Click here to ask S.E. Hinton!

[S.E., Author]

Katie wrote: "Is it true you were failing your English literature class at the same time as you were writing The Outsiders? Did your teachers support you in your writing?"

I did flunk Creative Writing my junior year, the year
I was writing The Outsiders. But I had some really
great English teachers through the years.

[S.E., Author]

Juli wrote: "S.E. wrote: "Juli wrote: "Dear Ms. Hinton,
I love assigning your book in my 8th grade Lit. class because it is the one book that unites all of us, readers and non-readers alike. It doesn't matter..."

There's not going to be a remake so I don't waste any
time thinking about it.

[Aaron]

Was your wise child comment a Salinger reference? Or was that just coincidence?

[S.E., Author]

Kira wrote: "i must firstly say a simple "thank you" for the wonderful books you've written for us to take in and enjoy… i loved the puppy sister too!
when my best friend and i were ten years old, we discovere..."

Honestly, once I finish a book it is over for me &
I would rather think about new characters instead of
mulling over old ones. My characters take a lot of concentration, the old ones move out to make room in my head.

[Nigel]

S.E. wrote: "Kira wrote: "i must firstly say a simple "thank you" for the wonderful books you've written for us to take in and enjoy… i loved the puppy sister too!
when my best friend and i were ten years old,..."

which makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

[Erin]

Hi! I'm a 15 year old girl and I read The Outsiders about 6 months ago. This question may have already been asked and if so I'm sorry. The whole time I was reading the book I assumed you were a man based on the initials and the fact the story was written about a group of boys. My question is why did you as a woman choose to write a story about a group of boys instead of a group of girls? Do you feel as if you relate more to boys than you do girls? And if so, why?

[Amanda]

ms. hinton my name is Amanda and i wanted to know is there going to be a 2nd rumblefish?

[Maddie]

I know this is kinda unrelated, but I was wondering what kind of music you like? Even though I'm only 15 I like 80s classic rock, and Elvis. Not a big fan of rap and that type of stuff.

[[deleted user]]

Have you read any of these of these books?
Divergent
Hunger games series
Twilight series
Fifty shades of grey
The fault in our stars?
A game of thrones series
If you watch tv, what is some of your favorite tv shows?

[S.E., Author]

Joshua wrote: "Have you read any of these of these books?
Divergent
Hunger games series
Twilight series
Fifty shades of grey
The fault in our stars?
A game of thrones series
If you watch tv, what is some of your ..."

Joshua wrote: "Have you read any of these of these books?
Divergent
Hunger games series
Twilight series
Fifty shades of grey
The fault in our stars?
A game of thrones series
If you watch tv, what is some of your ..."

Joshua wrote: "Have you read any of these of these books?
Divergent
Hunger games series
Twilight series
Fifty shades of grey
The fault in our stars?
A game of thrones series
If you watch tv, what is some of your ..."

Only thing on that list I've read is first 3 books
of Game of Thrones. I watch Supernatural, Elementary,
Psych, Justified, True Blood--I just don't watch "reality" or crime procedurals.

[S.E., Author]

Maddie wrote: "I know this is kinda unrelated, but I was wondering what kind of music you like? Even though I'm only 15 I like 80s classic rock, and Elvis. Not a big fan of rap and that type of stuff."

Sorry to say, I am not musical at all. When I have the
choice, my house & my car are silent.

[S.E., Author]

Amanda wrote: "ms. hinton my name is Amanda and i wanted to know is there going to be a 2nd rumblefish?"

No

[S.E., Author]

Aaron wrote: "Was your wise child comment a Salinger reference? Or was that just coincidence?"

Just a coincidence. My grandmother called me that

[Andrea]

Hi Ms. Hinton my name is Andrea and I'd like to ask you a question is it true that Sodapop died in Vietnam like Victoria said? Thank you for your time

[Rania]

Greetings Ms. Hinton,

First off, thank you for your work. Am curious out of which movie adaptions of your books is your favorite. Also, do you have any favorite up and coming novelists?

[Kate]

Hello Ms. Hinton!

What did you appreciate most about Coppola as a director when adapting your books into films?

[[deleted user]]

1.Where did you get the idea for the outsiders?
2. Is there a real life pony boy ?
3.what were you like as a teenager?
4.what made you want to be a writer?
5.what books and authors influence you?

[S.E., Author]

Ax wrote: "Hi! I regularly use your book 'The Outsiders' in my classes and it never fails to make a really big impression on students from very diverse backgrounds.
To what do you attribute this book's endur..."

Stay Gold has gone viral, as they say.

[S.E., Author]

Vikki wrote: "I loved seeing your guest role on supernatural. It's great seeing such a successful fan be on the show. Have they ever asked you to write an episode?"
No, but they have wonderful writers all ready.
I really like being "just good friends"

[Alina]

Hello! I have actually not read many of your books yet, but I am planning to read them this summer :) The Outsiders is a book that I absolutely love though! I thought that even though the situation was not very relatable to me, that the emotions of the characters were really relatable. We learned also in class that you wrote the Outsiders as a teenager.

When you were writing it, how did other people treat you? Like did your friends know about it and like it?
Were you really sure you were interesting in writing for a living as a teenager, or was it just something you enjoyed?

You are an amazing author, thank you so much.

Alina Pickett

[S.E., Author]

Angela wrote: "I just received this invite and I'm nearly in tears! S.E. Hinton and The Outsiders is the reason I started writing! She is the inspiration behind my love of books!!! I loved it so much I never ret..."

No, some of the events were based on real-life happenings, but the characters are fictional.

[The_ugly_spirit]

Hi. I have a question about the character's racial and ethnic backgrounds in The Outsiders. I used to teach the book at an all-Native tribal school, and a lot of my students were sure that the greasers had to be Native, too. Other students were sure that at least Johnny was Native. It's always quite a discussion with them over why they think that. Do you want to weigh in? Thank you!

[S.E., Author]

Brooke wrote: "Hi Ms. Hinton!
Firstly, I'd like to say that when I was 12 my dad gave me his copy of Rumble Fish and as soon as I read it, it felt like something came into my life that was missing. It was the re..."

The only question I can answer is "Did you like Tom
Waits?" Yes, very much!!

[S.E., Author]

Susan wrote: "I first read The Outsiders when I was 14, and it is still my favorite book at 44. I have probably read it 100 times over the years. I have read all of your other work also . . . multiple times, and..."

I was pretty horrified by the original cut of The Outsiders, as we had shot the whole book. I like
the Complete Novel dvd, especially the extras. The
boys commenting on the movie is hysterical.

[S.E., Author]

Jason wrote: "First of all, thank you so much for writing The Outsiders. It has inspired and influenced many of my students and many of them cite it as their favorite book of all time. You should be honored to h..."

My publishers worried about it. And now I am glad I
did it that way.

[S.E., Author]

Sukhi wrote: "How long does it take you to write an average book?

P.S. I read The Outsiders in 6th grade and it has been by far one of my favorite school books. Thank you for putting such wonderful material out..."

It depends on the book how long it takes. Tex took me
3 years, Rumble Fish 9 months. I don't think there is
such a thing as an "average" book.

[S.E., Author]

Melissa wrote: "Hello S.E. Hinton! My name is Mel and The Outsiders is my absolute favorite book, but I love all your other works, too! I actually was just reading some fanfiction of the Outsiders when my sister e..."

For me, The Outsiders was over when it was over.
If it is not in the book it's not cannon.

[S.E., Author]

Callie wrote: "

First of all, you don't even know how thrilled I am that you will be answering questions on here! My eighth grade teacher had your book, "The Outsiders" as our fir..."

It took about a year from signing the contract to the
book coming out. It wasn't a huge seller in the beginning, it's reputation grew by word of mouth,

[Emily~]

Good evening Ms. Hinton,
What was your favorite part of The Outsiders and what do you like about being a writer? Is there a memorable experience about your life as a author that you would like to share. I'm obsessed with The Outsiders and I think that you are a brilliant writer. Hope that you are doing well.
Love,
Em~

[Riley]

Dear Ms.hinton
I have read about what could possibly happen to sodapop
after the book and I would like to know what you think could
Happen between Darry and ponyboy. Thank you so writing and
sharing your amazing stories with us.

[S.E., Author]

Ann wrote: "As many others stated - the Outsiders is one of my favorite books of all time. After reading that I read all of your books. I was very surprised by your recent book Hawks Harbor. Even though it was..."

I don't plan to write a sequel to Hawkes Harbor,
but I am writing another that is very different.
Scary & funny.

[S.E., Author]

The_ugly_spirit wrote: "Hi. I have a question about the character's racial and ethnic backgrounds in The Outsiders. I used to teach the book at an all-Native tribal school, and a lot of my students were sure that the grea..."

So many different people identify with The Outsiders,
all over the world with many different nationalities,
so your experience does not surprise me. Johnny
Native American, why not? I love the different ways
kids can read my books.

[Caryn]

Hello! Was it hard to move from writing about normal teenagers facing difficult times to writing a book about vampires?

[Isabela]

Hello, from Brazil Susan!
I'm a 16 year old girl and last year I read The Outsiders, god, you really captivated me... Just the way you wrote from the point of view of a completely different social position, and you were only 17!
I aspire to be a writer, I just don't know what to write about yet.. I've always LOVED picking up a pen and writing for hours! But I've never written poems, plays or a deep little story I think... I just don't know what to do, I'm lost! I intend to study journalism in college and my dream is to write a book.
Do you have any advice for people like me, how do we benefit from this love for writing? How to start?
Lots of love, Susan! I'll soon be reading all of your other works! You're an inspiration :-)
Thank you,
Isabela.

[Kenna]

Dear Ms. Hinton,
Are there any other authors who inspire you? Or just people in general.
Thank you for your time,
Kenna

[Kelly]

Ms. Hinton, I have enjoyed your books as both a reader and a teacher. I was captivated with your all of your novels and characters as a young reader and never hesitate to tell my students that The Outsiders is my favorite book of all time. Many of them, although familiar with the story, don't realize that the author is young female and not a male. It helps, especially when teaching poetry, to explain that point of view isn't automatically the voice of the author. It is always a good example of how a movie may be entertaining, but the book is always better.
I just wanted to say thank you for myself and all of my students for giving us such a wonderful memorable story with universal themes that can be used as a teaching tool in so many different ways for many years after they have read it. I look foward to when my children are old enough and we can read it together.

[S.E., Author]

Thanks everyone for your excellent questions! If
I missed anyone, sorry! Several of you have the same
questions, so you might want to read through the posts.
Remember: Keep On Reading!
And Stay Gold!
S.E. Hinton

[Bones]

Yo Hint!

Just wanted to ask you a few questions about The Outsiders, Sorry I bet your tired of all the questions about The Outsiders but Im Curious to also about you and your friends back to the age of 15 or 16, since you were friends with greasers I would like to know the names of your friends and who they would most likely be in the story including you, I know you mentioned that alot of your thoughts were used for ponyboys thoughts but just to make sure who would u consider yourself? Who was the boy who got jumped that made you want to write out this story? And im curious to know that if any of your friends had a life like Dally's or Johnnys, did any of your friends not have parents like Darry, Soda, or pony? was there a similar life like Two-bit, steve, or Tim shepard? Were any of your friends close like ponyboys small gang in the book? did anyone ever wake up one morning to find a friend sleeping on the sofa, or eating breakfast with the family just like in the book?
I would also like to know, since you were a girl with your greaser friends if they ever watched out for you like the characters in the book did for ponyboy, were you the youngest of the group? and how many was in your gang?
I watched the Movie of the outsiders and was curious to know if you were satisfied with what they did or if u wanted them to show a bit more to let people better understand what kind of lives other people may have and to watch out for one another.
Okay last few questions, sorry i know its alot, But are you gonna write a few more books by any chance? Maybe one about a girl? and how life is a struggle for girls nowadays and like in the outsiders maybe have some friends that will watch out for eachother? I think that would be something interesting and something the world needs to know. Im a girl but i would also like to be excepted as one, I cant play baseball because im a girl going into my first year of highschool (im 15) , and in my team sports (which was practically all guys) class im not trusted or picked on a team because im a girl, they think i cant do things that the guys can and i think the world needs to know that we girls need to be more respected and that we work hard too (and we always have to watch out backs -_- ) anyway I was hoping maybe you could write something about that if that sounds good to you, but if you don't want to that's fine just curious to know.
Okay last question just for fun, What character is your husband most similar to? and why :)
Anyway thank you for reading my long boring questions, love your books (write more please!! :D) have a nice day
-Bones

[Maddie]

S.E. wrote: "Thanks everyone for your excellent questions! If
I missed anyone, sorry! Several of you have the same
questions, so you might want to read through the posts.
Remember: Keep On Reading!
And Stay Gol..."
Thanks SO Much for answering my questions! I absolutely love your books! Stay gold!!!!

[Asia]

Hi, I'm a huge fan! Outsiders has always been one of my favorite books. My question is: What was it like, trying to get published during a time when books were primarily written and made popular by men?

[Misty]

I enjoyed all your books. As a teenager when I needed to escape I would use books. Your books were one of my favorite escapes. I have kept a copy of your books through most of my life. Unfortunately in the military your books kept disappearing. That must say something about your books. One of these days hopefully soon I would like to rebuild a collection of your books. Thank you for the wonderful time of escape into another when it was needed as a teenager and in the military.

[Christal]

Thank you for doing this, Ms. Hinton! Such a pleasure to read your responses!



S.E. wrote: "Thanks everyone for your excellent questions! If
I missed anyone, sorry! Several of you have the same
questions, so you might want to read through the posts.
Remember: Keep On Reading!
And Stay Gol..."

[Kailey]

Ms. Hinton,

Hello, my name is Kailey Ahearn and I am 14 yearsold. I am a huge fan if your books. I have read Tex, That was Then and This is now, and The Outsiders. I really connected with The Outsiders. It really moved me and made me feel like I belonged. I have a couple questions about The Outsiders and Tex.

The Outsiders:
1) What happened to the rest of the gang? Is it true that Steve became a heroine addict?

2) Does Ponyboy ever get a girlfriend?

3) From my knowledge of you, it sounds like you have reflects parts if yourself onto the gang. Is this true and who did you "relate" to the most?

Tex

1) What was your inspiration for Tex?

2) Did Tex also take place in Tulsa?

3) Did Tex and Jamie ever really get together?

Thank you for taking your time to answer my questions. I am a huge fan and this is an honor for me.

[Christal]

Cynthia and S.E. Hinton,


Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! Reading the questions and responses was a delight and an experience I will treasure. Ms. Hinton, I use The Outsiders in the classroom as a mentor text for writing...reading your answers on the writing process was extra special to me. Cynthia, I have no idea what you did to put this group together, I just know I'm beyond grateful.


Thank you,

Christal Bloomer


P.S. Ms. Hinton, finding out you love Dr. Seuss made my day!

[Natalie]

"Rumble Fish" is one of my favorite books, but so are "That Was Then, This Is Now" and "The Outsiders". I'm sorry that I haven't read your more recent books, but I do own them if that's any consolation... I really do mean to read them!
I'm sure you've had this question a million times, and I'm sorry that I haven't kept up to know what your answer is (and maybe if I'd read your more recent books, I'd already know the answer), but why haven't you had strong female lead characters? There are bunch of great and strong side characters in your books, so I just wondered.
Thanks for writing!

[Isabella]

Dear Ms. Hinton, Thank you for becoming an author! In the short time since I've discovered you books, you've helped me enormously in ways that I can't quite explain, but have had a huge positive impact on my life just the same. I bet you hear that a lot, but I wanted you to know that.
I've read over a thousand books, but yours stood out. I thank you for that.

I was wondering though, are you the kind of author who thinks of the characters even after the story has ended? Are there any endings for characters that happen after stories that you feel are important? If I'm not being clear, I just want to know what happens to the characters in your books. Especially the Curtis family. Thank you.

[Kira]

"Honestly, once I finish a book it is over for me &
I would rather think about new characters instead of
mulling over old ones. My characters take a lot of concentration, the old ones move out to make room in my head."

THANK YOU! this makes a lot of sense to me - some of your characters are very intense, and i can imagine you kind of living them during your writing - so i can understand this…
thank you for taking the time to answer me! it means a lot… Kira

[Kulsoom]

Hello Ms. Hinton. I don't even know where to begin this comment.

Maybe I'll start with how amazing and inspiring you are. You're absolutely the best author I've grown up with. I'm certain that The Outsiders was the first book that actually made me sob while reading it. (My second favorite is Rumblefish.)

Since most questions I'm curious about have already been inquired, I'll end this post by thanking you for your time answering questions here, thanking you for your stories, and just saying how honored I am that you might read this!

[D]

Your stories are set in small communities, such as Tulsa. How do you make a setting that's so confining engaging? Do you write in Oklahoma?

[Jeaneane]

If Tulsa is a small community then I am surprised