Interview with author Morgan Matson

I was able to have a quick interview with YA author Morgan Matson. Her debut book Amy & Roger's Epic Detour was published this month, and I have to say it was one of my favorite books.

Summary: Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew—just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road—diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards—this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

What do you hope readers will get out of your debut novel?

I hope that they feel like maybe they got to see a little bit of America they might not otherwise have encountered! But mostly, I hope that they take away the idea that it’s easier to travel the road with someone else. That it might seem easier to keep things to yourself, but ultimately, it’s always better to let someone help you.

What was the hardest part while writing your book?

I really found it challenging to capture the feeling of each place. I’d look back at my notes and pictures of the places I’d been, and wonder how I was going to transfer the feeling I had in a place into words. That was the biggest challenge of the book by far.

What's the best place you've ever visited on one of your own road trips?

Such a hard question! I don’t know if I can narrow it down to one place, but Memphis would definitely make the list. I just fell in love it – Beale Street, Graceland, barbeque, folk art, the Civil Rights Museum, tons of live music. I thought I’d heard the blues before I went to Memphis. But it turned out that I was mistaken.

Top 5 favorite bands at the moment?

Jack’s Mannequin

Tallest Man on Earth

Owl City

The New Pornographers

Jackson Browne

Are you planning on writing another book; if so can you tell us a little about it?

I’m actually finishing the first draft of another book now. It all takes place (for the most part) in one place – which I think I needed that after Amy & Roger. I wanted people who would stay put for a while! It’s about a girl who works at her family’s movie theater in a small town, and the weekend when everything in her life changes.

Thanks so much for answering my questions Morgan! Readers, you MUST check out her book Amy & Roger's Epic Detour and prepare to be blown away... :)