Justin Bieber

Jennifer Lynne Barnes - Author Of Popular Bestselling YA Novel

Welcome to “Up Close & Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing her views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Jennifer Lynn Barnes, author of three popular YA novels. Ms. Barnes a graduate of Yale studied cognitive science (the study of brain and thought). Her amazing research has been featured on ABC's World News, The New York Times and The Animal Planet. Jennifer Barnes spends a year doing autism research at the University of Cambridge.

E. I :Thank you for stopping by. Please tell your fans what part of working on a book is most enjoyable to you?

J.Barnes: For me, the most enjoyable part of a book is writing the very beginning and very end of a first draft. Starting a new book is always so satisfying, because when I sit down to write, I don't know much about where things are going, so the beginning of a book is full of really neat discoveries. As for the end, well, there's really nothing quite like finishing a book. It's the most unbelievable adrenaline rush in the world.

E. I. What changes took place after you published your first novel, i.e. how different has writing been since you turned it into a career?

J. Barnes: Writing hasn't changed all that much for me, in part because I really try to keep the business and creative ends separate. The biggest change is probably the fact that I'm more aware of my audience now. Even though I still write primarily for myself, some part of my mind knows that there's a good chance that people will be reading it. That can be an awesome feeling, and it can also be a little scary.

E. I. Has there ever been a character in one of your novels that people clamored to see again, but you just didn't want to bring back? If so, which character?


J. Barnes: Not really. Right now, I have two books out, and both of them have sequels with pretty much the same cast. The closest I've come to not bringing a character back is to let that character slide out of focus for a while, which happens with several characters from GOLDEN in the sequel, PLATINUM, because the two books are told from different POV's, so some of the supporting cast from GOLDEN (including the love interest) only make cameos in the sequel.

E. I. Has your writing based on experience affected your creativity/ imagination?

J. Barnes: My imagination isn't affected by much; it's pretty much in overtime, 24 hours a day, no matter what.

E. I. Did you feel pressure, either self-imposed or external, to duplicate that success for your second book?

J. Barnes: I was actually very lucky on this front, because I wrote TATTOO before I sold GOLDEN, so I didn't have to deal with the pressure a lot of first-time authors feel to match their first book with their second. By the time GOLDEN came out, TATTOO was already in galley form, so there wasn't much pressure there, either. I think there's always some anxiety with the release of a second book, though, because you want people to like it as much as the first one- preferably more!

E. I. Can you share with us some of the toughest experiences you had to go through to finally get published?

J. Barnes: My first published novel is actually the seventh one I wrote, so there were definitely times with the first six when the rejections would start piling up, and-especially until you get used to it- that can be hard. When I queried my first book, all I got were rejections. I couldn't even get anyone to read it. When I got my first request in the mail (for my fifth book), I absolutely couldn't believe it. I'd just gotten so used to people saying "no" from the get-go.

E. I. Your fans like to get behind the author's writing routine. What would you like to share with your readers a typical writing day schedule?


J. Barnes: While I was in undergrad, my typical writing day went from about 2 AM to 4 AM. I liked writing when everyone else was asleep, because I never wanted to miss out on any part of the college experience. Now that I'm a graduate student and my schedule requires more early mornings, I often write for a couple of hours right after work. I've got about a three mile walk home from lab each day, so I bisect the walk by stopping in the city centre for food, and I usually end up at the Borders for a few hours to write.

E. I. Do you have any fascinating experiences while writing your book, or while researching for your novel?

J. Barnes: When I write, I usually just go into the zone. I don't really hear what's going on around me, even if things are very loud. Towards the end of a book, I write really feverishly, and in very large chunks. The last nine thousand words of Golden were written in one sitting, and that last fourteen thousand or so words of my most recent WIP came within one twenty-four hour period. Beyond that, I can't think of anything that other people find really interesting, except for the fact that after writing from Lissy's perspective in GOLDEN, I'm pretty good at guessing what color somebody's aura would be if they lived in Lissy's world.

E. I. Do you write books with having them adapted to the movies in mind?.

J. Barnes: When I sit down to write, I don't have much in mind other than the characters and the story, but I'm a very visual person, and I tend to write high concept books with lots of dialogue, so the end product sometimes feels somewhat filmic. That said, I think most of my books would probably make better TV shows than movies.

E. I. Please tell us about your latest book "TATTOO".

J. Barnes: TATTOO is a story about four best friends who put on temporary tattoos that turn out to be mystical in origin. Each girl receives a different supernatural power from her tattoo, and they have to use their powers- and their friendship- to stop an ancient evil from ending the world, starting with their high school dance. For me, TATTOO is a mix of your basic friendship story with supernatural adventure.

E. I. If you were allowed total control of a Hollywood version of TATTOO? who would be in it? In your own opinion who do you think should direct?

J. Barnes: If I could have any director I wanted, I'd pick either Bryan Singer or Joss Whedon, because I really, really love their work, and because they've both done wonderful things with supernatural material in the past. Casting-wise, it would depend on whether we were going for ACTUAL teens playing the girls, or actresses in their twenties playing younger, but my top picks right now of the younger set are Hayden Panettiere, Willa Holland, and Lucy Hale as Zo, Annabelle, and Delia respectively. I don't have a clue about who to cast as my narrator, Bailey, because I can't think of anyone who's quite right for the part.

E. I. When you look back at your work, do you have a favorite lines or sections in each of the books?

J. Barnes: I do have favorite lines in most of my books, but I can never remember them off the top of my head. I just know them when I see them.

E. I. Your next book, PLATINUM is due to be out in Sept 2007....What do you think your fans should expect differently from your characters?

J. Barnes: Fans should expect PLATINUM to be a very different book from GOLDEN, because it's told from the point of view of the lead popular girl, and it offers a totally different perspective on all of the characters from the first book. So I guess readers should just expect the unexpected and come to it with an open mind.

E. I. Would you like to close the interview with any of your writing tip to other young aspiring authors?

J. Barnes: I usually tell young authors to do three things-write, read, and do stuff that isn't reading or writing. Life experience is so important; everything I've done that isn't writing has made me a better story teller in the long run. Another thing I'd tell young authors is not to even think about publishing until they've finished a book and feel strongly about it. I see so many teens these days who've already decided they want to sell a book by the time they're eighteen or twenty-one or whatever, and they do all this research on the market and start worrying about submitting long before they've actually got something to submit. I think it's really important to put creativity and story above getting published; write your book because you want to write it and because it needs to be written, not just because you'd like to be a published author.

Simmone Howell - Australia’s Award-Winning Short Story Writer & Screenwriter

Welcome to “Up Close & Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing her views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.


Today’s interview is with Simmone Howell. She’s an award-winning short story writer and screenwriter in Australia. Her short film Pity24 was awarded the 2004 AWGIE for Short Film Screenplay.


Her fiction has been published in journals and anthologies in Australia, Canada and the UK. Notes from the Teenage Underground is the first novel of Ms. Howell and it is being develop into a feature film in Australia.


EI: Please tell us about your latest book Notes from the Teenage Underground and how did you come up with the title?


SH: NFTU is about three girls Gem, Lo and Mira who decide to make an underground movie and it wrecks their friendship. The book is written from Gem's perspective. She's on the losing end of the friendship triangle and needs to sort herself out. She does this through film and art and family. Along the way there is outsider girls, dodgy boys, crazy parents, wild parties, art happenings, great movies and bad poetry.


The title is a little homage to Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground. Gem is given a copy of it for her birthday but she has trouble reading it.


EI: What can we expect from your characters?


SH: Trouble! You won't like them all. You might learn some strange information from them. And a bit of Australian slang.


EI: Some authors after spending so much time creating their character they become an extension to their life. Is that how you feel about Gem and her best friends Lo & Mira, do you now think of them as part of your family?


SH: No. Maybe. I'm a bit sick of them to tell you the truth. I'm still trying to work Lo out!


EI: How much of Gem’s life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with her or with any of your characters?


SH: I have a definite idea of where Gem goes after NFTU ends. I'm not sure if I will write it. I'd like but I've got a few things to get done first.


EI: Do you have any fascinating experiences while writing your book, or while researching for your novel?


SH: The most fascinating thing for me was the fact that even though I had studied creative writing, I still managed to forget all the rules. Writing is a bit like reconstructive surgery - you know, when you get a nose job they have to break it before they can make it beautiful ... so there was a lot of backwards and forwards for a long while before the book came together.


My favourite thing was reading all about Happenings and Art movements - and working out how to put my own peculiar film knowledge into a 17 year old girl's head.


EI: How long does it take you to write a book?


SH: NFTU took 4 years all up. But the last draft was written in a fabulous 2 month frenzy. I wager I could write a good book in a year if I didn't have anything else to do. Finding the balance between art and commerce is my main concern in life. I'd like to live in a tree house and just read and write and eat tinned tuna but then there's my family to consider...


EI: Why have you chosen to write in the genre in which you write?


SH: I like the teenage voice. I don't have to dig too deep to find it. I remember my own teen years a being a time of grand defiance but also awful, awful emotional turbulence. Maybe I am trying to rewrite my life (!!!!!!!!).


EI: What can fans look forward from you in the coming months?


SH: Nothing for a while. There is the possibility that NFTU will become a film, and I am working on another YA book at the moment that hopefully won't take as long. Oh - but I am the writer in residence at www.insideadog.com.au this month.


EI: What would you like to say to writers who are reading this interview and wondering if they can keep creating, if they are good enough, if their voices and visions matter enough to share?


SH: You will always have that doubt. I stil have that doubt. I think it comes with the territory. The important thing is the doing, not so much where it ends up. Most of my favourite writers were unknown and dissed and they just did it anyway because they had to.


EI: Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which one are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?


SH: I am all about character. Plots kill me.I find the hardest part of writing is starting.


EI: Would you like to close the interview by telling your readers any writing tips for the young aspiring writers?


SH: Um ... write first, revise later - don't do it as you go or you'll never get past the first paragraph! Read lots. Read everything. Read Shakespeare and Jackie Collins. If you write at night, don't expect to be able to understand it in the morning. Night brain and morning brain are two very different beasts!


To learn more about Simmone Howell, please visit her at:
http://funky-blogs.blogspot.com/
http://cryptonaux.blogspot.com/

Linnea Sinclair: Award Winning Author of SF Romance

Welcome to “Up Close & Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing her views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Linnea Sinclair. She is an award winning SF Romance author, former news reporter and retired private detective. She lives with her husband in Naples Florida.

E. I. Welcome, and thank you for stopping by. Would you tell your readers what were you like as a teenager? Please tell us more about Linnea Sinclair -- the woman behind the author.

Linnea: As a teenager? Oh, Lord. I was short, blonde and wore glasses. I’m still short, blonde and wear glasses, just a lot older.

I loved school and was an avid reader. I guess I was a geek except the term wasn’t popular back then. I attended a very small private high school in New Jersey. There were 25 kids in my senior class. The focus of the school was academic excellence, which meant things like proms or cheerleading didn’t exist. And since it was a private school, my classmates weren’t my neighbors. My best friends lived in towns miles away. The local public high school ended their day at 2:30, if memory serves me. My school day ended at 4:00. I spent a lot of time with my nose in a book.

E. I. Could you describe your path to publication--any stumble along the way? Is there anything about you that you would do differently, knowing what you do now?

Linnea: I found my agent who then sold me to Bantam after I’d spent a few years in the small presses and e-publishing. At the time I decided to seriously pursue writing commercial genre fiction (specifically science fiction romance), the sub-genre of SFR wasn’t quite accepted. NY wasn’t buying what I was writing. I had too much tech to qualify for the futuristic market and too much romance to have SF look at my work. Three years later, however, authors like Susan Grant, Catherine Asaro, Patricia Waddell, Robin D Owens and S.L. Viehl—among others—were pushing on that envelope from the SF side and the romance side. Readers who grew up lusting after James T Kirk or Han Solo were demanding those kinds of stories in writing. My agent sold me in about three months, which I gather is damn near Warp Factor 10 in the literary world.

The stumbles were getting caught up in the lack of professionalism in certain aspects of the small press/e-book world. Non-payment of staff—such as editors and artists—was as common as non-payment of royalties to authors. There were and still are several excellent e-book and small press houses out there (and I was blessed to have one of my small press publishers be thoroughly professional and a pleasure to write for). But there were also a lot of rip-offs.

What I’d do differently would be to have more faith in my writing from the get-go and not be so quick to sell my writerly soul to just any e-book or small press house “promising” publication. It’s hard to concentrate on your next book when you have to spend half your time hunting down your “publisher”, trying to get paid.

E. I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? What do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

Linnea: Character writer, definitely. Although all my stories start in my head with a “what if”, the what if is clearly tied to and generated by the characters.

The hardest part of writing for me is deciding which POV to use per scene/chapter (when I write tight third, which is most of my books). That’s obviously not an issue with GABRIEL’S GHOST (2006 RITA award winner) which is first person POV, and won’t be an issue with the sequel, CHASIDAH’S CHOICE (2008 from Bantam). But in my other books it’s a constant consideration and it’s not usual for me to write a chapter from one character’s POV only to rip it out and rewrite it from another’s POV. I work from the adage of “writing from the POV of the character who has the most to lose/most at risk” but sometimes that’s a toss up.

E. I. In your opinion, how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

Linnea: A writing degree? As in Creative Writing or English Lit? One of my degrees is in journalism and while that taught me to adhere to deadlines (and to write first draft) I don’t see it’s essential. To be a published author you do need an excellent command of the language in which you’re going to write and the grammar for same. But I don’t know if having done your thesis on F. Scott Fitzgerald will necessarily open more doors for you to become a published author in commercial genre fiction.

I think you do need to be an observer of human nature, you do have to have a natural ability to hear and recreate dialogue, you do need to have the ability to sense the “cadence” of a paragraph in the same way a musician would. But I don’t think a BA in World Literature is a requirement.

E. I. Let's talk about your latest book “Games of Command ” how did you come up with the title and idea?

Linnea: GAMES OF COMMAND is a compilation, redaction, rewrite and general hodge-podge of three novels I had planned to produce through a small press/e-book publishing house that closed its doors. The first book-COMMAND PERFORMANCE—was published. The second in what I termed “The Alliance Command Series” was partly written. The third was somewhat plotted. Actually, all grew from about 300,000 words of emails of “adventures” sent to a dear friend several years ago, strictly for shits-n-giggles. I never intended for Sass and the admiral’s story to be public. But when my then-publisher asked if I had anything else, I unearthed those emails and the response was extremely positive (much to my surprise).

Title. Bantam didn’t want to reissue COMMAND PERFORMANCE and they didn’t want the Command series. So when I mushed—at their request—two and a half books into one, the title was really up for grabs. I just tossed out GAMES OF COMMAND as a working title. I never meant for it to stick and initially, neither my agent nor my editor liked the title. But when I said, give me something better—no one could. So it stuck.

E. I. What can we expect from your characters Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian, Admiral Branden Kel-Paten, Dr. Eden Fynn and rebel Jace Serafino?

Linnea: I write space opera romance. I don’t think that’s an actual publishing term but to me it’s what I write. So what you can expect from Sass, Branden, Eden and Jace (and the furzels) in GAMES OF COMMAND is a rollicking good time with fast ships, fast action, nasty evil alien energy sources, some cool telepathic critters, lots of snarky dialogue and a decent handful of “oh shit!” moments.

The book has a Saturday Afternoon at the Movies feel to it. If you like Star Wars, Star Trek, the Indiana Jones sagas and Firefly, it would be your cup of tea (providing the romance aspect doesn’t give you the ickies).

E. I. How much of ‘Captain Tasha Sebastian life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with her or with any of your characters?

Linnea: Sass is different from the rest of my characters because I’ve been writing her for a very long time. Like, twenty years or more. She was my stock character in the stories I’ve written—strictly for my own fun—since the 1980s. So I know her as well as I know myself. She’s “starred” in lots of adventures and scenarios I’ve penned that have nothing to do with GAMES OF COMMAND. She was the original heroine of FINDERS KEEPERS.

As to where I go next with any of my characters, partially that’s up to my agent and my contract with Bantam. But as to what proposals I submit, that depends on what character(s) scream the loudest to have their stories told.

E. I. If you were allowed total control of a Hollywood version of Games of Command who would be in it? In your own opinion, who do you think should direct?

Linnea: Director would definitely be George Lucas ::genuflect, genuflect:: I’m sure that’s no surprise to anyone who’s read my books. Casting it? That’s tougher because I’m not a television watcher, rarely go to movies (unless they’re Lucas, Speilberg or 007) and don’t read People magazine or the like. Sass could be (a younger) Linda Hamilton or Cameron Diaz or Charlene Theron. Or the woman who plays Starbuck in the current Battlestar Galactica. Doc Eden could be that lovely plus-sized fashion model, Emme, I think her name is. Jace Serafino…actually when I had my investigative agency years back I had an investigator working for me who was definitely a stud-muffin and his personality was VERY Serafino-like. But Cote Reynolds isn’t famous so other than myself, my husband and Cote’s wife (and I performed the wedding ceremony for Cote and Karen)… that doesn’t mean a thing.

Kel-Paten is a tough one. I’m not, as I said, an avid TV-viewer or People magazine afficianada. I did love old movies so if I say that he’d have the aloofness and elegance of Gregory Peck, many people would be puzzled. Maybe a younger Tom Selleck without the mustache? Not quite sure.

Tank the furzel is easy. He’s my Maine Coon cat, Daiquiri.

E. I. What can fans look forward to from you in the coming months?

Linnea: The Down Home Zombie Blues is the next book on the launchpad, with a November 2007 release. This is a combo police procedural-sci fi-romance, if you will. It’s like Men In Black meets Hill Street Blues plus a romance angle. It’s also my first book so far NOT set in another star system or galaxy but right here. Florida, in fact.

Here’s the back cover blurb for ZOMBIE:

Bahia Vista homicide detective Theo Petrakos thought he’d seen it all. Then a mummified corpse and a room full of futuristic hardware sends Guardian Force commander Jorie Mikkalah into his life. Before the night’s through, he’s become her unofficial partner—and official prisoner—in a race to save the Earth. And that’s only the start of his troubles.

Jorie’s mission is to stop a deadly infestation of bio-mechanical organisms from using Earth as its breeding ground. If she succeeds, she could save a world and win a captaincy. But she’ll need Theo’s help, even if their unlikely partnership does threaten to set off an intergalactic incident.

Because if she fails, she’ll lose not just a planet and a promotion, but a man who’s become far more important than she cares to admit.

It’s a fun, kicky and at times scary read. I’ve had a blast writing it and researching it. The law enforcement officers who’ve allowed me to poke around in their heads (and hearts) have been immeasurably helpful. I’ve always had an enormous respect for cops—I’m a retired private detective—but working personally with Sergeant Steven Huskisson, Detective Scott Peterson and retired police officer Joel Reyes, among others, has been a terrific experience for me as a writer. I think the most fun was getting to ask these guys: “And what would you do if you were kidnapped by an outer-space alien babe?” and watch their reactions. It was great!

The other neat thing about the book is that Traveling Ed Teja, a friend and noted blues guitarist, penned several songs for the book. The lyrics will be included in the novel because the male protagonist, Theo Petrakos, plays guitar as a hobby. I’d love if there was some way to tie in a CD with the book, but at this point, I don’t have anything saying I can do that.

Then in 2008, watch for CHASIDAH’S CHOICE, the sequel to GABRIEL’S GHOST.

E. I. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

Linnea: Remember that writing commercial genre fiction is an art, a craft and a business. It’s what I call the ACB’s of Writing. Neglect any one of the three, and your writing career will suffer. You have to be in touch with your muse-that’s the art part of it. The part the sings to you, the entices you with ideas and snippets of scenes you can visualize. The craft is knowing grammar, punctuation, spelling and word choice, but it’s also knowing correct manuscript format and how to write a query letter. The business is knowing your market, what publishers or agents would most likely read your work and, once you’re sold, it’s the business of promoting your book. Learn the ACBs and you’ll be ahead of most other writers around you.

To learn more about KL Going, please visit her at:
http://celebrityscouples.blogspot.com/

Jennifer McMahon - Novelist & Author Of The Bestseller

Welcome to “Up Close & Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing her views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.


Today’s interview is with Jennifer McMahon, author of Promise Not To Tell which is part mystery-thriller and part ghost story. “Jennifer grew up in her grandmother’s house in suburban Connecticut, where she was convinced a ghost named Virgil lived in the attic. She graduated with a BA from Goddard College in 1991 and then studied poetry for a year in the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College. A poem turned into a story, which turned into a novel, and she decided to take some time to think about whether she wanted to write poetry or fiction.”


EI: What were you like as a teenager? Please tell your readers more about Jennifer McMahon -- the woman behind the author?


JM: I was a bit of a rebel without a clue as a teenager. I dropped out of high school, drove a Camaro, chain-smoked and listened to a lot of Pink Floyd. Luckily, I'm less dramatic these days. I'm a mom. I drink a lot of coffee. I read a huge variety of fiction. I have a thing for horror movies. I worry about my leaking roof, where I'm going to send my daughter to preschool -- the usual.


EI: Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?


JM: Character, definitely. Promise Not to Tell very much grew from the character of Del Griswold. Thinking about who she was, how she was treated, and what happened to her, led to the plot -- it felt quite organic. The hardest part of writing for me, is getting the "distance" from the writing necessary to edit ruthlessly.


EI: What is your response to the public perception that writers’ creative insight and energy is frequently the product of personal conflict?


JM:I can only speak for myself, but to some extent, I can see this. I've certainly had dark, troubled times in my life, and those were the times when I first started seriously pursuing poetry and writing, as a way to express that darkness, confusion, etc. However, it was only when I reached a stage in my life where most of my angst had been resolved that I was really able to focus on my fiction writing as a career.


EI: Do you express your inner self in your writing, or do the personas you create exist only in your imagination?


JM: It depends on the project. I think all writers use their own experiences, memories, and so on to get inside a character's skin. In the case of Promise, certainly the narrator, Kate, is very unlike myself. Even Del, who is my favorite character in the book, is not "me" by any stretch of the imagination. She's more like an idealized version of the picked-on kid -- and we've all been that picked-on kid -- who takes her victim and turns it on its head. In other work, the characters may share my superficial characteristics to a greater extent -- but I always feel they are basically inventions.


EI: Do you let anyone read your manuscript, before you send it to your editor or agent?


JM: My first, and most important reader, is my partner Drea. She provides some of that distance that I have such a hard time getting, and is a hell of an editor.


EI: Was there anyone who really influenced you to become a writer?


JM: The first person was my third grade teacher. I wrote my first short story in her class -- it was about a haunted meatball. She really encouraged me, told me that I had a talent, and I've carried that encouragement with me. The book that made me want to be a writer was To Kill a Mockingbird -- I was just stunned that a work of fiction could be so powerful.


I have to give a whole lot of credit to my partner, Drea, for encouraging me to give up my day job so I could write full time. She supported me financially, artistically and emotionally over the years it took for my writing career to take off. There were many times I wanted to give up, but she thankfully, she wouldn't let me.


EI: Let’s shift gears... tell us about your book ‘Promise Not To Tell’ how did you come up with the title and idea?


JM: Actually, when I was working on Promise, and throughout the submissions process, and initial editing, it had another title. Then it had another title. Then it became Promise Not to Tell. I honestly don't remember who originally came up with the current title. It's a line in the book, and I do like it because there are many promises broken and secrets revealed throughout the story.


The idea for the book that would become Promise Not to Tell started with a dead crow hanging in a farmer's field. I've worked on farms before and heard some old timers say that there is no more effective scarecrow then a dead friend or relation. A pretty morbid pest control practice, but there it is -- and it was an arresting image. I drove by the crow, day after day, while it quietly rotted. I had been thinking about writing a ghost story, something that would capture the creepiness of the woods where I was living, and that crow really stuck in my mind. When I sat down to write, I had an image of a girl stroking the crow's feathers -- I knew right away that she was my ghost.


EI: How much of ‘Kate Cypher & Del Griswold’ life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with any of your characters?


JM: Very little was planned. I just don't write that way, much as I would like to! Basically, I started with the idea of Del, the girl petting the dead crow, and I wondered how she became a ghost. She was murdered, of course. But who murdered her? Why? Who would tell her story? What if she had a friend, another outcast? And so on, answering the questions as they cropped up as best I could.


EI: What challenges or obstacle did you encounter while writing and creating your “Kate Cypher” How did you overcome these challenges?


JM: Kate is a skeptic, and I am a believer. Kate is a school nurse, very practical and logical -- maybe even cold. She's straight, she's divorced, she's several years older than I was when I wrote Promise. She's cut herself off from her family, while I'm very close to mine. So most of my challenges came from writing convincingly and sympathetically about someone so different from myself. I actually really enjoyed the challenge, to try and see the world through someone else's eyes.


EI: Let’s talk about your first soon-to-be-published YA novel “A Cure for Your LaSamba Blues” Can you give us a hint what it’s all about? And what inspired you to branch out? What about writing for teens appealed to you?


JM: LaSamba (which is gearing up for another title change, by the way) is the story of two 15-year-old girls who bond because their outsider status, and then to everyone's surprise, fall in love. When I first started work on it, I didn't think of it as a YA novel, just as a story that happened to be about teenage girls. After working on it with my agent, it became clear that it would find the greatest market as a YA book, so we tweaked it a bit, and sure enough it sold that way. Even though I came to it accidentally, I'm finding that I am really excited about writing for teens. LaSamba is a book that I truly wish had been available to me when I was in high school.


EI: As a bestselling author, do typical writer insecurities fade away, do you feel more pressure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?


JM: Oh, I'm just as an insecure as ever! Maybe more so. I can't say that I feel any real, specific pressure. I'm just doing my work, the same as always. Hopefully, it will be good work.


EI: Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know you, and your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?


JM: Thank you so much for having me! It's been an honor.


The major advice I have for young aspiring writers is rather mundane: Keep at it. Read all you can and write every day. It's one of those things that you get better at all the time, and I really think that success in writing has so much to do with perseverance.


To learn more about Jennifer McMahon please visit her at:
http://kimhoneymoon.blogspot.com/
http://celebrityscouples.blogspot.com/
http://celebritysjuice.blogspot.com/

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