Q: You started out your career in L.A. How do you think the film and TV world has influenced your writing style?

A: I studied screenwriting in college, and plot structure was ground into me. Movies and TV shows have clearly defined plots that as audiences we now expect. Inciting incident at the twenty-five-minute mark, the midpoint at the one-hour mark, et cetera. You can set your watch to it. I learned how to craft a story and keep it moving. You can have the most beautiful prose or sharpest dialogue, but if you have a boring story, nobody will read your book. That’s especially true in YA. On some subconscious level, all the TV I watched growing up taught me how to write funny dialogue. I came of age during the reign of Must-See TV. Shows like Friends, Seinfeld, Will & Grace, Frasier, and Just Shoot Me! were filled with witty banter and hilarious one-liners, and I soaked it all in.

Also, working in the TV industry after college made me appreciate the hard work that comes with writing. You can’t wait for inspiration to strike. Writers write. Imagine you’re a writer on CSI. After fourteen years and 300-plus episodes, you have to keep coming up with fresh stories. You have to keep making DNA under a microscope exciting and entertaining. It doesn’t matter if you have writer’s block or if the muse hasn’t spoken to you yet. You need to hit your deadlines. Because there must be twenty-two new episodes ready to air in a season—whether you’re inspired or not.

Q: I happen to know you’re a bit of a movie buff. What are some of your all-time favorite movies?

A: Um, how much time do you have? I’ll try to narrow it down to a top ten: American Beauty, Clueless, Election, Goodfellas, Independence Day, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Pulp Fiction, Rushmore, Silence of the Lambs, Soapdish. I’m probably leaving some out, but that’s the gist. Those movies I can watch over and over and over. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I do watch films from the twenty-first century, too.

Q: Okay, let’s talk a bit more about the book. Do you think if Becca hadn’t been exposed as the Break-Up Artist, she would have stopped taking new jobs? Or would the lure of break-upping have been irresistible?

A: I think she would have stopped no matter what. She saw firsthand how her schemes were affecting Huxley. She realized that the couples she broke up weren’t filled with one-dimensional, evil people. They were just as swept up with romance and emotions as she was with Ezra.