This is the second in my series of Author Q&As! Gayle Forman is the author of If I Stay, Just One Day, and her latest, I Was Here.
- Jordan: Which one of your characters are you most like?
- Gayle Forman: The character I am most like is Where She Went’s Adam. In the beginning bits, when he’s all neurotic and superstitious and kind of a pain in the ass. Yep. That’s me. #TeamAdam all the way here. But of course, my characters all have bits of me. It’s like having a whole harem of children out there.
- J: Which character’s POV was the easiest to get into?
- GF: Mia, Adam and Cody all came to me instantly. As soon as I started writing, I knew them. Though the truth is, I started writing because I knew them. Willem, Allyson, Sophie, and Russell came a bit slower.
- J: Which YA protagonist (from any series) do you think would get along with any one of your main characters?
- GF: I would love to see what happened when I Was Here’s Cody met Taylor from Jellicoe Road. POW! Also, Mia and Adam would get along with Francesca, Tom etc. from The Piper’s Son/Saving Francesca. So my characters and Melina Marchetta’s would be besties.
- J: Did you have a lot of fun writing “What The Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?”?
- GF: I loved writing Sophie Roth because Sophie is actually the most like me (Redo first question). But it was also a delicate and hard thing to do. I wanted to write a funny love story about race and class. So, you know, setting the bar high. But then I started writing about pie and it was all good.
Thanks for answering my questions during the twitter chat, Gayle! Be sure to check out I Was Here in stores now.