Author Interview: Lauren Mechling

I'm ringing in the new year with an interview with the fabulous and funny Lauren Mechling, coauthor of the 10th Grade Social Climber books and author of Dream Girl and Dream Life, which will be released on January 12, 2010. (You can see my review of Dream Girl here and my review of Dream Life here. The author photo to the left comes from laurenmechling.com)
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Claire, the main character of the Dream books, is half-French, and both Dream Girl and Dream Life are peppered with French phrases. (I particularly enjoyed Claire’s “JE DORS, DONC JE SUIS” [I sleep, therefore I am] sleep mask in Dream Life.) Do you speak French, or was a little research necessary to include French in the books?

I sort of speak French, but I hadn't studied French since high school and I had to bone up for this series. I took classes at the French Institute in New York, where I was lucky enough to become friends with a half-French couple (Kansas-born man, Paris-born woman). It turned out they were going to be living in Paris the following summer. They let me stay in their spare bedroom in exchange for a couple of macaroons and my promising to stay out of their hair. Which was the easiest promise to keep: I spent every day wandering around the city, notebook in hand (bottle of Orangina in other hand).

What kind of research did the Dream books require?

In addition to my hard August in Paris? Hmm. . . .I did a little research on the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, where Claire's grandmother Kiki lives. In addition to spending a few afternoons in the lobby, observing the hotel denizens from a very comfortable couch, I was given a special tour by the hotel's publicity team and regaled with stories about the debauchery that used to go on there. I also read a few books about Brooke Astor and New York society in the heyday of the 1960s and learned about all the playboys and playgirls who ruked the roost. I also had a lunch with a girl who grew up in the NYU faculty housing to find out what it was like to be a kid surrounded by professors, and I used the Internet to research a lot of random tidbits about pockets of the city that Claire gets to play around in.

Describe your writing in three words.

Juicy merry prankstery.

I noticed that you coauthored your first three novels, the 10th Grade Social Climber books. How is coauthoring different from writing a book on your own?

It's easier to write with somebody (but most writers feel the opposite--depends if you mind having your sentences rewritten). The way Laura and I write together is we edit each other as we go along, so you don't find yourself worrying if the page you wrote isn't in the queens English. You have a permanent sounding board/personal trainer/editor.

There are many references to ducks in both Dream books, such as a moment in Dream Life when Claire narrates, “I could feel myself making my oh-so-attractive confused duck expression--a house specialty.” How do you feel about ducks? (Given that this blog is called Bookduck, I have to ask.)

I love ducks. I call my friends "duck" and in the spring I love to watch actual ducks waddle about at the Brooklyn botanic garden (yes, we have ducks in Brooklyn!). We should all aspire to be more duck-like. They're very self-assured, yet family-focused creatures. They also have nice lips.

What was your favorite book when you were a teen?

I loved whatever I was currently reading--I wasn't the most critical reader. That's the best thing about being a teenage reader: you can bounce around among all sorts of books, and it's easy to get pulled into whatever world you're visiting. I remember loving the (hilarious!) Adrian Mole books, (the not at all hilarious) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and "literary" writers like Junot Diaz and Grace Paley and Mona Simpson.

What’s next for you in writing? (I.e., will we see more of Claire?)

I would love to write another Claire book but am not under contract to do so. For now I'm actually working on a very exciting secret project that will be unveiled this spring. Hint that isn't very helpful: it's on the cusp of YA and not YA. And it involves a bestselling vampire writer.

What’s one of your favorite books you’ve read this year that you think teen readers would enjoy? (It can be any genre, any marketing age group.)

I really loved Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall and The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller, both due out later this year. I also adored Lorrie Moore's A Gate At The Stairs, which is sort of YA (the narrator is in college), and I finally got around to reading Gone With the Wind, which is totally juicy and, come to think of it, would make an awesome YA revival.

And my final question is for you: Why do YOU love ducks?

I love ducks because they're the cutest darn things AND they quack. When they're on the water they look calm on the surface, but their feet are busy at work underwater. Also, my first initial looks like one. If my name were Beth or Brittany, it's quite likely that I would like bunnies more than ducks, because it only takes a few extra lines to make a capital "B" look like a bunny. And that's not shallow at all.
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Thanks for stopping by, Lauren!

You can find out more about Lauren and her writing on her website.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year full of Happy Reading,