Interview With Ellie Cahill, Author of Call Me, Maybe

10 Feb 2016

Tell us a little bit about your new release, Call Me, Maybe.
Call Me, Maybe is the story of Clementine and Justin, two strangers who accidentally swap phones in an airport before going to opposite sides of the country. They’re stuck playing secretary for each other for a week, but it’s not such a pain once they get to know each other. Not really a pain at all. More like the highlight of their days. The only problem is, Clementine is lying about who she really is. Can she keep it up when they meet in person?

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

My favorite thing about the actual writing is when the characters seem to have a mind of their own and they take the scene in a direction I wasn’t expecting. But my favorite part about being a writer is meeting readers! I just can’t get over how cool it is that people I’ve never met not only read, but love my books and want to meet me in person! Authors have always been my rockstars, and to be on the other side of that is amazing to me. (Although I keep expecting a bouncer to come along and toss me out for not being cool enough.)

You write both Young Adult and New Adult novels, which genre is your favorite?

I actually love both for different reasons. Young Adult is so relatable and genuine to me. Everyone was a teenager once. Everyone did the high school thing in one form or another. And when you’re that age, everything is new. You’re getting to know who you are and where you fit in the world. It’s exhilarating and awful and painful and wonderful. And I think New Adult brings a bit of those feelings to a slightly older character. But on the other hand, when you’ve already made it through your teenage years, you know a little more about yourself and you start to trust your instincts more. Yet you’re on your own for the first time, most likely, and it turns out that you don’t actually know how to adult very well. So you might be more confident in who you are, but you still have very little idea what you’re doing. I think that brings an intensity to life at that age. Plus, it’s kind of fun to stick around a bit when the sexytimes start.

What fictional literary world would you most like to visit?

Hogwarts, but only after Voldemort is defeated and the castle is rebuilt. I am all about the magic, but not so much about the battling for your life. I would be an absolute menace with a wand. I would never want to do anything for myself. If there is a wizarding equivalent of As Seen on TV products, I would fall for every single one. “Are you tired of walking all the way across the room? Get your Painless Portkey for the low low price of only only 2 galleons!”

BAM. You’re a superhero. What’s your superpower?

Teleportation. Hands down. Best superpower ever. I’d have dinner in Paris and sleep in my own bed. I’d never be late for anything again! I’d save so much on gas and car insurance. I’d drop by Disney World just to ride Pirates of the Caribbean whenever I felt like it. In reality though, my superpower is remembering the lyrics to songs. Someday, I’m going to be old and senile and not remember where I live, but I’ll just wander around town muttering every word to REM’s “The End of the World (As We Know It).”

What’s something you’re truly terrible at doing?

Anything involving a ball. Anything. I can’t catch. I can’t throw. I can’t even get out of the way when one is flying toward my head. I have been hit in the head by probably every kind of sports ball known to man. I even got brained by one of those giant beach balls at a U2 concert. You can’t imagine how heavy those are when they come straight down on your head. I am SO bad at ball-related sports that when I was coerced into being on a kickball team in my 20s, the team actually opted to have a friend who was 9 months pregnant play instead of me.

What’s your favorite quote or scene from Call Me, Maybe?

One of Clementine and Justin’s phone calls. They’ve gotten to know each other by this time, and things have gotten pretty flirty. This particular conversation takes place just after Clementine got out of the shower and she’s wrapped in a towel for the call. Even though there is a continent between them, the tension is thick. I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

I guess you’d call it a philosophy. I believe that in any situation you have three choices: 1. Change it, 2. Quit it, 3. Change how you feel about it. If you can’t do #1 or #2, you better do #3, because the only person you’re going to make miserable is yourself if you’re dragging around disappointment and frustration. And if you can’t do #3, you better figure out how to change it or quit it. Life is too short to be upset if it’s in your control to change that. And if you can’t, then you gotta make like Queen Elsa and “Let it go! Let it gooooo!” (#sorrynotsorry)