Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As a life-long nerd, I selfishly write redeemable villains and subtle magic in plain sight to satisfy my own craving for wild adventures and epic loves. Enter GILDED LIES,my debut book that combines the best parts of X-Men and Sense8. I also have a small publication in an online anthology, and write content for a romantic branching narrative series (it’s under an NDA, but look for news next year!). You can often find me snuggled up with good stories, good tea, and desperately coaxing my bunnies to cuddle. They still refuse.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Gilded Lies was inspired by a lifelong love of nerdy media and a compulsion to tell stories. My degree in film studies gave me an addiction to pop-culture and I needed to share stories with my own spin. The superpowers in the book are often described as mellow X-Men-esque evolutionary abilities, thus the tagline of “Tantalize. Taste. Suck. Such misleading superpowers…” because truly, they aren’t what you’d expect.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
You mean other than obsessively? My process isn’t particularly unusual, but my expectations are. I’ve tossed eight different full manuscripts before even approaching Gilded Lies. Then I rewrote it four times and used two different editors. It’s so bad my friend said, “You’re not a half-assed queen, you’re a full-assed queen.” Little does she know how accurate that description is in multiple ways.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve had a huge author crush on Darynda Jones for a while now, as well as Rainbow Rowell—I mean she basically wrote a gay Harry Potter! Patrick Rothfuss is an inspiring delight whenever you can get him in a room, and I’ll follow Gail Carriger everywhere, and not just for her style! Basically when an author is willing to lift up others, I love them.
What are you working on now?
Currently I’m tacking book two and three in the Frequency Series. It will be a four book series in total (yes, I’m big on planning), but each book is in a very different stage. The multitude of ideas feel like popcorn popping in my head. I’m also contracted to write a script for a secret game project. It’s so freaking fun.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I LOVE Pinterest. Probably because I’m on there constantly. That, and my cover is gorgeous in my totally biased opinion. I selfishly love watching how many people save it to boards ranging from comic books to digital art. My artist, Robert Ball, has done cover art for a number of NYT bestselling books and I’m so grateful he was into the idea of taking on Gilded Lies. An amazing cover makes a huge difference! And mine is clearly amazing 🤣
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t stop writing. Write a thing, toss it aside and write something else before you even look at it again. Study writing books, learn plot structure, gather a group of fellow writers close to your skill level and learn together. Whatever you do, keep creating. Keep pushing your limits. Keep learning.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always be learning. There is no mastering this craft, and things will always change. Having flexibility and willingness to go with the flow is essential to sticking with it.
Follow your intuition. If you learn early how to listen to it, it will be a reliable guide through the dynamic landscape of writing and publishing. Watch and learn from others, digest the information, and spit it out in your own uniquely creative loogie.
Embrace your weird. Felicia Day has a whole book on this (which I highly recommend) and it’s a refreshing look at why you NEED to be a little (or a lot) weird in this world.
What are you reading now?
Several craft books by Chris Fox, David Gaughren, and some resources by Sarra Cannon (remember that always be learning tip? Yeah, that’s me). For fun I’m really into Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing—what a cool look into the intensity of being a high level influencer in the middle of a contemporary sci-fi adventure!
What’s next for you as a writer?
What isn’t? This is just the beginning. I have the rest of the Frequency Series to publish, a game script to complete, and a big dream of living off my income as a writer. Plus I really want to have a booth at a comic-com someday (spend all day talking to my people? YES PLEASE), but that’s not an option for a while, because pandemic.
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?
😱Crap. I hope at least one would be a survival guide because otherwise I’d be doomed. Hmm. Perhaps Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Aaand some kind of massive anthology of all the Sailor Moon manga—don’t judge. It’s awesome.
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