Author Interview: Alex Flinn!

Hellooo! So I have slightly recovered and to celebrate I am conducting my first author interview! I had a list of authors that I am extremely grateful for writing fantastic novels and at the top of my list is the author of Beastly, Alex Flinn!

Forgive me if my questions were not the best - I was still trying to find my grip on doing author interviews... Nonetheless let's begin!

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1.) I absolutely adore Beastly and am very excited for the film, which will be out Summer 2010. How involved were you in the film production process?

Not much, really.  I got to visit the set, which was a lot of fun, and I've read the script.  I'm very pleased with what I've seen.  Yes, there have been some changes from my book, but the story is the same, and the meaning is the same.  The changes are mostly superficial.  I think fans of the book will be pleased.

2.) Beastly and A Kiss in Time are both modern fairy tales. How did you come up with the idea of incorporating the modern twist into the age-old stories?

I like fairy tales and thought it would be fun to write a story based upon Beauty and the Beast.  There have been a lot of books based upon Beauty and the Beast already.  Most retellings take place in some fairy tale world.  They're really good books, but I didn't really think my usual reader of my realistic fiction would be very interested in that.  Plus, it's already been done.  I thought the themes of Beauty and the Beast were universal enough that they would translate to modern times.  Indeed, the story of Beauty and the Beast goes back to ancient Greece and maybe even earlier.  With A Kiss in Time, the princess sleeps a long time anyway, so I thought it would be fun to see what would happen if she woke up in our time.

3.) Which, if any, of your books are you most proud of?

I'm proud of them all for different reasons.  Some of my books are more popular than others, but the ones that are less popular often inspire a passionate following among readers who do like them.  For example, Breaking Point, which is about a school bombing, appeals to kids who feel displaced, like they don't fit in.  It was the kind of book I would have liked as a teen. 

4.) Your books relay inspiring messages and important life lessons to their readers. When writing, do you have a clear outline of what message you want relayed by the book, or does it come naturally with the plot?

I just start writing and see what happens.  I usually know how the book will end, but not how I'll get there. Sometimes, it's frustrating, but that's my technique.  I've tried to outline, and it doesn't work for me.  

5.) You mentioned in your website that Breathing Underwater was inspired by your experience of interning with the State Attorney’s Office and volunteering with battered women. Are any of your characters also based on anyone you know?

Only one.  Most of my characters are completely fictional, and a lot of my characters have big problems, so it wouldn't be fair to base them on real people.  The exception is the character of Sean in Diva.  He is based upon one of my best friends in high school, upon whom I (and a lot of other people I know) had a huge crush.  To this day, I feel he was a really admirable person, so Sean was a sort of tribute to him.

6.) Are you currently working on another novel? If so, what should we be expecting? :)

I recently finished a novel called Cloaked, which will be published in January, 2010.  It's about Johnny, a poor guy who works in a shoe repair at a posh South Beach hotel.  One day, a princess who is a guest there asks him to go on a quest for her, find her brother, who has been turned into a frog and set loose in the keys, a group of tropical islands off the coast of Florida.  He thinks she's nuts, until she pulls out a magical cloak which allows him to travel wherever he wishes.  Along the way, he meets talking animals, battles giants, and takes a heck of a summer vacation.

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A massive, massive thank you to Alex for her time! For more information about her books you can visit here author site: www.alexflinn.com.

If you haven't read Beastly yet, you can read my review HERE. It's a fantastic read! A film adaptation starring Alex Pettyfer as Kyle Kingsbury/Adrian and Vanessa Hudgens as Lindy is coming out July 2010. You can view the trailer @Youtube to get a glimpse of it!

Click HERE for the movie site.