Fresh New Voice of YA- Interview with Stephanie Perkins

1) How did you get the idea for Anna and the French Kiss? What book(s) are you working on now?

The idea came to me in a dream — a beautiful boy with a French name and an English accent sitting on the steps of the Panthéon in Paris — and it was impossible to resist. Or, more accurately, the boy was impossible to resist!

I'm currently working on two companion novels, which means they have ties to Anna, but they are NOT direct sequels. Each book could be read as a stand-alone. The first is Lola and the Boy Next Door, and it will be released in the fall of 2011. The second is Isla and the Happily Ever After, and it will be released in the fall of 2012.


2) Tell us all about The Call/The Email when you sold your book. What were you doing when it happened? Did you celebrate in any way?

You know, it was actually a slow process. Two editors were interested, and they bid back and forth for a while, and then my agent and I picked. It was thrilling, of course, but most of the details are lost since it took place over an extended period of time. I think I was in Arizona visiting my parents during the beginning, and then it concluded a week or so later when I was at home. Something like that. My husband and I DID celebrate big, though, at our favorite restaurant — Bouchon in Asheville. French comfort food!


3) What is your favorite Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor (or flavors, if you prefer)?

Pear! Second place is a tie between sizzling cinnamon and lemon lime.


4) According to your bio, you've lived in some wonderful places over the years, including having been raised in Arizona and now living in North Carolina. What's been your favorite place? What did you like about it? Or if it's too difficult to pinpoint one, tell us a bit about each.

My favorite place is my current hometown Asheville, which is artsy and organic and gay-friendly. It reminds me of my second favorite place I've lived, San Francisco. It's like an affordable, miniature, in-the-mountains version!


5) What book(s) are you reading now, or are about to start?

Here's the current pile on my nightstand: A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz, The Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo by J.H. Patterson, Germinal by Émile Zola, The Game of Sunken Places by M.T. Anderson, The New Kings of Nonfiction edited by Ira Glass, My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer, A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, and Locke and Key by Joe Hill.