The time it was a recommendation

I got an arc of Red Rising at WonderCon last year with the explicit instructions to read it immediately. Of course I didn't. It went into my TBR stacks and eventually I ended up giving it away. Flash forward to a couple of days ago and my phone started going crazy with people emailing me and texting me about Pierce's launch party.

It was a last minute decision to go. Mostly because I saw a glowing review from Entertainment Weekly and they're so picky. I knew that if I didn't go, it would be something that I would get pissed about later. 

We got down to Mysterious Galaxy before 6pm. There was all sorts of snacks set up, including a cake [it was Pierce's birthday]. But the most impressive thing was the book display. 

Pierce got to the store around 6:30 and went to work on signing the stacks of books that were around the store. 

Patrick started at 7. His introduction talked about how a year ago he started talking about the book and 8 months ago he was pimping out the arc. Now he can actually sell the book. 

Pierce did a brief introduction. He talked about this being his very first event and that he didn't have anything prepared like a lecture. There was talk about his childhood and parents, but I was taking photos and didn't get any of it. 

Also? I have a disclaimer: Pierce talks fast and smiles so pretty so my recap isn't anywhere near to being complete. Consider yourself warned about the hot mess that's about to happen.

 

There will be more?

Yes. It's a planned trilogy. It's always been 3 books for me. I don't want to prostitute the story for money. There could be more stories, but most of it will be told in 3 acts. There could be future stories set in the same world. I have a big black book that I try to hide that has info about the world and characters. 

Without discussing the plot, what is the set up for building the world?

It's sort of like those CDs "Now That's What I Call Music": a compilation of all of your favorite things. My first coloring book was about the Greek and Roman wars. Have you ever seen the great illustrated classics? My parents gave me those. They became part of my childhood. World building is my favorite. 

This book quickly became a revenge book and as I went on, it became about justice. There's a lot of Antigone. There's probably some Hardy Boys in there.  There's some Serenity. 

How did you get the idea for the book? Did you pick Mars because of the color or the god?

The first thing I knew was that on Mars there's a flower called a blood blossom and that was the first line and I don't know where it came from. [There was WAY more to this...somehow this was all I got down]

Were you an English major?

Nope. Political science and economics major. I couldn't get into AP English. They told me that I didn't write correctly. Economics really helped me with the story.

Will there be deleted scenes?

That's a question my editor should answer. I'm hoping that before book 1 and 2 there will be little episodes. I would like to show Darrow as a lancer. That would be fun. 

How did you end up getting assigned an editor and how do you decide work that way?

I've been trying since I was 18 to get an agent. I wrote books and query letters for each one. It took me 3 books, well my first book was 720 pages... Five books later, I finally got an agent. I had been rejected by 24 agents and I was working at a tech start up and I wasn't really liking it. 

An agent's former assistant contacted me and asked to be my agent. She was now an agent and I would be her first client. There's a lot of negatives to that, but the upside would be that they have a lot of time on their hands. And she helped me edit it. 

All of the publishers wanted to change something. And at Del Rey, they didn't want to change any of it. Then my editor ended up leaving to go to Amazon. My new editor, Mike, is amazing and we work well together. A good editor will champion your work and you don't have to argue about content. I know that if he sees there's something wrong in the book, there probably is. 

What modern day authors influenced you?

Gene Wolfe. Shadow and Claw traumatized me.  George RR Martin. Patrick Rothfuss's work is great. I like Neil Gaiman a lot, his world building second to none, except maybe Joss Whedon. They can battle it out. 

Did you try to draw in politics that are happening now and put them in dystopian situations?

No. I don't like to do that because it seems like I'm preaching. I haven't lived enough to have those sorts of opinions on humanity. I know they will change. When I'm 45 it'll be different, when I have kids, it'll be different.

Do you watch tv? 

Not as much as I used to. I like a lot of premium channels. I love the idea between revolution, but I couldn't get into the show. And I love Being Human, but I don't really watch. I love anything that JJ Abrams puts his stamp on, so I watch a lot of Buffy and Serenity. 

Are you anticipating studios contacting you?

Yes. I had a studio send me a gift today. I said that I loved a particular movie and they sent me 4 different copies of it and huge poster. I wasn't home and they sent a huge package and my roommate wanted to open it. So he did and videoed the entire thing. 

Hollywood is really good at first dates. I don't want to be stuck in development. If the right team comes along, sure. But I haven't given up my rights. 

How do you approach swearing?

I fucking love it. [There was more to this answer, but I just didn't catch it. I mean, really.  What more do you need?]

How do you categorize this? YA?

I wrote it to be YA, but quickly realized that I can't write YA. I find that in a lot of YA, they cater to what they think people want, to get readers. Like the love triangle. TFiOS is an amazing book and it's considered YA. Harry Potter is considered YA and that just literature. 

When I realized at page 20 that I was going to kill someone, I had to abandon the idea that it was YA.

Are you going to let them see your previous 6 books if they ask?

Oh god no. I don't think I could even read them. There's some good characters in there. 

Do you write with an outline?

No. And they hate that. I feel that outlines will keep away epiphanies while writing. I do always know where I'm going. The last scene of every book, it's all in my head. 

Social media? 

Pagers. No, twitter and facebook are the best. My email is a lost cause. I should be writing, but I could be doing that instead. I always answer. 

Then he started talking all about book two, giving us some of the plot and the title. I don't want to post that info, just in case...

The signing started around 7:45. Everyone in my row lined up like normal, only to find that we had to move to a different line up spot. So instead of being 3rd in line, I was near the end. 

I got up to Pierce almost an hour after the signing started. We talked about hot peppers, Scooby-Doo snuggies, raw cookie dough, London, living in LA, tater tots, throwing things at him and social security numbers...all within 5 minutes. He's chatty and adorable. 

I can't tell you anything about Red Rising other than the fact that it came very highly recommended by people I trust and Pierce is charismatic and everything I could want in an author when it comes to interacting with readers. 

That should be enough, right?

The time there was a guy with antlers

When the Fierce Reads tour was announced as with a stop in San Diego, it was a sure thing. And then Macmillan asked me to be designated blogger and sent me a box filled with pretty books to giveaway AND set me up with an interview time with the

I met Michelle at Starbucks, as usual. We took over a couple of tables and waited until the ladies showed. 

Everyone showed up just after six. We decided to sit outside to not irritate the inside guests. 

As with the last interview I did, I intended to record this and then figure out some way to make it a sound file for you to choose whether or not you wanted to listen. As I am complete and total fail at technology, instead there is a wall of text. And to keep the wall of text as small as possible, I kept out all of the tangents and giggles. Just believe me when I say these four women are hilarious. If you want to get straight to the event, scroll past the block quote. 

What's the hardest book to write: your first or your last?

G: The second.  They buy a finished book and are like, "You're amazing!" and then you turn in your second one and they're like, "Wellllllll....we've revised our opinion." No, I'm joking, but I couldn't count on my hands anymore how many people I know who have had to rewrite their second book and I was one of them.  I flew through the third book and it got through revisions really fast and everyone loved it.  So for me, it was the second book.

J: I would have said the second book about three months ago, until I started writing the third book and it is impossible. I think the problem with the third book is that you have to solve every problem that you set up.  And through out, I've been very nice to my future self, going "Oh, future Jessica will deal with that. I'm going to set it up here and then she's going to solve it in a really cool way in the third book." Now I'm getting to those problems and I'm like, "Damn you, past Jessica!" so I'm going to say the third one.

L:  Book two was the most intense, but book three was the most challenging. I thought it was going to be the easiest because I had everything mapped out and I thought it would be the fun part. I knew where everything was going and I thought I would just enjoy myself.  And it could not have been less true. I think that in books one and two, you're opening doors and in book three, you're closing doors.  For me, that was sort of a new experience and not one that I enjoyed.

A: If you're comparing the first book to the last, I think they each have their challenges.  The new idea is always sexiest.  You run with it, you can do anything you want and it doesn't matter how crazy it is because the sky is the limit. But, like Jessica said, in the third book, you absolutely have to make everything make sense and if you weren't completely logical with some of your decision making, you have to deal with those consequences. By the same token, I didn't really have a hard time with the first or the third book. 

With the first book, there was no expectation.  I wrote the YA because my kids were bugging me to write a book that they could read. I just wrote it to have fun and with book two, I was kind of freaked out.  I didn't really expect that it would sell and then it did. And then it did kinda well and then it did better and people were excited for the second one.  That's when I realized that I was going to have to make lightening strike twice.

So, for me, I'd have to say that Outpost was the hardest to write because I was struggling with the weight of reader expectations and I was afraid that they wouldn't like it as much. I couldn't, from a plot sense, duplicate the excitement of discovery from Enclave because everything is brand new. In Outpost, you're returning to the world, they're getting the second look and maybe they'll look a little closer.  What I tried to do instead of offering breakneck, relentless action was I tried to intersperse that with more emotional development and emotional growth. Some people called that book slower, in comparison.  Some people liked that and said that it was good to get to know the characters and care about them.  It was an absolutely necessary maneuver because if you don't care about the characters, you don't care when I raise the stakes in book three. So, for me, book two was the toughest.

What is the most stressful thing about writing?

G: When you get out of the habit of doing it. I'm always like, "Oooh, I finished a book, I'm going to take a week off.  I'll start all of these sewing projects and I'll bake things and I'll take care of the children for once and I'll clean my house." The next thing you know, I've turned into some domestic person, which is not me. And then I'm like, "How do I write again? What do I do? What is a computer?" That is the hardest thing, just getting back into a groove if I left myself stop.

J: I think one of the most stressful things is when you sell a book on proposal. When I write a proposal, I feel like a rock star. They buy it and I'm thinking, "This is going to be EPIC!" You get to put all of the really cool stuff in a proposal, but you don't have to put all of the garbage that gets in the way of the cool stuff. Every time I turn in a book, I think they're going to say it isn't the book they bought.

A: If I can dovetail or piggy back or whatever on that answer, I hate selling on proposal. I find it stressful for slightly different reasons. Generally, I'm really excited when I write the proposal and the sample chapters and then I just want to finish it.  But then, I have to send it away and I have to wait.  I'll have other deadlines, but eventually I'll hear back.  They're going to buy it, but they don't actually need it until December, 2016;, so the book I'm really excited about, I can't write right now. By the time December comes along, I don't even want to write it any more. I don't even know what I was thinking or where I was trying to go with it.

L: For me, I have a very strong streak of self-doubt and that is sort of with me through everything. On the days where it gets the better of me, those are the worst days. Those are the days where I feel like a hack and a fraud and I regret every negative review I ever read because I have all of those voices that are like a Greek chorus saying, "That's right, you're terrible!"

What do you like more: drafting or revising?

G: Whatever I'm not doing at the time. "Oh, if only I were drafting and I could just create and I didn't have any notes!" When I'm drafting then it's, "This is terrible! When I revise, everything will be magical and I'll make everything beautiful!"

L: I like drafting more.

J: I like drafting more. Until about three months ago, when I started something called Book Three.

A: I say revising.  It takes so much more mental energy for me to create something out of nothing. Once I have a book, even if it's kind of crappy, I can work on it and work on it and work on it and I can make it not crappy. It's not as exhausting because I have a place to start.

Is it ever too late to start writing?

L: This actually drives me insane. Ask someone who didn't manage to write their first book until "late in life". No, it's not too late. I think one of the problems we have, not just in publishing, but in everything is this weird sort of festishization of youth and being the first to discover a talent. The fact is that there are a lot of writers and artists and even actors who started later in life. The only issue is that, if you're anything like me, you feel like you're going to have to play catch up forever because there are people who have backlists when they started at twenty-five years old. We live in a culture that celebrates youth and celebrates the first book, the first starring role, the first whatever it is.  That's not what is important. What's important is the story that you write and how you connect with your readers.

J: I've had people say that they're frustrated that they haven't hit that certain point by a certain age.  I think what's important is to not compare yourself to anyone else.  Everyone is on their own path and their own road to publishing or success or however you want to define what you want. If you start comparing yourself to people, you will just set yourself up to fail. I wanted to be published by a certain age too and I didn't get there.  Everyone gets there when they're meant to get there.

L: I have one more thing to say.  I think we do this tremendous disservice to kids when we say things like, "You're so smart for your age" "You're so talented for your age." because as some point, you stop being the youngest, smartest person in the room and you really need to learn who you are and to rely on your talent and hard work. I think it would be great if we could distance ourselves from this idea that somehow being a prodigy or having some inherent gift is somehow a great boon. A lot of people do publish when their really young and then never publish again. Or it takes them ten years to write another book because of all of the pressure. There's no right way to do it, just write the book.

A: I would add that we live in a culture that sort of glamorizes writing. From the outside, it looks extremely glamorous and it looks like an easy thing to do and an easy way to make money. I would ask anyone who is an aspiring writer: where do you see this going? What are your expectations? A lot of people who think they want to write, if they knew how many late nights, how many days in your pyjamas, how many showers you skip, you eat crackers and olives for a whole day... If they knew the reality of it instead of what's shown on Castle. I think he's been at his keyboard maybe twice in six years.

J: Well, even with Carrie Bradshaw in Sex in the City. She's shopping all the time and she writes a column once a week. What does is pay? $25,000 a piece?

A: If you want to write because you love it and it's always been in the back of your head that you wanted to try it and you think you would enjoy it and you want to tell stories... if that's your parameter, then go for it. But, if you're expecting glamor and fame and buckets of money and your publisher to fly with you to Martha's Vineyard to have a holiday weekend... If their expectations are realistic, then absolutely. 

You get the call/email/letter saying that you're going to be published for the first time. What happens in the next five minutes?

A: Since I'm international, I got an IM from my agent saying "Are you there?" I was away when she sent it. I knew we had a proposal out. It had only been ten minutes, but she had gone to lunch. I sat there and stared at the IM for about an hour. She finally came back and said that we had an offer and it was a good offer and I wanted it.  I just started screaming and jumping around and crying because at that point, I had been trying for twenty years and I had around twelve books rejected. She was my third agent and I was at the point where I believed it just wasn't going to happen for me.

So, I burst into really loud, sobbing tears.  We had a part-time housekeeper, who came running in terror because she thought I was having a brain aneurysm.  I was snotting and crying and barking out in Spanish what happened and it's absolutely indecipherable. She calls my husband and she tells him that I'm having some sort of a fit. My husband calls me all panicked and I'm finally able to tell someone in English that I sold a book.  He asked to talk to the housekeeper so he could tell her that I wasn't dying. So, he does and then she just leaves! She didn't even congratulate me.

L: I was in Whole Foods and it was Thanksgiving time and I had had an idea that the way I was going to get through the waiting for the submissions was that I was going to cook and bake up a storm. I am neither a good cook or a good baker, so it was good to be challenging myself. I had a cart filled with groceries and I was standing in the produce section.  I didn't expect to hear from anyone and we had gotten an offer before Thanksgiving and I shrieked. Then I left my entire cart of groceries so I could go outside and hyperventilate on the curb. It was there when I got back.

J: I just remember it being really surreal. I think I expected to be more excited than I was, not that I wasn't excited, but I expected it to be some huge emotional fireworks.  I didn't know a lot about the publishing industry at that point, but it was for my first adult book and when she told me that we had an offer from St. Martins Press and I was like, "I've heard of them!" I was excited that I had heard of the publisher and figured that it must be good.  It didn't become real until later that night.  I was producing a really horrible indie film at the time and I went to the editing studio and told all of them that I got an offer on my book and they got excited.

G: It was the night of my son's fourth birthday on the night that the final offers came in from auction. We had taken him to Chuck E. Cheese because it had been a crazy month with submission and I didn't make any birthday plans.  I was feeling like a horrible mother and I had to sneak out and my agent and I had this whole conversation while I was standing behind one of the Chuck E. dolls. She was in a closet at some dinner for her father and we were trying to discuss the pros and cons of who to sign with and it was just a little ridiculous.

We finished the interview around 6:50 and I left them to take a few moments and get my eleventy billion books to have signed. [Thank you, Jennifer for saving seats!]  The ladies got to the store and the event started right at 7. After the store introduction, each author briefly talked about their book [it was the first time Ann had seen finished copies of Horde] and then the Q&A started.

 

What is the most drastic thing you've done for a deadline?

L: I killed a man

G: Because I needed to see how the blood pooled. 

L: I go into the bunker. I guess I just go into my house and give up any social life. Oh and I take a lot of showers because that's where I get ideas.  So I am very very clean.

J: I locked myself in a cabin for four days. 

L: I thought you were going to say a cabinet. 

G: I do that often. My husband will book me a hotel and I'll get a lot of words down. Actually, I'll write for about 5 hours and then I'll read a bunch of books. 

A: I tend to be really obsessive. The closer I get to finishing the more obsessive I'll get. I don't want to do anything else. That includes eating or sleeping or bathing or seeing my family. Sometimes my husband will poke me to make sure that I'm still alive. My record is 16k words in 24 hours. But my hands were tired and I had to take pain medication. I didn't know what day it was.

 

What's your process: pantser or plotter?
 

G: The first time I ever finished a book was with NaNo. That made me think I was a pantser. And then I had to write the second book. I came to the realization that it depends on the book. I'm currently working a historical book and I need to do research otherwise it's going to be a hot mess of things that didn't actually happen.

J: I'm a plotter. Anyone who follows me on all of the things know that I'm a big fan of Save the Cat. I say that I outline just so I can deviate from it. I'm like a plotter with a side of pantsing. 

L: I'm a plotter. Jessica says there's 15 beats and I have 12. There's a skeleton and it gets better. That helps me if I get stuck somewhere, I can go somewhere else. For example, in book two, I was planning on killing someone and I decided not to. I call it the reverse George RR Martin. 

A: Depends on whether or not I'm writing with my husband. We didn't talk about things beforehand and I got us started while he wrote a bunch of crap. I would tell him "No, you can't have them doing that there." and he would say, "Well, I just did." Instead of working on the scene, we fought. 

In conclusion, if I write with my husband, I have to plot because we'll fight. And I don't want to fight because I want to stay married. For myself, I'm more of a pantser. I need to know the end. If I don't know the ending, I don't know how to get there. 

 

Since Allegiant came out, there's been a lot of fan opinion, how do you guys plan for reader reaction?

 L: I think readers have the right to react however they want. And authors have the right to finish the way they want. The problem I have is when people say "if you do this, I'm going to punch you in the face or kill you". You can't please everyone. Forced creators make horrible product. 

A: You can react however you want, just don't bring it to my yard. You can write fan mail, but don't send me hate mail or chicken heads. I respect readers to have their own forums and opinions, but to start a discourse with the person who created it? What do you think is actually going to come of that?

J: What's the saying? Love and hate are different sides to the same coin. If you create something that makes that sort of reaction, it's amazing. When I get things in my head, like from reviews, I go to GoodReads and I read the one star reviews of my favorite book. It makes me realize that with a billion people in the world, there's always going to be someone who doesn't like it.

Have you ever created a character for your protagonist?

L: Sturmhond was the first character that actually leapt off the page and wouldn't shut up. There was so much darkness and OMG CAN I DO THIS? with every character. And Sturmhond says I got this. 

How did you build your magic?

L: It is sort of molecular chemistry. It answers the question of what happens if you take a gun to a magic fight. 

J: I tried to keep mine in a bit of a "it could happen". In the outline, I thought it would take maybe a page or two to tell her everything and then I found that I had to make up some of the technology to get what I needed.

G: Mine came from a painting [I didn't get the name!]. Or a series of paintings that show people at looms, weaving and the fabric is going out the window, creating the world. In all of them, there's one girl who is looking at the audience and I wanted to know what that girl was thinking. I like to sew and I love sci fi like Doctor Who and Star Trek. It took a lot of physics which would be surprising to my teachers. It started with what would the world look like and then what would the women think about this. 

A: The freaks started because I have an obsession with zombies. I've always been totally into zombies. When I was ten, I snuck into a movie and saw Night of the Comet. I came from a strict religious family, we were the last to get a microwave because it was run by demons. So, I snuck a lot of zombie stuff and it was inevitable that I was going to write something with zombies. And I did some research on genetics and genetic memory.

The signing started around 8:15.  They had all of the people who were standing go outside and start a line and the people who were sitting were asked to fold their chairs before getting in line.  Jennifer handed Michelle and I post-its for personalization and we tackled the line.  I also saw KEIKO and Crystal from the BN store in Vegas.

And this happened too... Yah. That guy is wearing antlers.

While we were waiting, we ended up getting behind the counter and chatting with Jennifer and Kate about a variety of things.  And then....Jennifer took Michelle and I to the super secret back room.  It was the first time I had been in the one at the San Diego location.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take anything without discussing it with Patrick first.  But to see it....sigh.

We eventually got in the line, at the back of it. When it was our turn, I ended up in a serious conversation about Doctor Who with Gennifer and Jessica [who has just started watching it]. See, Gennifer has the most amazing Doctor Who lunch box and it has River on it.  Somehow, that lunch box led to me showing them my tattoo and talking about how my license plate says TARRDUS [yah, that was the only spelling left]. Annnnnnd due to this captivating conversation, I didn't get any photos of the ladies signing my books.

So, here's just the books!

  

Then there was a bit of a photo shoot.  There were about 15 people left over to take photos.  First it was just the authors holding their books.  Leigh said it was like the paparazzi.  Gennifer said that someone should say "Marco" and everyone would know where to look. 

Michelle took a photo for me and then I thanked the four of them for taking the time to do the interview.  Jessica thanked me for driving down and I said that I lived about 15 minutes away and she said, "well then, never mind." And then thanked me [again] for driving to Vegas. Before we walked out, I also found Molly [who was their handler/publicist/tour manager/HBIC] and thanked her for letting me do the interview.

Ann, Leigh, Jessica and Gennifer are quite the charismatic group.  Their stories are funny and the camaraderie is delightful and entertaining.  I can't recommend them enough.

Now.....

Macmillan was awesome enough to send me this pretty stack of books to giveaway.  All of them are signed. I'm sorry, but this giveaway is US only.  It's a pretty hefty stack and I'm a little scared to find out what international shipping would cost me. 

There is a side note: I didn't get the arc of Unforgotten in time to take it with me, the one pictured in the stack is mine.  The arc is included in the giveaway, I just don't have it yet.  If it doesn't show up before the giveaway is over, it will be sent separately. Anyhoo.

Edit 11/5: I have found another stack of books from previous Fierce Reads tours and will be including them in this giveaway.  There will now be two winners. The first winner will win the books pictured above.  The second winner will win the books pictured below.  All of the books in the second group are signed, except for The Fallout.

Rules for the giveaway are under the "terms & conditions" on the Rafflecopter widget.

**Good Luck!!**

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The time I left without my books

Michelle and I were looking for a reason to have a date and what better reason than a book signing. Abbi Glines, Colleen Hoover and Jamie McGuire were appearing at Mysterious Galaxy and we decided to go. We met up at 4:30 for coffee and we were in the story by 5pm. There were so so so many people already lining up in the store.

 

They announced that the authors were going to do a quick talk and Q&A and then everyone would be lined up for the signing. And then it was just time to wait. 

There were a lot of people. A lot. A lot. A lot. So many that when Rob starting handing out post it's for personalization, Michelle and I each took a stack and a marker and set out in opposite corners of the store to help. 

The ladies came out right at 7pm. They were introduced with information on their books. And then the talk began...

 

Jamie started talking about how her new book we as something different, but still had feels. She admitted that she had no idea what "the feels" were, but wanted to say that. 

Colleen said that she wasn't going be that chatty. Jamie said she was just trying to sell her books, so at the end of Colleen's and Abbi's self-introduction, they each said, "buy Red Hill".

Q&A started right away. 

To Abbi: Any chance you'll kill off Nan?

 

I like Rush and he's already lost a friend, so that would devastate him. I've already planned something for her, so I can't kill her.

 

Who's been your favorite character?

 

A: It has always been Beau Vincent. He taught me a lot of things. And then I wrote Harlow and she took the spot. She's different than any other character I've written and I love that.

J: Skeeter McGee is so much fun. He wasn't in the plans, he just happened and I'm so happy. 

C: I think it changes with every book. Right now, it's Ridge and I can't wait for you to meet him. 

For Jamie: the Beautiful Disaster movie, where is that?

 

J: We optioned it almost a year and a half ago. There's a script and I've read it and there's a producer attached to it. Just because there's an option, doesn't mean it'll be made. In February, the rights will revert back to me, so if they don't do anything by then...

For Colleen: any word on the Hopeless movie?

 

C: The script is being written now. 

For your latest books, what actor would play your male lead?

 

A: With actors who have done other things, you see them as those characters. I would want something new. 

J: I agree

C: I think casting would be so hard.

 

How much do the people in your immediate life get into the book? 

 

J: Travis is based on someone I had a huge crush on. And Red Hill is filled with people I know. I bring in people all the time. 

A: I don't. Ever. I'm afraid that people will read the book and know it's them. My mom has a complex because all of my moms are mean. 

C: I don't. I do have a few scenes that have happened in real life. 

Where did you get the name Halle at? 

 

J: Scarlett's daughters are basically my daughters. They got to see themselves in my eyes and it was really cool.

 

How hard was it to do self publishing?

 

J: It's not easy. The main thing is to do your research. Google is your friend. Don't expect someone to set everything aside to do it for you. 

How did all of you meet?

 

C: We've been good friends for about 2 years. 

A: I saw Beautiful Disaster on Amazon. I don't know how it happened. 

C: Back then there wasn't a lot of self published authors, so we would talk on Facebook. Now there's a big group. Now we're here promoting Red Hill. 

Do you think there was a pivotal point that made NA popular?

 

A: The books took over the NYT.

C: When I had to categorize my book on Amazon, I put poetry and drama. I didn't know what to put it under.

J: Beautiful Disaster was listed as women's fiction.

 

Do you guys answer the questions on FB?

 

A: Yes. If you stop asking questions, we'll think we need to stop writing. 

Hardest thing you've done for a deadline?

C: I turn my stuff in early. I do have a book due in January and I haven't done anything. I don't even know what it's going to be about.

A: I can top that. I have something due on 11/1 and I haven't written a word. I do know what it'll be about, though.

J: I can top that. I turned in my book in the morning and gave birth in the evening. I promised them it would be finished before I had my baby.

 

At this point, a friend started texting me about something that she sent me, so my notes sort of stopped.  Sorry. :(  In my defense, I don't think there were very many questions after the one I had.

The signing started around 7:30.  Beforehand, I had talked to Rob about Michelle and I dropping our books off to be signed.  He so awesomely said yes [seriously, I love this guy], so we were able to leave the masses [I can't even express how many people were there] and head home.  I'm convinced there are still peopled lined up right now.

 

These three ladies were a lot of fun.  There were giggles and a great crowd passionate about their books.  I wish I would have had the patience to wait through the line to actually meet them.
 

The time there were stories

I had planned on catching Kami at her date at The Grove. However, as I was expecting to be driving back from Arizona on that day, I wasn't entirely sure. And then a date was announced at MG a day later, so of course that's where I decided to go.

I met Michelle for a coffee date before hand and we actually behaved ourselves once we got into the store. For every copy of Unbreakable that was purchased, a raffle ticket was given and the grand prize was a $50 gift certificate to MG and swag!

 

As we were sitting down, Jennifer was handing out goodies. We got stickers and keychains and bracelets. And then, she handed me a free copy of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, after I convinced Michelle that I didn't need her to buy me a copy. 

 

The ladies came in around 6:45 and they posed with their books before the event started.

 

Lissa started out by telling everyone that Nancy and she were at the stop to celebrate Kami's launch. And then she gave a synopsis of Starters. 

 

Kami talked about setting up the swag box and how she had a lot of male readers and no one wanted jewelry. She then started talking about Unbreakable, the hot twins and the awesome-not-supernatural-skills they all have. 

Nancy then talked about how she worked at MG for a while and how she has written over 200 short stories. She also writes for Teen Wolf.

 

Kami and Nancy were talking about the blurb that Nancy gave for the book. Kami said that she wanted to blow it up and put it on the wall in her office because she loved it so much.

And then Kami started talking about how she did a segment where they videoed parts of her office. She did a school visit the day before and the video played in the background while she was there. She said it played for way to long...it was about 90 seconds long. Her kids have different views about the office. Her son wants the door to stay closed so his friends don't see the weird things and tell their moms. Her daughter wants to bring all of her Daisy Scouts over so they can see the stuff. 

Kami read from the book. She chose chapter 3 because it used to be chapter 1. Her editor said that maybe it should be changed so the reader can meet the person first. Kami said it didn't matter because they were going to die anyways.

 

And then Q&A started...

Is it different for you writing by yourself?

Yes. It's a lot different. I liked writing this book and I really like this book. I got to draw and design the symbols in the book and my family is from DC. I used an inspiration board this time and outlined a lot. I'm not touring alone, but the big difference is that with a partner you get instant feedback. Someone who will tell you, "ooh, I loved that". This time, I had to write pages and pages wondering if what I was writing really sucked. 

Kami to Nancy: what's the difference for you?

N: The difference is with the deadline. If you're running late, no one can help you on it. With working with a partner, while writing, you wonder if what you're writing will be something the partner likes.

 

Kami to Lissa: have you ever written with someone?

I have. The stuff I've written was tv stuff. I have a writing group that I love and will never leave. If anyone wants to start writing, I suggest getting a group. [Kami: you should talk about your background. Lissa: Nooo.]

Lissa, what is your background?

I've done a lot a traveling. I spent 2 years just going east. I was a kid whose parents never traveled. And my husband was known as cheap in the group of Swiss friends, so it was always a battle between a nice hotel or a crappy one. I use a lot of that in my books. 

What is the most drastic thing you've done for a deadline?

N: It was my turn to work and I slept on the couch and I would set the oven timer for one hour of sleep. One hour of work, then one hour of sleep. 

K: Margie and I always make our deadlines together. No matter how much time you have, it's never enough. For this book, I only had 5 weeks. Mostly, I just stay up. I'll stay up until 4-5am and then sleep for a couple of hours. 

I type with three fingers. My assistant, Chloe, types really fast, so I've been dictating it to her. It works a lot better because I can't see the screen so I can't edit it. She'll only read back 2 sentences before forcing me to continue. 

I don't do word count, I go by pages. So I know some secrets about margins and how to add pages. And I think of the word count like sick days, we've got to have some banked. Beautiful Creatures was 158k words, so they must owe me around 90k.

 

What would your superpower be?

L: Flying. 

K: Flying would be the worst ever. I want to always sit next to the baby. I figure if something is going to happen, God isn't going to take the baby. The best flight I ever had was because I had a baby on one side and a nurse on the other. 

I'm really superstitious and I don't like 13s anywhere. I'd rather have 666 than a 13. [Insert story here about a hotel room ending in 13, rape structures, a man sleeping in the newly assigned room and Kami getting upgraded to the penthouse. I couldn't even get the entire thing down.] 

Kami picked did the raffle just before 8pm [I didn't win] and then we lined up for the signing part.  Michelle was first.  When we got up there, Kami encouraged us to take more swag.  When I handed my stack of arcs for Jaime & Erin, Kami asked if I was the pack mule. 

I didn't get a finished copy for myself because I got a signed arc at SDCC and I'm trying to keep things slightly under control.  But, I did get a copy and some swag for a giveaway at some point.

Kami has always been a lot of fun to see, but she was hilarious tonight.  There were so many stories that I couldn't keep up with to type up because I was laughing so hard.  I can only tell you that you should definitely pick up Unbreakable and if you can, go see her at an event.

The time we were invited

We met Danny Marks when he was touring for Velveteen. We ended up hanging out with him in the back room of MGRB before the signing and just cracking up at all of the stories he told beforehand.

Fast forward a few months. I happened to see Danny's tweet about coming to San Diego and I immediately asked the when's and where's about his trip. We made tentative plans to meet up while he was in town. Fast forward a couple of days ago. I got a tweet from Danny telling me that he was going to be at Mysterious Galaxy. I happened to see the event just a few minutes before he told me about it [the use of his real name, Mark Henry, threw me off] and instantly started rearranging things at work to go. 

Finally, the day of the event came. I ended up meeting Hubs there. We ran over to Starbucks and ended up running into Mark there. We chatted for a few minutes and cackled [maybe that was just me] over the stories he once again shared with us. 

Mark started talking just after 6pm. He admitted that he wasn't really expecting to read anything [it wasn't a , so he opened it up by saying that he would read anything or answer any questions. Emphasis on the any.

He started with reading Bait. Because with sharks and heroin, what else do you need?

 

After reading not even a paragraph of Bait, he decided to talk about returning back to writing adult novels. 

The first thing his publisher told him that he had to change his name to write YA because all publishers can track your sales by your name. He is still working on a second YA book because he had a 2 book deal. 

He's currently writing a paranormal romance series. Demonic possessions occurring a lot and the church isn't able to keep up on it. The demons use the body to death and then possess the organs. The characters in the book have to track the possessed organs and take them back, which leads to people waking up in motel bathtubs without kidneys. 

 

Annnnnnnnnd, that's all I have for notes.  I'm not even sure that's correct information about his book. I was laughing so hard and trying to focus on taking notes, but I just. Couldn't. Stop. Laughing. Not even to take pictures, hence the ONE PHOTO.

Anyhoo.

There weren't any questions, so Mark just started signing books.  There were three other people and they had traveled from Norco [which is about 90 minutes north].  They chatted with Mark while having their books signed and took photos.

When it was our turn, I was going to take a photo of Mark signing and actually said, "Don't look at me, just keep signing".  And then this happened...

 

*giggles*

We ended up heading over to a sports bar in the same parking lot as MG for happy hour.  We drank and laughed and ate and laughed and heard a lot of things about a lot of Mark's books and laughed even more.  I can't say enough awesome things about him.

Read his books.  And if you get a chance, go see him at an event.  You will be entertained, I promise.

The time it was steampunk themed

I read Innocent Darkness when it was a book club choice and I really enjoyed it. When Charmed Vengence was released on NetGalley, I eagerly requested it. Once I was approved, I devoured it and loved it even more than the first one.

So, when I saw Suzanne was going to be signing at Mysterious Galaxy, it a pretty sure thing. 

I got down to the store just after 1pm, got a chai tea from Starbucks and headed over to bug my favorite employee, Rob. We talked about Tim Burton and books while he set up the event area. 

Suzanne got to the store around 1:30 and started setting up a tray of cupcakes. All of a sudden, there was a loud scream...and the entire tray of cupcakes had fallen into the shelf of books. And of course, I had to point out to Rob that I had NOTHING to do with it. 

 

Suzanne started at 2:20. She started talking about her costumes and how she was once mistaken for an Amish person when in costume getting gas and wearing a corset. Then went into the synopsis for Charmed Vengeance.  

 

She asked if anyone wanted to call out a number for her to read.  I said 19, her daughter said 59 and she read a portion of the scene on each page.

 

From there, it was an open Q&A session. There was only one other person at the start of the Q&A [more showed up later] so, her and I just went back and forth asking the questions.  Thanks in advance to Gretchen McNeil for your awesome SCBWI guerilla panel questions.
 

What is your writing process like?

Vomits out books, messy dirty drafts. Book 1 had an outline, but it was a different story. It wasn't steampunk. Charlotte wasn't in the story. Book 2 was entirely pantsed. People had opinions of where it should go, some of them came from twitter. Or taxi cab conversations with other YA author friends. 

I don't usually go back, I work on getting all of the words on the page and then make it pretty. When you only have an hour a day to write and a deadline looming, the word count is important.

Did you devise playlists while writing? 

It's a combination of writing while listening. I use the playlists to switch mindsets between drafting and editing. 

Best and worst thing that's happened since being published?

Best: signing arcs at BEA. Felt so honored and humbled to see hundreds of people in line. But then you go to a bookstore for a signing and it's closed. 

What's going to happen in book 3?

There will be some great things happening. We finally get to meet Elyse and she gets to start doing things. 

 

What about Kevin?

He grows up and realizes that maybe drinking isn't the best lifestyle choice. He gets a bit of a happily ever after. We do see more of James and the Dark King in book 3. 

What is one thing you wish someone would have told you about publishing?

That it took so long. It was 27 months from the time book 1 sold to the time it was published. I felt like I was pregnant for 2 years.

Did you already know the group of authors that you're good friends with?

I started writing at RWA before YA was really accepted and was part of the 2012 Apocalypsies, so I've done a lot of things with the same authors who have become friends.

Current guilty pleasure?

I'm a mom, so if I buy candy, everyone else eats it. But I love sour patch kids. A lot of them lost their lives while writing book 2.

Weirdest thing googled while doing research?

Victorian torture scenes from book 1 were based on real things. 

What do you do in your free time?

Between a day job, being a mom and cleaning the house, I've found that people want food too. 

What is your favorite genre?

I read a lot of YA and steampunk. I have a huge TBR pile. [There was a lot more to this answer, but I was taking photos.]

What 3 things would you take to a desert island?

I would take him, *points to husband*. His response? "And then you'd survive."  Her daughter answered, "And a computer."

What's next?

I have several projects, but I write fairy tales. Pretty much everything I write is based on that, some are magical and some aren't. [Her daughter kept interjecting different things, different characters and Suzanne told her that those books weren't written yet.]

 

Describe the series in 5 words. 

Who put fairies in my steampunk?

I always get questions about the fairies. People don't realize that in the Victorian era there were many prominent people thought they could talk to fairies. 

If you could write any famous novel, what would it be?

 

If there was an answer to this, I didn't hear it.  Somehow this got into a discussion about a cupcake cannon and how her husband is going to make her one.

Around 2:50, Suzanne said she would be happy to sign books.  When I got to her, I thanked her for coming and started taking all of the swag that was on the table.  We briefly chatted about the fact that authors pay for their own swag, but didn't get to say much more than that. A couple came rushing in to the store, came right up to the table and started talking to Suzanne about how they weren't sure they were going to make it.

  

As I was gathering up my stuff to leave, I ended up talking with Suzanne's husband. [John? I'm so sorry that I'm horrible with names!!]  He had heard Rob and I talking about NOS4A2, but didn't catch the book title.  I may have fangirled over it a bit and told him the store probably had signed copies, that he should definitely get one.

After quickly saying bye to Rob, I headed home.  It might have been a small gathering of people to see Suzanne, but it definitely made for an interesting conversation.  I'm not sure I would have wanted it any other way!