Rachel Vail

BIO

Rachel Vail is the author of THE FRIENDSHIP RING series, as well as WONDER, DO-OVER, EVER AFTER, AND DARING TO BE ABIGAIL. She has also written the picture books OVER THE MOON and SOMETIMES I'M BOMBALOO, and a series of early-reader books called MAMA REX & T. Rachel lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.

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AUTHOR TALK

May 2005

Rachel Vail, author of IF WE KISS, answers three revealing questions about her novel's plot, the elements of her story that are based in reality, and the circumstances surrounding her memorable first kiss.

Question: Why a story about a first kiss?

Rachel Vail: Is this a story about a first kiss? I guess it is. Hmm. The thing is, that's not how I write. What I do is, I make up characters and figure out who they are and what they want, need, are afraid of, or regret --- and then I imagine what could happen to them that would test all they believe about themselves. So this is a story about a girl named Charlie, who has never kissed anybody, who has convinced herself she has no interest in being swept away by the passionate feelings of falling in love for the first time. So, of course, what I had to do to her right away was . . . well, I'm not telling. But a first kiss does come into the story.

Q: Do any elements of this story come from real-life experiences?

RV: Absolutely. Some of the details come from my own life, or from lives of friends, or things I overhear on the subway, in grocery stores, or from letters or e-mails kids write to me. Some plot points are imagined or cobbled together from many sources. But every feeling that a character experiences is a feeling I have felt myself. For example, though I never fell in love with a guy who then became my stepbrother (in fact, I don't have a stepbrother), I have certainly felt my heart pound for a completely inappropriate guy, and been simultaneously ashamed and intrigued by the feeling.

Q: Can you tell us about your first kiss?

RV: I was in the play Bye Bye Birdie and my real-life boyfriend was playing the part of my boyfriend in the show. We had held hands a couple of times and I remember to this day how his hand felt --- big, soft, and warm. Opening night of the play, when we were in the wings on opposite sides of the stage about to come out for our bows, I saw that he had flowers for me. We met center stage and, as I tried to grab the bouquet, he leaned forward and planted a big soft kiss right on my lips. Ack! I was so surprised, I did what I usually did when a relative landed a kiss on my mouth --- I wiped it off with the back of my hand. My father filmed the whole thing. My first kiss: wiped away in front of hundreds of people and preserved forever on family film.

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