Q: How long did it take you to write BURN OUT?
A: 6 weeks for the first draft, but an entire year of tweaking until I felt like it was ready…well, mostly ready. I did more revising with the help of my awesome agent and brilliant editor.
Q:Where did you get the idea for BURN OUT?
A: BURN OUT came about after watching several science documentaries, and then hearing a cool song on Pandora that led to an intense dream about the sun burning out early. I woke from the dream with the entire story of my MC, Tora, in my head. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I started writing.
Q:What was the song?
A: Center of the Sun by Conjure One. I still get chills when I hear it.
Q:Did you always want to be a writer?
A: Ha—no. Originally, I wanted to be an NFL quarterback. FUN FACT: I was the only girl allowed on the neighborhood football team and my nickname was ‘Monkeylegs.’ When those career hopes were dashed, I went through a brief nun phase (I went to a Catholic school but there were also boys there, hence why that phase was brief), then decided to get my Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I’ve worked as a psychologist for years until recently when the writing bug bit, however, my mom claims I wrote my first book when I was five.
Q:What was your first book?
A: I don’t remember the content of my 5-yo masterpiece but I remember making the construction paper cover for it. I do remember my first ‘novel’ and I use the term loosely. My mom says I was seven, but I think it was more like ten or eleven. I used a cursive typewriter and wrote a Nancy Drew knock-off novel, which I guess today would be called fan fiction (I’d devoured the entire series in 1st grade). Since corrector tape can only take you so far before you’d have to re-type the entire manuscript, it was a very short novel.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Aside from working on the 2nd BURN OUT novel, I’m working on a YA fantasy about an assassin ballerina. I also have a great idea for co-authoring a novel with Stephen King. I’m just waiting for his call. 😉
Q: Do you have a dream cast for a movie version of BURN OUT?
A: I think all writers think of their ideal movie cast. For me, it would have to be Emily Browning as my MC, Tora. I don’t know his name but the guy from Pitch Perfect reminds me of Markus, and Alexander Skargard would be great as Kale. James is the one I can’t find a perfect match for. Oh, and Joss Whedon, Robert Orci, and Alex Kurtzman as screenwriters. A girl can dream.
