We’re thrilled today to have Lili Wilkinson, author of the new novel Pink, answering some of our questions today. Many thanks to the fine folks at HarperTeen for setting this up! Be sure to check out our review of Pink, and pick up your copy today! (And hey, if you’re lucky, we might tell you how to win a copy tomorrow!)
What was your inspiration behind Pink?
Two things. Firstly was my own high school experience – Billy Hughes is very much inspired by my high school, and all of the Screws are based (very loosely) around real people. The other thing was a speech that David Levithan made at a conference in 2007, where he voiced a plea on behalf of queer teenagers – for them to be able to see themselves reflected on the shelves in libraries and bookshops I really wanted to write a book for teens who just weren’t quite sure – about their sexuality, identity, and everything else. Which, let’s face it, is probably most teenagers in one way or another. Or most people, now I come to think about it.
How did your experiences working with teens influence Pink?
Probably the understanding that teenagers aren’t a different species. On the whole, they want the same things that adults want, and don’t need to be moralised or patronised to.
Without giving too much away to people who haven’t read the book, I felt like the ending to hit just the right note. It was exactly what this book needed. Why is this specific ending so crucial to making Pink a successful story?
I really, really didn’t want to write a book that said “it’s okay to be gay, as long as it’s just a phase and you end up being ‘normal’.” But I also wanted to stay true to the integrity of the characters and the things that they wanted. The book went through quite a few different endings before I settled on that one.
Ava talks a lot about playing “Emma,” in reference to the Austen novel. How (if any) did classic lit like Emma influence Pink?
A lot, in the sense that everything I’ve read influences everything I’ve written. And then not massively, because it wasn’t particularly conscious. The Emma stuff seemed very natural, and as soon as I’d thought of it, I realised that Chloe would hate Jane Austen because she’d fail to understand that the books are supposed to be funny, as well as romantic and full of nice dresses and sparkling eyes.
There are a lot of very powerful, important messages that can be taken from Pink. But what do YOU hope readers will take away, above all else?
You don’t ever have to make a hard-and-fast decision about which box you fit into. But you PARTICULARLY don’t have to do it when you’re sixteen.
If you saw someone looking at your book in a bookstore, what would you say to convince them to buy it?
This book contains no vampires.
What interview question do you always wish someone would ask?
What superpower would you like to have?
Now answer that question.
That one that Mary Poppins has, where she clicks her fingers and everything is tidy. Think of it! I could not only tidy the bedroom floor and the kitchen sink, but surely it could also have a broader application with oil spills and flood damage!
Novel Novice’s Flash Questions:
Favorite cartoon?
Angry Beavers.
Chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate.
Your personal theme song?
‘She Will Have Her Way’ by Neil Finn.
You’re on a deserted island and have to read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?
Diana Wynne Jones’s Fire and Hemlock, because I read it every year and always find something new.
Favorite book as a child?
Also Fire and Hemlock, but I’ll also put in a good word for Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series, Teddy Robinson, Anne of Green Gables, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles and Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn.
Secret talent?
I sew and crochet. I’m pretty good at Scrabble. And I can tie a cherry stalk in a knot with my tongue.
Novel Novice 
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