Please start by telling us a little about yourself,
including things like education, jobs, spouse, children, pets, etc.
I grew up outside of Philadelphia,
PA and spent the last few years fulfilling a dream to live in the Rittenhouse
Square area, which is a hub for luxurious restaurants, hip shops, and lively
entertainment with my feline partner in crime, Minka. This is the perfect place
for a curious foodie and arts explorer to find new ways to get into trouble.
Recently, I married my true love and
we moved to Los Angeles, California. We’ve enjoyed learning about the vastness
that constitutes Los Angeles County and anticipate many more years of
adventures before we truly grasp a smidge of all that LA has to offer.
I am teaching an intensive workshop
on Author Branding at the Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA in May as
well as teaching seminars on editing and revision techniques.
Tell us about your latest book and what inspired you to
write it.
My latest book is entitled
“Luscious” and is about a young woman, Lee, who is about to graduate with her
MA in Comparative Literature and take off for a teaching gig in Hawaii when
Xander, a man with sea green eyes, literally runs into her at a coffee shop and
dubs her “luscious”. Meanwhile her best
friend, Bincy, returns home from college with quite a bit of news for her
friends and family back. Both facing major life events, they lean on each other
through addictions, love, and questions of sexual identity.
My latest nonfiction piece is an
essay on author branding, which will be published in the Now What? The
Creative Writer's Guide to Success After the MFA. This will be launched at the Association of Writers and Writing
Programs (AWP) Conference on February, 28, 2014.
Do you belong to any critique groups and/or do you have
other people read your work as you're writing it? Who's brutally honest and
who's a cheerleader? Which do you prefer?
I have several trusted readers whom
I beg to review pieces. I’ve met them through conferences, workshops, and various
critique groups. I typically share the initial 20 pages or so to gain their
thoughts on the concept and where they see the story going as well as if they
identify any major flaws in the characterization and such. After that, I
refocus on the overall story and dive into it. I share chapters along the way
to find out if different writing techniques and storylines are working.
I’ve been lucky in finding readers
who are both honest and cheerleaders. The best reader is one that will tell you
what you’re doing well and what’s not working for them.
Which authors have been the greatest inspiration to your
writing?
Everything I read acts as an
inspiration in some capacity. The piece teaches me new ways to write, provides
miraculous stories, or shows me how I may not want to write. Authors who have
inspired me most recently include:
Toni Morrison
Jane Austen
CS Lewis
Paul Harding
Carolyn Turgeon
Erin Morgenstern
Do you outline before you write or just dive head-first
into a manuscript? Do you maintain a schedule for writing, or is it
more haphazard?
Typically an image, scene, or saying haunts me until I need
to write it down. Then I free-write for twenty or so pages. By then I have a
better understanding of the storyline so l develop a loose outline. As I
continue writing, I change the outline as the story evolves.
Jamie Ford has a theory that most authors write the way they
completed college assignments. This
definitely applies to me. In college I spent weeknights and days reading and
studying. On weekends I knocked out papers, essays, and larger works that
needed focused time. This is how I write
today.
Where do you do your
best writing? (Ex: desk in your office, public library, under a tree in the
park, in front of a Real Housewives
TV marathon, etc.) Do you like music or some other background noise, or do you
need quiet?
Anywhere I can find a laptop or writing implement and
paper. I’ve been known to curl up on a
bathroom floor during early morning hours (so I wouldn’t disturb others) and
pound out pages. I’ve even been spotted at a bar, coffee shop, or common area
during a conference while writing to an impending deadline.
One challenge I have is that if I’m having difficulty
focusing then I cannot listen to music with lyrics otherwise I type the lyrics within
the story resulting in a rather confusing and yet melodic piece.
What are the best and worst parts of writing a book?
Writing stories that engage
readers is a gift. One that I cherish. I feel blessed that I can share my
passions with others.
When you're driving
and you have a sudden, brilliant idea for the new manuscript you're working on,
what do you do? (Ex: pull over and fire up the laptop, keep driving while
scribbling on a McDonald's bag, tell Siri, etc.)
I usually let it go and see if it comes back again.
Typically if the idea is THAT GOOD then it comes back over and over again until
I write it down.
When you go to the
zoo, which animals do you visit first?
I haven’t been to the zoo since my teens. This said, I’d
prefer a mythological zoo that encompasses dragons, flying horses, unicorns,
phoenixes, and the like.
What are the top 5
titles in your Netflix queue? (Be honest.) Or if you don't have a Netflix
queue, which books are on your bedside table? (Again, be honest.)
Books I’m currently reading:
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orleans
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour
The Art of Falling by Kathryn Craft
Do you prefer to read
ebooks or print?
I adore having the pages of a book in my hands. I love the
feel of the pages as I anticipate the next words waiting for me on the
subsequent page. This said, if a story is engaging then no matter if it is in
print or ebook form, I will devour it.
What do you enjoy
doing, apart from writing?
I’m a foodie so discovering new and eclectic places to dine
is a treasure. I love to travel and find
any and every excuse I can to hop on a plane. My next journey involves Seattle,
Washington.
I am an arts nerd at heart so I love concerts, movies,
plays, museums and the like. And of course, the key to these adventures is
enjoying them with my soul mate.
Where is your favorite
place in the world?
Paris,
France. I never thought I would love Paris but after my initial visit I was
hooked. My dream is to have homes in Paris, France, and Philadelphia, PA as
well as our current residence. Oh, and a
seaside home would be lovely too. I also became enchanted with Barcelona, Spain
for too many reasons to reasonably be listed here.
Do you have any advice for people who want to write a book?
Do it. Don’t ponder writing, don’t
plan to write, don’t tell your friends about your dream of writing. Read
authors you love and ones you don’t love. Then write, write, write.
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