What is your favorite writing and reading genre?
This one is easy! The answer to both is YA. I tend to go back and forth between reading YA contemporary and YA fantasy, which not so coincidentally happen to be the genres I write in as well.
Where and how did you get your idea for your books?
The Last Oracle series was inspired by Greek mythology, in particular the story of the girl Cassandra, cursed by the gods to see the future but have no one believe her prophecies. Beyond that starting point, I took the history of the ancient Aztecs as inspiration for Clio’s world. Fantasy is so dominated by worlds inspired by medieval England, and so I was interested in seeing what could happen with a non-European setting.
If a movie or TV show would be created for your books, which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead roles for you books?
Hmmm…. This is a hard one! I would have to say Bob Morley from The 100 is pretty much exactly who I pictured while writing Riece. As for Clio, I think Courtney Eaton has the perfect look.
When did you decide to become a writer?
I suppose the idea was always close to my heart when I was growing up. I come from a family of writers, so I’ve always been very inspired by people who write and writing in general, but I didn’t make a conscious decision to sit down and try it until the middle of college when I had the beginnings of an idea that would become Sacrificed.
How did you get your book published? How long did it take for you to get it published?
The Last Oracle series is self-published. The main reason I chose to pursue self-publishing for this project was I wanted total control of the timeline. It was amazing to finish a book, get it edited, design a cover and then put out into the world without any delays! I would say from the moment I decided to self-publish it took about two months to get Sacrificed ready.
Do you ever get writer’s Block? If so, which book did you get the worst while writing?
Some parts of writing are definitely harder than others for me, but I would say I rarely experience true writers’ block. The reason behind this is not that I never run out of ideas. I run out of ideas all the time! But even if I’m struggling with a scene, I always let myself write what I call the “bad version.” Sometimes it takes doing something wrong to figure out what’s right.
What is the average time for you to write a book?
Of course this depends on the length of the book, but usually I spend about two months outlining and then two months writing. My outlines tend to be a little excessively detailed, so by the time I’ve finished that, I pretty much know everything I need to know for writing, and it’s not too difficult to stick to a tight schedule of 2k words a day.
For your own reading, do you prefer kindle or paperback books?
I can’t lie, I love reading a physical book. I seek out physical books every chance I get. But if I bought every book I wanted to read I’d surely go broke, and sometimes I just can’t wait for a long library waiting list. For those reasons, the kindle has completely saved my life. It’s let me double the number of books I read in a year, and for that I am eternally grateful!
How are the covers made for you books?
I hire a cover artist for my books, and usually the artist and I go back and forth on versions until we land on what ultimately goes on the cover. I love the process of collaboration and seeing what these amazingly creative artists come up with. My last two covers have come from the lovely people at damonza.com.
What advice would you give writer wannabes and future/young authors?
Don’t give up. There are plenty of “no’s” in this industry, but that should never stop you. Also, sit down and finish that book. It’s easy to start a book, and another matter completely to finish one. Once you’ve done it just once, you’ll have learned so much.
What do you do during your free time, how do you relax?
Read! Tons of reading! Also play with my two German shepherds and re-watch episodes ofBuffy and Battlestar Galactica.
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