Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a young adult contemporary author and so far I’ve published two books, am about to publish a third, and am in the middle of writing the fourth of the series.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Skinniness is Next to Goddessness? Anna’s Story. I had an eating disorder in high school, and this may sound dumb, but I didn’t even know it. When I saw eating disorders portrayed in the media the situations always seemed so black and white and so bleak. You were either anorexic or bulimic. A person with an eating disorder would have to be consumed by it and their lives revolved around it. I know there are true life instances like this out there and my telling another side to the story isn’t a way of taking away from what’s out there, but adding to it. I just felt like there were girls like me (I cut my calories down to 200-300 a day while playing sports for a few months) that still hung out with their friends, went to the mall, and let their crushes on boys consume their every waking thought, that might enjoy hearing a different type of eating disorder story. Anna’s Story is the second in the series. She and four other girls are a part of a group called the Sunday Lunchers. They use their group to explore their “bad relationships” with food, but still have issues like trying to get accepted into Ivy League Universities and falling in love with their cousin’s baby daddy.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I need absolute silence in order to write which is near impossible with a rambunctious six-year-old and I usually think of all of my ideas in the shower.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh gosh. I am a product of the late eighties and early nineties so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t read The Babysitter’s Club or Sweet Valley High. But I did balance that out with Little House on the Prairie, all of the Anne books, anything by Madeleine L’engle, and, of course, Jane Austen.
What are you working on now?
I’m writing the fourth book of the Skinniness is Next to Goddessness? series, Tina’s Story. I love Tina. She’s an outspoken front woman for an all boy country/rock band. Since I started the series somewhat knowing each girl, it’s been fun to really get to know her. She’s got plenty of secrets and I’ve really enjoyed uncovering them and figuring out who she really is.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far I’ve done little promotion since my books just came out a little over a week ago, but I’m enjoying Awesomegang so far 🙂
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you love it. If you’re doing it to make money or to become famous, I’m not saying it won’t happen, but mostly likely, you’ll be disappointed. Research, learn, and get advice and then listen to your gut. No one knows what’s best for your book better than you, but make sure you’re as educated as you can be before that point.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write because you love it. If I didn’t love my books, my characters, or writing, I’d have quit looong ago. It’s hard, but super rewarding.
What are you reading now?
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to finish this series and maybe write a few novellas. A few of the girls stories didn’t seem complete after I wrote the words The End, so I’ll have to go back to them, maybe from the point of view of their love interests. I’m also writing Cinderella’s Asagao, the story of a young woman during WWII who lived in Japan.
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?
Now that’s just mean, but I’ll play along. Pride and Prejudice, The Moon Dwellers by David Estes, A Wrinkle in Time, and Anne of Windy Poplars.
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