Paige Harbison

• Me: member when i got fruit by the foot yesterday?
• Kubli: yup
• Me: i got one called "lol punch" and underneath the name, it says "natural flavors"
• Kubli: hahahaha Ya know, natural flavors like, how apples are found in nature
• and we chemically engineered something that tastes like that very flavor.
• Me: hahaha exactly. this one tastes like lols from a lol tree i guess
• Kubi: hahaha! "lols from a lol tree"
• Me: haha now i want one in my yard and a yard in which to put one
• Kubli: Hand out laughter to all the kids
• Tree is fucking
• hilarious
• Me: hahaha!
• the seeds could be called jokes
• Kubli: This could be a flash game. if they did it up really aesthetic
• boom. iPhoned
• Me: hahaha that would be awesome
• Kubli: if I had taken a slightly different major
• then the world would be ours.

Interview with YA Book Shelf

• http: //www.yabookshelf.com/2011/04/interview-with-paige-harbison-author-of-here-lies-bridget/
• Over the last year, I’ve conducted a lot of interviews with both new and seasoned authors. Some of them have made me laugh, and many of them have wowed me. My interview with Paige Harbison is definitely one of the later. Whether I asked her questions about important plot points, her dream cast for the possible movie version of Here Lies Bridget, or what it was like having a published author as a mother, she gives thoughtful responses. I hope that you enjoy our talk just as much as I did.
• YA Book Shelf: While reading Here Lies Bridget, I likened it at times to Cinderella turned upside down and a realistic version of A Christmas Carol in that Bridget is more well rounded than Scrooge, and there is a chance that her efforts to change won’t be enough. Why was it important that Bridget might not be able to right all her wrongs with a simple change of heart or charity, like Scrooge?
• Paige Harbison: It was important because that would not ever be realistic. In ways, the book is light and a little fluffy, but in other ways—ways I liked best about it—it isn’t. Some people have exhibited discomfort with how awful Bridget is. But that’s the point. I wanted every reader to hate her. The things she said and did are unfortunately not hugely unreal. Do you remember that YouTube video a million years ago of those cheerleaders beating the living hell out of a girl they invited for a sleepover? That happens. There have been several horror stories of bullies driving kids to tragic ends, especially lately, and having Bridget be a truly obnoxious girl can even seem a little tame. So I wanted it realistic, and I think that—whether everyone likes it or not—Bridget is. So there’s no way I could have her do truly reprehensible things to everyone around her and then pretend a light switch will just make her suddenly really nice.
• YABookShelf: Your next project, New Girl, is based on Daphne DuMaurier’s modern classic Gothic novel Rebecca, which, in turn, is based on Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. How did you decide on the title, and why did you reject using one that highlighted the main character’s obsession with Rebecca? Was it a way to connect to the book that influenced DuMaurier?
• PH: There are a few reasons actually. To me, the very light title plays like a bright light to the dark shadows of the story and the cover image (which I just saw the mockup of!). Referencing Rebecca directly by calling it Becca, for example, would not be very eye-catching to those who were not familiar with the original book, and for those who would be familiar with the original story, they might (or might not have) found that it was too different from the book they know and love.
• Also, almost everyone knows what it’s like to be ‘the new girl’ or ‘the new kid.’ It’s immediately a feeling that can be empathized with, and one that is ultimately quite exaggerated in the book.
• YABookShelf: Galgos Entertainment bought the movie rights for Here Lies Bridget, which I’m sure is really exciting to you. If you had the chance to participate in the casting process, who would you like to see play Bridget, Liam, Meredith, and Mr. Eznho?
• PH: Sarah Hyland from Modern Family as Bridget
• Luke Bilyk as Liam
• Either Catherine Keener or Patricia Clarkson—or someone like them, anyway, as Meredith. I think they’re both 52, and therefore too old for the character. They look great, don’t they? 52!!
• James Remar as Mr. Ezhno
• Ahh, in a perfect world where actual celebrities would want to be in my movie…=)
• YABookShelf: Some debut authors have an easy time getting their first book published–landing their first choice agent or the attention of a publisher right away. What was your road to publication like?
• PH: I was lucky. My mother’s agency gave me a look, knowing that I, in person, was not a pretentious idiot or even a plain old idiot. They would not have taken me on if they didn’t actually have faith in the book, but I definitely was lucky they already knew me. As for the publisher, I got picked up by Harlequin after only like a month. My mother’s publisher St Martin’s press rejected me (womp womp), but they also don’t have a teen line…? So I was not surprised, and found it easy enough to rationalize. Haha =)
• YABookShelf: What was it like having a mother who is a published author? Did she encourage your efforts or did you feel like you needed to get out of her shadow at any point?
• PH: It hasn’t really been part of the whole thing. It’s easy to bounce ideas off of her, and she reads my books when I’m finished to give me an overall opinion. She encouraged me and thinks I’m a good writer, which I believe she thinks since she is more likely to be the mother who doesn’t want you to embarrass yourself rather than being the overly doting, coddling mother.
• YABookShelf: What are your favorite YA novels on the market today, and why?
• PH: Hmm…
• I don’t know, I read a lot of Non-Fiction (David Sedaris, David Rakoff, Bill Bryson), classics, and others (I’m in the middle of In the Garden of Good and Evil right now too, I like Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin, Beth Harbison…). I’m a sucker for any book that really carries me away, but is it bad that I don’t read a ton of YA right now? I don’t go in for tons of straight-up paranormal books. Because while they take me away, they put me in a world different from my own…it’s almost like sometimes it’s too far. When I was younger, I loved: Holes, Ella Enchanted, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sarah Dessen books, Harry Potter (unreasonably so), Gossip Girl, and more I’m sure I’m not thinking of.
• YABookShelf: Here Lies Bridget depicts a teen girl, who drives her car recklessly with the thought that her death might make “them all” feel sorry. Why was the idea of depression and teen suicide not explored more fully?
• PH: I guess because that is really just a whole ‘nother ball game. Her twisted little desires in her car are the things everyone thinks, but doesn’t ever really intend to go through with. When it happens, it is an accident brought on by distraction. I cannot delve into the tragedy of real suicide and depression. The point is that everyone, even Queen Bees, have thoughts like that brought on by things that really won’t matter after a while. Teen suicides are perhaps the most tragic because everyone knows what it feels like to hate the world with every nerve in your fourteen-year-old body. Every time I hear about a teenager who killed him or herself, it makes me ache with the desire to turn back time and tell them, “You’re right, it does suck, they are being awful, but it really will be fine.” But Here Lies Bridget was not the arena to explore those kinds of tragedies.