John Corey Whaley: Noggin Q&A Part 2

Today, I am pleased to bring you part 2 of our exclusive Q&A with Noggin author John Corey Whaley. If you missed it, here’s part 1!

You have an amazing book trailer for NOGGIN. Were you involved in making this trailer? Tell us about it!

I am super lucky to have met and befriended Ben Jenkins a few years back. He and I actually grew up a few miles down the road from one another, but were separated by just enough years of age that we never met until we were adults. Anyway, he filmed the trailer for WHERE THINGS COME BACK in and around our hometown in Louisiana in 2011, and I got to help a lot with that one. With the NOGGIN trailer, Ben had his own vision from start to finish and filmed it in Colorado, where he currently lives. I just got to sit back and laugh and be in awe of the clips he would email my way.

NOGGIN has been optioned for a movie, and a screenplay is being written. Have you been at all involved in this process so-far? What sort of involvement do you hope to have if/when the movie moves forward?

I’m still in shock over this one. I was involved a little in the process of choosing the writer/director–I met with him and we discussed his vision for the film. I knew instantly that he had to make this movie. From here on out, I won’t be too heavily involved (as most authors aren’t), but I hope to be able to visit the set and such if the movie gets green lit. Basically, they’ll have to put out a restraining order to keep me away. ha.

WHERE THINGS COME BACK was such an amazing book, and it had huge critical acclaim when it was released. Did you feel any sort of pressure when working on NOGGIN? How did you respond?

Did I feel any pressure? HECK YES. But, my editor and agent are so great and they really helped me when I thought I was lost a few times–when I thought WTCB was a fluke and that I was a phony. I think there will always be pressure with every new book, but I hope that I’ve now learned enough about how to use that pressure positively to make it less insane next time.

Can you give us any insight into what you’re working on next?

I’m still in the early stages, but I can tell you that’s it’s about a psychic, her son, a small town, and a movie. That’s all you get.

Tune in on Friday for part 3 of our Q&A!