>» Interview with authors M.F. Lorson,
Daphne James Huff, and Kayla Tirrell

Cheryl Minns
Senior Columnist

 

Above, left to right:
Stage Kiss (Book 1 cover)
Leah's Song (Book 2 Cover)

efore smartphones and Netflix, there

were instant messenger chats and
Blockbuster video rental stores in the early
2000s. Such is the setting of Mountain Creek
Drive, ayoung adult series by M.F. Lorson,
Daphne James Huff, and Kayla Tirrell.

The series follows a group of teenagers
who live in the fictional town of Marlowe
Junction, Colorado, from 2002 to 2004.
Most of the characters live in the same
neighbourhood, Mountain Creek Drive,
hence the series’ name.

“We were all teens in the early 2000s, so
research was basically going through our old
photo albums—actual printed photos—and
listening to a lot of Backstreet Boys,’ Huff
said to the Other Press.

The first book in the series, Stage Kiss
by M.F. Lorson, follows Erin Armstrong,

a high school junior who seems to have it
all. She has great friends—Jenn Cooper,
Colleen Coronado, Libby Lewis—and a
popular football player boyfriend, Nick
Byrd. But then Nick dumps Erin for Libby,
leaving Erin dateless for the upcoming
Homecoming dance at Rosemark High.

Determined to rise above the breakup and
become Homecoming Queen just like her
grandmother, mother, and older sister, she
sets out to put a fresh spin on her story with
the aid of the charming drama assistant,
Peter Hunt.

“T loved writing Erin,’ Lorson said to the
Other Press. “It was a fun challenge to write
from the perspective of a girl who has it all
but doesn’t quite know what to do with it.”

She also enjoyed writing Peter, who she
said turned out to be the easiest character to
write.

“T had a zillion crushes on theatre boys
in high school. I just mushed them all into
one dreamy boy in Converse [sneakers]. I
loved everything about him,” she said.

One of Erin’s friends particularly stood
out as a character Lorson would like to spend
more time writing about.

“Colleen in Stage Kiss was known for
telling it like it is and having a very extensive
dating history. | wonder who it would take to
make her fall in love,” she said.

The second book, Leah’s Song by
Daphne James Huff, focuses on high school

Below, left to right:
Chasing Love (Book 3 cover)
Carnival Wishes (Book 4 Cover)

   

a

KAYLA (FRONT,
AND HER HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY TEAM

junior Leah Cooper, the younger sister

of Jenn Cooper. She and her friend, Lilly
Jansen, meet Josh Baker, the attractive new
guy in town. Both girls develop a crush on
him, but they make a promise that neither
one will date him in order to preserve their
friendship. However, when Leah ends up in
choir with Josh, suddenly they're spending
a lot of time together and Lilly isn’t happy
about it.

Huff said she found some members of
the Cooper family were easier to write than
others, namely younger brother Luke.

“T love Luke. I know he’s the bad little
brother, but he loves his sisters—Leah a little
more than Jenn—and has a good heart,” she
said. “Luke might need his own story at some
point, once his sisters are both away at school
and he can finally be his own person.”

However, Jenn had been more
challenging to write since she had also
appeared in Lorson’s book. “I had to stay true
to that version of her, while giving her my
own twist,’ Huff said.

The author also created new Rosemark
High students, including Leah’s choir friend,

 

 

LEFT OF CENTRE)

Amanda Gregory.

“Thad so many great friends in high
school, I just based Amanda on all my BFFs,”
she said.

Book three of the series, Chasing Love,
is written by Kayla Tirrell and follows high
school senior Nicole Andrews, who wants
to make a name for herself at school like her
best friend Amy Ferrera does in Stage Kiss.
However, Nicole gets more attention than
she expected when she joins her school’s
cross-country team and ends up in a love
triangle with popular jock Neal Coleman and
the team’s assistant coach, college freshman
Chase Saunders. Chase also happens to be
Nicole’s new co-worker at Blockbuster.

“T put a lot of myself in Nicole,” Tirrell
said to the Other Press. “My first job was at
the local Blockbuster, so it was perfect to
make that Nicole's job too. It brought back a
lot of memories.”

While Nicole was an easy character
for Tirrell to write, Chase was a bit more
difficult.

“Love interests are always hard for me
because I want to make them swoon-worthy