Kody Keplinger
Books:
- The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend)
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.
But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.
I saw you mention that you first heard the word Duff your Senior year and decided to start writing this novel. Was that your inspiration, or is there more to the story?
Oh, there’s way more to that story.
I watched a lot of Gossip Girl my senior year, and I was madly in love with the Chuck/Blair relationship. I loved the tension, and I really wanted to write a story with a romance that tense and sexy. I just didn’t have the story.
A while later, I heard the word “Duff” and jokingly said I’d write a book called “THE DUFF.” Again, though, I had no plot.
Both separate ideas brewed in my head – the title “The Duff” becoming more serious as I began discussing it with my friends and realizing that they, like me, felt like the “Duff” sometimes.
Then, one night, I heard the song “I Can’t Stay Away” by The Veronicas, and somehow it just clicked – my sexy romance and my self esteem book could be the same thing. That night, I started writing about Bianca and Wesley, and I haven’t looked back since.
I loved the relationship between Jess, Casey & Bianca. Did you base that friendship on one of your own?
I did not. In fact, that friendship wasn’t even meant to be the way it turned out at the end. I originally intended Casey and Jess to be ditzy clichés, but they shocked me and their characters became so much more. I had great friends and horrible friends in high school, but I never had a Casey or a Jessica – Bianca is lucky to have them.
What were you like in high school and did it have any influence of the characters in The Duff.
I was pretty much the same as how I am now since it was only a year or so ago that I was in high school. I was talkative, really insecure, and unsure of who my real friends were. I was much, much more upbeat than Bianca, but I could get like her on my bad days. Over all, I think what influenced Bianca most was the insecurity I felt. She was my dark side. But did we have much in common? Not really, aside from questioning where we “belong” among our friends.
What's something people would be surprised to discover about you.
I used to hate, hate, hate reading as a kid. I loved to write, but I hated to read. It wasn’t until Harry Potter came along that I discovered just how fun reading could be. JK Rowling and Judy Blume are the reason I write today.
If you could travel back in time for one year, where would you go, and what three things would you take with you?
I would go live in the early 1800s and hang out with Jane Austen for a while. Only, I’d take my laptop (with an extra stock of batteries since there was no electricity), some of my favorite books from the last few years, and my hot pink converse tennis shoes – because a year without them would be torture.
Thank you so much Kody for stopping by!!