TB : Of the books you ’ ve written , which one is your favorite and why ?
CP : I really like the new Bean Book , What Time Is It There ? Even though it ’ s the concluding novel in a trilogy , it stands alone well , and there ’ s a sub-plot about friendship between a young man and woman that I think is a really important thing to be reading and writing about now . The good-friend-guy , Amp , is one of my all time favorite characters . If men and women were better friends , there would be a lot less heartbreak . Love stories are great ( and What Time Is It There ? totally has one ), but we need pals , too . Some of my best friends have been men .
TB : What books have most influenced you as a writer ?
CP : For my YA work , A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L ’ Engle and Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery . I also love Montgomery ’ s Emily books . Madeleine L ’ Engle is my north star . When I get stuck , I pull out pretty much anything she ’ s written .
TB : What do you find to be the most challenging part of writing ? And the most rewarding ?
CP : Challenging ? Finding enough time to do it ! In a perfect world , I ’ d write all the time . But there are little things like living the rest of my life ! The most rewarding part of writing is when I don ’ t feel myself typing because I ’ m concentrating so hard , and I ’ m laughing because I don ’ t even know where the last plot twist came from .
TB : What book is on your nightstand ?
CP : I read all kinds of weird things outside of my own genre . It keeps my brain stirred up to do that . I believe in a stirred-up brain . Just finished Lincoln in the Bardo , by George Saunders , which is a mind-blowing ghost story at its heart , so it speaks to my love of the paranormal . My poet friend Maryann Corbett has a new book called Street View that I want to review because it ’ s great . I also read cookbooks like novels . I used to be a chef .