We are in awe of e lockhart, author of the could-be-called-a-modern-classic The Boyfriend List and the brand-spanking-new Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything. Not only is she a freakin' good writer--her books are lovely and also make you laugh out loud in a way that attracts curious glances from strangers--but she's a good egg. Have you seen her blog? She's linked with tons of other YA writers, spreading the love around...she's savvy, sweet, and supercool. So that's why we chose her as the victim--we mean subject--of our VERY FIRST BURGER POP QUIZ. We feel like this special email chat should have a special name...so we'll call it between the buns with e lockhart. Here's how it went down:
Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?
Here are two I think my readers in particular might love: Anita Loos. Wrote Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes. She was a tiny powerhouse of a woman, fantastically witty -- and that book in particular is a masterpiece of comic voice.
Dodie Smith. Wrote I Capture the Castle, which is one of my favorite books. It is beautiful and eccentric and comical and just so very satisfying. She also wrote 101 Dalmations, by the way.
What kid or teen books rocked your world growing up?
Pippi Longstocking. I loved how fearless she was, and how independent. And ridiculous. Later, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. When I read that book, I felt this incredible joy jolt.
Describe your ideal place to write.
My office. Which is a closet, basically. Piles of books and coffee cups and a few furry animals. Total silence, if I can get it.
OK, e. Imagine your life is a TV series. Name the theme song, one event that would be on the "best of" episode, and one that would be on the blooper reel.
Theme Song: "Anything Goes," by Cole Porter. In case you don't know it, the lyrics go: In olden days, a glimpse of stocking/Was looked on as something shocking, But now God knows/Anything goes! Good authors too who once knew better words/Now only use four-letter words/Writing prose/Anything goes.
Best of Episode: E. goes on book tour with fellow teen titans (that is, writers) Simon Cheshire, Jen Bryant and Tanya Lee Stone. Tanya and E. get hyped up on chocolate cake at a swank luncheon and convince conservative booksellers that it is okay to write about sex for teenagers. 
The naysayers vanquished, all teen titans squish in a car for a long ride and E. irritates everyone by complaining about the sensation of tingling in her tushie, which they agree to term "monkey butt."
Bloopers: E. is caught, once again, at 2:30 in the afternoon, not having taken a shower and still wearing her pajamas. It is not a pretty sight.
Burger-flippers want to know: have you ever had a job that required you to wear a geeky uniform? Details, please!
No officially mandated uniform, no. But I did work in a Birkenstock shoe store and had to wear the Birks! Also I taught aerobics for a number of years in my 20s, and though no one forced me to wear those outfits, I certainly cringe when I recall them.
We'd like to name a burger in your honor. What kind of fixins should it have?
I am a vegetarian, Bookburger! Like Roo in The Boyfriend List. I object to industrialized farming and I can't support it. So I'm all about the well-spiced VEGGIE burger, topped with blue cheese, lettuce, dijon mustard and extra pickles.
So there you have it, burgerlings. A heart-to-heart with e lockhart via email. We'll be poppin quizzes on lots of your faves in upcoming weeks...so stay tuned. And by the way, e, while we love a beefy read, we mack on the veggie burgers too. We'll be proud to serve up the "e-burger" as our very first house speciality.
we at the burger have big love for E Lockhart, who was our very first burger interviewee, and writes with such hilarity and insight about people who are so much like some of our friends that it feels eerily like reading their diaries.
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