Bobbie asked Margaret Lesh:

Hi Marg- I'm reading your book My Friends are All Strange right now and thoroughly enjoying it. It's both funny and touching. My question is, where did you get your ideas for creating these lovable if slightly quirky characters? I'll write a review of it, when I finish it.

Margaret Lesh Hi, Bobbie! Good question! Hmm, well, the main character Becca, her boyfriend Roman, sister Stacy, and fellow Brookside residents Bobby and Kat first show up in my YA novel Normalish which follows Stacy's freshman year. In Normalish, Stacy is dealing with the loss of her father, typical high school issues, as well as her sister Becca's increasingly strange behavior.

After I wrote Normalish, a few readers mentioned wanting to know more about Stacy's sister Becca, so My Friends Are All Strange was my opportunity to focus on Becca and her world inside of the residential mental health treatment facility. There I was able to delve into Bobby's and Kat's characters a little bit more deeply--especially in the case of Kat, who is only mentioned in passing a couple of times in Normalish.

I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. :)

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