who this Landon you\u2019re going on about is. I\u2019ve got to study for potions or something.\u201d<\/p>\n Sophie is just right, I think. And bonus, Sophie comes with a pink-obsessed vampire best friend already, so she\u2019d be totally prepped for Evie.<\/p>\n Super extra bonus for going TEAM ROOT on that answer!! *high fives* Buttered popcorn Jelly Bellys: yes or no?<\/strong> Favorite writing snack?<\/strong> *Lo glares*<\/strong> It’s a good thing you’re so cute. Favorite outdoor activity?<\/strong> Best Halloween costume you\u2019ve ever seen:<\/strong>
\nKiersten White: I miss YOUR faces! Especially Lo\u2019s, even though I have to crane my neck at a 90 degree angle to look at it.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/jarethawaiting.gif\" "\\"jarethawaiting\\"")
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\nYeah, that nine day thing was funny. Funnier when I wrote an even longer one in seven days last month. Honestly, I\u2019m not sure how those ones happen. A friend and I were talking the other day and she said, \u201cI get emo when I edit, and you go manic when you draft.\u201d Of course not to make light of genuine mental illnesses, but I do sort of go into this obsessive, super focused and energized zone. And then after I\u2019m finished I crash pretty hard. (Another friend diagnosed me with Book Post-Partum Depression. Apparently I\u2019m a bundle of writing-related psychological maladies.)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/tumblr_ljux3ubA9J1qcgb8s.gif\" "\\"tumblr_ljux3ubA9J1qcgb8s\\"")
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\nIt WILL feel weird. It already feels weird. I\u2019ve written three novels post-Evie now, and it\u2019s a strange and kind of melancholy feeling. When I wrote the last line in ENDLESSLY I sat there and cried. I was glad to be done\u2014I had told her story exactly the way I wanted to\u2014but I was also very sad to be leaving her behind as a narrative voice forever.<\/p>\n
\nOh gosh. I can\u2019t tell you how much I wish Teen Kiersten had had access to the YA shelves that exist now. I read mostly epic fantasy, and then I stopped reading anything but books I thought would make me more intelligent to have read. (Yes, seventeen-year-old Kiersten, you DID make it through Faulkner\u2019s LIGHT IN AUGUST<\/a>. BUT DID YOU UNDERSTAND ANY OF IT? Yeah, that\u2019s what I thought. Besides, you only read it because your older sister couldn\u2019t make it through and you wanted to prove you were smarter than her.) (This did not actually prove it.)<\/p>\n
\nOh gosh, what a question. You know, I would love to see what really uniquely voicey authors would do with it. Imagine a wry, droll Neil Gaiman<\/a> take with perfectly succinct lines better than I can write in a whole book. Or a Laini Taylor<\/a> treatment with description that makes magic feel real and real feel magic. Or a Holly Black<\/a> rewrite with her particular flair for dark impossible choices.<\/p>\n
\nMy editor once told me she daydreamed about Etienne St. Clair from ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS<\/a> having a conversation with Lend. Which, ADORABLE, RIGHT? I heart my editor hardcore. But for Evie, Rachel Hawkins<\/a> and I have joked that she would totally sit at the same lunch table as HEX HALL\u2019s <\/a>Sophie.<\/p>\n
\nQuickfires:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nAbominations. Pear are the only way to go.
\n(Lo is LOLLING right now because that is literally the one flavor SHE WILL NOT EAT.<\/em>)<\/p>\n
\nDr Pepper and popcorn. Actual popcorn, not jelly bean imitations.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSitting on my balcony writing. Does that count? I also like reading at the beach. You can tell I\u2019m very athletic.<\/p>\n
\nThis: [Kiersten’s sister and brother in law as Bellatrix and Voldemort, respectively]<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/301614_10150425230095339_650300338_10972610_1873524050_n-12-225x300.jpg\" "\\"301614_10150425230095339_650300338_10972610_1873524050_n-1\\"")
<\/a>Oh. My. GOSH THAT IS AMAZING! Your family officially wins Halloween.![\"signature_laurenandchristina_twitter\"](\"\/wp-content\/themes\/clo\/assets\/img\/signature_laurenandchristina_twitter.png\")
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