Author Interview: Sarra Manning

We’ve done a bit of a swapsies today! The usual Thursday discussion post will be on Saturday as today I am honoured to have one of my favourite authors on the blog to answer a few questions.

Today, Sarra Manning’s most beloved series, Diary of a Crush, are being re-released in a set of gorgeous new paperbacks and Sarra’s here to celebrate the release with me! French Kiss, Kiss and Make Up and Sealed with a Kiss tell the story of moody art boy Dylan and gawky diary fanatic Edie from their first kiss to a tumultuous road trip across the US and it’s still one of my favourite series’.

1. What do you think it is about Edie and Dylan’s story that has inspired so much love and dedication from its readers?

When I wrote Diary of a Crush, I wasn’t thinking of anything other than literary wish fulfilment. Edie was the me I wished I was at 16 and Dylan was the kind of artboy I yearned for from afar but never got past the yearning stage.

With Edie and Dylan I got to go back to college knowing what I know now so I got to wear all the pretty dresses and say all of the snappy comebacks and snog the artboy!

But I think why Edie’s story is particularly endures is because she’s not perfect. She starts the trilogy as a very whiny, overdramatic 16 year old with an impossible crush but she goes on a journey and (hopefully) takes the reader with her.

By the end of book three, she’s her own person but she wouldn’t have got there without screwing up a few times along the way. I think that’s what makes her so realte-able to the reader.

(And I have it on good authority that everyone fancies Dylan.

2. What was the funniest/most aging early 2000s pop culture you found when you were preparing Diary of a Crush for the re-issues?

What was funny was all the references to Leonardo DiCaprio in the original magazine columns got changed to Orlando Bloom when I turned DOAC into books first time round and for these reissues, they got changed a third time to Ryan Gosling.

3. I loved that Edie and Dylan had a cameos in Diary of a Grace. Do you think they’ll pop up anywhere again, or have they been firmly locked away in a drawer?

Hmmm, they might have very fleetingly popped up in one of my adult books. Maybe.

4. Just what is it about those art boys that is so irresistible?

When I left my all girls school to do A Levels at college, the 19 yr old boys doing Art Foundation with their leather jackets, tousled hair, love of obscure indie bands and knowing smirks at the puppy-dog looks from awkward 16 yr old girls were all I thought about. I think it’s a timeless irresistibility.

Now a few quick ones!

5. Current obsession?

Oooh. Benedict Cumberbatch. M&S peanut butter ice cream. Modern Family. First Aid Kit. Dance Moms. Saltwater sandals. I have ALL the obsessions.

6. Favourite writing or reading snack?

Oatcakes with gruyere cheese.

7. Crush of the moment?

Mr Skarsgard, my future Nordic ex-husband.

8. What are you reading at the moment?

I’m very lucky to be reading an early proof of Ranbow Rowell’s new novel, Fangirl, which is a glorious love letter to fandom.

Thank you so much Sarra!

Out now in e-book for the first time and shiny, revamped paperbacks, the Diary of a Crush trilogy are the books you need to be reading this summer. You won’t regret it!

Sophie