Interview with Monica Leonelle

Author Monica Leonelle is doing a blog tour to promote her new novel, Socialpunk, the first novel in a new trilogy, and is making a stop at Simply Nerdy Book Reviews to be interviewed by nobody other than yours truly! I also received an advanced copy of Socialpunk--you can read my review here. 

Monica Leonelle is a well-known digital media strategist and the author of three novels. She blogs at Prose on Fire (http://proseonfire.com) and shares her writing and social media knowledge with other bloggers and authors through her Free Writer Toolkit (http://proseonfire.com/free-writer-toolkit).

Q: How did you choose the genre you write in? Your first novel, Social Pollination, focused mainly on digital marketing by way of social media, and your next two novels, Silver Smoke and Tin Soldier, were urban fantasy. Socialpunk is dystopian. How did you find yourself going between all of these drastically different genres? Which did you enjoy more? 

A: I consider myself a young adult fiction author. My first book was a career move within the business world. It was great for getting my feet wet with writing and publishing. But young adult fiction is where my heart is.

I don't see fantasy and science fiction as so different. I love both, and there is a lot of crossover between readers, especially since the books are grounded in young adult experiences.

Q: When writing a novel, do you work with an outline, or just write?

A: I 100% believe in detailed plotting. I will outline my entire book by chapter, then by scene, then by paragraph. I think this is essential for writing an addictive book or a "page-turner." It's also essential for writing a ton of words very quickly.

When I edit, I have a list of about 20 things I edit for that pertain to marketing psychology. For example, one of the things I edit for is tension, or whether I'm opening and closing plots in every scene. I think most writers would do better in the marketplace if they edited for marketability. Yes, line editing and beautiful prose can help, but really, The Hunger Games isn't exactly great writing. Yet the books are an international phenomenon. Because it's a great story with lots of marketability.

I'm an editor myself (specializing in the marketability of books) but I also run my book by an editor... it's just the right thing to do. You can't rely on self-editing alone.

I'm really big on creating fascinating hooks. If you are a writer you can find out if your first 1000 words are hooking here: http://proseonfire.com/post/20340477218/prose-on-fire-first-1000-free-email-consultation.

Q: What sort of environment do you write best in? (Do you use a pen and paper? Laptop? Quiet room? Mood music? Dog at your feet? Cat on the desk?)

A: I write on my couch, often with the TV on (right now I'm watching Revenge) and use my laptop, primarily. My dog is typically at my feet, lol. I sometimes (especially when writing fiction) switch to music instead of a TV show.

Q: What are your favorite types of scenes to write? (Romance? Action? Dialogue? Etc.)

A: I used to be best at dialogue, but now I really enjoy writing description. It's funny how your weaknesses can become your strengths as you grow as a writer. Which then makes you strengths your weaknesses, so you start working on those. Dialogue and characterization are my weaknesses right now, but it changes. I work so hard to get better and better. So, right now, I'm loving the descriptive, world-building scenes. I think that shows in Socialpunk.

Q: Is there any particular author or book that influenced you (or your writing) in any way either growing up or as an adult?

A: C.S. Lewis has had a huge influence on my writing, especially for my Seven Halos series. The way he incorporates his Catholic religion into his children's stories is interesting. I really enjoyed the Voyage of the Dawn Treader as well, and the concept will be the basis for a serialized fiction series I'm doing, tentatively titled The Seven Seas.

For the Socialpunk series, I was heavily influenced by Cory Doctorow, Chris Anderson, Seth Godin, and Kevin Kelly, who talk a lot about copyright and other social and tech-related topics.

Q: What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

A: The toughest criticism for me is one you might not expect: that I need an editor! I have an editor and I *am* an editor. So this really irks me. Sometimes it feels like reviewers just jump to the conclusion that if they don't like a book, it must mean the editing wasn't strong enough. There are so many other reasons they might not like the book that primarily revolve around just not being in the target audience for it. And those can't be fixed by "more editing." I see reviewers say this about all books, published traditionally or independently, so I'm trying to learn not to take it personally.

The best compliment for me right now is when people compare my book to The Hunger Games favorably. I just really love that series and of course, it's very hot right now. That makes me feel like I'm on the right track with what I wanted to create. My book still needs a bit of work to get it to that next level, but I'm glad people are finding it addictive so far. I feel that's how books should be, and I strive to do that with every series I create.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Monica!


SIMPLY NERDY BOOK REVIEWS

Interview with Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance!

Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance are the authors of The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading. Check back here later for my review!

Q: As The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading is about a geeky girl and her just-as-geeky friend trying out for cheerleading, I'm curious. In what position were you in high school (meaning a nerd, a prep, an art freak, a drama queen, a skater chick, a band geek—I think you know the rest)?
C: I was definitely a geek. Case in point: I was a Girl Scout for twelve years, which was so not cool. Until my troop earned enough money for a trip to Europe, that is.
D: I had classes with all the other geeks and we were friends so, part classic geek. But I was also definitely an art freak. I had friends who were way into band, orchestra or theatre so I sometimes hung with the music geeks and drama queens. On top of all that, my main boyfriend was a jock so I spent some time with the sports crowd too. I guess I was a Hybrid Geek, or maybe om-nerd-verous ; )
Q: Charity, after reading the "Our Story Behind the Story" page at The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading website (www.thegeekgirlsguide.com), I was wondering if you could tell us more about the process of being co-authors for a novel. I have read plenty of books written by two people, but never really understood how it works exactly. I mean, not everyone has the same writing style, and not everyone can write one thing with another person without having major disagreements. Would you mind clearing this up for us?


C: In our case, it helped that we'd been both friends and critique partners for about ten years or so. We find many of the same things funny, which I think is another plus.


The mechanics of it go something like this: one of us will write the draft of something, then we'll pass it back and forth. When we first started working together on The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading, you could tell which parts were me and which were Darcy's.
After a while, we both learned how to make all parts Bethany's. I can't really explain it better than that except to say that, as with most types of writing, it took time and practice.
Q: You guys clearly knew each other before this novel came along. Was it weird to be working together on a book, or was it just fun to be doing something with a friend?


C: It was definitely fun. We'd been working together as critique partners for so long, in some ways this really wasn't much different--we just spent more virtual time together.


D: It was FUN!


Q: Were any of the characters in The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading based—no matter how loosely—on people from your own time in high school? Or do some of them—especially Chantal Simmons and other members of the so-called "in-crowd"—just share similar qualities to people who attended school with you at one point?


C: I draw from real life, things I've either experienced or people I've known, but no one character is based on anyone I actually knew growing up.


D: Charity already had all the characters in place by the time I started working on the book with her so I didn't establish any of them on my own. I did have people from high school in mind as I wrote though, especially those characters at the extreme ends of the popularity spectrum. Every time I even think about Todd, I see this kid named Richard's face. And, in my mind, there are two Chantals.


There's "good" Chantal who reminds of a girl I knew named Kim. Kim and I went to the same church and we had a few classes together. She was fabulously popular, pretty, from a wealthy family and she had a shoe collection that would rival Chantal's. Kim was always nice to me at church functions and in class -- but outside of that, it was like I did not exist for her. I wasn't unpopular in school but I was definitely not in her stratosphere. We could be walking down the halls in a direct path toward each other and she would never ever wave at me or acknowledge my existence in any way, but, in a different setting, she was totally cool.


"Evil" Chantal reminds me of another girl, one who I wished would not acknowledge me. She comes up as a potential "friend" suggestion on Facebook sometimes and, all these years later, I still wince when I see her face.


Q: I know tons of girls that are too afraid to try things, or even be themselves, because they think that they're not as "pretty as {insert name of popular person here}" or they "don't have the same kind of clothes as {insert name of popular person here}" or they "are too awkward and quiet for a guy to like them" or they even "are afraid people judge them because of their freckles and birthmarks—they wish their skin was more like {insert name of popular person here}". I personally find it sad that all of these girls can't even go to school without feeling like someone is going to make fun of them, or can't even leave the house without feeling nervous about being themselves. What are your views on the social status at most schools currently, and the serious issues with school cliques?


C: Darcy has answered really well (see below), but I relate. It took me a long time to work up the courage and try new things and feel good about the way I looked. I channeled a lot of that into The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading.


D: I could write pages and pages about this – oh wait, I did – they're all in The Geek Girl's Guide! But really, I spend a lot of time in high schools and it is just like you said: there are tons of girls who suffer through some pretty brutal self esteem problems. Most of the worst ones I've seen were caused by other people who were cruel and thoughtless – but a lot of the time, girls put these judgments on themselves.


We all think that everyone is watching every move we make but the truth is, most people are so wrapped up in worrying about themselves that they don't even notice that zit you have on your chin or the way your belly fat muffins over your jeans, or even that huge extra chunk you accidentally tweezed out of your eyebrows when you sneezed (oh wait, that one was me, not you, lol).


The best thing girls can do to combat this is to just suck in a big breath and ask themselves, What is the worst thing that could happen if I…? Usually, the worst thing isn't any more awful than what is already going on. And yeah, it won't always work out – some people will label you and try to keep you from getting outside of the box they've placed you in, but that's not as sad as staying in that box on purpose. TRY. It could turn out to be amazing!

Interview with Jillian Cantor

Please give a warm welcome to Jillian Cantor, the author of the highly anticipated novel, The September Sisters, which will be releases on February 24th, 2009 (eeeep! Sorry i bombarded you with questions Jillian!) Please click HERE to read the summary!

Here is the AMAZING conversation i had with her:

1) Your first book, The September Sisters, which will be released in February 2009, discusses the constant conflict and bantering of siblings. How did you accumulate the feelings, or tenor, of two sisters?

I actually do have a younger sister. (And I have some pictures of us on my website in the “story behind the story” here: http://www.jilliancantor.com/Story.htm ). But yeah, living it, growing up with a younger sister, really did give me the background I needed to write about sister relationships in the book. In the first chapter of the book, the two sisters are fighting in the pool over an inner tube – absolutely a real occurrence in my own childhood. My sister and I always fought over things in the pool!

2) What inspired you to write The September Sisters?

I’m not sure it was one thing. Once I got into my twenties, and my sister and I actually became friends, I started to think a lot about what our relationship was like growing up. (We hated each other when we were younger!) At the time I wrote the book, there were also a lot of stories in the news about missing children, and it occurred to me to think about what might happen to the sister of a child who disappeared. I also wondered, how would my own life have been different without my sister?

3)What is it you want the readers to be thinking and/or feeling when they are reading your book? What is it that you want your readers to get from it?

Well, first and foremost I want readers to enjoy the book! I love becoming absorbed in a book –so that I feel the characters as real people and become emotionally involved in their lives, and I hope when people read my book they have that sort of all-consuming experience.

4)I hear you love to read (we have that in common. dont we, guys?). What is your favorite classic (Mine is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte)?

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – every time I reread it, I always fall in love with it all over again.

5)What are your five favorite books?

Wow! It’s tough to pick only 5, but here goes: Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb, and Birds of America by Lorrie Moore.

6) Random Question: What was running through your mind when you saw that i had sent you yet ANOTHER email, this one containing these questions?

I’m thrilled that you’re excited about the book.

7)What was the last book you read? What did you think about it? Why did you choose that book?
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston. Lesley and I blog together at The Novel Girls – http://www.thenovelgirls.blogspot.com , and I was totally blown away by how smart and beautiful the book is. Right now I’m in the middle of reading All We Know of Heaven by Jacqueline Mitchard – it’s depressing but also captivating. I found this one at the library!

8)For me, music is a key point in writing. Are there any certain types of genres and/or bands/artists/songs you were drawn to while writing both the September Sisters and its sequel (which, to my knowledge, is being released in 2010)? Were any certain songs inspirational?

Just to clarify – my second book will be out from Harperteen in 2010, but it’s not a sequel to The September Sisters. It’s called The Life of Glass, and it’s about a 14-year-old girl who learns about life, love, and beauty in her freshman year of high school. But back to your question: I never listen to music when I write. I need total quiet to think and become absorbed in the story and the characters – music always takes me out of that. Although I do love music (I’m even married to a musician/songwriter!) – just not when I’m writing! I love strong female singers like Sarah McLachlan, Kelly Clarkson, Colbie Callet, and Sara Bareilles. I also really like John Mayer and Jason Mraz.

9) From what I got from reading your About Me on your website, http://www.blogger.com/, you had to definitely work hard to even get the September Sisters written, let alone PUBLUSHED. Do you think that persistence is the key to getting a book written/published? If so, why? If not, please explain.

Yes, I think that’s a big part of it. You can’t give up on yourself even when you get a lot of rejection, or even if the first thing you write doesn’t sell. But I think it’s a combination of other things, too, good writing and luck. You could be the best writer but not get published if what you wrote isn’t what agents or editors are looking for. You still have to be in the right place at the right time. And that’s where the persistence and the luck come in. Hanging in there until you find that right one person who loves your work, even if 100 other people don’t, and being lucky enough to connect with that person to begin with – both play a big role in getting published.

10)What is something you would tell a young writer (like a young adult/adolecent) unwilling to pursue their dream to become an author?

Being a writer (usually) isn’t an easy choice or an easy career path. But if it’s what you love and if writing makes you happy, then find a way to write. Focus on becoming a good writer and on making your craft really excellent. Most writers have “day” jobs, too, so be realistic about it – there’s a very good chance you won’t be able to support yourself as an author when you first start out, if ever. But don’t give up on a dream! I didn’t give up on mine.

11)We are all really looking forward to the September Sisters. What is something you feel we should know about the book?

The September Sisters is about what happens to a girl’s life after her sister disappears, but it’s also a love story, about falling in love for the first time, in particular. This is one of my personal favorite aspects of the book! The September Sisters comes out on February 24th, and you can pre-order it on Amazon now. Oh, and stop by my website www.jilliancantor.com .

Thanks a ton, Jillian!