1. Was interviewed for Christine the Teen Librarian’s blog AND she did a very lovely review of INCONVENIENT as well. AND, she’s a Jersey girl. Go Jersey! Check out the review here and interview here.

2. Talked to a writer friend about writing, careers, how out of the loop I am on gossip (!), and how to put the fun back into writing. We talked for 3 hours!! In the end, I felt less like a depressed, anxious, downer and more like a typical writer (uh, which means anxious, depressed, and down, BUT I knew I wasn’t the only writer who felt like this). Yay for solidarity! And contemp lit! And cool people who get it!

3. Last night, I went to the launch of Hawthorne High School’s literary magazine at the great indie bookstore Well Read. Earlier in the year, me, Shari Maurer, and Don Smith had done workshops with these teens about various writing elements and also judged a writing contest. These kids were truly inspiring and reminded me of my early writing years–where it was just me and many writing notebooks and journals, writing poetry and short stories. What’s more, they were so so good, and I was so impressed by what they produced.

4. And I’m getting more ideas for my new YA which is always good!

Feast or famine with me and blog entries, isn’t it? Check out my post on AuthorsNow! where I make some life and writing realizations.

Focus on the positives.

This is something I’ve been working on for years and still have not achieved. It’s too easy to let someone’s negativity weigh me down, and that’s killer–especially in this business. So, instead of focusing on the bookstore who told me he will not stock my book because he only stocks books people are interested in reading (some people are so warm and fuzzy, you just want to hug them, right?), I’ll focus on the awesome places who give me a chance like:

1. This fantastic new bookstore that opened in Hawthorne, NJ. It’s called Well Read and the owner, Bill, and I are working on a program called The Visiting Writer Series where authors will come in and do workshops with high school students. The bookstore is what I envision bookstores to be. It’s super spacious but cozy and there’s coffee, cookies, and wonderful places to sit and read. AND, he sells new and used books. I’ve been dying for a store that sold used books to open up in this area for ages.

Another indie in Tenafly, NJ, called Acorns Bookshop. This store is so charming. You truly need to check it out if you’re in the area. Walking in, reminded me of entering a story book land. And I feel so lucky that the owner is hosting a signing for me this weekend (Saturday, Jan. 8, 12 pm). And she let me run with it and was open to all ideas I had, which is more than I imagined.

The B&N in Paramus, NJ, that has been extremely encouraging and even has my books facing out on the shelves! That gesture alone is worth mentioning because, um, how do people buy new author’s books if they don’t know they’re there?

The Books-A-Million in Paramus, NJ, (obviously, Paramus is just awesome) which brought me in to sign books on a great busy day in 2010 and invited me to come back and sign more in the next few months.

Bookstores supporting new authors is fantastic and I’m so thankful for that!

2. The wonderful schools–holla at Stratford High School, Jonathan Dayton High School, and Tenafly High School–which have been so receptive and supportive of the arts and promoting their students’ passion for writing. Thank you for letting me into your classrooms and allowing me to work with such amazingly talented students. The students’ skills and maturity and their knowledge of what they want to do with their lives truly impressed me. I certainly was not at that place in high school or some of college for that matter.

3. My sister–who talks about me and my book every chance she gets. Reading IS the best medicine, she tells her patients. Ok, no she doesn’t really say that, but she’s been fantastic about getting me contacts and publicizing my events.

4. My in-laws who mention their book to their friends and their friends who are working to get my name out and give me contacts, my parents who do the same, my husband who I unfairly go off on sometimes but who I realized this weekend is really proud of me and is just looking out for me and wants me to be happy

5. All the fabulous libraries and librarians, especially Kate at Fair Lawn Public Library, who have my book and who have been interested in reading it for their teen book clubs

RELAX AND BE HAPPY FOR SUCCESSES

This one is very hard for me. I don’t relax very well. I used to before I had my son, but not now. Any “relaxing” time I have, is time I spend working on book promo or writing another book. If I truly relax, then I feel guilty that I’m not working. I can’t watch TV like a normal person (which annoys my hubby to no end). I’ll watch with one eye and flip through computer sites with the other. It’s a problem. But something my husband said the other day struck a chord. I was asking him about my career plan and how he thinks things are going, and he said, “I didn’t think it would be like this.” So, in my head I started to get annoyed and decided that he didn’t believe in what I was doing and more stuff like this (meanwhile, he wasn’t saying anything to the contrary so of course I got more annoyed). Then, days later, when we were discussing my desire to teach college (someday very soon hopefully), he said: “If you did that, you’d have another focus. You wouldn’t be obsessing over this book as much. You’d just be happy it was published and looking to your next one and it wouldn’t be EVERYTHING.” So then I hit rewind and thought about the earlier thing he said about it not being like this and realized that he wasn’t being unsupportive. That statement was about how I was feeling. (So, after 7 years of marriage, I’m finally realizing how my hubby communicates and what he means. Well, it’s better than after 20).

Anyway, he’s right. This should be good. I should be happy. Reviews have been good. And I have a book out. That’s pretty cool. So I’m going to really try to just be happy and obsess less. Notice I didn’t say not obsess at all. I mean who are we kidding, that would just not be possible. As my agent pointed out, if I spent my obsessing time on writing, imagine how productive I would be!

Well, I’m off to run on the treadmill. Another goal. Happy 2011!

However, this year was different. I did think about coffee because how can you not? But I actually took stock of what I have and what I should be thankful for and what the year ahead holds and how important it is to be positive about the good things we have. I was out for a walk with a friend of mine after my last supper (for the next 24 hours anyway), and we were talking about some issues we have with self-esteem and why we feel the way we do, and I shared some writing things that had been going on last week (that were out of my control), and the conversation went in another direction and to our kids and bad tv and so on. At one point, though, she said, “It’s amazing, isn’t it? You must be so excited. Your book will be out in almost a month and you’re accomplishing what you said you would, what you set out to do. It’s so inspirational to me. You must be so proud.” And I had to think about it. Think about it?! The high school and college me and even the before agent me would have slapped me. And had this been a friend all this stuff was happening to, I would have said, “My gosh, you are amazing. That’s so fantastic!” But to me, I had to stop and think.

And I realized how ridiculous my attitude is and how it’s necessary to change it. I have a lot: a great husband, the opportunity to stay home with my beyond awesome three old boy, a great family who lives super close, a house, and now a book coming out. I’m not going to be all Pollyanna because that’s so not me. But I do need to take stock more, appreciate what I have. And I’m happy to say, I did that all Yom Kippur. I thought of coffee three times, but other than that, I had fun playing with my kid and cats and making fun of my hubby who acted as if he was dying of starvation and giving my head a break from all writing angst.

That night, after Yom Kippur ended, I did catch up on e-mails and plan a bit of my writing schedule for the week, but I was calmer. I think I’ll take stock weekly now–with a strong cup of coffee by my side.

So, about two weeks ago, we noticed a leak coming from our ceiling. Was it the AC, the roof, the house fan? What a fun mystery to solve! (Not!) Our landscapers thought they saw a hole in our roof, but the guy I was trying to talk to spoke Spanish and while I took Spanish for five years and knew it well enough to find my friend’s missing umbrella on a college spring break trip to Cancun, years of no use, left me speaking a dialect that was far from Spanish. Therefore, I am not convinced we really understood each other and he knew what I was asking. I think I gave him a good laugh, though.

Anyway, the roofers came and while they found a few tiny spaces that required patches, they found no hole. The ceiling continued to leak. Our carpets continued to get wet. The house began to smell. A lot. Now, those of you with toddlers, know that the house can be filled with a number of smells at any given time so for a while it wasn’t obvious why the house smelled. However, after emptying the trash a number of times and making sure no traces of poopy pull ups remained, the house still stunk.

We called the AC people. They said our AC pan (or something like that) was rusted out. The whole system needed to be replaced. They asked why we were still running the AC. Didn’t we know that’s why it was still leaking? Um, no. And then they said, “Well, the damage is already done so you may as well run it if you need to.” Uh, ok.

Then, the insurance sent someone to assess the damage. They told us something was growing. They covered the whole place in plastic wrap while wearing protective space outfits. Took off a part of our ceiling in the rec room (that part was fine by me because I always hated that ceiling anyway–it has that bumpy popcorn like look), stripped the carpets. Of course there was no air by this point anymore. We had to leave our house. Moved in with my parents. Luckily, Little Guy turned 3 last Saturday so he had a whole bunch of new toys to play with while at my parents’ house.

Eventually, the mold (or whatever it was) was killed and the AC was fixed. But that was all finally finished just yesterday so we’re still at my parents and hoping to move back tomorrow. Hubby was at our place tonight taking out staples from the floor and loose nails and sharp things and putting furniture back.

I was supposed to be finishing copy edits and working on other projects but that hasn’t happened so back to all that by Friday. A few pluses of this whole experience (aside from the loss of that yucky ceiling):

1. Being back at my parents’ house has been nice. We all have gotten more tolerant of each other as we’ve grown older and their advice bothers me far less than it did when I was a teen. I was even able to tell my dad when to back off (very nicely of course) and he didn’t get all huffy.

2. LG has been sleeping much better here. Don’t know what that’s about, but I’ll take it.

3. Speaking of sleeping, the little bed LG sleeps in is upstairs and there’s a pull out in that room but too small for Hubby and me to sleep in comfortably so Hubby has been sleeping downstairs on a big pull out and LG and I have been in a room upstairs. Can I just say I totally get the two bed thing? I think people have two beds to hold a marriage together. No wonder all those couples in those ’50s sitcoms were so happy! I was able to fall asleep without anyone’s snoring leaving me tossing and turning and since LG comes into our bed in the middle of the night and proceeds to toss and turn, kicking us with his feet and draping his legs over Hubby’s face and mine, just him and me in the bed let both of us sleep. I wouldn’t want separate bedrooms on a permanent bases, but I think when Hubby and I need extra sleep our pull out couch will be getting some use.

How could I not have known, you ask? Well, I wrote INCONVENIENT more than three years ago. I did MANY revisions on it–most done while caring for my son who was an infant at the time. If you are or were a new mama, those early months are a BLUR. I remember writing the book, the feelings I felt when writing it. The process? Not so much.

It’s funny, too, because I have written about the writing process (in the abstract), answered questions about how I write, but none of that sparked any memories. And then I started working consistently on the MG. I wanted to meet daily word count so if I was stuck on a scene, I wrote other scenes in my head. I focused on the plot points I saw vividly–no matter where they fell in the book. Out of order was fine. As I wrote more of the scenes that jumped out at me, I got ideas for the scenes I had trouble with and went back to do those. And then something amazing happened. The book just came together! I began to cut/paste the later scenes to where they would fit chronologically and now the novel is pretty much in order. Then, I wrote a short outline of the chapters I have coming up. It’s at this point that I realized this is exactly how I wrote INCONVENIENT.

Now, I’m close to finishing the first draft of the MG, which is a huge accomplishment because I had this fear/stuckedness/anxiety that I wouldn’t be able to write another book after INC. Every time I began something new, I’d write twenty or so pages and then get bored or just not know how to proceed. Now, I know I can do it. And what made this even better was that I now know why my YA WIP–my CONTRACTED WIP, that’s due in November–was not working. Once I’m done with my MG, I’ll go back to that and work on it in the same way. One scene at a time, random order, putting together the parts of the puzzle that I see clearly.

That’s how I do real puzzles, by the way. Do the corners first? Nope, not for me. I put together the pieces in whatever order I want. If I see a picture, that’s what gets done first. On a playdate once, I was helping my son put together a puzzle, and a mom just stared at what I was doing. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you you’re supposed to do the edges first?” she asked. “Don’t remember,” I said. “But what does it matter if it gets you to the same place?”

Since you’re probably on the edge of your seats, I won’t draw this out. Today’s topic is from Michelle McLean. She asks:

Do you write for the market or for yourself? Why? Are there times you do both? Or times when you’ve written something specifically because it was “hot” at the moment? If so, how did it turn out?

There’s no way you can be a writer and not be asked that question. There’s also no way you can write and not have that thought cross your mind–even if it’s only as “Wouldn’t it be cool if my book sparked a trend?”

But here’s the thing. I write contemporary realistic fiction and trends are pretty much a non-issue in this genre. I’d love for people to buy, like, and discuss my debut novel INCONVENIENT. I’d also obviously be ecstatic if it became a best seller. But a trend? Not very likely that it will make everyone write about Russian-Jewish girls with alki moms. And that’s fine.

However, I’ll be lying if I said that trying to write something trendy never crossed my mind. I tried writing a few paragraphs of a contemp fantasy about a werewolf. I also mulled over some ideas about teens with special powers. In the end, though, those voices didn’t speak to me. Their stories didn’t speak to me either. And I wasn’t going to force it. The way I work best is going with the idea that keeps talking, the characters whose stories keep replaying in my head. I figure if I really love the idea and voices, something good will come of it.

That said, remember that MG I mentioned at the start of this post? I think it’s marketable. But I’m not writing it because of that. I started the story because I thought the idea was cute and original and about 1/4 of the way through the book, it hit me that this could sell. Did it change anything in the way I’m writing it? Nope–other than wanting to finish it much sooner than I originally planned. The fear of a similar book coming out before mine freaks me out. Hurrah for motivation.

For me, chasing a trend rather than writing what comes naturally, is detrimental. And there’s the added pressure too. The possibility that one day I’ll run out of ideas is scary enough but trying to think of an idea for a topic that is way out of my element? Blech. My motto? Write what you love and the rest will follow.

For more thoughts on trends, be sure to check out what awesome Abby Annis said about this topic. And tune in tomorrow to super Sarah Bromley’s blog for her take!

When I began writing INCONVENIENT, the topic of kids was just a happy conversation and part of our life plan. In the early drafts of INC (before it was even called INCONVENIENT), Alyssa had a brother. I had thought about giving her a sister because I have one, but then I thought people would compare the sister to my sister (or, rather, I was sure my sister would read page after page and exclaim, “I am so not like that!”–uh, yeah, my family is quite vocal–). As I was sketching the sister character out, I also noticed I kept stifling creative leads because I was trying too hard to make her different from my own sister and purely fictional. I scrapped the sister (prompting my sister to ask, “Why don’t your characters have siblings?”) and gave Alyssa a brother. Who I placed in college because I only wanted to deal with him on an as needed basis (as with real siblings, haha). And I wanted a physical place Alyssa could escape if the mother situation got too much. And someone to give her guidance re boys, parents, etc. In other words, someone to solve all of Alyssa’s problems for her. Which is fine in real life.

Growing up, my sister who is five years older was always my go-to when the ‘rents gave me a hard time or if I wanted to know more about the grown-up world of boys, dating, etc. In YA literature, however, I learned the MC has to solve her own problems. Alyssa needed to find her own means of escape–both physical and mental. She needed to figure out her own life w/out someone else giving her a playbook. So I chucked the brother and made Alyssa an only child.

Writing INC, there was no lesson I wanted to give on only children. However, when I was recently thinking about our decision to have only one child and fielding obnoxious questions (e.g. “What are you going to say when he asks you for a sibling?”), I thought about the role of siblings in books and also how only children are portrayed. The sibling relationship runs the gamut from the characters being best friends, to enemies, to pests, to dead. Each of these situations shapes the MCs in one way or the other. And, because in the real world, teens have varied relationships with their siblings, it’s good that there are so many portrayals. But I haven’t found that many books with only children MCs. I think there is definitely a creative reason for this–sibling relationships are interesting to explore and write about. Still, it would be nice to have more kidlit books with only children MCs where being an only child is a non-issue. Where she just is but no one cares that she is an only child (e.g. the character doesn’t spend the whole book longing for a sibling).

I was talking with a friend about this recently, and he brought up another interesting point. From a broader perspective, having siblings or only children or single parent families or happy two parents families or same sex families is just encompassing the different worlds of teens. All these portrayals are needed to show real world experiences more fully and something for me to keep in mind as I write. After all, there are so many different kinds of families and what better way to exercise one’s creativity than to imagine what lies within them.

Yesterday, my son and I went to story time at our local library. On our way out, I saw a flyer describing the many ways our library will suffer if funding is cut as planned. Internet? That will be gone. Ability to obtain books via other libraries in the network? Gone. Movie and music rentals? Greatly reduced. The list goes on. My family and I live in the suburbs–blue ribbon schools and all that–and I took our library for granted, just assumed libraries in more impoverished areas needed the help. I now signed up to get the word out to help our library as well.

As a kid, I would go here to do research for term papers. There was no internet then, no interlibrary loan program, nowhere near the multitude of resources currently available. Like many teens, I hoped for a book to not be there or a magazine to be out so I could get an extension on an assignment, but really what could I say? “Yes, Mrs. L, I swear there was no volume E of the encyclopedia. And the G was missing too. Someone must have had them out.”? It’s scary to think that students may not be able to surf the net to obtain research information or to go online and scan the numerous newspaper articles available.

I am really glad I did the Library Blog Challenge because it opened my eyes further as to what we must do, and this is just the beginning.

The thing is I didn’t set out to base Alyssa’s father on mine. In fact, in the very early drafts, I didn’t want to deal with the dad at all. In one draft he was dead. In another, he was an absent father completely. However, as revisions continued, I realized (with lots of nudging from my writing group and readers) that the dad needs to be present and his reaction to the mother’s alcoholism explored, and with that his reaction to Alyssa. So then came the task of fleshing him out.

I needed him to be physically present but not emotionally so I thought of ways he could escape. Television seemed like a good outlet, the news too. I didn’t want him working close to home because he needed to be far enough away that he wasn’t available whenever Alyssa or her mom needed him. I liked the idea of a commute. So I put him in NYC. And I saw the character as meticulous, a little anal, wanting things to have their order and place. So I made him an engineer. All these things–on the surface–spell out my dad, who works in NYC, is an engineer, and loves watching the news, especially events going down in the Middle East. But is Alyssa’s dad mine? Nope. Do they have similarities? Sure. But my dad was around, my mom was not an alcoholic, and just because characters sometimes share traits of people does not mean they are that person.

I feel the need to get into this because people have been asking me about my characters since I began writing the book. The same is asked of my peers who write contemp fiction, especially “issue” novels. Some writers get insulted by the questions–like those asking are somehow implying that we’re not creative enough to make up our own characters from scratch. I don’t see it this way. I think people are just naturally curious and it’s also that thing of figuring out the writer, trying to make sense of the characters, discovering the hidden layers, what’s true, what isn’t. The part that bugs me–or puts me on edge a bit–is the idea of people reading my books and thinking this is how my life happened, this is who I am. With INC, for example, besides the dad comparison, the book is about a lot of what I know–the Russian-Jewish culture, the town that was based on the one I grew up in, the school mentality, suburbia. It’s natural for writers to write about what they know. To incorporate their own personalities and those of people they have met into their characters. But, usually, there is not one character that is us. In INCONVENIENT, the MC is not much like me at all, but there’s some of me in there, just like there is some of me in Lana, and even in the mom. Often, these incorporations are not even conscious efforts. The dad being an engineer? I know a lot about it. He could have just as easily been a doctor because I know about that profession too. The mom is a writer. Gee, wonder why? When we write, we want to make things interesting but if the books require little research, that’s a bonus. (And an added note–my characters rarely have siblings. And, it’s not because my sister and I don’t get along. We have a great relationship, thank you very much. Nope, it’s just because I don’t want to deal with additional characters. It’s terrible, I know. *hangs head in shame*)

I like writing contemporary fiction. I think there’s a big need for these kinds of books, and they were my favorites when I was growing up. I just worry that readers sometimes get too distracted from the book’s plot if they’re trying to solve the big “mystery” behind the characters’ true identities. Or, worse, make a running tally of what is not “true” or can’t/wouldn’t happen in the way depicted, as my dad did in some early drafts of manuscripts I’ve written. I mean it’s called fiction for a reason. As long as it’s believable, the towns don’t have to be exactly as they are in real life–same goes for the schools, carnivals, sayings, etc. Writers need to have some liberties.

A part of me is dreading those “What really happened?” questions about INCONVENIENT. I’ll let readers make up their own minds. Mystery is good for the soul. It breeds creativity.

Yesterday, I got a break when my sitter came by, and I thought about writing because I have a contracted WIP and an MG I’d like to get to my agent by the summer, but I only had an hour-and-a-half and just couldn’t get into it. So I started thinking about the toilet training and writing and rough drafts and realized they have tons in common! Below is my top 7 list of how writing a rough draft is like toilet training. OK…drum roll and music please.

7. If it doesn’t work the first time, keep trying.

6. Sometimes it’s best to take a break, destress, and then start the anew.

5. Rewards are great for motivation.

4. You put off starting the process because what’s to come is pretty daunting.

3. You may have to push awhile before anything good happens.

2. Even when you think it’s all done, it may be months before the final result is achieved.

AND THE NUMBER 1 REASON WRITING A ROUGH DRAFT IS LIKE TOILET TRAINING:

….No matter how good you think it’s going, there’s going to be poop to clean up in the end.

In the meantime, he got a bad cough and we had to visit the pede again two weeks ago and I was anticipating an encore performance of the above, but this time it didn’t happen. Maybe because the doctor joked around with him or LG was older or both. Who knows? So, to ensure yesterday went just as well, I got a play doctor’s kit, practiced what the doctor would be doing, reminded him about everything from the big boy scale to being measured on the table. Left out any shot info. I wasn’t going to push my luck.

Well, yesterday went beautifully! He even got two shots but the doctor managed to distract him by asking him to “help” her and when he saw blood on his finger, he thought it was paint. Success!! But in all my attempts to prep LG for the physical part of the visit (e.g. ear check, stethoscope, etc.), I didn’t think I’d also have to rehearse what to say when the doctor asks regular questions. Silly me figured my chatty kid would be just as chatty with the doctor and wow her like he wows us daily. I mean he talks in sentences, comes up with phrases that crack us up, knows his colors, shapes, and then some. I didn’t think I had to be concerned.

But, see, he has this obsession that apparently plagues boys of all ages, adult men included. My adorable toddler loves gas. No, not the gas station. Gas–the bodily function. He thinks the sound is just a riot and loves pursing his lips together to make the sound, and in any random moment, if he doesn’t feel like answering something or is being silly, the answer to a question will be “gas.” Makes a mama proud.

So, after I finished answering the Dr.’s questions about what LG knows, she turned to the man in charge himself and asked him who his friends were, the colors on his shirt, what he likes to do. And guess what my angel answered to each question? Yep. Gas. The Dr. smiled, wrote something in her chart. Probably about me being an overachiever mom or someone who exaggerates her kid’s abilities. Oh well.

LG wasn’t fazed. Was quite happy with his band-aids and sticker he received on the way out. And when we saw my mom that evening, he filled her in on his day. One gas sound after another.

I accepted that I will now have to make time for myself in another way, at other times. I accepted that if I thought I would be writing or resting or watching TV during his nap, these things would have to be accomplished later (although is watching OTH an accomplishment? Um, no). I accepted that now our afternoons would be different  and that I would roll with what happened.

It’s a mindset, sure, but it works for me. I’m not wondering will he nap or won’t he. Will I write or won’t I? Will I get this or that done and what if I don’t? There’s no playing catch up. It just is.

And I realized that sometimes that’s all you can do. Just roll with it. As long as everything gets done, does it matter when? If I’m stressing about a scene, a chapter, a whole project, what does the stressing and questioning do exactly besides drive me crazy? (In case you want an answer, in my case it just drives me crazy. ) So why spend days obsessing and freaking out and thinking about what I’m not doing.

Currently, I can’t think of a way to end a scene and my WIP has been on hold for 1+ weeks. Today I decided to just move forward with another scene and go back to that stumper one. A logical thing, right? Something I should have just done 2 weeks ago, no? Sure, but my head wasn’t in it. I hadn’t accepted that it was ok to just move on yet.

Now I have, and that has made all the difference.

1. What was the first thing you wrote?

The first thing I remember writing was this story about a kidnapped girl. You can read more about this masterpiece in my Long Bio here.

2. What was the last thing you wrote?

Last night, I added three pages to my WIP.

3. Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I plan out a lot of the story in my head and then write a little summary. As I get more ideas, I’ll add them to my summary so I don’t forget them. But I don’t outline. I HATE outlines.

4. What is your favorite genre to write in?

Contemporary YA. I like calling it realistic fiction, though, as that’s what it was called when I was a teen. My favorite authors were Norma Klein and Norma Fox Mazer.

5. What is your favorite genre to read?

Realistic fiction, YA or adult.

6. Who is your favorite author? Why?

I like many but I have to go with the Normas from number 4. What they did for teen literature was invaluable. I think their style was beautiful and the themes groundbreaking.

7. What is/are your favorite book(s)?

There are so many, so I will list a few and then add when more pop into my head.

THE BOOK THIEF

DREAMLAND

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

JANE EYRE

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE

8. What is the hardest thing for you to write?

If we’re talking strictly genre, I’m going with fantasy, especially high concept fantasy.

9. Does music influence your writing?

Nope. In fact, and I’m probably in the minority, but listening to music while writing distracts me. Music does influence my characters, though. I like thinking about what they may be listening to.

10. Do you have a playlist for your current (or past) work, and what songs/artists are on it? If you do not, what *would* be on it?

I really should create one for my book, but I just don’t think in these terms when I write. I like music, I like songs and have favorite artists, but that’s about it.