Interview with Stephanie Perkins

Stephanie Perkins writes romances that make you fall in love with the idea of love itself—messy, thrilling, and real. Her latest novel, out this month, Isla and the Happily Ever After, brings us back to senior year in Paris with dreamy Isla and her crush, a sweet artist named Josh. Stephanie answers your questions about writing crossover characters (Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket all appear in this book!), the John Green effect, and the answer to the big question— Étienne, Cricket, or Josh?
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Interviewer: I am a huge fan and have been anxiously awaiting Isla's story! Can you think of the hardest part about writing Isla's story? Was it difficult, since Anna and Lola's were hits, that Isla would have to live up to them? Astoria also wonders: Reading Anna and the French Kiss, the first time I realized Isla liked Josh, and so did Anna. Were you always aware that you wanted to write their story? And how did you come up with the idea of Kurt? 

Thank you! The hardest part about writing it was figuring out its structure. Anna and Lola are both traditional romances in the sense that the characters don't get together until the end. In Isla the characters get together in the beginning. It was a challenge to figure out how to sustain and build that proper level of swoony tension. It took years—and a lot of help from authors smarter than me (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, GAYLE FORMAN. I'M LOOKING AT YOU, HOLLY BLACK.)—to figure it out.

And heavens. Yes. It's difficult trying to live up to reader expectations. (You actually can't.) But it would've been just as difficult if Anna and Lola had not been widely read; I would have been worried about other things. My next job, for instance. There's always plenty to worry about, if you go looking for it.

When I wrote Anna, yeah, I was aware that I wanted to write Isla and Josh's story. The seeds of it were planted with great intention! I had become rather taken by Josh, and I wanted to explore his character through the eyes of someone who loved him as I did. Someone who saw what I saw.


It's odd, but I don't remember how Kurt came about. I know I wanted Isla's best friend to be male, and I know I wanted it to be strictly a friendship. (No secret, silent yearning!) But as far as him having high-functioning autism, I'm not sure. It's quite possible that it's because I was watching a lot of episodes of Bones at the time, which has featured several smart and delightful Aspergian-type characters.



Interviewer: You've been very open with your personal struggle with depression and anxiety. Is this a topic that you would consider writing about in a YA novel, either as catharsis or otherwise? 

Absolutely.


Interviewer: What book that you read in your early days of literature do you most attribute to your success as an author? 

I think I'm defined more by authors than specific books. As a child, Roald Dahl made me fall in love with words. As a teenager, J.K. Rowling made me fall in love with characters. As an adult, Meg Cabot made me fall in love with romance. And there have been many, many others. 

This summer I've been reading Carsick by John Waters, Landline by Rainbow Rowell, and the Robert Galbraith books. I've loved them all!