Totz2teens have been very lucky to interview Alice Kuipers about her book, Life on a Refrigerator Door.

Where did you get your inspiration for the book?
I came home one day and saw a note from my boyfriend on the floor.  I wondered if someone else had come into the house instead of me and read the note, what would that someone else have known about us.  As a writer, the idea compelled me.  I wanted to try and see how much I could say about two characters with few words.

Are the characters based on people you know?
No, I don't think so.  Claire's mother has similarities with my own mother, but she's different too; Claire feels like someone I used to know, but also she's completely her own character.  They're both very real to me - I miss being able to write about them.

How long did it take to write?
It took about a year to do the research, write, edit, edit again, research more, leave for a while, think, edit again, write some new parts, redo the end etc...

How do you feel about the up coming publication date?
I'm nervous, and excited.  This is my first novel and it's the first time other people have really been able to comment on my writing.  I've been writing for ten years now and I'll need to get a thicker skin to cope with any reviews.  It's strange, lots of people can say kind and positive things and then one person says something off the cuff that's not positive and it sticks in my mind.  It'll just take getting used to.  As for seeing the book in print, I'm so pleased.  I actually can't believe it.

Do you have any other books in the pipe line?
Yes.  I write compulsively and am always working on something new.  I heard that Dickens worked on more than one book at a time and that made me feel better because I do that and I thought it was a bit weird that I was always writing two or three things at once.  Right now, I'm working on a book about a baby that falls out the sky, on a short story about a hit and run accident, on a long poem about a girl who's lost and on a secret book.  The secret book is probably the one I'll finish.  I love it.

Do you think that you would handle any children you may have differently to the way the characters have?
I actually have two girls living with me right now.  They are the daughters of a women who I'm friends with and she's been having a lot of problems in her life.  Having children (they're nine and ten years old) is an extraordinary responsibility.  I love them, but it's hard work.  I think it's easy to believe you know how to look after children until you actually have them.  My girls have taught me a lot about myself as well as about parenting. 

In the novel, Claire and her mum have much more to deal with than most mothers and daughters.  I think it takes them time to come to terms with the changes in their life.  I think they handle it as well as they can be expected to - grief and loss do terrible things to a person.  The anger, the confusion, the moments together, all of these things make them love each other more.

Teenagers are renown for being a problem to communicate with, were you difficult yourself and when did you think you came out the other side?
I was extremely difficult as a teenager.  My mum and I fought terribly and then I went off the rails for a while.  My parents separated when I was fifteen/sixteen.  It took me a long time to grow up and forgive them.  Coming out the other side, well, I'm ashamed at some of the things I did.  I wish I hadn't said some things I said, but my mum and dad are good, loving people and they have always supported and forgiven me my mistakes.  My dad always says, 'Don't be too hard on yourself.'  I love him for that.

Thanks to Alice for answering our questions and thanks to totz2teens member Angel who asked the questions.