Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a lifelong writer and riot grrrl. After studying and reading literary fiction for most of my life, I put my toe into the pulp, PNR, and plot-driven story pool and I haven’t turned back since. I’d been collecting my writing for years thinking that literary fiction was the only goal that traditional publishing was the only way to get there. Thankfully, I learned my lesson . Since then, I’ve independently published two books in an urban fantasy series (Incarnate Series) and two standalone women’s fiction novels. In 2015, I’ll be releasing the third installment of the Incarnate Series and another women’s fiction novel, The Closest Thing to OK.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Heart Grow Fonder is my latest novel. I think the title speaks for itself. It was inspired – of all things – by Weezer’s “Across the Sea” and the budding friendship of the actors on the set of Star Trek: Into Darkness, *and* the troubles of a close friend at the time. I’m a fan girl and a riot grrrl, and those things just came together in the perfect way to create the perfect story.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a marathon writer. I think that’s pretty unusual. I can pound out a novel in a very short time. I work on it for a long time after, but getting it out of me doesn’t take that long at all.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Jane Austen, without a doubt. But I guess that’s like tossing a grenade because it sets a precedent, right? I say I write the books that Jane Austen would have written if she had been a riot grrrl, and that might confuse some people, primarily because they don’t know what a riot grrrl is. That’s OK. When it comes to urban fantasy, I’m really just inspired by the variety of books out there and the genre, as a whole. I love it. I love the conventions, I love the romance of it all, and I love the magic.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on revising The Closest Thing to OK, which will go to editing in February.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think that people much more successful and much more savvy – like Dean Wesley Smith, Joe Konrath, David Gaughran, Joanna Penn, etc. – have the right ideas, and I’m willing to follow the path they lay out so long as it works for me.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stephen King said it best: Read a lot.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
See above.
What are you reading now?
Right now, I’m reading James Randi’s Flim-Flam! and Sam Harris’s Waking Up. I guess that’s pretty odd considering it’s probably the furthest from my genres that I can get, eh?
What’s next for you as a writer?
I did a lot of publishing in 2014 and I’m content to sow my garden in 2015. I think that’s going to be the focus. If I get a new story out, then that will be a boon.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Without a doubt, I’d take something I haven’t read. So one fiction work, like Proust and another nonfiction book that can teach me things that I don’t understand very well, like something by Sagan or even Krauss. It will take me forever, keeping me occupied and satisfied and giving me plenty to ponder. Then, I’d want to take my comfort food: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. I’d want something that uplifts me, so I’d take the biggest collection of ee cummings I could find. Seriously. Whichever has the most of his poems, I’d be good with.
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