| Interview with Emily Franklin |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I have always wanted to be a writer. I wrote poetry (that now makes me cringe) as a kid and always told and
wrote stories. I love words and word games, and loved to read. I was that kid with a stack of books on the
bedside table – hey – I still have that stack now.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I had some early success with publishing poetry and when I went to graduate school, I wrote screenplays. I
was slightly scared of fiction. Then I wrote one short story that I’d had building in me for a long time. After
that, I realized I had lots of stories to tell, lots of books lurking inside me.
My first novel, Liner Notes, is about a woman in her twenties who explains her life through her mix CDs and
tapes. I liked the idea of using a song to explain a certain time in one’s life. I wrote it – or it wrote itself –
quickly and I then found an agent. She sold the book, and I began my journey into the publishing world.
There are lots of ups and downs, but I love my job. I am lucky enough to have a career in the teen/YA
world as well as the adult reading world.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE has three books out right now – LOVE FROM LONDON is the latest. ALL YOU
NEED IS LOVE, book 4 in the series, will be out in September. LOVE FROM LONDON was so much fun to
write – after following Love Bukowski through her first year at boarding school where her father happens to
be the headmaster, Love has the opportunity to go to London to study there for a semester. She has to
leave her school life, her aunt (who is struggling with breast cancer), and father back in the states while she
learns to navigate her new life.
LOVE FROM LONDON has a blend of reality – Love is always thinking and aware of her surroundings – but
also has a blend of fantasy in it – imagine living the high life in Europe, free of traditional high-school life,
parents, and all while getting to hang out with your best friend.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My family – my brothers and parents – and the family I’ve created – I am married with three little kids,
despite the fact that I still feel seventeen sometimes!
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
See above – yes, they are happy! My grandmother is my biggest fan, though my husband is a close
second.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Hmmm…this is the trickiest question yet – I LOVE food. I worked as a chef before being a writer (file under
odd jobs Emily had to make money while putting off writing that first book!). So…in no particular order –
grilled broccoli sandwiches with melted cheddar, Grape-Nuts cereal (is there any food more absorbent in
the history of edibles?), pizza (favorite kind is caramelized onion and pepperoni), bread pudding, Girl Scout
Thin Mints, Matzoh ball soup with veggies, turkey ruebens, and Chinese take-out. And of course, Mac and
Cheese.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Make and drink coffee, get my three kids their breakfast, think about how lucky I am to have a life I love (but
it has to be this order – without the coffee I might not be able to love life quite so much).
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
You might not be surprised, given the fact that writers are supposed to have great memories, but I have
letters and notes dating back to grade school. Remember when Wendy called me names or Josh said he
liked me or I wrote a lame confessional letter to ___? I have all of those notes stashed away in containers in
my attic.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Um, my kids would tell me to say “rainbow” because then I’d get to be all of the colors. I’ll say blue because
it’s always been my favorite.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
I like the Barba-Papas, which no remembers. They were bulbous things from the 1970s who could change
their shapes and sizes – they lived in a balloon-shaped house. Very cool.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
I’d love to go back to Jazz Age America.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists?
Music is in almost all of my books. Tastes range from classics like Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell to
Waterboys to U2 to Ben Folds.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again?
Going to the movies is a favorite activity though I don’t get to go that much. I can always watch anything
John Cusack – The Sure Thing, Say Anything. Or anything 80s.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
It gets better.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
The next couple of years are busy for me! Along with other books in THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE series I
have a book coming out next year from Random House called THE OTHER HALF OF ME, about a sixteen-
year old who searches the sibling donor registry and finds out she has a half-sister.
I also have my next adult novel, THE GIRLS’ ALMANAC, which will appeal to teen readers, too. That’s
coming out in October 2006 from William Morrow.
Then, if you’re not too full of Emily Franklin stuff, you can check out an anthology I’m editing called IT’S A
WONDERFUL LIE: 26 Essays about Life in Your Twenties which will be published by Warner next year.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thanks for asking me – feel free to visit my website at www.emilyfranklin.com.
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I have always wanted to be a writer. I wrote poetry (that now makes me cringe) as a kid and always told and
wrote stories. I love words and word games, and loved to read. I was that kid with a stack of books on the
bedside table – hey – I still have that stack now.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I had some early success with publishing poetry and when I went to graduate school, I wrote screenplays. I
was slightly scared of fiction. Then I wrote one short story that I’d had building in me for a long time. After
that, I realized I had lots of stories to tell, lots of books lurking inside me.
My first novel, Liner Notes, is about a woman in her twenties who explains her life through her mix CDs and
tapes. I liked the idea of using a song to explain a certain time in one’s life. I wrote it – or it wrote itself –
quickly and I then found an agent. She sold the book, and I began my journey into the publishing world.
There are lots of ups and downs, but I love my job. I am lucky enough to have a career in the teen/YA
world as well as the adult reading world.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE has three books out right now – LOVE FROM LONDON is the latest. ALL YOU
NEED IS LOVE, book 4 in the series, will be out in September. LOVE FROM LONDON was so much fun to
write – after following Love Bukowski through her first year at boarding school where her father happens to
be the headmaster, Love has the opportunity to go to London to study there for a semester. She has to
leave her school life, her aunt (who is struggling with breast cancer), and father back in the states while she
learns to navigate her new life.
LOVE FROM LONDON has a blend of reality – Love is always thinking and aware of her surroundings – but
also has a blend of fantasy in it – imagine living the high life in Europe, free of traditional high-school life,
parents, and all while getting to hang out with your best friend.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My family – my brothers and parents – and the family I’ve created – I am married with three little kids,
despite the fact that I still feel seventeen sometimes!
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
See above – yes, they are happy! My grandmother is my biggest fan, though my husband is a close
second.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Hmmm…this is the trickiest question yet – I LOVE food. I worked as a chef before being a writer (file under
odd jobs Emily had to make money while putting off writing that first book!). So…in no particular order –
grilled broccoli sandwiches with melted cheddar, Grape-Nuts cereal (is there any food more absorbent in
the history of edibles?), pizza (favorite kind is caramelized onion and pepperoni), bread pudding, Girl Scout
Thin Mints, Matzoh ball soup with veggies, turkey ruebens, and Chinese take-out. And of course, Mac and
Cheese.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Make and drink coffee, get my three kids their breakfast, think about how lucky I am to have a life I love (but
it has to be this order – without the coffee I might not be able to love life quite so much).
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
You might not be surprised, given the fact that writers are supposed to have great memories, but I have
letters and notes dating back to grade school. Remember when Wendy called me names or Josh said he
liked me or I wrote a lame confessional letter to ___? I have all of those notes stashed away in containers in
my attic.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Um, my kids would tell me to say “rainbow” because then I’d get to be all of the colors. I’ll say blue because
it’s always been my favorite.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
I like the Barba-Papas, which no remembers. They were bulbous things from the 1970s who could change
their shapes and sizes – they lived in a balloon-shaped house. Very cool.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
I’d love to go back to Jazz Age America.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists?
Music is in almost all of my books. Tastes range from classics like Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell to
Waterboys to U2 to Ben Folds.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again?
Going to the movies is a favorite activity though I don’t get to go that much. I can always watch anything
John Cusack – The Sure Thing, Say Anything. Or anything 80s.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
It gets better.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
The next couple of years are busy for me! Along with other books in THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE series I
have a book coming out next year from Random House called THE OTHER HALF OF ME, about a sixteen-
year old who searches the sibling donor registry and finds out she has a half-sister.
I also have my next adult novel, THE GIRLS’ ALMANAC, which will appeal to teen readers, too. That’s
coming out in October 2006 from William Morrow.
Then, if you’re not too full of Emily Franklin stuff, you can check out an anthology I’m editing called IT’S A
WONDERFUL LIE: 26 Essays about Life in Your Twenties which will be published by Warner next year.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thanks for asking me – feel free to visit my website at www.emilyfranklin.com.
