If you’ve seen the movie Freaky Friday, you know that its premise is about change and growth through role reversal. For my Friday Blog entry I thought it would be interesting to interview aspiring authors–writers who spend lots of time reading the interviews of published authors and dreaming of the day when they might get their book on the shelves..
Some days you just get lucky. I did when an awesome new friend just shows up in my inbox. Lindsay Cummings emailed me, struck up a conversation and we just hit it off. Since then, we’ve chatted back and forth, talking about our our books and other fun stuff. One day she emailed me something that made me yelp out loud in the ladies room stall of a Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was awkward–the public yelping, I mean. And yes, sometimes I check my email in weird places. I see a future blog post here. And although I love you dear reader–no, I’m not going to tell you about the thing that made me yelp. Think of it as an imagination developing writing prompt. Anyway… Shortly after the yelp (So, my new favorite word today) I realized I needed to do a kick-ass cover reveal. Ya know–so other people could yelp with me. There was only one person I thought about asking…
You guessed it–Lindsay Cummings. If you hadn’t guessed it, I would have been a little embarrassed for you. (((hugs))) Anyway–the cover reveal–It was awesome. Lindsay was awesome. It was one of those days that I’ll always remember. (The big reveal for TOUCHING THE SURFACE.) But Lindsay isn’t just wonderful because she was my book cover fairy-godmother. Seriously, she’s just someone that you’re gonna want to get to know. So let me introduce you.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you got the writing bug and where you are on your journey to being a published author?
I always love this question, because I get to gush about how awesome of a writer my dad is. He got me hooked when I was younger. I always saw him, holed up in his room at his writing desk, typing away. I wanted to be like him, and when I started reading adventure stories like Gary Paulsen’s HATCHET, I thought, “okay. I can do this!”
Right now, I have an agent, Louise Fury, at the L. Perkins Agency, who I totally dig. She’s awesome and young and has the most amazing enthusiasm for my work! I have this theory that we both have some seriously twisted minds. Violence is in all my books, and I always feel like somehow we end up adding more. Lol. We have been on submission with my second novel, THE MURDER COMPLEX, for about 5 months now. Crossing fingers for that book deal! (you should, too. Maybe the gods of writing will take that into account!)
I’ve already got my fingers and my toes crossed for you!!! That is so cool and sweet about your dad. You just gave me goosebumps. You are also an awesome book blogger. *does a little dance remembering how you helped me with my big cover reveal* How did you start book blogging and is it hard to be a writer and a blogger? And can I have a key to your hidden time machine that allows you to get all of this done? :o)
When I had my first novel about halfway done, a writing friend took me out to Starbucks and sat me down. She asked me about my plan for getting published…which I hadn’t really thought about before. I had no idea there were agents, or all these individual publishing houses, or conferences where a bunch of people got together to hone their writing skills. I knew NOTHING. She told me I needed to get a blog, and I didn’t want to, but she set one up for me anyways, and then it just sort of grew from there. It opened me up to this HUGE world of book nerds and other writers, tons of supportive people that are now my friends, and I really think it has helped my writing life so much! It’s so great, because I get to interact with marketing teams at publishing houses, and that sort of helps me have an edge, because now I know how much WORK goes into marketing a book. Months and months before it comes out! Blogging is a blast. It’s my reward for gettting my writing done each day, and also…free ARCs to review. That always helps 🙂
I love your reviews-so I’m so glad you did. So, I have to ask, because I ask every writer/blogger who will put up with me–is it hard to write honest reviews and be an aspiring author at the same time. I’ll be honest. I only review books that resonate with me because I don’t think I could navigate those waters very successfully. How do you do it?
Haha, I do this exactly the same way you do! If I request a book from the publisher, it’s one that I already know I am going to love! If I just receive a random one in the mail, I look at it from a writer’s perspective, someone who just loves a well-told story. I know how much work a book takes, and because of that…most always I find something to get excited about! If I don’t like a book, I just don’t review it on my blog. I will never put another author’s finished product down. Authors rock. They’re my friends 🙂
That sounds like a smart, practical and loving plan of action. Can you tell us a little bit more about THE MURDER COMPLEX or your WIP–besides the fact that you write dystopians that have a little violence? :o)
My book on sub is THE MURDER COMPLEX. That one is a very dark YA about teens who must struggle to survive in a world surrounded by constant daily murders. I can tell you this small snippet: You cannot see us. You cannot hear us. But we are here. And we control your every move.
I love that. 🙂 lol. The next novel, the one I have been working on for a bit, is a retelling of a famous short story from the 1900’s…with my own special twist, of course! That is all I can say, but it is deliciously chilling, full of action, and maybe even a little bit of romance. I love this one, and I already have a GREAT feeling about it!
Such a tease!!!! Both sound awesome-can’t wait to read them. You recently had a wonderful DEAR TEEN ME blog post and I was tickled to see that you played on a guys hockey team when you were in high school. What do you think YA writers need to know when they are writing for kids who do the unpredictable? Are we reaching and connecting with everyone we should be?
I’m only 20, so I think this question is great for me to answer! People that write for teens should keep in mind that when you are a teen…everything is a HUGE deal. If something goes wrong, it’s the end of the world. If they start to get a crush, they are positive they are falling in love. And that’s okay! I love that teens can experience the world with such passion!! It’s the most exciting time in a person’s life, in my opinion, because everything is confusing and new and such a big deal!
I love that too! Okay–I need your top 5 books…
Top 5 books. Goodness. I have a lot of recent favorites…but as a writer, here’s the top 5 that have influenced me the most in my writing life!
1- Lord of the Flies
2- Catcher in the Rye
3- Hatchet
4- Delirium
5- Uglies series
Seriously, I love all of them. I should have asked you what you thought of Gary Paulsen at the SCBWI LA Conference–and btw I can’t believe we didn’t meet there…Oh, wait…this is still your interview. Never mind–I’ll email later. If you want Lindsay Cummings for a best bud–and I’m here to tell you that you do–check out her blog or her website. Lindsay is also on Facebook, Twitter and an author at Teen Shiver.
Go ahead…ask her a question. Or you can just tell me what makes you yelp. :o)
Subscribe via Email
