Jay Asher's Next Big Thing
RSSBy Debra Lau Whelan
Is it true that the success of Thirteen Reasons Why (Razorbill, 2007) was so terrifying that you had trouble writing another book? It wasn't so much the number of copies being sold, but the beautiful emails readers were sending. I wrote the book hoping at least some people would say it inspired them to treat others with more respect. I didn't expect so many to say it helped them deal with a friend's suicide or to reach out for help when they were considering suicide. Those emails were amazing and wonderful, but a fear of letting down readers who felt such a strong connection with the first book caused me to overthink everything about the next book. It got to the point where I couldn't get myself to even open the new book's file on my computer. It was ridiculous, I know! But I didn't write another word for about two years. Did the idea of co-writing a novel help you get over that fear? The moment Carolyn Mackler proposed the idea, I knew that was the solution. No one would see my next book as a follow-up if another author's name was also on the cover. The entire time we were writing, those silly fears were trying to creep back in, but I kept telling myself this was a coauthored book and not my own book. Now that the book's done and I completely love it, I would never think of saying "It's not really my book, it's a coauthored book." It is my book! And it's Carolyn's book. I'm the first to admit that I'm horrible at math, but The Future of Us feels like it's 100 percent mine, 100 percent Carolyn's, and 100 percent ours. Did Carolyn reach out to you because you were friends? I gave a blurb for Tangled (HarperTeen, 2010), Carolyn's last book. Other than that, the only connection we had was when I heard her speak at a writer's conference in 2005 and nervously asked her to sign my copy of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things (Candlewick, 2005). I was a huge fan! Then, early last year, she was on a teen author panel and someone asked her what her dream writing project would be. She responded that she wanted to write a collaborative novel. Because she'd read my book and saw some similarities in how we approach storytelling, she sent me an email asking if I'd be interested in cowriting a book with her. Since she was one of my favorite writers, I was both honored and intrigued. How'd you two come up with such a fascinating idea? In one of our brainstorm conversations, Carolyn said that when she was in high school, she thought it was interesting to think that her future husband was out there somewhere. And wouldn't it be interesting to find out who you were going to end up with? We talked about being able to see your future spouse (and career, and kids, and where you live...) on something like Facebook. But it would be even more interesting if we set the story a few years before anyone had heard of social networking, and Facebook would magically appear on one of the character's computers. Facebook would be like a crystal ball, showing glimpses of reality, but not the full story. How would knowing those bits and pieces affect someone's present life? What if one character loved his future, but a second character hated hers? And what would that do to their friendship? The questions went on and on, which told us we were onto something. Neither of us had tried coauthoring before, so we didn't know if it would work. It felt like we were sneaking the family car for a test-drive, then realized we drove well together, so finally told our parents what we'd been doing only after bringing the car back without any dents. What was the collaborative process like since you live on opposite coasts? Because we both wanted a say in all aspects of the book, we developed the characters together and brainstormed the entire book chapter by chapter. We each took responsibility for writing alternate chapters, but then swapped those chapters, giving each other the freedom to cut or add at will. Some chapters went back and forth dozens of times before we felt the words were exactly what we both wanted to say. As far as timing, Carolyn first asked about writing a collaborative novel on April 5, 2010, and we turned in the manuscript later that year on December 9. I'll always remember the date we turned it in because that's the day my wife went into labor with our first child. The Future of Us isn't even out yet, and Warner Bros. has already bought the rights. Were you expecting that? Because I'd recently announced the movie deal for Thirteen Reasons Why, I had a feeling the movie studios would at least be interested in checking out the new book. One week after turning in our final edits, I was in New York having lunch with Carolyn and some people from Penguin. That's when our film agent called to say Warner Bros. just put in an offer. Our publisher immediately ordered a bottle of champagne. How involved are you in the movie adaptation of Thirteen Reasons Why, which will star Selena Gomez. It's been a great experience because everyone involved shares a very similar vision for the movie. I think that's because everyone appreciates the same things about the book. In fact, at a lunch with the producers, they described the psychology behind Hannah Baker's character in terms that I've always felt but was never able to verbalize. It gave me goosebumps! Living only a few hours from L.A., I've been fortunate enough to sit in on screenwriter and producer interviews. They've been consulting with me throughout the screenwriting process, which is where we are now, and while I have offered some suggestions, I'm mostly just amazed at what they're coming up with. It's a very creative group! And even though it's their creativity and brilliance that will make a great movie, they're also wonderful people, which makes the project even more rewarding. From talking to so many readers over the years, I think there are two main reasons it's been successful. First, it deals with a lot of issues in a very honest and non-judgmental way. Even if readers haven't been touched by the book's main issue, suicide, there are other issues they can identify with, either because they've experienced them or know friends who have. As well, I wrote it to be a page-turner. I'm not someone who naturally picks up books dealing with such serious subject matter. So as I wrote the book, I mainly focused on writing it so someone like me couldn't put it down. If people personally connect with a book and can't put it down, it's very likely that they'll want to tell other people about it. What are your plans as spokesman for Teen Read Week? How important have librarians—and libraries—been in your life? Growing up, there was nothing I'd rather do than go to the library. Before I could read, I went to storytime. Then I racked up summer reading points and showed off to the librarians by telling them every detail of the books I read. My first time appearing in a newspaper was when my elementary school librarian called me out of class, along with two other students, and we were photographed reading to advertise a new library program. She knew how much I loved the school library. As an adult, I worked in two public libraries. At the first, in Wyoming, I was an assistant children's librarian. Then my wife and I moved back to California and I drove the interlibrary loan van. During those jobs, I wrote Thirteen Reasons Why. There's something about being surrounded by book-lovers that inspired me to do my best writing. What are you working on right now? I'm taking another idea out for a test-drive. I'll tell you all about it when I know I can return the car without any dents. This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.
SLJ catches up with Jay Asher on The Future of Us (Razorbill, 2011), cowritten with Carolyn Mackler, about two teens in 1996 who turn on a computer to find themselves on Facebook—15 years into the future. In anticipation of the book's November release, the authors will be giving away one advance reader's copy each week until the big day. All fans need to do is visit Asher's blog every Friday and leave a comment for a chance to win.
You guys didn't even tell your publishers while you were writing the book? Why so secretive?
Why do you think Thirteen Reasons Why is such a huge hit and continues to be life changing to people who read it?
I'll be judging a photo contest where teens interpret the titles of YA novels. I can't wait to see those submissions! I'll also be speaking at libraries around the country, encouraging teens to not only read books, but to seek out their librarians for recommendations. If you're not a big reader, it may be because you haven't been introduced to the right books, but your librarian will know titles you may be overlooking. Librarians are in the best position to lead you to your soon-to-be favorite books.
