Hi--
Thanks so much for reading! Inspiration came from a bunch of different places. When I was younger I would constantly try and imagine what a "perfect" day would look like, so I've always been kind of obsessed with the idea of a 24-hour redo. And I wanted to write a book exploring themes of change and redemption.
The characters in the book aren't based on real people, per se, but they are certainly based on my general understanding of people and of how people behave. And I've pulled certain attributes and details from real-life people, of course--for example, my best friend Deirdre loves the color green, as does Elody in the book.
In terms of your last question...honestly, writing is the strangest thing and I'm not even sure how much of the process is conscious. I think, for me, the point of the book was paradoxically shifting focus away from Sam's death--it was about her discovery of what it means to really live. So I guess I didn't want the issue of whether she lives or dies to be the "cliffhanger" thing necessarily. That might not make a lot of sense, I guess, but my brain is weird. 
Thanks again for reading and for your very thoughtful questions!
--Lauren
Thanks for your honesty. It's definitely okay to dislike books, of course (even mine). 
That's one of the great things about books, I think--they become yours. You can have your own emotional responses to them, and develop your own interpretations of them, etc. And I would definitely rather have someone dislike my book and want to talk about it than think it was good but have nothing interesting to say about it!
Good and evil, bad guys and good guys--those are big, heavy terms, and polarized distinctions, I'm not sure I totally believe in. I mean, yeah, there are probably a few people in the world who are completely evil, and maybe some who are completely good, but most of us are both. What I tried to portray in Sam and her friends was, I think, a slightly exaggerated portrait of a very common tendency: a tendency to be unconscious of our impact on other people, a desire to make ourselves feel good by denigrating others, a way of making ourselves feel "in" only by declaring others "out." The power Sam and her friends abuse is a power all of us possess: it's the power of interconnectedness, of ripple effect, of influence.
Hey Gaby--
Thanks for reading! It definitely was not a conscious decision to write YA, although I was working as an editor at a young adult division of a publishing house when I began working on the book, so I was being very heavily influenced by my reading in that category. I just kind of started developing Sam's story, and because she is a senior in high school and the book takes place entirely within the high school world, it seemed natural that it would be submitted as a YA book. But we're hoping adults will read it, too.
I was actually worried when I started writing that I would feel constrained by thinking about the audience, but actually, I really didn't find that to be the case--any more so than one is always, in some ways, picturing an audience when one writes a novel. So I don't really think it does differ from writing "regular" fiction, although it's true that at least in terms of commercial YA, it is important to develop really strong stories and narrative arcs. No post-modern ramblings in the YA world yet!
I'm not sure how to define YA fiction. It definitely didn't exist strongly as a category even fifteen years ago--since then it has exploded, and it now encapsulates such a wide range of books, it's difficult to make some general statement about it. And I think it will just keep growing and expanding and evolving, and the books published within its category will get better and better. It's a very exciting time to be a YA writer, for sure!
How did your book get designated YA? It seems so age appropriate for older readers as well, i.e. parents whose children experience this kind of bullying.
Okay, I just realized when I reply to these threads I should probably post the questions in my reply, so from now on I will do this.
It wasn't a conscious decision to get my book designated YA--due to the age of the main character, and the high school setting, it was submitted to and published by a young adult division of Harper. But we are definitely hoping older people will read it (the finished book says "Harper" and not "HarperTeen" on the spine for this very reason).
I am so sorry to hear about your granddaughter's experience with mean girls. I agree that some of the book's themes and content probably make it inappropriate for her; perhaps, as you suggest, she should wait a little while. I am hopeful, however, that when teens (and adults!) read my book they might reflect on the consequences of some of their behavior.
I hope you read on! Day Five is really good, I promise.
Lauren-Oliver wrote:
How did your book get designated YA? It seems so age appropriate for older readers as well, i.e. parents whose children experience this kind of bullying.
Okay, I just realized when I reply to these threads I should probably post the questions in my reply, so from now on I will do this.
It wasn't a conscious decision to get my book designated YA--due to the age of the main character, and the high school setting, it was submitted to and published by a young adult division of Harper. But we are definitely hoping older people will read it (the finished book says "Harper" and not "HarperTeen" on the spine for this very reason).
I am so sorry to hear about your granddaughter's experience with mean girls. I agree that some of the book's themes and content probably make it inappropriate for her; perhaps, as you suggest, she should wait a little while. I am hopeful, however, that when teens (and adults!) read my book they might reflect on the consequences of some of their behavior.
I hope you read on! Day Five is really good, I promise.
Lauren,
If you hit the "Quote" button next to "Spell Check" -- when responding to someone's post -- it'll replicate their content.
P.
