Q and A

When I got my novel published a lot of neat things happened, things you don't think about when you dare to dream about publication. Things like liasing with artists regarding covers, doing interviews, deciding on a dedication etc. One other thing is doing an author questionnaire. I had to do one which was quite fun and I thought I'd post the questions they asked me to see what your answers would be. Consider it another incentive to finish those stories and seek publication! You might one day get to answer insightful questions such as:

1. Who is your role model/mentor?
2. Which writers do you most admire?
3. Which of your characters do you hate and why?
4. Which do you find more interesting to write about, good or evil?
5. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?
6. What 5 books/items would you want to have with you if stranded on a desert island?
7. If the world was to end tomorrow how would you spend your last 24 hours?
8. Which animal do you consider your totem?
9. What's your favourite quote or joke?
10. What imaginary friends did you have as a child?
11. What would be the first thing you'd do if an alien spaceship landed in your backyard?
12. If you could go back to change one event in history what would it be?
13. What major scientific advancement do you think will be made this century?
14. If you could possess any psychic/supernatural talent what would it be?
15. What could you not survive without?
16. What would your utopia be like?
17. How do you think the world will end?
18. If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

How would you answer these?

Woah, great questions!


1. Who is your role model/mentor?

Role model - there are so many authors I look up to, that I'd aspire to be like. Closer to home, my friend Karen who's got a fabulous agent who recently sold her first novel. Karen always seems so cheerful, and she's always encouraging and helpful. I actually have a mentor for my short stories, but we don't talk too much because I'm mostly working on novels at the moment. But I know he's there if I have questions.

2. Which writers do you most admire?

Some of those above-mentioned authors. Those would be: Kim Harrison, Richelle Mead, Ilona Andrews, Jocelynne Drake. There is a huge list, but those are the ones at the top at the moment.

3. Which of your characters do you hate and why?

I don't hate any of my characters. Who would want to write about someone they hated?

4. Which do you find more interesting to write about, good or evil?

I like to write stories where you have to question who is good and who is evil. There are so many stories where the protags are the good guys. I think it's more interesting when you start with that assumption, and then have to question it as the book goes along. Real life doesn't split into good and evil, so I try to write to reflect that - everyone has good points and bad points, and often it's the motivations that makes other people class someone as 'good' or 'bad'.

5. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?

It depends what you mean by adventurous. This summer I travelled around Europe for three weeks on my own. People keep telling me I'm brave for that, but I don't see it that way. I've also been on canoeing, kayaking, cycling, and walking expeditions since I was tiny, which is more what I'd consider 'adventurous'.

6. What 5 books/items would you want to have with you if stranded on a desert island?

5 Books: 1)The Taggerung, by Brian Jacques
2) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
3) (can I have a series? It seems unfair not to have the whole thing) the 'Old Kingdom' series by Garth Nix
4) the 'Black Magician' trilogy by Trudi Canavan
5) The Name of The Wind, by Pat Rothfuss

7. If the world was to end tomorrow how would you spend your last 24 hours?

Gosh, that's a depressing question. Next!

8. Which animal do you consider your totem?

Again, weird question, sorry - next!

9. What's your favourite quote or joke?

I have a lot of favourite quotes, lots of which are because of what they mean within my family. One of us says it, and the others laugh, but someone overhearing just wouldn't get it.
A favourite quote about writing is from Douglas Adams: "I love deadlines. I love the wooshing sound they make as they fly past."

10. What imaginary friends did you have as a child?

I didn't really have imaginary friends, but I played a lot of 'pretend' games, and each game had a lot of different characters.

11. What would be the first thing you'd do if an alien spaceship landed in your backyard?

Bring the dogs inside - we live in the middle of nowhere, so they go crazy when someone walks along the track that goes past the house, let alone comes into the garden.

12. If you could go back to change one event in history what would it be?

I watch too much Dr Who and read too many books - I know changing something in the past, even something tiny, can screw up a whole lot.

14. If you could possess any psychic/supernatural talent what would it be?

Ooh, I'd love to be a were-creature. An actual talent, though, it would be cool to have enhanced hearing, or to walk through walls or something. Being able to communicate telepathically would be good too.
15. What could you not survive without?

16. What would your utopia be like?

Give me a bookstore and a full bank account any day.


I'm sorry I didn't answer some - I just don't have good answers.

Haha, I love this.

1. Who is your role model/mentor?

Hmm. Even though it's a cheesy answer, my mother. She just rocks like that.

2. Which writers do you most admire?

I'm not sure. I do admire Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb a lot for being able to hold a murder mystery series that long and still make it awesome.

3. Which of your characters do you hate and why?

I don't think I hate any of them. There are several that if they were real-life people, I would despise, but they're like my babies and I can't hate them no matter how hard I try.

4. Which do you find more interesting to write about, good or evil?

Neither. The grey area is so much more interesting, because you never quite know which one it is. It could go either way.

5. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?

I went and got myself lost in the woods just so I could see if I could find my way back. I enlisted the help of a friend, who blindfolded me and led me through the trees.

6. What 5 books/items would you want to have with you if stranded on a desert island?

My laptop, a notebook w/pen, an emergency kit, bug spray, and Naked in Death, by J.D. Robb.

7. If the world was to end tomorrow how would you spend your last 24 hours?

Driving down to Florida so I can spend it with my family, probably.

8. Which animal do you consider your totem?

The lone wolf.

9. What's your favourite quote or joke?

My favorite quote is "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" -- FDR. As for joke...well, it's really not all that appropriate, so I won't post it.

10. What imaginary friends did you have as a child?

I had a complete imaginary family, plus a random assortment of friends and pets. Imaginary people were way less complicated. I think that's why I became a writer, because imaginary people are still less complicated.

11. What would be the first thing you'd do if an alien spaceship landed in your backyard?

Call my dad and tell him his ride is here.

12. If you could go back to change one event in history what would it be?

I wouldn't. Who knows what I would mess up?

13. What major scientific advancement do you think will be made this century?

I don't know, but I hope we get some of the stuff from Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb's In Death series. Like the virtual reality goggles/rooms--those are cool. Way cooler than the ones we have now.

14. If you could possess any psychic/supernatural talent what would it be?

Telekinesis, definitely. It's a very versatile power (I thought about this question a lot throughout writing The Surface of the Deep, since all the characters have mental powers.)

15. What could you not survive without?

Aside from the things necessary for life, I think my laptop. I'm way too wired for my own good.

16. What would your utopia be like?

Living in either a loft apartment in downtown Gainesville, Florida, or a house on the Suwannee River, making my living as a writer/French teacher. Since I don't believe in complete perfection, that's pretty much it. And anyway, without problems, we don't exactly know what good is when we get it, do we?

17. How do you think the world will end?

I don't particularly like to consider this one, because it gives me a headache from contemplating the nothing that will be left behind.

18. If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

Hmm. Probably my dream office (which includes a lot of fancy gadgets and doohickies--I talk about it on my blog sometimes), my own kayak, and a house on the Suwannee river.

Those are great! I don't really have time to answer them myself at the moment (I'm working at my bread-winner job), but I'm enjoying your responses.

1. Who is your role model/mentor?
I've always had a hard time with that question. I don't know if anyone specific stands out. I just found certain people through out my life to be inspiring, it was never just one person.

2. Which writers do you most admire?
I found JK Rowling and Banana Yoshimoto to both be really amazing authors so I thought it would be great if I could write a book like each of them one day.


3. Which of your characters do you hate and why?
Hmmm...I don't really hate him, but I have a very strong dislike for Trey in my main story Eternity. He annoys me. LOL! He's a good guy though, just too overprotective of Ami.

4. Which do you find more interesting to write about, good or evil?
Evil. It's very interesting to get into that mind set. But that said, it's creepy when I can say to someone I can perfectly understand why someone would abuse, murder, or kidnap or preform any kind of cruelty. It makes me want to write really cliche religious fiction.

5. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?
I consider giving birth to be very very adventurous. Outside of that, I went to Spain for a year to learn Spanish, it was fun!

6. What 5 books/items would you want to have with you if stranded on a desert island?
1. MP3 Player
2. Catching Fire
3. Beautiful Creatures
4. A Blank Book
5. Pen

2 and 3 are both books I'm either reading or haven't started yet.


7. If the world was to end tomorrow how would you spend your last 24 hours?
I would spend it with my son and Husband.

8. Which animal do you consider your totem?
The Wolf!

9. What's your favourite quote or joke?
"Everybody seeks happiness! Not me, though! That's the difference between me and the rest of the world. Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!"
~Calvin and Hobbes~
It always makes me laugh!

10. What imaginary friends did you have as a child?
I never had one. But I was convinced a monster lived in my closet and under my bed and that there were ghosts in the basement with me.

11. What would be the first thing you'd do if an alien spaceship landed in your backyard?
I'd grab my son and tell my husband to grab his keys, then sneak out to our car and drive away.

12. If you could go back to change one event in history what would it be?
I don't know if I would change anything, but maybe I'd change out Bush reacted to 9/11. I really don't like this war because of how many people are deploying and how many families are effected by it.

13. What major scientific advancement do you think will be made this century?
Hmmm....That's a tough one. A self cleaning bathroom would be just so awesome! I hate cleaning the bathroom. I could see them making that.

14. If you could possess any psychic/supernatural talent what would it be?
I would like the ability to influence thoughts and moods of people around me. I wouldn't use it carelessly, but it would have been a huge help in counseling. Especially when they were really hyper and hard to slow down.

15. What could you not survive without?
Imagination. Reality is all around us, I like a break now and again.

16. What would your utopia be like?
It would be a place I could escape to once a week, maybe 2 times. Food would be made, I'd have a giant bathtub to take a bath in, like the ones in Harry Potter! I'd also have a really nice study to escape to. And my husband would do the house cleaning and be really really attentive to our son so I could get a nice long break without worrying about how hard he works all week and whether or not he'd get a break.

In general world utopia though, the war wouldn't be going on at all and we'd be living in peace. But everyone would still have their jobs in the law enforcement and military areas, but it would just be preventative actions and meetings.

17. How do you think the world will end?
I think that God will come. I bet wars will be worse and more people will be effected. But God will ultimately save us.

18. If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would you wish for?
1. To have all education and car loans and debts paid off in our household
2. A 2 week vacation to Hawaii without my husband having to worry about leave
3. For my son to have a healthy life and not have my allergies or health problems.

1. Who is your role model/mentor? My biggest mentor in writing was my photo illustrative class instructor in college. She taught me how to break my box boundaries and look at things in a new way which then I could apply to everything I did, not just photography.

2. Which writers do you most admire? I admire Stephenie Meyer because we are of the same religion and watching how she handles the critics and the media with her stories and still staying strong and keeping her morals and values strong within our religion is really inspirational to me. I also admire Suzanne Collins for writing The Hunger Games stories because like in question 1, I learned to break my boundaries for a story and I believe she is a genius for breaking the bounds that we all potentially live in.

3. Which of your characters do you hate and why? I really hate my character Emi. She's so whiny and stressed out so much that it makes me whiny and stressed out. What's worse is that she learns to control the whininess but not control her stress levels.

4. Which do you find more interesting to write about, good or evil? I really like writing about both, but if I had to pick one, I would pick the evil side to write about. I love learning where villains came from. A villain with no background to how they came about is too flat for me. I need to know why they are the way they are. They just can't be creepy without it.

5. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done? Most adventurous thing I've done is fly in a little two seater airplane with my husband from Utah to California one time. After a little while, I started to have some kind of panic attack I couldn't control.

6. What 5 books/items would you want to have with you if stranded on a desert island? I would want to have these things:

1. Bedding to sleep on (I like naps)
2. My scriptures
3. A very big blank journal
4. Set of pens to write with
5. Picture of my family

7. If the world was to end tomorrow how would you spend your last 24 hours? I would want to spend them playing with my family. I would want to have my last moments as happy moments.

8. Which animal do you consider your totem? Probably a bear. I'm pretty overprotective of my daughter. You don't mess with mama bear.

9. What's your favourite quote or joke? My favorite quote is this: "But when a story demands to be written, there's no way to resist." ~Stephenie Meyer

10. What imaginary friends did you have as a child? Probably too many to count. I have such an active imagination, I probably had a few more than most kids do.

11. What would be the first thing you'd do if an alien spaceship landed in your backyard? See if they were going to be hostile first and hope that I had some kind of MD-90 to defend myself with. Oh wait, that would be Stargate...wouldn't mind to have some of those weapons anyway.

12. If you could go back to change one event in history what would it be? I'm sorry to those of you who like Obama, but I would go change the election of 2008. I would rig it to be Mitt Romney in office instead. That way our country wouldn't been in such a big mess right now. Again, no offense to anyone who likes Obama.

13. What major scientific advancement do you think will be made this century? If you said this year, then I wouldn't have guessed anything. But one scientific advancement could be better space travel. I don't see any cures for the common cold or cancer coming out in this century. I think advanced space travel would be awesome though!

14. If you could possess any psychic/supernatural talent what would it be? Oh, a good question. I think I would like telekinesis so that I can move objects with my mind. Be like Jane Grey from X-Men. She was always my favorite.

15. What could you not survive without? I couldn't survive without some form of communication device. A telephone, the internet, or even the mail system. If I had only one, then I'd be okay.

16. What would your utopia be like? When Christ comes again to live on the earth for 1,000 years. (Sorry to be all religious on you). But I believe that would be the best time for a great utopia.

17. How do you think the world will end? Fire and brimstone. Brother against brother. Pretty much war will consume the earth.

18. If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would you wish for?
1. I'm copying Blue on this one, but to have my debt paid off.
2. To live a happy and full life with my family.
3. That my children could live a happy and full life as well.

Wow excellent questions and answers!

1. Who is your role model/mentor?

Well i don't have anyone as a role model but there were a number of people who've been really supportive. My english teacher in secondary (highschool) who believed i had talent and encouraged it, and my drama teachers who encouraged me too. and of course the family

2. Which writers do you most admire?

There are numerous authors i wish i could write like e.g. marcus zusak and Alison Croggan, John Connolly etc.

3. Which of your characters do you hate and why?

i dislike aspects of all my characters but as a creator i don't hate any of them - even the 'bad' ones lol

4. Which do you find more interesting to write about, good or evil?

Neither - i think the interesting part is the nice shades of grey inbetween

5. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?

I'm a complete wimp so i think interrailing was most adventurous lol

6. What 5 books/items would you want to have with you if stranded on a desert island?

1. pride and prejudice (or complete works)
2. the book thief
3. the book of lost things
4. George RR Martin books
5. Nice thick Psychology book

7. If the world was to end tomorrow how would you spend your last 24 hours?

ooh negative question. trying to survive!

8. Which animal do you consider your totem?

Horse or dog/wolf

9. What's your favourite quote or joke?

"Quantity produces quality"

10. What imaginary friends did you have as a child?

I don;t think i had any.

11. What would be the first thing you'd do if an alien spaceship landed in your backyard?

Scream lol

12. If you could go back to change one event in history what would it be?

Ireland would have won against france on Wednesday!!!! lol.

13. What major scientific advancement do you think will be made this century?

Cure for cancer/alzheimers especially is stem cell progresses.

14. If you could possess any psychic/supernatural talent what would it be?

Precognition/psychic would be really nice!

15. What could you not survive without?

My laptop

16. What would your utopia be like?

The world as is, without war/crimes/etc.

17. How do you think the world will end?

Over population will wipe out our natural resources

18. If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

1. that all my family were happy, well and will live happy lives
2. that there is life after this one
3. that i will be happy