The Book Obsession: Interview with Susane Colasanti

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Interview with Susane Colasanti

Susane Colasanti is the author of three great YA novels (When It Happens, Take Me There, and Waiting for you which comes out on May 28,2009.) She is a great author and has such a fun writing style. Susane was nice enough to stop by and answer a few questions I had for her. Enjoy!

Q: Which character do you feel that you related with the most in "Take Me There"? Why?

A (Susane) : Each of the three main characters reflects certain parts of me. I can totally relate to how crushed Rhiannon feels about her breakup. I know it's kind of a drag to read about someone all broken and longing, but I wanted to represent how it feels to have a relationship end as accurately as possible. James has noisy neighbors and wants a gorgeous home when he grows up. I've had noisy neighbors next to every apartment I've lived in and freaking hated it. I also am looking forward to owning a gorgeous home when I grow up. Nicole's outrageous style is something I admire. I did a few weird things in high school with my shirts and shoes, but she is way more stylish than I ever was. Danny isn't a main character, but he's one of my favorite characters I've written. I can totally relate to Danny's passion for exposing the truth about his school. He inspires this zeitgeist of taking responsibility for your place in society so that you can contribute to the world around you in a meaningful way. I've always that my purpose in life is to give back. I'd like to think Danny and I are kindrid spirits.

Q: What was your inspiration for "Take Me There"?

A: The scene where Rhiannon and James are on the pier iPod dancing actually came from a dream I had. When I woke up, I knew that they were meant to be the main couple in my second book. They were friends who suddenly took it to the next level, so I created a story which incorporated that plot.Take Me There has some scenes that were inspired by actual school scenarios. Before I became a full-time author, I was a high school science teacher. Sometimes, parts of conversations I overheard or funny things that happened in class would find their way into the story. There’s a scene where Miguel is frantically searching for his extra-credit assignment, dumping out his bag and ripping apart his notebook. Eliezer comes sauntering in, takes out a crumpled piece of paper, and drops it on the teacher’s desk. It’s the extra-credit assignment and only the first person to hand it in gets the credit. Something very close to this happened in my class and I just had to create a similar scene.

Q: I'm from New York (whoo!) so is there any particular reason you set the novel in NYC?

A: I’m a proud New Yorker who’s in love with this city, so I was super excited about writing a book that takes place here. I wanted to infuse my passion and adoration for my neighborhood into the story. I hope my readers can feel the magic, too!There’s always so much happening here. My other books take place in small towns, where characters are usually waiting around for something to happen. But here in New York, life is zooming along at an accelerated pace, which I wanted to reflect in the book. That’s why there are so many issues in Take Me There – a breakup, abuse, a possible student-teacher relationship, and more. I wanted readers to feel the frenetic nature of life that city kids feel.

Q: So I hear your new book, Waiting for You, comes out in May. Can you tell us a little about it?

A: Waiting for You is only told from one perspective, so it’s different from my previous two books. The main character is Marisa, who is trying to overcome a problem from her past. She starts going out with a boy who’s not really what she expected, so she has some big decisions to make. There’s an underground pod caster who keeps her going, even though his identity is a secret. She’s also trying to convince her best friend to stop talking to strangers online, but of course it takes something catastrophic for her friend to realize how stupid that behavior is.

Q: If youwent back 5 years and told yourself you would be this successful in your writing, would you believe it?

A: Ha! I don’t think I’m that successful at all. I have this thing where once I accomplish a goal, I’m already on to the next one and the one after that. My mental energy is always focused toward the future. This drives me to keep setting new goals and reaching them. However, I usually don’t take the time to appreciate the goals that I have accomplished. As Marisa says in Waiting for You, we have to live in the Now. So I’m working on being present and enjoying every minute of the Now. Life really does fly by a lot faster when you’re older.