Bass Ackwards and Belly Up

Interviews & Essays

An Interview with Liz Craft and Sarah FainQ: You were friends in high school. How much -- if any -- of Bass Ackwards and Belly Up's plot came from your own experiences/friendship? And which -- if any -- of the characters in Bass Ackwards and Belly Up are based on yourselves?A:Yes, we were friends in high school and ran our high school newspaper, The Voice, together, although Sarah was definitely the more responsible one. We didn't take many actual events and put them in the book -- neither of us had a Mr. Finelli, or ski competitively, or have ever made out with a semi-famous actor. Sarah did backpack through Europe, but she certainly never got mugged in Athens! Even though we didn't use real-life events, we definitely infused all of the emotions of those years into the girls' stories. For instance, BABU (as we call it) opens the night before Becca is to leave for college. It's an overwhelming moment for the girls. They know their friendship will never be quite the same, and that from now on they'll be on their own paths. We felt that same mix of excitement, fear, and poignancy in the days before we went off to our respective colleges, and we wanted to convey that.As to whether any of the characters are based on ourselves…. To a certain extent, yes. Sarah related to Becca because she was dealing with the complexity of a blended family (although Sarah's was, luckily, much happier than Becca's). Harper was based on Elizabeth, so far as they share the same physical traits (including the glasses), love for junk food, and need to neurotically obsess over everything.Q: Unlike the characters in your book, you both took "the traditional college route" after high school. Did you ever yearn to be like Harper and take time to write "the great American novel"? Did you always want to be writers...or did you have other dreams? A: We weren't as in touch with our dreams at 18 as Harper, Becca, Sophie, and Kate are. It never occurred to us that we could do something different from the tradition college path. That's part of what we wanted the book to say-go after your dreams, no matter what your age. Of course, we're not suggesting everyone should ditch college. It's a hugely important experience, both in terms of education and emotional evolution. But it's never too early to start defining what you want in your life and going for it.Now that we're older, we both yearn for a few months of freedom. But we can hardly complain. We get to write every day -- TV and novels. Who knows? Maybe some day we'll both move into log cabins and go to work on our two-thousand-page "masterpieces."Q: Your book's been touted as a "more grown up Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." How do you feel about that comparison? And what YA books/authors do you admire? A: To be compared in any way to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is the biggest compliment we can think of. We're both huge fans of the series. Elizabeth even worked under Ann Brashares in New York, back when they were both in the publishing side of books. Ann was a mentor and remains a friend. We can't wait for the next Sisterhood to come out! Other authors we admire… There are so many. We grew up reading Judy Blume and Paula Danziger, along with Jane Austen and Willa Cather, and so many others. We both still read tons of young adult novels. Sarah Desson is a favorite, and we love Jodi Lynn Anderson, Melissa De La Cruz, and Dan Ehrenhaft. Our favorite title ever (and it's a great book) is The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler. And of course we have to mention the goddess, J. K. Rowling. Harry Potter changed the world for the better.Q: How was writing this book different than writing for TV? A: Very different! For one thing, TV is an extremely collaborative process. A bunch of writers get together in a room and discuss story ideas. Then we pitch those ideas to the boss (in our case, The Shield creator Shawn Ryan). Some are approved, some thrown out, some tweaked or given, as we say, "a haircut." Then a group of us "break" the story so that an outline can be written. That outline is discussed and debated during a notes session. Only then do we go off and write the script. Usually it goes through at least three drafts before Shawn puts his final touch on it, making what we call his "pen changes." We're producers as well as writers on The Shield, so we're involved in casting, props, etc. Once the script is being filmed, we're on set every day for the seven-day shoot, where we work with the director and actors to help see the story to fruition. The crazy (and wonderful thing) about TV is that we so quickly get to see our words come to life. Sometimes we'll finish a script the night before it shoots. We had to wait almost a year to see our book! Writing a novel was different, because we had the final say-so. Our editor, Cindy Eagan, had amazing suggestions, but ultimately what went on the page was our decision. When we're writing TV, we have to be as brief as possible both in dialogue and description, because page space is precious. When we wrote BABU, it took a long time to let ourselves relax and let the words flow! When we did, it was so much fun.

Q: In your writing, your teen voices/sensibilities are so on-target. How do you stay in touch with the interests/personalities of teens today?A: First of all, THANK YOU! That's so nice to hear. We try to stay in touch with teens today through TV, magazines, and books, as well as by talking to teens we know. Sarah mentors a girl who's given us amazing insights. Mostly, we both still feel like teenagers ourselves. It's so easy to go back to that place in our lives and remember exactly what it was like. Even though fashion and styles change, the experience of growing up is fundamentally the same.Q: What's the writing process like for you both.... How exactly do you collaborate?A: Before we start a project, we have a lot of conversations during which we throw around dozens of ideas. Often one of us will suggest something and the other will add on to it, making the initial idea even stronger. When we're nearly ready to start writing, we sit down and outline together. Then we divide up the scenes and go off to our respective corners to do the hard work of actually putting words on paper. Once we reach our pre-determined deadline, we trade what we've done and give each other notes. We love the process of working together partly because we feel the collaboration makes our material stronger when it finally gets to our editor. In other words, we're each other's first line of defense to bad writing! Being partners is extremely rewarding. We're there for each other when one of us has writer's block, or self-doubt, or simply needs to have a momentary melt down. We have a great time talking about stories and planning what we want to do next. Of course we get on each other's nerves and argue, but we always know our friendship is strong enough to weather those small bumps.Q: You're working on a sequel for Bass Ackwards and Belly Up. Can you give us a hint about what's next for Harper, Sophie, Kate, and Becca?A: We don't want to say much! But here is a hint about what happens to each girl as she continues to pursue her dream: An event in Harper's family changes her priorities. Now that Becca's in love, she has to learn how to be in a relationship. Sophie's Beverly Hills lifestyle takes a turn toward the less glamorous. And Kate finally does discover what her dream is. There are a couple of new guys in the picture, but we can't reveal whose lives they're in. Hope everyone tunes in to find out!