A.S. King Has Cool Friends

 
So today on the bloggity blog, I’m so excited to welcome YA author, A.S. KING, recent winner of the L.A. Book Prize!! I am a HUGE fan of all of her work but I think  Please Ignore Vera Dietz is my all-time favorite YA Novel.  Check out A.S. King's books on Goodreads


A.S. King is the author of the critically-acclaimed ASK THE PASSENGERS, YALSA Top Ten EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS and the Edgar Award nominated and 2011 Michael L. Printz Honor Book PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ. She is also the author of THE DUST OF 100 DOGS and MONICA NEVER SHUTS UP, an adult short story collection for adults. Next up: REALITY BOY coming October 2013.
I’m so happy to welcome A.S. King and her teen friends!

So. Right to it. Did you have a best friend in high school? If you did, are you still in touch?

I had two best friends in high school, Christine, who I've known since I was three, and Maria, who arrived in our school from another district when I was about 16. Even though I moved abroad for many years, we always stayed in touch and now that I am back in the PA area, we are more than in touch. Christine heads the local V-Day organization and she and Maria have been producing The Vagina Monologues for a few years. So, when I moved back to PA, I got to join in and help, too. We raise money to help support rape and sexual abuse survivors in our county and around the world. It is thoroughly enjoyable to spend time with them doing something so special. Can't put it into words, actually.

So that paragraph encompasses so many things I love! A friend since you still pee’d your pants! (well I did at three anyhow maybe you were already trained) and a third friend later on to balance out the mix. Then moving abroad, and now how incredibly cool that your friends produce the Vagina Monologues. And help raise money for rape and sexual abuse survivors. I’m impressed.  

So, did you ever have a big fight?

Not really any big fights. I mean, we were together all the time in high school, so I'm sure we wore on each others' nerves sometimes, but we always talked about it and got over things quickly.

Smart and cool women. Talking usually makes things better, yes?! So since you never really fought, what’s something your best friends did for you, that probably no other person would?

The thing about being best friends is that these two ladies know me better than anyone else, so they make me laugh harder than pretty much anyone. We were very silly teenagers. We remain very silly into adulthood. They don't judge.

Laughing is truly a gift friends give each other. And how wonderful to have the safety of friends who never judge! Did you have a favorite song, or a favorite place where you hung out?

There are several answers to this question. Maria used to love listening to Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da with me in my little Nissan Sentra. Christine and I go so far back, I bet she remembers singing along to Captain and Tennille songs in preschool. We also loved to dance. I seem to remember Janet Jackson having an album out at that time. And George Michael's Faith.

You are of my era. Favorite line from a Janet Jackson song. “My name is Janet. Miss Jackson if You’re Nasty.” Er...but back to what you! What did your best friends most love to do?

We were active in sports. We loved driving around and listening to music.

Sharing music with friends is almost as good as sharing laughter! So what did you love most about you teenage best friends?

Both of them have the best laughs EVER. Still do. Real, hearty laughers, they are.

And that is made of goodness. So what did you learn from your best teen friends?

More than I can write here. But considering we're still friends so many years later, they taught me what genuine friends look like. I think they taught me that I need to view myself as a valuable, nice person when in reality, I put myself down too much and am often quick to self-deprecate. They often celebrate my successes more than I do and help me celebrate them, too.

Yay! I love your best friends!! So do you find your friendships are different at this stage in your life?

Yes and no. I mean, we're all grown up and are so busy, right? So a lot of my friendships are carried out through telephone. (Plus, considering many of my friends live abroad where I used to live, this is a have-to.) But really, not at all. When I see friends--even ones I haven't seen in years--it's as if we never had a time gap in our relationship.

Yes. And that to me is the indication of a good good friend. That’s so awesome. Thanks for sharing your friends with us. And thank you for writing such wonderful YA novels! I can’t wait for your next one, REALITY BOY coming in October 2013!!