Interview With Melissa Kantor

I met the lovely Melissa Kantor at Teen Author Carnival last year, and she was probably the sweetest author I met in NYC. She was so kind as to offer to do an interview with me about The Darlings Are Forever. Here is the Q and A that followed. You can read all about Melissa here.1. What inspired you to write The Darlings Are Forever?I really wanted to write a book where friendship was CENTRAL. A long time ago I got a wonderful fan letter from a reader who said that my first book, "Confessions of a Not It Girl, seems" to be about whether the main character will get together with her crush but it's "really" about whether or not she and her best friend will work out their problems. That was a powerful reading of the book for me. I often make the mistake of thinking of best friends as being the background of life, but really they're the most important thing!2. Have you ever had a social circle similar to the the Darlings?When I was in my twenties, I had a group of friends and we used to meet for dinner once a week. We were all single and living in Manhattan and we had cool jobs and fun apartments and reasonably exciting lives. It was the closest thing my life ever came to being a "Sex and the City "episode. I wanted to capture the fun of those dinners, the way best friends are a place where you can let your hair down and just be yourself.3. Did you have to do any research for Victoria's character of a up and coming politician's daughter?One of my very best friends in the entire world is a politician's daughter--her father was once a presidential candidate. She was tremendously helpful to me as I wrote" The Darlings Are Forever. "It was she who explained to me how to have Victoria's dad, a total political unknown, become a frontrunner in a major campaign.4. What do you think is the most important value in a friendship?I think a really good friend sees your faults generously. It's not that she thinks you're perfect (imagine the pressure of that!), it's that she sees the best in you. Like if you're bossy, your best friend would describe you as having leadership skills. I don't think you want a best friend who's naive about you ("I don't think you're bossy!"). I think you want a best friend who's defensive about you and who isn't looking for you to fail.5. If you had to recommend one place in NYC for tourists to go, what would it be?It's a seasonal recommendation, so if you're in NYC in the winter, it won't work, but if you're in NYC during the warmer months, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a rooftop garden, and I'd highly recommend going up there at around sunset and looking out over Central Park and the New York City skyline. I can't think of a more perfect, romantic New York spot. Also, if you've got the time and the energy, take the subway to Brooklyn and then turn around and walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to Chinatown for lunch or dinner. Best views of Manhattan ever!Thank you so much for chatting with me about your book, Melissa!My review of The Darlings Are Forever can be found here.