interview
Q: Where did the idea for LEMONADE MOUTH come from?
MPH: The idea of a behind-the-scenes epic story about an unlikely band of high school outcasts came to me from being in a band. Music has always played an important part in my life. Bands are so much fun to be in, and I’m always intrigued about how and why they form and what makes them tick. Bands are almost like people, in that they develop their own personality—one that’s separate from that of each individual member. That intrigues me.
Q: The story is written from five different first-person perspectives. Why did you decide to use the different points of view?
MPH: There’s a book called the Beatles Anthology, where somebody took separate interviews of each of the Beatles and pieced them together to make one continuous story told by four different voices. I wanted to write in that style, more or less. I added my own flavor to it, but I thought (and still think) that it’s a marvelous way to get a feel for each of the people, their individual stories and motivations and feelings, while also following the story they all share—the band’s wild, creative ride.
Q: Did you ever keep a diary?
MPH: Yes, but only in intermittent periods throughout my childhood. The problem was that I worried that one of my sisters might discover it and read whatever I'd written. In fact, this scenario never actually happened, although my sister Carolyn once burst into the bathroom, threw back the shower curtain and, cackling hysterically, snapped a picture of me in all my nine-year-old nakedness--a traumatic event that took me ages to get over!
Q: Tell me about Floey Packer (I AM THE WALLPAPER)'s writing. Why haikus?
MPH: Haikus are great because they can squeeze so much into so little. They're tiny nuggets that can express deep thoughts or giant emotions. With only seventeen syllables, the writer has to make every word count. I guess that's why I felt like Floey, who feels like the wallpaper in comparison to other people in her life, would naturally gravitate to haikus as a way of documenting the various steps in her personal journey as she tries to reach for something higher. Plus, they're a lot of fun to write.
Q: And the idea of a private diary made public over the Internet?
MPH: That came from thinking about how we all value our privacy even though we live in a brave, new world where it can be so very easy (too easy!) to share information with a lot of strangers through the Internet. I think a lot of people are only just now realizing some of the implications--how powerful an effect this new technology can have on our lives, both good and bad.
Q: Are you working on a new book?
MPH: Yes, but I'm not really talking about it yet.
Q: Who were some of your favorite authors as a child? As a teenager?
MPH: As a child: The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald. As a teenager: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, The World According to Garp by John Irving, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin.
Q. What is the best thing about being an author?
MPH: The secret handshake. Also making connections with readers. Plus, I absolutely love the process of writing, long and hard as it sometimes can be. But most of all it’s the secret handshake.
