Author Interview: Jennifer Archer, 'Through Her Eyes'

I am pleased to have Jennifer Archer, author of the forthcoming, Through Her Eyes, here today! Thanks, Jennifer, for stopping by and answering some of my questions. I hope you all enjoy our interview and that you'll check out the book! It's out in April!

1. If you could be a character from any book, who would you be? What character would you like to date?

Oh, wow, there are so many characters whose lives I’d like to live for at least a day! It would be a crazy experience to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland. And I’d like to date the Mad Hatter; at least I would if he’s the Johnny Depp version of the Hatter from the movie! I adore Johnny Depp! And because I can’t choose just one, I also might like to be Katniss from The Hunger Games. That probably seems like a strange choice considering her bleak life and the terrifying things she experiences, but I’d like to have her courage, selflessness, and resourcefulness.

2. If your book came to life, would you want to live in it for a day if you could?

Absolutely! I’d love to meet Tansy, Tate, Bethyl Ann and the rest of the characters in the flesh. Because I live in the Texas Panhandle where the book takes place, I almost do feel as if I’ve spent time in the fictional town of Cedar Canyon. The city I currently live in has a population of about 175,000, but from 5^th grade through 10^th, I lived in a West Texas town that wasn’t too much larger than Cedar Canyon, so I’m very familiar with the setting, customs, and friendliness of people in small Texas towns.

As for experiencing Henry’s world, as Tansy does in the book, that would be so surreal and terrifying that I’m not sure I could handle it without having a complete nervous breakdown! I suppose if I had a guarantee that I could leave after one day, I’d definitely want to do it. How many people under the age of eighty can say they’ve experienced what life was like in 1939 and actually remember it? If I could get past the panic, it would be an awesome adventure!

3. I'm drawn to your book because it seems to have a scary feel! What is the scariest book you've ever read? Scariest movie you've seen?

The scariest book? That’s a tough question. The one that popped into my mind first is called Intensity by Dean Koontz. My heart actually raced as I tore through those pages! It has some subtle paranormal elements, but what made it the most frightening to me was the fact that most of what takes place could actually happen. As for the scariest movie, it’s a three-way tie between The Mothman Prophecies, The Sixth Sense, and the uber-disturbing Shadow of the Vampire, which creeped me out so much that I couldn’t sleep after seeing it!

4. What was the process like for titling the book?

Ohmygosh, I’m laughing because the book went through a series of titles over a loooong period of time before finally becoming Through Her Eyes. I titled the first version of the story Picture This. Then I did a big rewrite and decided that title didn’t fit the darker tone of the book, so I changed it to Luminosity. On the day that my agent was going to start shopping the book to publishing houses, she emailed me last minute and admitted that she didn’t like that title, so I scrambled to come up with another one I liked and we agreed to change it to Click. The book sold to Harper Teen with that title, but they wisely pointed out that Click was also the title of a fairly recent movie, so I sent them several more ideas and my editor added hers to the list. The smart team at Harper finally chose Through Her Eyes as their favorite – which I believe was one of my editor’s ideas. I agreed, and that was that!

5. What are your thoughts on books being made into movies? Have you ever liked the movie better than the book?

I have seen a few movies that came close to being as enjoyable as the books that inspired them, but very few. And, with the exception of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that I considered to be better than the book. (The Benjamin Button movie was actually based on a short story rather than a book, so it probably doesn’t count!) A book can delve into so much more than a movie can – for instance, what’s going on inside a character’s mind. Also, when we read, we become a part of the creation process. By that, I mean that the reader inserts his or her own unique imagination into the story. For instance, I probably picture a character or setting in a book in a completely different way than you do. When we watch a movie, we lose that interaction because all of the creative work has been done for us. The characters and setting are on the screen and seen identically by every viewer.

I get frustrated when the movie adaptation of a good book completely alters the theme, message, or some other important part of the story. That was the case with the film version of Jodi Picoult’s novel My Sister’s Keeper. The message I came away with after reading the book was completely lost in the movie, because the filmmakers completely changed the ending.

That said, most of the authors I know dream of their novel being made into a movie, and I’m no exception! I think if that happened, I’d just have to tell myself that the movie isn’t mine and the film people are free to take creative license with the story. I hope I would be able to sit back and enjoy watching the outcome, whatever it might be.

I’ve had fun being a guest on your blog, Stephanie! Thanks so much for having me. I hope your readers will pick up a copy of Through Her Eyes and let me know what they think of Tansy’s and Henry’s story. I love hearing from readers through my website www.jenniferarcher.net and through my blog www.jenniferarcher.blogspot.com. Please stop by and check out the Through Her Eyes book trailer and other news about my books.