Blog Tour: Through Her Eyes - Jennifer Archer - Author Interview

Jennifer Archer is here today answering a few of my questions for the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her book Through Her Eyes. I hope you enjoy the interview! You can follow along with the tour here. 

If you were faced with the same circumstances that Tansy is faced with, what would you do? Would you do anything differently?

I hope that I would tell my mother what was going on sooner than Tansy does. However, I understand why she didn’t admit right away the stranger things that were occurring because – I must admit – if one of my children came to me and claimed they were having Tansy’s experiences, I would worry about their mental health! That said, if I saw a prowler outside my house, I definitely would NOT attempt to confront the person on my own. Tansy puts herself in a lot of potential danger by doing so. I forgive her, though, because she is under a lot of stress and is very, understandably, confused! When it comes to the situation with Henry, the ghost, I think that overall, Tansy handled it well and with so much more bravery than I could. When she becomes convinced that Henry is trying to deliver a message through her, she does not give up and let him down. She does what she must to help him, even though that requires that she face some very frightening circumstances.

What books, or authors would Tansy identify with and love?

I’m absolutely certain that Tansy would identify with me as an author and love the books I write. =) Seriously, I think she would love the classics: the dark, poetic lyrics of Edgar Allan Poe, the gothic feel of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. However, she’s a modern girl, too, and I have no doubt that there’s a copy of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins on Tansy’s bookshelf!

What would some of Tansy's favourite music or bands be? Does she have a theme song? 

Tansy is artistic. When it comes to music, she likes songs with poetic or meaningful lyrics. Some of her favorite groups include: Lacuna Coil, Delain, Evanescence, Nickelback, Lincoln Park, and Florence and the Machine. But Tansy is also an Indie Rock kinda gal. A friend of mine introduced me to the Jonsi Birgisson song called Boy Lilikoi. Here’s a link to the song on YouTube Boy Lilikoi by Jonsi Birgisson. My friend is very into music and she has read Through Her Eyes. She said that the song reminds her of Tansy for many reasons. The lilikoi is a fruit in the same family as passion fruit. It’s not as pretty as the passion fruit, but is supposed to be a heartier vine, often growing over 20ft in a single year. To be like a lilikoi, my friend explained, could mean to be vigorous and thrive in unlikely places, as Tansy eventually did after her move to Texas. My friend related the song’s words, “use your eyes” and the “world goes and flutters by” to Tansy’s insight as a photographer. Tansy is very visual, and tries to capture incredible moments before they’re gone. The song’s words “rainbow colors fading to brown” also reminded her of the other realm Tansy enters where color fades. So I think Boy Lilikoi makes a great theme song for Tansy if you insert ‘Girl’ for ‘Boy!’

Are there any quirks you employ while writing?

I’ve started making music soundtracks for each book I write. I choose songs that fit the mood of the story. When I sit down to work and turn on my iPod, the music helps to place me in the world of the book right away.

If you could meet a character from any book ever written, which character and book would you choose and why?

Ask me this question on any given day and I’ll give you a different answer! That’s because there are so many wonderful characters I’d love to meet. Last year, I read an absolutely fantastic novel called THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett, that deservedly garnered a lot of positive attention. The book is marketed to adults, but I would recommend it to teen readers, as well. It’s set in Mississippi during such an interesting and turbulent time in American history – the early 1960’s at the beginning of the civil rights movement – when, as Bob Dylan sang, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” I would love to meet the black maids Aibileen and Minnie, and the white woman, Skeeter, who interviews them and writes the story of the reality of their lives.

Wow! Thank you for these insightful answers, Jennifer; and thank you for being here today!

The book trailer for "Through Her Eyes" can be viewed on youtube here. Doesn't this book sound absolutely amazing?