Getting to interview an author who wrote a book that you thoroughly enjoyed is like getting to go behind the scenes of a blockbuster movie. That’s exactly what it felt like to interview Author of Until We End, Frankie Brown.
With that said, check out the interview below and see what went into making Until We End the book it is today!
Q: How did you come up with the idea for Until We End?
A: About a year ago I was watching a lot of this show on the National Geographic channel, Doomsday Preppers. The people on Doomsday Preppers were convinced, for various reasons, that the world was going to end. They made these incredible preparations, really brilliant stuff (bunkers, self-contained eco-systems, warehouses filled with food). I started thinking… what if one these people was right? That’s what inspired Until We End.
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Q: How and why did you decide to name your novel Until We End?
A: My editor and I decided on it together, actually! My manuscript used to be called something completely different, but Meredith (editor-in-awesome) pointed out that quite a few things already had the title I’d chosen. Meredith and I exchanged emails for days trying to find a new one, and finally we decided on UNTIL WE END. I love it. It feels like the last half of a promise.
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Q: If you had to choose, who would you say was your favorite character to write?
A: Cora, definitely! She has such a fun voice, and great plot-driving determination. I can always count on her to do something interesting in a scene.
Q: Were the ideas a constant flow or did you have to write it in parts?
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A: I write chronologically, but ideas don’t flow for me, ha! They trickle. I don’t remember who said this, but one of my favorite writing quotes is “Write with intention.” That’s what I try to do. Always have a plan, and always have intention. I often have to force the plan out of me (in a corner with a notebook, resolutely not browsing the internet), some days typing a single word is a challenge. But as long as I have that plan, I’m golden.
Q: What is your favorite part of the writing process?
A: The writing. Something that I wish someone would’ve told me years ago is that writing offers the same escapism that reading does. I get just as lost in a story while reading one as I do when writing one. It’s wonderful.
Q: What is your least favorite part of the writing process?
A: The planning! It’s absolutely essential and awful.
Q: What is a typical day like for you?
A: Well, I’m lucky enough to have a day job at a lovely indie bookshop. My typical day is spent there, and then my nights are spent writing. I’m practically a hermit.
Q: Are you currently working on a new novel? Perhaps, a sequel to Until We End?
A: Yes! The sequel. I’m very, very excited about all the terrible things that are going to happen to our dear Cora and Brooks.
Q: Do you really like Nutella enough to use it as a form of trade?
A: Of course. I have a few cans in a storage container buried in my back yard…
Q: Who designed the cover for Until We End?
A: This is a great question, and one that I’m sorry to say I don’t know the answer to. All I know is that he/she is extremely talented and I’m very lucky that Bloomsbury chose him/her to design my cover.
Q: What’s your all-time favorite novel?
A: Ohhh, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! But my favorite novel of the year? Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, definitely.
Q: Who is your favorite author and what strikes you about their work?
A: I have so many. I love the way Rainbow Rowell writes contemporary YA. She has this way of making ordinary life and every day people so alive and interesting. The way David Levithan bends language is endlessly fascinating. And of course I’d read the phone book if Neil Gaiman wrote it. Do I even need to say JK Rowling, or does that go without saying?
Q: If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you say to them?
A: Through my job at Avid, I’ve the opportunity to meet so many wonderfully gifted authors. But JK Rowling is like my white whale. I just want to thank her for the best moments of my childhood.
Q: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about this novel?
A: Reading my own writing is sometimes like looking at a painting hanging on a wall. Tilting my head from the left to right and never knowing if the light is hitting it at exactly the right angle. I’ll always find things to “fix” in my own writing. But I’m very proud of the book that Until We End has become.
Q: Is there a message you wanted your readers to grasp?
A: A few. But I won’t say them.
Q: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
A: Get a book published!
Thanks again, Ms. Brown, for taking time out to take part in this interview and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
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