You've got the Qs

I have a question if u could have any actress play one of your characters who would it be, like Cammie's mom? If YOU, and only you, had your choice to pick who played Cammie in the movie, who would you pick. The same for Bex, Liz, and Macey?


The answer to this question varies a lot all the time. For Mr. Solomon, right now I'm loving the idea of Kyle Chandler who is great in Friday Night Lights, but seeing him as the bomb squad guy on Grey's Anatomy really sealed the deal for me. He WAS Mr. Solomon in that.

I have oodles of actresses who I can see in the role of Rachel. All the time I was writing, I admit, I had a mental picture of Famke Janssen and/or Rachel Weisz in my head for Cammie's mom.

But now I can'’t stop thinking about Julia Roberts!!! Or Uma Thurman. Oh my gosh! Lauren Graham!!!! I'm obsessed. Ooh! Catherine Zeta-Jones!

And Josh...well I have to go back to my Friday Night Lights addiction for Zach Gilford, aka Matt the adorable. He does cute vulnerable so well I can't help but think he'd be the perfect Josh.

For the main girls (Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey) I'm really the worst possible person since by the time I've heard of a teen actress she's probably already too old for the role.

The only possible exception would be that I've always really, really liked Haden Panettiere (who was in a really great made-for-TV-movie called "If You Believe" about a NY book editor who finds a rough manuscript--and love--over the holiday season and this movie totally made me want to be a writer even more than I already did, so it might be kinda fitting if she were to get the role.)

Haden is pretty, though. Really, really pretty. And I kinda think she'd have a hard time being "invisible." But Hollywood makeup artists can do anything, right?


How do you figure out the names for your characters? Like when did you decide Cammie should be called Cammie.

I knew the main girl was going to be "the chameleon" and I'm such a sucker for alleteration that I picked the first "C" name I thought of--Cammie--and it was perfect from the get-go. It absolutely stuck.

As for Bex, I heard the name as a nickname for Rebecca once and it stuck with me. Like Cammie, Bex was always Bex. I really like that she has this classic and beautiful name (because she is a classically beautiful girl) and yet she chooses to go by something edgier. That's Bex in a nutshell.

Liz, I admit, was named after my sister's neighbor. She too is very, very tiny. And sweet.

Macey....um. No idea where that one came from either. Macey McHenry was always just Macey McHenry.

I don't make this stuff up, folks. I just write it down.



Do you outline your stories before you write them? If you do, what sort of outline do you use?

Not really. I've tried everything under the sun--outlines, detailed synopses,, you name it. But the problem for me is that everything tends to sound good in theory. I won't know if it's working or not until I get there.

I do, however, still storyboard. Storyboarding is a screenwriting concept where you write scenes on cards (or in my case big Post-It notes) and line them up in order that they'd happen in the movie. I do this for everything I write. I've never stuck with one 100% though. Still, it's good to get ideas down and stick them on the wall before you forget them.


Okay, if you could go back and change something about LYKY, is there anything that comes to mind, and if so what (and why)?

I'd probably rewrite every page if someone would give me the chance--not because it's bad or I don't like it but because ALL writers never stop writing. When I do readings at events I never read it the way it is on the page--I always change the wording. I'll probably ALWAYS change the wording. It's my cross to bear.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of people online who don't like the ending of LYKY, and I have to say that despite that I would never, ever, ever change the ending. That is the CORRECT ending. Anything else would have been made up and it's my job to write the truest fiction possible.

That is the only way that book could end, for me. I know a lot of you would like the "riding off into the sunset" moment where everything is perfect.

But seriously? Where's the fun in that?