Today, I’m very excited to welcome author Melissa Kantor to the blog to chat about her latest book THE DARLINGS ARE FOREVER.

I haven’t had a chance to read this book yet (though I’ve only heard positive things about it), but it’s up next on my to-read list! I love books about best friends and the difficulties of maintaining friendships as we grow up, so I know I’ll be in for a treat with this book.

Friendships aren’t always easy to maintain, especially as people get older and grow apart. What made you decide to write a book that tackles some of these issues about friendship?

When I look back at my life in high school, I feel very aware of two things.  First, that my friends were wildly, tremendously, insanely important.  And second, that I always thought of them (to the extent that I thought of them at all) as background noise.  The really important stuff (I thought) was boys.  Did Boy A like me?  Did I like Boy B?  Why did the boys I liked never seem to like me back?  Why did the boys who liked me never seem worth liking?  My friends and I probably logged about a a million hours (at least) talking about boys, but somehow I had the idea that the people I spent a million hours talking to were somehow less important to me than the boy I was talking about (even though that boy changed monthly, if not hourly).

It wasn’t until I got to college and had a friend who really, truly put friends before boys that I saw how important my friendships were.  That these girls and women absolutely shaped me, that the boys I liked or was liked by had completely disappeared (even from the rear-view mirror), while the girls who had walked and talked me through those crushes and relationships were still central to my life.

So it’s really satisfying (because it feels very real to me) to write about a time in these girls’ lives when they’re trying to find time for each other, when they’re trying to be good to each other, but when they don’t yet quite realize how delicate and precious friendship is.

Do you draw on any of your own personal experiences in THE DARLINGS ARE FOREVER?

In early drafts of the book, these girls were perfect.  I think I had some idea that if this was a book about being best friends then the girls could never, ever have a conflict.  My lovely and generous editor gently suggested that maybe my portrait of girls’ friendship wasn’t quite accurate.  Not that the girls had to be backstabbing and petty and awful, just that friendships are complicated.  Sometimes we get along, sometimes we don’t.  Sometimes we’re generous and wonderful, sometimes we’re selfish and unkind.  As I thought about what she was telling me, I found myself thinking back on my high school and middle school friendships.  Even my best friendships had conflict.  We weren’t angels.  I spent a lot of time revisiting some of the fights I had with my friends, some of the conflicts I remembered us having.  So while nothing that actually happened to me is in the book, all of those tensions and feelings are very much a part of my personal experience.

What made you decide to set this story in New York City?

At the risk of sounding like an ad campaign, I will say that love New York.  I love the skyline and I love the buildings and I love the subway.  Even when I hate the city–when it’s crowded and dripping with old, mushy, garbage-strewn snow–even then I love New York. And I think kids who go to school in the city are the coolest.  I grew up in the suburbs, and I always wanted to be a New York City girl.  So having the chance to be one (even if it’s only on the page), feels like the ultimate in wish fulfillment!

Each chapter is told from a different characters point of view. What made you decide to structure the book in this way?

I have to admit that writing The Darlings Are Forever was my biggest challenge as a writer to date.  I’d never done multiple points of view, and I’d never done a series before.  It felt like a lot to tackle at one time.  Slowly, I figured out how I was going to structure the book.  I knew the girls would be in separate places a lot of the time, so it was clear we’d have to see things through their eyes.  But first person or third?  And what about the chapters when they’re all together?  Should those chapters be from one point of view?  No point of view?  Multiple points of view?  A lot of it was trial and error.  I tried first person and it didn’t feel right.  When the girls were together, I tried to be in no person’s point of view, but that felt too distant, so I usually chose one character whose point of view I’d follow.  The truth is, I didn’t make many decisions about the writing so much as I tried things and they either worked or they didn’t.

This book is the first in a series. Can you tell us more about your plans for the next DARLINGS book?

I’m really excited about the second Darlings book.  It’s called The Darlings in Love and, like the title says, it’s all about what happens when each girl falls in love for the first time.  I just finished Book Two, and now I’m thinking about book three…

How do you come up with story ideas?

I’m very lucky–I have friends and family (and even students) who often say, You should write a book about…My friend and former editor gave me the idea for my third book, The Breakup Bible, and she just gave me an idea for another book that I’m thinking about writing.  Sometimes I’ll brainstorm with my agent or with friends who are writers or editors.  And some ideas just kind of come to me.  Usually my books have their origins in a feeling or a character more than an event.  So Girlfriend Material is tied to a feeling I remember from high school: What happens when you’re really into a guy who’s kind of but maybe not that into you.

Who are some of your favorite YA authors?

I loved Judy Blume when I was a teenager, and Norma Klein’s It’s Okay if You Don’t Love Me remains one of my favorite books (probably best for older teens).  Dana Reinhart’s How to Build a House is a gorgeous book, as is Rachel Cohn’s Gingerbread.

What one piece of advice would you pass on to other aspiring authors?

Write a book you would want to read.

Thank you so much, Melissa! Click here to learn more about THE DARLINGS ARE FOREVER.