Interview with Kelly Green

Today we're excited to have Kelly Green stopping by to answer some questions about her series, Borrowing Abby Grace. So, without further ado, here we go!

*What made you decide to write episodic books as opposed to combining the stories into one book?

My publisher and I made the decision to go one episode at a time to keep the feel of immediacy in the series. The shorter format allows us to release new ‘episodes’ every couple of months, instead having to wait a year or two, like a traditional print book series.  With the episodes, everything feels much more immediate—they’re going on right now, these urgent and suspenseful dilemmas..

*Did Abby come to you on her own, or did you have to do a lot of work to create her?

I’m still figuring out exactly who Abby is. I have ideas, of course, and a backstory, but so much of writing Abby has been her learning about other people’s lives, learning to imitate people and fit into strange and exciting situations. The next three books, which I’m working on right now, deal much more intimately with Abby’s past life, her memories, the legacy she left behind. It’s been really fun to build her story out.

* Do you prefer to outline extensively, or are you a more organic writer?

Working with my publisher is a very collaborative and structured experience. There are extensive outlines, and the logic and the mystery of each story is thought out pretty far in advance. That said, I make a lot of changes spontaneously as I’m actually writing the story. Background characters suddenly become more interesting, or a line of dialogue might reveal something sneaky about a relationship, and then the outline needs to get tweaked.  

* What was your favorite book as a child, and what do you enjoy reading now?

Roald Dahl was definitely a childhood favorite. I loved all of his books, especially The BFG. These days I don’t get to read as much as I’d like, but I’ve come across some fantastic books. I just read Feed by M.T. Anderson—amazing book. He’s a fantastic writer. His dialogue is incredibly realistic. And very funny, too (in a dark way).

* Have you always wanted to be an author?

I’ve always been an obsessive reader and have written stories since I was a kid.

* If you could choose any book to step into, what would it be? Why?

That’s hard. Hmm. Definitely not The Hunger Games! I need to start reading happier books… Maybe when Lyra and Will travel to the land of the Mulefa in The Amber Spyglass. That seemed like a lot of fun, as adventures go.