Interview with Caroline Hickey

Today we're chatting with Caroline Hickey, a DC gal like myself. Caroline is a tween and YA author, whose most recent release, Isabelle's Boyfriend, just came out in paperback on December 22.



I met Caroline at the KidLit Con back in October, and she was nice enough to let me interview her, and pre-post it here. So I'm actually typing this up in October, since I knew I'd be on maternity leave come late Dec-early Jan. Kinda cool, huh? I'm here, but I'm not. (Cue "Twilight Zone" music.)

Anyway, let's give Caroline a big Fictionistas welcome!

AB: Thanks for coming, Caroline! Tell us something about yourself.

CH: I love to feel organized, even if I’m really not. I have a hand-sized spiral notebook that I carry around full of lists and ideas (not all writing related, some are about my furnace or getting new tires on my car) and I feel like if I can just write down all the things I want and need to do in my life, then everything will be okay.

AB: I know exactly what you mean. So, tell us about Isabelle's Boyfriend.

CH: It came out initially in 2008, but the paperback has just been released by Square Fish. The story is my take on what love is really like at fifteen. Girl likes boy, boy already has a girlfriend, girl tries to make boy notice her anyway, girl ends up in a series of embarrassing situations. It’s fun and funny.

AB: How did you get the inspiration for it?

CH: Mostly from the ridiculous things my friends and I did when we were teenagers. The book isn’t autobiographical … or is it???

AB: LOL. What authors do you read?

CH: I try to read a little of everything. Realistic fiction, dystopian novels, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, you name it. Whatever catches my eye.

AB: Who is your favorite character (from your own books or any other books out there)?

CH: I always say Pippi Longstocking. She’s an oldy, but she was a role model then, now, and always. Pippi stands for strength and kindness, my two favorite things.

AB: Time for our standard Ficitonistas random questions. What five things are always in your purse?

CH: Lip balm, hand sanitizer, my iPhone, diaper wipes (because you can use them for anything), and a hair elastic.

AB: What music are you currently listening to?

CH: Some old Fiona Apple. Just fits my mood today.

AB: Tell us about your pets (if any).

CH: No pets currently. My husband is begging for a dog, but we have a toddler, and isn’t that enough of a mess???

AB: LOL, we're the opposite. We got a dog, then we decided to get the baby. Of course, if the baby and the dog don't get along, we'll have to put the baby up for adoption -- we had the dog first! (OK, I kid...kinda...) Moving on...one item of makeup you can't live without?

CH: Tinted moisturizer.

AB: Worst high school memory.

CH: When a guy I was dating called and said he was not only breaking up with me, but he was going to ask out one of my best friends, and that they’d been secretly writing to each other for weeks. That was pretty lame.

AB: Definitely! Tell us your best prom story, and you get bonus points if you let us post your prom picture. (Oh, come on, we had to ask!)

CH: Not a chance, ladies. Sorry. I wore a sequined fuchsia dress with matching tinted heels. It’s enough just to know that.

AB: Nice! I might have had that dress in navy blue sequins. LOL. If you could go back in time and talk to the teenage you, what would you tell her?

CH: I’d tell her to relax and stop taking everything so seriously. I thought I had to be cool every minute of the day. WHY? It’s so much more fun to just be myself.

AB: Excellent advice. What are you working on next?

CH: A teen novel about girl whose guy best friend comes back from a year away at boarding school and is suddenly too cool for her. She tries to save the friendship, but does that ever work? Can you make someone stay friends with you? It’s never worked for me, and we’ll see how it works out for this character.