365 Interviews

Interview 53: chooseitwisely

1. Can you tell me something about yourself?

About myself? Hm... well, I don't want to say anything cliche so... These past two months I've had to switch to drinking tea instead of coffee, because it was about to cause me to have a mental lapse. I was taking in so much caffeine my hands were shaking and I was rushing around to clean and get all my work down. I still drink an obscene amount of tea, but it doesn't match how much caffeine I was taking in when I'd drink coffee every moment of the day.

2. What inspired you to write?

I always had stories in my head since I was a young child. I always read, though never got read to - except my sister used to read my Harry Potter when my parents weren't home because I'd have to sleep in her room. To be perfectly honest, I'd just make up these entire story lines even as a small child inside my head. And one day, I decided to put it to paper (or to laptop).

3. One of main character commits a crime. Describe how and why.

Ha ha, does the crimes that Keely and Seth committed and got arrested for in Just What I Needed not count? Um, I'll think of another... that's hard. Most of them have gotten in trouble with the law at one point or another, well, except Allison. Okay, I'll do her. An older Allison is a political photographer and she gets arrested for being part of a protest.

4. If you could have any one of your characters become a real person, who would it be and what would you do?

Wow, uh, that's hard. I love all my characters. It's like a parent choosing their favourite kid. Well, probably the one that has the least of myself put in them, because it'd be annoying to be always faced with myself. So that'd be... Cam Harrison, because he's so sweet but cheeky, and English, ha ha. Love of my life?

5. Is writing a hobby or career to you?

It would be amazing for it to be a career, but as it happens until I write something worthy of publishing, it's just a hobby. Right now I get to do it on the side of riding. And I'm a very lucky person for that.

6. Do you want your stories to be published one day?

I would love for them to be published. It'd be a dream come true - not that I would tell anyone that I know in person, well, besides Julia. If I could just write for the rest of my life? It'd be wonderful

7. What do you do when you aren't writing?

I ride horses as a job. I'm actually taking my level one for coaching soon, so there's that. Listen to music (while I ride and, well, always). Get lost on the internet for hours at a time. Drink wine. I lead an exciting life.

8. What is your main goal with writing books?

To get them out of my own head. When I write, I let go of the characters a little bit, because they're not solely my own. If they all stayed in my head so predominately, I would probably lose my mind.

9. Do you see yourself in any of the characters?

In all of them. I can't help it, I put a part of my personality in every single one of them. I over-analyze life like Keely, I love read poetry like Seth, I had a very similar life to Cole - not exactly, and I won't tell you what parts - I have relationships like Allison, I'm loyal to my family like Cam, and I'm so much like Jude it's stupid. There's so many other things I can say, and you can only guess what other parts of me are in them.

10. Do you listen to music while you write? If so what?

Do you need to ask, ha ha? Of course I do. Um. Everything? I was listening to old Daft Punk yesterday while writing, and the day before Carl Barat's solo EP. The Clash, The Libertines, Jake Bugg, The Beatles, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Lou Reed, Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey, Cat Power, David Bowie, The Dead Weather, Jack White, Bob Dylan, Blur. There's more, but I don't wanna list them.

11. Do you have any hobbies? If so what?

I like watching TV, and I think of that like a hobby. I get obsessed. At the moment, I'm trying to stay out so I can write. But I just finished The Office (UK Version), Breaking Bad, Sherlock, Doctor Who. I used to love Supernatural, but I stopped watching at the fifth season I think. Oh, Buffy, love me some Buffy. I adore Arrested Development. And I have a list of shows I need to watch.

12. What were your favorite books when you were growing up?

Well, Harry Potter - as I've mentioned, my sister read the first three to me when I was really young and then I've read them all a billion times. In high school I loved anything by George Orwell, and I adored The Great Gatsby and All Quiet On The Western Front. I liked things that were political

13.Who does your covers? If you do, what programs do you use?

I've made them all, except Just What I Needed - J made that. Uh, the program I used to use doesn't work anymore, it was called Pisca, I believe. I need to find a different thing to use. Suggestions?

14. When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?

Usually not too much, I just need to like the sound of it, like the way it looks written down and see if it fits the character. Although when I was naming Cam - he was the hardest to name - I read a thing that said Cameron meant crooked nose, and that solidified it for me because he'd had his nose broken as a child.

15. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Diana Gabaldon. She weaves a brilliant story and there's such rich detail that I can see it happening as if it's on a screen in my head, plus her characters are so round and so well fleshed out. She's everything I love about writing.

16. What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Actually putting it down to paper. I get stuck and restless when I know what needs to happen, but I just can't get there or it's not coming across the way I need it to.

17. What was the easiest part of writing your book?

Thinking through the story line. That's my favourite part. And discovery my characters, going into their history and past until I know them better than I know myself.

18.Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

I learnt that I'm very possessive over my story line and my ideas. I'd never learnt that before. I get quite... not offended exactly, but, I dunno how to explain it because at the same time I LOVE people telling me theories about the stories and I had someone write fan fiction, and I absolutely love it. I can't describe how happy it makes me to hear from people and get real feedback for something I've written. It's incredible. Yet at the same time, I've had people tell me I've written something "wrong". Well, fuck off. You know what I mean? Someone can say I've written something badly, but not that I wrote it wrong. I know what's right and wrong for my characters, I know where the story is going, I know exactly why I put every single word in so don't tell me I've written it "wrong". That's not criticism, that's just idiocy. Whew, that was a rant, wasn't it?

19.Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

That I absolutely adore them. Is that too much? Ah, who cares. I really do, and I love hearing from them. Sometimes I think it doesn't seem like it because I don't reply, but it's honestly because I can be so absentminded some days or because I read something on my email on my phone, and I don't like replying to things unless I'm on my computer but then I forget. I just hope they know every comment and message makes me smile like an idiot. Oh, and that I might come off as rude, but sometimes irony doesn't come across on the internet, ha ha. 

20. Do you have any advice for other writers?

 Just for them to write. I mean, write whatever the hell they want to and don't let pressure get to them. I got stuck for a while with writing because I felt pressured to write a certain story when my mind was elsewhere, and that's when I balked, because I like to do things for people - I can't say no to people in real life - so I instantly want to do anything they ask, but sometimes you just can't, and you can't feel guilty for that. You've got to write for yourself, not anybody else.