Today, Carolyn Mackler --- author of five novels, including THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER BIG, ROUND THINGS, GUYAHOLIC and VEGAN VIRGIN VALENTINE --- joins us for a Q&A about her latest, TANGLED, which just hit stores yesterday. Below, she discusses the bits of inspiration behind the book, favorite characters, and being young at heart.Q: What was your inspiration for TANGLED?
A: TANGLED came to me as I was walking around the Reservoir in Central Park: four teens who meet on vacation and set off a chain of events that profoundly impacts all of their lives. I’m sure bits of inspiration came from everywhere…a vacation my husband and I went on, a newspaper article I read, some melodrama from my teen years. Also, I once passed a bench in the park and I thought to myself: what if I found a suicide note on it? What would I do? Those are the random things I think about as I stroll on a lovely sunny day.
Q: Did you always plan to have TANGLED told in four separate voices, or was the story originally conceptualized another way?
A: I always envisioned TANGLED from four separate points of view, and I knew that all four stories would be interwoven. The challenge was figuring out exactly who those characters were. I knew early on that I would have Jena, Skye, and Dakota. For a while, I had a friend of Dakota’s in Paradise with them and he would be number 4. But then I realized that Owen was my missing link --- and that’s when the story really started to click. Owen is my sweetheart. I want to have him over for dinner and cook him a delicious meal.
Q: Was there one character that was the easiest for you to write? Is there any one of them who you missed when you stopped writing?
A: Strangely, Dakota was the easiest character for me to write. Weird, right? I mean, I’m so not a guy, and not a guy who works out and wrestles and hooks up with as many girls as possible and drinks while trespassing. But for some reason, I identified with Dakota and I got his voice from the first line of his story. It was never a struggle to write from his point of view. I definitely missed Dakota when I finished his section, but the best thing about TANGLED was that I always knew I would revisit my characters again later, even just for a quick glimpse.
Q: In TANGLED, Jena keeps a book of quotes. Reading that I found myself thinking back on the days when I did the same thing and made me wonder if I still have those books around. Did you do this? And do you still do it?
A: Yes, I DID have a book a quotes! I don’t anymore, but I kept a quote book in college and would scribble for excerpts from novels I was reading or quotes I saw on greeting cards or even words I liked, such as “perfunctory” and “conundrum.” Also, I’ve always been a total snoop, just can’t get enough of everyone else’s business. So, like Jena, I pick up discarded notes or other people’s shopping lists. And to-do lists --- those are the best! You can learn a lot about someone by reading their to-do list.
Q: Through all your books, you have done such a terrific job of getting into the heads of teens. How do you keep in touch with what’s going on in their worlds?
A: Honestly, I’m still a teenager myself. In my head, that is. Sometimes I’m shocked when I look up and realize I’m married and have two kids. How did this happen? I’m still seventeen and scouring stores for a flattering prom dress. Also, I love talking to teenagers and asking what their lives are like, how they communicate, and whether I can see their texts and figure out what’s so darn exciting about that incoming message.
Q: What are you working on now and when can readers expect to see it?
A: I have a six-week-old baby, so I’m taking a little break for a few months. But I’m also halfway through a new novel about a really smart girl in a really depressing town. She meets an amazing guy and he may or may not betray her. Honestly, I can’t wait to get back to work on it. I’m not sure when it’ll come out --- it all depends on when I can finish it!
