Interview Questions

I’m going to go classic and say Flowers in the Attic. I haven’t read the new diary series!

We love your Zellie Wells Trilogy and Penny will that girl catch a break? I just finished your latest on Penny Black that was a cliffhanger any spoilers for the new book?

Thank you for reading the Zellie and Penny books! I appreciate it. I don’t want to give away too much about Fearless, but I will say that Penny and Maud get to spend a lot more time together in the past and in the future. Penny’s present doesn’t really exist anymore.

How long does it take you to write a novel?  How much research do you do before writing a novel?
It has taken me anywhere from three months to three years to write a novel. It more depends on what is going on in my personal life and what ages my kids are, than my enthusiasm for a project. The books that involve time travel seem to take me longer to write just because I’ve created a world with A LOT of rules.
I don’t research much before I start – I Google and read articles and watch YouTube videos as I go along. I do tend to give my characters jobs that I’ve had so that I already know what that entails.

If you could choose to make one of your novels into a movie, which one would you chose?  Why?

Crossing is the novel that came the closest to becoming a movie. I have a friend who runs our local community theatre who used to direct TV shows and we talk often about just filming it ourselves during summer break. I’ve got another friend who has offered all her music for free for the soundtrack. We just need to write the script and commit to it! (Oh, and raise a little money. Ha!)

How did you gets the idea for Glimpse?
My sister and I were obsessed with the show Roswell. When it ended, she said I should write something similar to help ease the pain. J I just started with a basic Romeo and Juliet story and added in powers.

How did you know you wanted to become a writer?
I’ve always liked to write – but my focus for a long time was on being an actor. I wrote my own monologues and scenes and have written a few plays. I didn’t really know I wanted to write for a living until I’d written Glimpse and not everyone who read it hated it.

 
What made you want to be a writer?
Even though it is difficult and I’m constantly learning new things and frustrating the hell out of myself – it’s the only job I’ve ever had that makes me consistently happy.

Were you an avid reader growing up?  What was your favorite book / author?
I always had my nose stuck in a book! I can remember really loving V.C. Andrews and Judy Blume novels in late elementary – middle school. Then Barbara Kingsolver’s books and by the time I was a senior I was really into Katherine Dunn and Kurt Vonnegut. My favorite book is Truck by Katherine Dunn.


Finally, we have a question from our admins:
Would it be okay to provide us a picture for the interview? Yes, I’ll send one.
Would you be interested in giving away a signed copy of a book of your choose to be given away at a contest on our website? Sure. I’ll give away a signed copy of Glimpse.