{Tour} The DUFF by Kody Keplinger (Author Interview + Giveaway!)

***INTERVIEW***

Hi, Kody! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. We’re excited for our readers to get to know you a little better. Let’s get started!

Tbe DUFF is about a girl named Bianca who is informed by a boy, Wesley, that she might be the “designated, ugly, fat friend” or “DUFF” in comparison to her best friends. But Bianca is also dealing with some family drama – on top of this new insecurity – and Wesley ends up being her best distraction from all of these problems. It’s about body image and sexuality.

My favorite scene to write was pretty much every scene with Bianca’s best friend, Casey. I love Casey so much, and her relationship with Bianca totally took me by surprise as I wrote.  Heck, I love Casey so much that I wrote a short story spinoff about her called “Abbreviations and Alliterations” in an ebook collection, Secrets & Lies.  I missed her and wanted to write from her POV.  That’s how much I loved writing about her in The DUFF.

I like the beginnings. I love writing the first few chapters, when things are fresh and exciting. It gets a little trickier as I get into the middle bits, but the beginnings are always fun.  And while I don’t have any rituals, I do always write at night. I don’t’ know why, but I can’t seem to write anything very good before the sun sets.

Oh, this is fun!  Hmm.

I’d probably introduce Amy Rush – Wesley’s little sister in The DUFF and one of the main characters in my new book, Lying Out Loud – to Lola from Lola and the Boy Next Door. Amy is pretty quiet and reserved, and I think it would be good for her to spend time with someone like Lola, who might get her to break out of her shell a bit.

You know, I thought it would be. I was prepared to struggle with it a lot, But in reality, it felt really natural. Maybe it was just that character or that particular story, but the voice just kind of flowed out of me. I really connected with Nola, the narrator, and it wasn’t hard at all to find her voice, as a twelve-year-old, even though I was used to writing about seventeen-year-olds.  She just had a very different voice in my head.

Lying Out Loud is not only a companion to The DUFF, it’s also a companion to all of my other YA books, so you will see Bianca and Wesley as well as Lissa, Cash, Whitley, Nathan and maybe a couple others. Plus, you’ll get to meet Sonny, who was such a fun character to write, and I think she’s quite a bit different from my other leading girls.  I’m so excited for everyone to meet her!

Wesley’s character changed a lot from draft one to final draft. When I first wrote him, he was much crueler, I think. A much darker character. But the more I wrote, the more I realized that just wasn’t Wesley.  He says some jerky things, but he’s not the type to deliberately hurt someone – he just doesn’t realize that what he’s saying is hurtful. Once I realized that and did some rewriting, I ended up liking him so much more. And I think he made a lot more sense with Bianca, who has been pretty much the same in my head since day one.

Probably getting to meet and become friends with the screenwriter, Josh A. Cagan.  It’s always scary to put your work in a stranger’s hands, but Josh – I have learned – shares a very similar sense of humor to me, and we care about a lot of the same things. So even in places where the book and the film differ, I feel like the tone and humor of the book are still there.  Plus, Josh is just a cool, nerdy dude. Not only do I admire his talent, I’m also glad to call him a friend.

My all time favorite YA book is called Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert.  I love that book so much, and not nearly enough people have read it. It’s always the first book I recommend to people, especially If they love complicated characters as much as I do.  It’s not a book for the faint of heart – it can be pretty dark – but man, it’s so good and means so much to me. I’d love to see it read by more people.

I get asked a lot about my favorite boy characters, but I have a lot of favorite girls in YA, too!  If I were to be asked, I’d say some of my favorites are Terra from Starglass by Phoebe North, Eleanor from Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, and Regina from Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. I love complex, flawed leading ladies!

I mean, how can I not say Finnick Odair? I love him so, so much.  I loved him from the first time he appeared in Catching Fire. I remember thinking, “I don’t know if this guy is a villain or an ally yet, but I think I like him either way.” And he certainly didn’t disappoint.  And, of course, I also love Adrian from the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series.  But who doesn’t?