Interview with YABC
I just wrapped an interview with Young Adult Books Central; the go-to portal for all the best YA fiction out there!
YABC: Did you always want to be a writer? TRF: Oh, yes!
Do you have any advice for young writers?
It’s going to be a lot of work. Writing a story is not even half of it. Not to
mention, just as people will love you, people will also hate you. Take
everything with a grain of salt and never give up. You wrote a story, and if
it’s good, that’s a huge accomplishment in itself.
If you weren’t a writer, what would you
be? A Cruise Director. J
Are you working on anything now? Of
course! Always! I currently just wrapped up book two in the Ghost Story Series,
so it’s on to the third! Also, I’m working on another contemporary fiction
novel. I don’t understand the concept of writers who pen a novel and then take
a month-long vacation to the tropics. There is always work to be done!
What is your working environment like?
Very business-like, actually. My husband works for the Railroad, so I get up
every morning on “RaR Time” (a.k.a. 5 a.m.) I work until he gets home, around 5
p.m. or 6 p.m. I have a really great office in my home, but I work all over the
house, yard, whatever.
What is your working style? I treat
my day like any job—I work my butt off all day, but when it’s quitting time, it
is REALLY quitting time. I close the laptop, and it’s family time. If you want
full-time writing to really work out…you have to treat it like you would any
other “normal” career—and that includes closing the door and taking personal
time, too.
Do you believe in outlining? Somewhat.
I believe it works better for some books more so than others. For my series
books, I tend to do an informal outline, but for most things I write, I just
write with no gameplan. It makes editing a pain in the end sometimes, though!
What is your goal as a writer? My books have the same message, no matter
what their genre: hope. My protagonists fall to the very bottom of the barrel,
can be really flawed and unlikeable while they are making mistakes…but in the
end, they are totally relatable—and when you’re at the bottom, there is never
anywhere else to go but UP.
What person or person(s) has/have helped you the most in your career? One:
my husband. I never would have even published if not for him. Second: my
family. They always knew I had something there, in my writing. They always
pushed me to keep at it. Third: My high school Lit teacher. She taught me to
think outside of the box, to read books that made me really think…and to ease
up on adverbs and commas, haha! J
What’s the best piece of advice you ever had on writing? Get ready to hear
a lot of “no’s”, but always remember that one more “no” is one step closer to a
“yes”—and it shows that you worked for what you got.
What was your big break? I made
my big break. I went against the grain, decided not to sign on with a major
publisher because I wanted to do things my
way, wanted to keep my royalties, and wanted to keep my integrity in all
aspects of this business. So I worked really hard and now I have two
bestsellers in the 8 months I’ve been a published author.
How much of your writing is based on your own experience as a child or
teenager? Most of it, definitely. You have to write what you know.
Do you prefer to write longhand, on a typewriter, or on a computer? Mostly
I write on my computer, but when I longhand, I go insane. I fill up fifteen
notebooks in like a day. I love typewriters…it adds a romance to the whole
process. I just can’t go as fast as I want to on a typewriter.
What authors have influenced you the most? Beverly Cleary, Elizabeth George
Speare, Kate Chopin, J.K. Rowling, James Rollins, Judy Blume, George RR
Romero…Do I have to stop?!!
What are you reading right now? We
Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
What’s on your current reading list? J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, Game of
Thrones series, and pretty much any new, preferably self-published authors.
What was your favorite book as a child? The
Witch of Blackbird Pond by
Elizabeth George Speare
What is your favorite book now? Currently, I really can’t get over how much
I love the Hunger Games series. I
know, I know, it’s totally mainstream, but it’s so GOOD!
What is the one book no writer should be without? The Harry Potter series.
What writing magazines or other resources do you find most helpful? I
really enjoy websites and forums where self-published, successful authors go to
share stories, to share tips, and to just share in our joy that we made this
author career work out for us without the dictatorship of a corp pub company.
What are some of your hobbies? Um…I write books?! Haha, no, I am a fan of
doing any and everything I can get my hands in! I am obviously a RR enthusiast,
and I am always traveling. I love going to new restaurants, I’m a big foodie. Also,
my husband and I are addicted to renting shows on Netflix that have been out
for like 7 seasons and starting them from the beginning; it’s the best kind of
marathon.
How does your spouse/significant other feel about your writing career? I
could not ask for a more supportive husband. He pushed me to publish, pushed me
to chase my dreams, and pushes me daily to continue on. He is the inspiration
for every love story I ever write.
What’s your favorite movie? The Princess Bride
If your book, Ghost Story was turned
into a movie, who would you like to play the main characters? Oh wow, I’ll
leave that up to the readers to decide. I don’t want to sway their
imaginations! Socrates sure would be fun to cast though, wouldn’t he?!
What’s your favorite (or least favorite) book turned movie? Favorite: Hunger Games or Harry Potter; Least Favorite: Fifty
Shades of Grey. Maybe it’ll be better as a movie than it was a book,
though, so I might go back on that one day.
What is your favorite word? Bubble. It’s just fun to say.
Where do you think the industry is headed in the next 5 years? 10? E-books,
E-Readers. The end.
What’re your favorite things about the YA industry as opposed to publishing for
adults? You are so impressionable when you are younger, with a limitless
brain, a limitless imagination! You are going through so many thresholds of
life, crossing so many bridges…this is the time when you should be reading,
when you should be falling in love with books! The YA industry reaches not only
kids and teenagers, but college students all the way up to grandmothers. You
can read a YA book when you are 15 and then pick it up again when you are 40
and digest the story in a completely different way. I knew—I always knew that I wanted to write YA
fiction.
Do you think eBooks will ever completely replace traditional publishing? Yes.
Without a doubt.
What’s the biggest mistake that new authors make? Writing your book and
thinking you’re done. You are never
done if you want to be successful in this cutthroat industry.
