Colleen’s Comments (group member since Apr 21, 2014)

Colleen’s comments from the Colleen Houck Book Club group.

Alison wrote: "Re-reading the Tigers Curse series. :) I was just wondering if Kelsey's likes/dislikes of the various Indian dishes she tastes throughout the books reflect your own likes/dislikes of those foods?"

Yes. I gave her my dislike of curry. This is mostly because I'm not a fan of strong spices. I don't like Mexican food either and even bell peppers are not my favorite. Kelsey is more like me than any other character I've written.

Louise wrote: "In regards to lily and Amon are when the character discussions occur the language seems to evolve with Amon. Did you get inspiration from Arabic or Hebrew. Also will (spoiler) Anubis be making any..."

Yes Anubis and many of the other gods will make an appearance in Recreated. The language comes from some pages photocopied from and Egyptian glossary used in a college course. It functions as a sort of Egyptian/English dictionary. It's not very easy to decipher which is why I use very little of the language.

Trudy wrote: "When is Tiger's Dream going to be out? Can you say what it is about?"

I can't really say what it's about except to tell you that you don't really know the story of Tiger's Curse without it. I will go back to writing this book when I'm done with the Egypt series.

Nathália wrote: "Colleen wrote: "Nathália wrote: "Hi Colleen! How are you now? I've talked to you so many times, and dispite I fell sky about my questions I always apreciate it, because you teach me a lot. Well, ab..."

I'm excited to go to Rio and other cities in Brazil. I'm not a huge beach person but I'm going to visit one anyway.

Sharon711 wrote: "just finishing reawakened....enjoyed the book! books about India and Tigers and then Egypt and a Mummy(o.k. three)how do you decide what to write about?"

In the case of the mummies my editor decided. I pitched them 6 different ideas and that's the one they chose. I was actually hoping to head into sci-fi next =)

Brianna wrote: "A whole year to wait fir the next one? [whimpers] At least it's not the long wait we had with Tiger's Voyage. ;-) I still have the first two books in their unedited glory. I think you are an aweso..."

Ah that. Most of the time for me when I'm done with the first draft, I read through it again and clean it up/add a few small things. When edits come in, I modify based on what my editor wants. Every once in a while I go back and reread scenes from the tiger books and cringe thinking how I could have written it better but that's usually just copyedit stuff like using the word wonderful twice in the same paragraph. I don't really consider adding more scenes. That's just my process though. You need to find your own groove but at some point you have to let a book go and hope you guided it enough that it can find its own way in the world. ;)

Jenni wrote: "Colleen has penned another amazing story! Warning just like the Tiger series ITS ADDICTING! I found myself having to slow down and savor because I wanted to know what was next. Also you can't help ..."

Thanks Jenni =)

Saiokuo wrote: "I don't believe this question has been asked but if it has I apologize. In Reawakened what language are you using for Amon? I've tried to figure it out by testing several and I can't seem to place it."

I've pieced together a few phrases from some notes on transcriptions of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Alex wrote: "So the Metropolitan museum have been there? I love the t there and the description is very well written. Also are there more museums that will be talked about?"

I have not been to the MET and I really, really hope I get to go someday! So far that is the only museum I reference in the series.

Okay thanks so much for joining me tonight! Your questions were all awesome! The winner for the Reawakened prize pack is Joann! Congrats and if you missed asking a question, I'll leave this one open all month and will be checking back on occasion to answer. Have a great night!

Joann wrote: "Will you do quotes with reawakened once the tiger curse series quotes are done?"

Yes but that might be a long while in coming. I'm currently still on Tiger's Quest! =)

Beth wrote: "Okay! I think I got them all! I'm going to have to run now...have a screaming kid who demands some attention! :) If I missed a question, just let me know! Thank you Colleen for having me tonight, a..."

Thanks so much for being a part of this! You were amazing as I knew you would be =) Now all of you shoo and go read Beth's books.

Beth wrote: "Matthew wrote: "how about plot twists? do you guys have trouble making them? how do you guys come up with such good ones?"

I LOVE plot twists! They're my favorite part of writing...if I could, I'd..."

I love them and feel super smart when I come up with one. Not as often as I wish it would happen but still...

Beth wrote: "OBVIOUSLY David Tennant. ALWAYS David Tennant! "

That's as it should be.

Colleen wrote: "Tina wrote: "Is there any chance of you two working together in the future?"

That would be a lot of fun! She's on my list of writers I want to work with someday."

Of course I'd make her do all the hard work. ;)

Tina wrote: "Is there any chance of you two working together in the future?"

That would be a lot of fun! She's on my list of writers I want to work with someday.

Matthew wrote: "you guys are so close with eachother.
what brought you two together as friends? was it your fans? your writing? or were you friends even before you got into writing?"

We met online and I became aware of Beth since we had debut books out the same day. We were debut twins!

Jennifer wrote: "As an author you must be perceptive when reading other people works, so are you good at guessing something? Like who is the murderer or who will get the girl in a love triangle? Or maybe who will die?"

Most of the time I can figure things out but every once in a while an author does something really shocking!

Jennifer wrote: "Hello everyone,

Just a short appearance since I haven't read the book yet even if I found the synopsis intriguing and the Egyptian world is fascinating.

When you read, do you often stop, thinking..."

I always analyze as I read and watch tv. It's sad sometimes that I can't always enjoy things just to enjoy them but that's part of what being a writer is. I guess the same would be true of any job. A guy who makes hamburgers would probably be picky about ordering one. It's just the way it goes.

Alex wrote: "Hello I have two more questions how did the order of the Sphinx come to mind and are we going to read about it more in future books? Also are we going to hear more about the brothers and Lily? Than..."

Yes you will learn more about the brothers and Lily for sure though I think I'll be taking you in a direction you might not be expecting. I always foreshadow as best I can. This is where it helps to have an idea of where you're going in a story.