Chris and I continue our interrogation of each other as we eat our Friday breakfast. (Leftover quiche for me and cereal for him.)

Chris: Do you ever think about what your characters read?

Me: Yes. As part of my process, I spend a lot of time getting to know my characters. I try to understand big things, such as their fears, goals, motivations, and background, as well as seemingly small things such as what they read, what would order from a vending machine, and what songs are on their MP3 player. Not everything makes it into the book, of course, but it all adds up – both big and little – to give me a deeper sense of the characters. Knowing that helps determine their actions and reactions, so it helps with plot, too.

My middle-grade book coming out next year is about eleven-year-old triplet girls who are big history buffs. Because of this, I see them as reading lots of nonfiction, steeping themselves in presidential trivia and tackling thick biographies of historical figures – even books beyond their level.  In fact, they narrate their own story in the sort of reflective, self-aware tone-of-voice that famous people tend to use when setting down their memoirs.

In my YA novel Sass & Serendipity, Daphne immerses herself in epic love stories, and even names Jane Eyre as her favorite all-time book. She wants so badly to be swept up in her own romance that when she meets a boy, she immediately tries to cast him as a potential Rochester or Mr. Darcy. Meanwhile, her sister Gabby, practical-to-a-fault, is only seen reading math textbooks.

I have to say that even though Maggie in How Not to Be Popular reads books, it was her musical tastes that helped me get inside her head. I saw her as a power pop girl, so I listened to a lot of it before sitting down to work on the draft. Not only did it help me understand Maggie, it allowed me to capture the right feel for the book – quirky, slightly melancholy, with a punchy rhythm.

They say you are what you eat, but I think we are what we read – or listen to. You can tell a lot about someone based on the stories and songs they love.