It’s blog hop time! For the uninitiated, a blog hop is when a group of writers (or otherwise connected bloggers) answer the same series of questions then tag both the people who tagged them as well additional people. You know, to keep you hopping from blog to blog. My good friend June “Bug” Kramin asked me to participate and if you’ve ever met her, you know you can’t tell her no. I mean I could — she does live on the other side of a really big lake from me and would probably have a hard time hunting me down — but this is great opportunity to meet new authors and get a little extra exposure for FLICKER. Win win!

For this blog hop I answer four interview questions then tag three authors.

Here are the interview questions and my answers:

1. What are you working on right now?

Right now I’m writing FRACTURE, the sequel to my YA novel FLICKER that I published in November 2012. I was hoping to have it published by the end of this year, but getting married this past spring threw off my schedule a bit. So far writing is going well and I’m excited to get readers’ reactions. I don’t want to say too much about it for those who haven’t read FLICKER yet.

2. How does it differ from other works in its genre?

I’ve labeled the series paranormal because of the time travel element, but it’s more like paranormal-light. Everything about the story is contemporary — it’s present day and the characters have typical high school concerns, except for the small detail of Biz’s flickering. Lisa McMann’s WAKE trilogy is the most similar, but I haven’t read any others in this vein.

3. Why do you write what you do?

I first started writing short stories in middle school — silly 10-page things that had a shocking amount of kissing considering I’d yet to actually kiss a boy — but as an adult I figured it was time to move onto more adult stories. My first and second novel had adult themes, but it wasn’t until I started writing FLICKER that I really truly felt like I’d found my voice. The writing came much easier and although I’m twenty years older than my main character, I feel she has more of my personality than any other character I’ve written. Ironically, my first two novels had main characters who were teenagers. Perhaps my subconscious was trying to tell me something.

4. How does your writing process work?

Do you want the ideal process or what actually happens? Ideally I write roughly 1000 words every day. When I have the story well outlined I can crank that out in about an hour (works quite well for lunch breaks), but my output is about half that when I have to think too much. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually think when you write — the characters share their story through your fingertips. I took a longer break from writing than I wanted (see above mentioned wedding, plus a few other life-changing events) so right now I’m producing about a page per session (300~ words).

The actual process is pretty simple: I open the file and my outline then go! I wrote my second novel with music but always the same playlist, but since then I prefer silence. I like to sing along to music and get sucked in to even the most inane TV shows, so a quiet room is best for me. I’ve added a husband to my life since writing FLICKER, so I’m still working out the right balance between writing and life.

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And that’s it! Thank you to Bug for including me in the hop. I hope you’ve enjoyed the interview — now please visit the other sites to discover new-to-you authors. Then NEXT week visit my blogging buddies Stacey Graham and Erica Chapman to see what they have to say to these same questions. If you do visit other blogs I’d love it if you left a comment.

Oh, and if you haven’t read FLICKER, get on it!