"What do you want to be?" "Happy," she says with a smile. - Colleen Hoover

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Colleen Hoover Interview

I have been extremely blessed by getting to interview some amazing authors and today is no exception.

I got to interview Colleen Hoover! I know I actually can't believe it either.

Colleen is the author of many amazing books such as Slammed and Hopeless.

I want to say HUGE thank yous to Colleen for taking time out of her incredibly busy schedule to answer my questions.
I know I say this all the time but it really does mean the world to me.

Enjoy!


1. What made you want to become a writer, and why write YA?
I've always enjoyed writing. I wrote my first story, Mystery Bob, when I was 5 years old. I just never thought it was possible to make a career out of it. I got married and had children at a young age, and I couldn't afford to take those kinds of chances, so I got a safe job so I could support my family. When I finally did write my first book, I had no idea it was YA. I wasn't trying to fit a particular genre, I was just writing what I wanted to write.

2. What drew me into Slammed was the Slam Poetry, I've never read a book like that before. How did you come up with the concept?
Well, I had seen a special on television about a slam poetry competition and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. After that, I loved looking up videos of slam poetry on YouTube. At one point, I thought it would be fun to read some kind of book about slam poetry. When I couldn't find one, I just decided to write one instead.

3. Some of the characters in Slammed had unique names how did you come up with them?
Layken is a name I've always loved and probably would have liked to use if I'd had any daughters. Kel is based off my son, Cale. And Caulder is just another name that I always thought was cool.

4. Slammed dealt with a lot of serious issues but the characters dealt with them using humor. Do you feel that laughter is the best medicine?
I definitely think people take certain things to seriously. You're allowed to be sad when bad things happen, but you also have to realize that there is nothing you can do about them. All you can do is make the best out of any situation and know that you're the only one in control of your happiness.

5. Lake was such an amazing character and so was Will, who was your favorite?
Haha, I can't choose between the two. That's like asking me to choose between my own children!

6. I have a massive book crush on Will, who's your book boyfriend?
I don't know that I really have a book boyfriend, but I absolutely adore Augustus Waters from The Fault in our Stars.

7. Music was such an important part of this book. If you had the opportunity to create your own music festival, which bands would you want to play?
The Avett Brothers, The Airborne Toxic Event, Matt Corby, and Griffin Peterson. That would be awesome. Someone should make that happen.

8. Out of all the books you've written, which one are you most proud of?
I'm proud of them all in such different ways. I'm proud of Slammed for being the first novel I ever finished; I'm proud of Hopeless for hitting #1 on the NYT Bestsellers list; I'm proud of Maybe Someday for being a unique take on combining fiction and music; and I'm proud of Ugly Love because I really think it might be my best yet. Ugly Love is the only book I've written so far that's actually made me cry.

9. If you could be best friends with any book character - from your books or from a book you didn't write - who would you choose?
That's a really tough one. I just read Archer's Voice and loved it. I'd love a chance to meet Archer in real life.

10. There are so many book to movie adaptations coming out this year, which one are you most excited to see? Which adaptation is your all-time favorite?
I'm not sure I have an all-time favorite, but I'm really excited to see The Fault in our Stars.

11. If Slammed had a theme song what would it be?
Pretty Girl from Michigan by The Avett Brothers

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