Here is Amazon synopsis of best-selling novel "Pay It Forward" by Catherine Ryan Hyde:
When his teacher sets a challenge to his class to come up with a plan to change the world for the better, twelve-year-old Trevor McKinney’s idea is simple: Do a good deed for three people and ask each of them to “pay it forward” to three others who need help. At first, the plan goes awry, and Trevor’s project seems valuable only as a lesson on the dark side of human nature. But then something amazing starts to happen: a vast movement of kindness and goodwill spreading beyond Trevor’s small California town and across the world.
Soon a journalist with a story of his own tracks down the source of the epidemic, and makes Trevor a celebrity. Yet Trevor has problems closer to home: he wants his pretty, hardworking mother to see the softer side of his beloved teacher, Reuben St. Clair, a scarred Vietnam veteran who seems to come alive only when he’s in front of his class.
In the end, Pay It Forward is the story of seemingly ordinary people made extraordinary by the faith of a child—a story so powerful it has inspired people around the world to follow its example in their own lives. Anyone who has ever despaired of one person’s ability to effect change will rejoice in this novel’s triumphant message of hope.
Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of over forty published and upcoming books. Hyde is best known for her best-selling novel "Pay It Forward", which was adapted into a major motion picture in 2020. The novel was selected by the American Library Association as one of its Best Books for Young Adults, has been translated into over 23 languages, and distributed in more than 30 countries. In August 2014, Pay It Forward: Young Readers’ Edition was published by Simon & Schuster and is appropriate for readers as young as eight.
Hyde is a passionate hiker, traveler, equestrian, and both amateur photographer and astrophotography. Her photography work includes 365 Days of Gratitude: Photos from a Beautiful World, a published book showcasing her images.
So, here's the Novelpro Junkie interview with Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward:
1. In one word, how would you sum up your journey writing and releasing “Pay It Forward” to the world 25 years ago?
Is "rollercoaster" one word?
2. Were there other titles you came up with before “Pay It Forward”? If so, what were they?
I wanted to call it “The Pay It Forward Movement,” but since no one knew what Pay It Forward meant, it was deemed too much of a mouthful.
3. What was your writing schedule when you wrote the novel?
What it always is: Write when I can and not when I can’t. I’m not much of a schedule person. It’s more of a “feast and famine” experience
4. Did you experience any writer’s block while writing the novel? If so, how did you overcome it?
I did hit a place where I stopped for a couple of months, because the pressure of creating a story in which everyone was at least potentially connected to everyone else felt overwhelming. I went back to the story because Reuben St. Clair seemed to want his story told. Too bad he didn’t make it into the film.
5. Without giving out any spoilers, were there alternate endings you considered when writing Pay It Forward?
What happened at the end, I had initially pictured happening almost immediately as the boy tried to bring Pay It Forward into the world, with all the results coming later, after the fact. Then I decided that was not very fair to the fictional Trevor.
6. Congratulations on the 25th year anniversary of the novel “Pay It Forward”, could you talk about how you found out that your book will be adapted into a feature film?
It was far less a singular event than people imagine. I learned that it was acquired by a studio, but the majority of projects they acquire never make it to the screen. Then I found that a director had been attached, which is a big hurdle. When I learned that Kevin Spacey had been attached, I believed we might have a movie. But I learned about it because my agents read it in Variety, not because the producers told me.
7. Were you ever on set? If so, could you tell me your memorable moment?
I was. One day. This was after the production had left Las Vegas and was filming interiors on a sound stage in L.A. By then I think they were assured that I was smart enough to know I was not coming as a consultant. I could have been on set more than one day if I had wanted to, but frankly it’s a little like watching paint dry (though of course meeting Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment, and Jon Bon Jovi was worth writing home about).
My fun moment was telling Kevin Spacey, “Oh my God you’re a white guy,” which is only funny if you’ve read the book. In all honesty I told him this in retrospect, as in “This was going to be the first thing I said when I met you.” Helen Hunt laughed and said, “You could have said that to him.” But I think when you meet someone new and the first thing out of your mouth is a joke, people might not be sure how to take it. And besides, I was only half kidding.
8. Which one of your stories would you like to see made into a TV series or film?
Honest answer? None of them. If another movie comes along I won’t turn it down, but I write novels and I’m thrilled that I can make a good living doing so. I like books better than movies, and being adapted for film is a double-edged sword for an author, to phrase it mildly.
9. When writing “Pay It Forward”, did you like to map out the plot ahead of time or just let it flow?
Neither extreme. Something closer to the middle of the road. I like to know where I’m going but save some surprises in terms of how I get there. Otherwise opportunities come up as I go and it’s easy to miss them if I plan it out too tightly.
10. Silly-game question: From the novel “Pay It Forward”, could you please leaf through the pages and point at a random place. What is the full sentence? And what is the page number of this random sentence?
“He told her he’d return the ring in the morning, but he never quite got around to that.”
-Page 146.
11. The young reader edition of “Pay It Forward” is also celebrating its 10th anniversary (released in 2014). Could you talk about how and why you decided to release this edition?
Teachers were asking for it. At the time we had the Pay It Forward Foundation, and it offered ideas for teachers to introduce the idea in the classroom. We had to offer age-appropriate excerpts, because the book was adult (though the following year the A.L.A. included it on its Best Books for Young Adults list, which is 12-18). It took me ten or eleven years, but I finally convinced Simon & Schuster that there was a market for a young readers’ edition. They turned it over to an editor in their children’s imprint, and we worked together to edit it.
12. Which author (dead or alive) would you love to invite over and chat with?
Definitely Kurt Vonnegut. I just know it would be an interesting chat.
13. After 25 years of the book release, is there anything you would change from the novel?
No, but only because I don’t believe in going back like that. I think I’m a better writer than I was in the 90s, but I’ve written fifty more books since, and I’d rather let the past be a snapshot of where I was at the time. I try to apply what I’ve learned in a forward direction. No pun intended.
14. Last question, can you write a haiku about Pay It Forward in celebration of its 25th Anniversary?
Alas, the world chose
Something not of kindness, but
Anyway, we tried
When his teacher sets a challenge to his class to come up with a plan to change the world for the better, twelve-year-old Trevor McKinney’s idea is simple: Do a good deed for three people and ask each of them to “pay it forward” to three others who need help. At first, the plan goes awry, and Trevor’s project seems valuable only as a lesson on the dark side of human nature. But then something amazing starts to happen: a vast movement of kindness and goodwill spreading beyond Trevor’s small California town and across the world.
Soon a journalist with a story of his own tracks down the source of the epidemic, and makes Trevor a celebrity. Yet Trevor has problems closer to home: he wants his pretty, hardworking mother to see the softer side of his beloved teacher, Reuben St. Clair, a scarred Vietnam veteran who seems to come alive only when he’s in front of his class.
In the end, Pay It Forward is the story of seemingly ordinary people made extraordinary by the faith of a child—a story so powerful it has inspired people around the world to follow its example in their own lives. Anyone who has ever despaired of one person’s ability to effect change will rejoice in this novel’s triumphant message of hope.
Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of over forty published and upcoming books. Hyde is best known for her best-selling novel "Pay It Forward", which was adapted into a major motion picture in 2020. The novel was selected by the American Library Association as one of its Best Books for Young Adults, has been translated into over 23 languages, and distributed in more than 30 countries. In August 2014, Pay It Forward: Young Readers’ Edition was published by Simon & Schuster and is appropriate for readers as young as eight.
Hyde is a passionate hiker, traveler, equestrian, and both amateur photographer and astrophotography. Her photography work includes 365 Days of Gratitude: Photos from a Beautiful World, a published book showcasing her images.
So, here's the Novelpro Junkie interview with Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward:
1. In one word, how would you sum up your journey writing and releasing “Pay It Forward” to the world 25 years ago?
Is "rollercoaster" one word?
2. Were there other titles you came up with before “Pay It Forward”? If so, what were they?
I wanted to call it “The Pay It Forward Movement,” but since no one knew what Pay It Forward meant, it was deemed too much of a mouthful.
3. What was your writing schedule when you wrote the novel?
What it always is: Write when I can and not when I can’t. I’m not much of a schedule person. It’s more of a “feast and famine” experience
4. Did you experience any writer’s block while writing the novel? If so, how did you overcome it?
I did hit a place where I stopped for a couple of months, because the pressure of creating a story in which everyone was at least potentially connected to everyone else felt overwhelming. I went back to the story because Reuben St. Clair seemed to want his story told. Too bad he didn’t make it into the film.
5. Without giving out any spoilers, were there alternate endings you considered when writing Pay It Forward?
What happened at the end, I had initially pictured happening almost immediately as the boy tried to bring Pay It Forward into the world, with all the results coming later, after the fact. Then I decided that was not very fair to the fictional Trevor.
6. Congratulations on the 25th year anniversary of the novel “Pay It Forward”, could you talk about how you found out that your book will be adapted into a feature film?
It was far less a singular event than people imagine. I learned that it was acquired by a studio, but the majority of projects they acquire never make it to the screen. Then I found that a director had been attached, which is a big hurdle. When I learned that Kevin Spacey had been attached, I believed we might have a movie. But I learned about it because my agents read it in Variety, not because the producers told me.
7. Were you ever on set? If so, could you tell me your memorable moment?
I was. One day. This was after the production had left Las Vegas and was filming interiors on a sound stage in L.A. By then I think they were assured that I was smart enough to know I was not coming as a consultant. I could have been on set more than one day if I had wanted to, but frankly it’s a little like watching paint dry (though of course meeting Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment, and Jon Bon Jovi was worth writing home about).
My fun moment was telling Kevin Spacey, “Oh my God you’re a white guy,” which is only funny if you’ve read the book. In all honesty I told him this in retrospect, as in “This was going to be the first thing I said when I met you.” Helen Hunt laughed and said, “You could have said that to him.” But I think when you meet someone new and the first thing out of your mouth is a joke, people might not be sure how to take it. And besides, I was only half kidding.
8. Which one of your stories would you like to see made into a TV series or film?
Honest answer? None of them. If another movie comes along I won’t turn it down, but I write novels and I’m thrilled that I can make a good living doing so. I like books better than movies, and being adapted for film is a double-edged sword for an author, to phrase it mildly.
9. When writing “Pay It Forward”, did you like to map out the plot ahead of time or just let it flow?
Neither extreme. Something closer to the middle of the road. I like to know where I’m going but save some surprises in terms of how I get there. Otherwise opportunities come up as I go and it’s easy to miss them if I plan it out too tightly.
10. Silly-game question: From the novel “Pay It Forward”, could you please leaf through the pages and point at a random place. What is the full sentence? And what is the page number of this random sentence?
“He told her he’d return the ring in the morning, but he never quite got around to that.”
-Page 146.
11. The young reader edition of “Pay It Forward” is also celebrating its 10th anniversary (released in 2014). Could you talk about how and why you decided to release this edition?
Teachers were asking for it. At the time we had the Pay It Forward Foundation, and it offered ideas for teachers to introduce the idea in the classroom. We had to offer age-appropriate excerpts, because the book was adult (though the following year the A.L.A. included it on its Best Books for Young Adults list, which is 12-18). It took me ten or eleven years, but I finally convinced Simon & Schuster that there was a market for a young readers’ edition. They turned it over to an editor in their children’s imprint, and we worked together to edit it.
12. Which author (dead or alive) would you love to invite over and chat with?
Definitely Kurt Vonnegut. I just know it would be an interesting chat.
13. After 25 years of the book release, is there anything you would change from the novel?
No, but only because I don’t believe in going back like that. I think I’m a better writer than I was in the 90s, but I’ve written fifty more books since, and I’d rather let the past be a snapshot of where I was at the time. I try to apply what I’ve learned in a forward direction. No pun intended.
14. Last question, can you write a haiku about Pay It Forward in celebration of its 25th Anniversary?
Alas, the world chose
Something not of kindness, but
Anyway, we tried
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