Three weeks ago, I reviewed a contemporary novel called Saving June about a girl who goes on a road trip to California in order to spread her sister's ashes (click here for review). Originally, the novel was supposed to be coming out this May. Unfortunately for those who are anticipating it, the release date got pushed to December 2011.
So while waiting, you can read the interview with Saving June's author, Hannah Harrington! (Apparently I'm the first to interview her, haha!)
What inspired you to write Saving June?
There wasn't really one singular event that inspired the book-- I actually wrote a bit of it while I was still in high school. I had the characters in my head, I just wasn't sure what to do with them at first. About two years after I graduated, it all sort of coalesced into a fully formed idea that I decided to write out. Some of it was inspired by my own teenage experience, either people I'd known or things I'd gone through personally, and some of it just came while I was writing.
Have you ever gone on a road trip before? If so, what was the experience like?
I've been on a lot of road trips! When I was seventeen I drove in a van with some friends from Michigan to New York for a political protest. I've also done the drive up Highway 1 along the California coast that Harper, Jake, and Laney take in the book-- it's a breathtaking drive. The most recent road trip I took was from Illinois to Atlantic City with two friends; we did both ways within less than 48 hours, which was completely ridiculous, but also a blast. We stopped in Philadelphia on the way back, where I'd never been, and I ended up accidentally wandering around five blocks out of my way trying to meet up with my friends to get cheese steaks-- it would've been annoying, except it was kind of nice to get a look at the city. There was also a lot of off-key car singing and good conversation involved, the kind that can only happen when you've been trapped in a car with someone for over ten hours and lost all sense of shame.
Where else would you like to travel to, road trip or not?
I've never been to Europe, and I'm dying to go at some point. The one city in the U.S. that I haven't ever visited but would love to is New Orleans. The whole culture there is so interesting to me.
What would you recommend someone to bring or do before going on a road trip?
Well, good music is definitely a must! I have an iPod, but I tend to go with burning mix CDs; my car is full of them. And a lot of people have GPS systems now, but I always print out online directions as a backup since those things can go a little haywire in my experience.
What are your personal thoughts on suicide?
It's complex and painful in about a million different ways. What I hope people take away from SAVING JUNE is that, like much else in life, when it comes to that, you can't always draw straight lines to find easy answers.
Do you have any other stories in progress? If so, please give us a brief description of it.
My second book will also be published with Harlequin Teen-- it's called SPEECHLESS, and it's about a girl named Chelsea Knot who takes a vow of silence after her gossip-mongering ways yield unexpected consequences. It has some romance too, of course!
To close off, please give us an interesting fact about yourself that most people don’t know of!
My favorite song to play on guitar is U2's "With Or Without You." Probably because it's one of the few I can play that is halfway passable!
There wasn't really one singular event that inspired the book-- I actually wrote a bit of it while I was still in high school. I had the characters in my head, I just wasn't sure what to do with them at first. About two years after I graduated, it all sort of coalesced into a fully formed idea that I decided to write out. Some of it was inspired by my own teenage experience, either people I'd known or things I'd gone through personally, and some of it just came while I was writing.
Have you ever gone on a road trip before? If so, what was the experience like?
I've been on a lot of road trips! When I was seventeen I drove in a van with some friends from Michigan to New York for a political protest. I've also done the drive up Highway 1 along the California coast that Harper, Jake, and Laney take in the book-- it's a breathtaking drive. The most recent road trip I took was from Illinois to Atlantic City with two friends; we did both ways within less than 48 hours, which was completely ridiculous, but also a blast. We stopped in Philadelphia on the way back, where I'd never been, and I ended up accidentally wandering around five blocks out of my way trying to meet up with my friends to get cheese steaks-- it would've been annoying, except it was kind of nice to get a look at the city. There was also a lot of off-key car singing and good conversation involved, the kind that can only happen when you've been trapped in a car with someone for over ten hours and lost all sense of shame.
Where else would you like to travel to, road trip or not?
I've never been to Europe, and I'm dying to go at some point. The one city in the U.S. that I haven't ever visited but would love to is New Orleans. The whole culture there is so interesting to me.
What would you recommend someone to bring or do before going on a road trip?
Well, good music is definitely a must! I have an iPod, but I tend to go with burning mix CDs; my car is full of them. And a lot of people have GPS systems now, but I always print out online directions as a backup since those things can go a little haywire in my experience.
What are your personal thoughts on suicide?
It's complex and painful in about a million different ways. What I hope people take away from SAVING JUNE is that, like much else in life, when it comes to that, you can't always draw straight lines to find easy answers.
Do you have any other stories in progress? If so, please give us a brief description of it.
My second book will also be published with Harlequin Teen-- it's called SPEECHLESS, and it's about a girl named Chelsea Knot who takes a vow of silence after her gossip-mongering ways yield unexpected consequences. It has some romance too, of course!
To close off, please give us an interesting fact about yourself that most people don’t know of!
My favorite song to play on guitar is U2's "With Or Without You." Probably because it's one of the few I can play that is halfway passable!
1 comment:
Great interview! I have been hearing such great things about this book form my Aussie blogger friends, it sounds brilliant, I love a good road trip :) Hannah's next book sounds interesting too.
Post a Comment