Interview with "Taking Chances" author Molly McAdams

Molly McAdams is the YA author of “Taking Chances”. Her next novel “From Ashes” will be released December 11, 2012! Read our interview with Molly below. We discuss her favorite love triangle, her dream cast for “Taking Chances”, why she wrote the “Dreaded Chase Scene” and who she thinks Harper belongs with! Be sure to follow Molly on twitter and ‘like’ her on Facebook.

How did you come up with the concept for “Taking Chances”?

 “It was actually a dream I had! I remember waking up that next morning and wishing I could go right back to sleep so I could continue it. I thought about that dream for three days (ridiculous…I know!) And finally decided to just type it up in an email and send it to myself so I could get it out of my mind. Well…another couple days after that I was wondering what would have happened had I not woken up, and what had gone on before my dream ever started. And that’s how Taking Chances came to be. Actually that’s how all of my books start!”

 Love at first sight tends to happen in a lot of movies, but not books. What made you want to have Brandon and Harper develop a relationship so quickly?

“Because that’s how my relationship with my husband was. The first day I saw him I told my roommate as we were leaving the beach, “I’m going to marry that guy.” She’d laughed and rolled her eyes at the time, but I knew, and we were engaged five months later and just celebrated out four year wedding anniversary 🙂   Not all of my books follow the typical love at first sight/begin relationship right away. But there’s always at the very least lust and intrigue and it’s simply because I’ve been there and I know exactly how it feels.”

 Are you a UFC fan?

“Haha, I’ll definitely watch it, but I’m more one of those girls that just goes “He’s hot! He should win!””

 Since there’s a love triangle (or square) in “Taking Chances” what’s your favorite love triangle (either from another book or TV show)?

“Definitely Damon, Stefan and Elena from Vampire Diaries!!!!”

 You mention TVD in the novel. Are you team Damon or Stefan? What do you think of this season?

“TEAM DAMON! Which, people find funny because of my answer directly after this! This season? I love it! I can’t wait to see with Elena as she continues to find out who she is AS a vamp and now that Jeremy has this whole vampire hunter thing going???? O.M.G.  Can we please have some super hot scenes with Dalena?!”

 Did you know from the start of “Taking Chances” who you wanted Harper to be with? Are you team Brandon or Chase?

“I did but I ended up changing it. Originally I wanted her with Chase, and I was so so in love with him. It wasn’t until a couple months into writing I realized I wanted her with Brandon. TEAM BRANDON! The first draft of the book Chase and Brandon were practically identical in EVERYTHING they did. Brandon didn’t have the sweetheart factor yet. It wasn’t until I did the last draft did Brandon have his own personality and that badass/sweetheart thing stole my heart. Which is why I am firmly Team Brandon haha.”

 Do you personally believe a guy and girl can be just friends?

“I’m not saying it’s impossible, but in my personal experiences and friends close to me I have spoken with…it always ends up that at least one person ends up falling for the other, if not both. So for me? I’d have to say they can’t…but like I said. It’s not impossible!”

 Do you have any tattoos? If so what’s your favorite one?

“I have five tattoos! Um…I’d probably have to say the first one I got. It’s the trinity symbol at the base of my neck. I’d always loved tattoos and had tons I wanted, but when I went to get my first one there was no hesitation which one it would be. So *shrugs* that one, but I love them all.”

 Are any of the characters in “Taking Chances” based off real people?

“No character is directly based off any one person. But there’s bits of people in each. I took some things from my best friend from college and put her in Bree. Carter was taken directly from my experiences with my husband and his two closest friends from when he was in the Marine Corps.”

 What was the hardest scene in “Taking Chances” to write and what was the easiest?

“Hardest was by far the “Dreaded Chase Scene”. It was like I couldn’t stop writing it and I just kept shaking my head back and forth whispering “no, no, no, no…” while tears fell down my face. As soon as it was done I sat there clinging to my dog ugly crying for two hours straight. My husband ran in freaking out because I couldn’t talk at first I just kept pointing to the computer screen. (If you’re wondering why I kept it…my entire book “clicked” for me as soon as that scene was out and I knew I couldn’t write it any other way.) The easiest scene to write…or scenes I should say, were anything with Carter. Because like I said, everything Carter did/happened to him was taken from my hubby and his best friend’s experiences and the way Harper felt toward him (just her best friend) was exactly how I’d viewed and interacted with those guys.”

 If you could pick any actors to play Harper, Bree, Brandon, Chase, etc who would you choose?

“ Harper: Emma Roberts, Bree: Dianna Agron, Brandon: Channing Tatum, Chase: Alex Pettyfer.”

Can you tell us about “Sealing Harper” and “From Ashes”? Do you have any plans to tell the Taking Chances story from Brandon’s POV?

“From Ashes is actually my favorite book I’ve written to date. It’s about Cassidy and Gage struggling to come together while her best friend Tyler (whom has always been in love with her) does everything to keep them apart, and once they finally do come together they are faced with some situations that force them to find beauty from the dark in life. Stealing Harper has definitely been an emotional one for me. Seeing everything from Chase’s side puts a whole new light on things that happened during Taking Chances. It’s funny, because even though I’m writing it, I’ll finish a scene and I’ll go to my husband completely broken-hearted saying “I DIDN’T KNOW THIS WAS WHAT HE WAS DOING/WHAT HE WAS THINKING!” My hubby thinks it’s funny, but really it’s like even I finally get to know what was going on with Chase all that time, and it’s funny/frustrating/will grip your heart. I won’t be doing Taking Chances from Brandon’s POV, I feel like we were already able to tell what he was thinking so much of the time because he said what he thought. Of course there were the times when Chase and Harper were together. But you’ll get to see a tiny bit of it in Stealing Harper and someday I may do excerpts for him and just post them on my blog.”

 Do you prefer writing from a male or females POV?

“Um…I really can’t say! Female POV is SO much easier since I know exactly how I would react in a situation or what I would say. But Male POVs are a lot of fun :)”

 What is the last book you read?

“I actually just finished Checkmate by R.L. Mathewson and I loved it! She’s in my top 5 favorite authors and her books crack me up…not to mention they are hot! Definitely recommend ANY of her series.”