When I visit schools, students often ask, “How did you come up with the name ‘Ida May?’" A long time ago (we’re talking 1997!) I wrote a little story about a girl named Ida May. In that story, Ida did not like her name because she thought it was too short and too plain. She didn’t even have a middle name to make it longer or more interesting! Even though My Last Best Friend is a lot different from that first Ida May story, her name has stayed the same.

Jenna’s name, however, did change. Originally her name had been Kaitlyn. But “Kaitlyn" and “Stacey" both have a long “a" sound. My editor thought readers might get the two characters confused. So I chose a new name for Kaitlyn. My daughter and I searched her school year books for names until we finally chose “Jenna."

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