Tuesday 1 November 2011 | By: Nicole @ Nicole About TOwn

Author Interview: Ellen Hopkins - Triangles



Today my lovely readers, I have the honour of interviewing the New York Times Bestselling Author Ellen Hopkins. Ellen is the author of several Young Adult books and has just published her first book for adult readers. Triangles was released on October 18, 2011 and published by Atria Books. Today she stops by to talk a little bit about it.





N: Can you tell us who or what inspired you to write Triangles?
EH: Interestingly enough, the suggestion for a book about midlife crises came from a teen boy reader. I assume one or both of his parents was experiencing one (which also underlines the fact that all family members can be aware of and affected by them).

N: What was your favourite chapter (or part) of Triangles to write and why?
EH: Hard to choose one, but maybe the part where Marissa and her husband, Christian, go to Monterey for the weekend to try and rekindle their romance. My husband and I have spent several romantic weekends in Monterey/Big Sur, and if any place could inspire love, I think that's it.

N: Did you base any of the characters in Triangles on people from your own life? Why or why not?
EH: Holly and Marissa are both inspired by friends who hit huge turning points in their early forties. And there are little threads of me in all three women. Which, I guess, says I've got multiple personalities or something.

N: Is there a message that you want readers to take away after having read the book?
EH: I think it's okay to question ourselves and our lives. To reevaluate when we must. It's natural. Smart. So don't worry when it happens to you. But choose your direction carefully, especially when kids are involved.

N: Was it always in your plan to move into adult books and essentially grow with your readers?
EH: My life has been a series of unfoldings, as a woman, and as a writer. I didn't plan to write teen fiction until the right story hit me, and it had to be YA. Then I discovered a talent for and love of writing YA. Neither did I plan to move into adult fiction until the right story hit me, and it had to be aimed at older readers. I feel fortunate that as my readers have grown they have continued to embrace my writing.

N: When writing, do you plot our story or is it more of an organic process?
EH: I generally don't outline a book, but rather carefully craft characters, building their stories as I learn who they are, partially in the prewrite phase, but mostly letting them tell me which direction THEY would go as I write.

N: What can readers expect next from you? Are you currently working on another book now?
EH: The next YA, TILT (Fall 2012), is a companion to TRIANGLES, focusing on three of the teens in that book. And I'm currently writing the next adult, COLLATERAL (Fall 2012), about deployment and what that means to those left behind. I've been researching the topic for months, including interviewing military families.

N: If you had to recommend one book to another person, what would it be?
EH: ONE book? Wow. That's hard. Maybe WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.

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I would like to thank Ellen for stopping by and participating in the interview.  You can order a copy of Triangles here!

Be sure to connect with Ellen Hopkins online!

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

Great interview! Can't wait to see what Ellen has in store for us next!

Jennifer

Evie said...

Fab interview! You asked some really awesome questions and Ellen sounds like such a great person! I can't wait to read her books now!

I see you're using the quote thingy.
Use it wisely.
With great quote thingy comes great responsibility.
muahahaha ];D

<3

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