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Anna Todd On 'After' & Adapting Books Into Movies

(CBS Local)--Everyone can relate to Anna Todd's writing.

The author's books hit on everything such as love, mental health, fitting in with a new group of friends and heartbreak. All of these themes are featured in the new movie "After," which tells the story of a girl named Tessa Young who goes off to college and has her whole life changed by a boy named Hayden. After working on this movie for a long time, Todd popped into a theater to experience the film with her fans the other night.

"Even when we were walking in, people were waiting for another screening," said Todd in an interview with CBS Local. "We got in the theater and people were sobbing. It was really cool to be there with them. The energy in the room already was so exciting before they realized anything was happening."

The Sit Down: Anna Todd by CBS Local News on YouTube

Todd never planned to be an author, but fell in love with reading at an early age. The classics were always her favorites.

"I've always been a reader, but I didn't come from a place where we could buy books and stuff," said Todd. "Pretty much all the books that you were forced to read in high school were my favorite books because I got to take them home. I never thought about writing. It was just something I just started randomly."

This was the first time that one of Todd's books was adapted into a movie. The author got a crash course in how to produce a movie and how adapt a novel to the big screen.

"I learned so much and it was so fascinating to me," said Todd. "I sound like a narcissist now, but I'm a really good producer. I learned really fast and I loved it. I cannot wait to make more films, even if they are not for my own books. I learned a lot about adapting and most of the changes that we had to make were all timing. In a book, there are five different storylines going on at the same time. You can't do that in a movie because otherwise it is confusing."

"After" is out in theaters now.

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