Top Ten Favorites

My latest Top Ten Favorites:

1.) Revising an old manuscript. When I got inspired to revise one of my early manuscripts, I was super-excited. I don't have a lot of free time right now to write (because of my work schedule), and it's harder for me to get in drafting mode than revising mode. So this is the perfect thing for me to do right now. Plus, I finally figured out what was wrong with it after letting it sit for 3+ years!

2.) This chocolate from my CP Julie Dao:

Chocolate covered potato chips! Do I need to say anything else? Nope. Go buy some!

3.) GAME OF THRONES is back on TV. My husband isn't as excited because there are tons of "This didn't happen in the books!" from me... whoops :)

4.) April vacation! This means yoga pants and hoodies and writing every day! Woohoo!

5.) Date nights at the bookstore (Barnes and Noble)!

From the cafe: I got a tall caramel flan (iced) latte and my husband got a chocolate cupcake. From the bookstore: I got THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger and my husband got HEART-SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill.

6.) The caramel flan latte from Starbucks. So good!

7.) Writer friends. I'm super-lucky to have super-awesome, supportive writer friends. And it's really great to come home from a long day at work and find a package in the mail from a CP or Pitch Wars mentor! <333

From the lovely Julie Dao

From the awesome Stephanie Garber

8.) Being able to buy books by people I "know" (on Twitter, through other friends, etc). It's just so cool!

9.) "Rebel Love Song" by Black Veil Brides. The song makes me think of my manuscript THE TREASURE HUNT. (My characters should totally be in the video instead of that couple!) ;P

10.) Plants vs. Zombies 2. I randomly started playing it again and I can't get enough. It's so fun!


What are your favorite things?

Artsy Writing

(Visual) Art and writing are interconnected, I think. 

Sometimes I try to sketch my characters. Sometimes I draw maps of the world. I almost always make Pinspiration boards on Pinterest. But I've never made an actual inspiration/positivity/vision board before. 

After talking with my CPs about staying positive through the ups and downs of writing and where they find inspiration, I thought it would be fun to make an inspirational collage/vision board for my current manuscript and writing as a way to stay positive. 

Here is the (almost) final product:

I clipped pictures and phrases out of magazines, printed out quotes I found online, and even sketched/wrote things myself. 

Here are some close ups and explanations:

"Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure."

I think that's the perfect quote for writing and querying. It's so hard to stay positive all the time, but a good attitude can make all the difference.

"Hope, but never expect. Look forward, but never wait."

This quote reminds me of something my friend once told me, "Go into something with positive intention, not expectation." Intention and expectation sound similar, but I think with intention you're putting your positivity out into the universe, not expecting something in return. 

"Make it simple, but significant." 

This reminds me of my awesome Pitch Wars mentor Jessie Devine. I was trying too hard with my prose, attempting to make it "fancier" than it needed to be. He taught me how to simplify it. I ended up cutting over 5k of filler from THE TREASURE HUNT with his help.

I found this four-leaf clover in my yard. Obviously, I thought a little good luck wouldn't hurt! :)
(And that picture of Dylan O'Brien is how I imagine my MC's personality—well, more like his character's personality on Teen Wolf!)

This musical-looking sketch represents my first Pitch Wars team: Team PPU. When the lovely Stephanie Garber picked me as her second alternate in 2013, it was my first writing-related ego boost. It was huge for me. (Thanks, Stephanie! <3) 

My teammates, Julie Dao and Katie Bucklein, are two of my closest writer friends. We've been through so much together, so I wanted to give Team PPU, as a whole, positive vibes! The anchor represents Katie's PW book, the music represents Julie's, and the stars represent mine. 

What do you do when you're brainstorming/writing/editing a manuscript? Do you sketch your characters? Make collages? Draw maps? Make vision boards?

If you'd like to be tagged in an Artsy Writing blog tour, let me know in the comments!

Meet My Character!

I've been tagged by the lovely Emily Kate Muyskens to participate in the Writerly Meme (Meet My Character) blog tour. I think you're supposed to use meme(s) to describe/show your character and answer several questions about your character. (I hope I'm doing this right!)

Instead of introducing Ben, my protagonist, I thought it'd be fun to introduce a character he befriends. She's important behind the scenes and was really fun to write.

Jennifer loves long-haired guys

1. What is the name of your character? Is she a fictional person or a historic person?

Jennifer is fictional, but she could totally be real.

2. When and where is the story set?

The story takes place during the summer of 1992 in Bay Haven, Maine. (A fictional tourist town on Maine's coast.)

Mr. Mittens?

3. What should we know about your character?

She's eighteen, a chain-smoker, a metal head (glam metal is her fave sub-genre), blonde, tattooed, and obsessed with Bret Michaels. Her best friend is Mitch. She's not afraid to sing at the top of her lungs in a car full of people.

4. What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?

Her main conflict (not the conflict of the story) is probably that she's stuck in Maine and has no way of following Poison across the country on tour. Plus, Bret Michaels has no idea she exists.

5. What is the personal goal of the character?

Besides meeting Bret and getting him to fall in love with her, Jennifer's main goal is to live life to its fullest. She's not afraid to take chances.

6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

Yes. It's called THE TREASURE HUNT.

7. When can we expect the book to be published?

Someday, hopefully!

I tag my awesome CP and friend Katie Bucklein. She writes epic fantasy about pirates and sea monsters! If you'd also like to be tagged, let me know in the comments!

Pitch Wars Bio

Hello!

I'm Melody Marshall, and I'm entering THE TREASURE HUNT, a YA contemporary, into Pitch Wars 2014.

London in April 2010

A little about me:

I live in New Hampshire with my husband, two pit bulls, and cat. I have a BA in Communication Arts, and I also have an MEd in Secondary Education with art certification. I've worked in daycare/education since I was in high school. All my hobbies are related to creativity: drawing, painting, photography, and writing.

For a while, I considered myself to be a YA sci-fi/fantasy writer… until I had the idea for THE TREASURE HUNT. It took a while to wrap my head around writing something without magic or sci-fi elements (or how it'd fit in with my other mss), but I eventually realized THE TREASURE HUNT is closer to my heart than anything else I've written.

Okay, I feel awkward talking about myself, so I'll just list some random things about me:

• I dip potato chips in yellow mustard.
• Spaceballs was my favorite movie growing up. My brother and I could recite the entire thing. (He was always Lone Starr and I was always Barf.) I asked my brother to get a Spaceballs tattoo with me, but I haven't been able to convince him…yet.
• In middle school, I only read adult sci-fi. (Mostly Michael Crichton.) JURASSIC PARK is still one of my favorite books/movies.
• I love the Real Housewives on Bravo. I don't even care. (If you're curious, Orange County and Atlanta are my favorite cities.)
• I'm obsessed with A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE by George R. R. Martin. So far, A STORM OF SWORDS is my favorite in the series. I love Tyrion and Arya. 
• Even though spring and fall are my favorite seasons, I LOVE snow days.
• I always have lip gloss with me.
• I like a range of music from One Direction to Metallica to Ellie Goulding. My favorite band/singer to listen to is always changing, but Pink Floyd is my absolute favorite band, ever.
• I try to eat vegetarian most of the time.
• I prefer to write in the morning.
• I really like Teen Wolf, but I can't convince any of my friends to watch with me. This makes me super sad. 
• Believe it or not, Doctor Who (River Song in particular) inspired me to write THE TREASURE HUNT.
• I collect foreign editions of HARRY POTTER.
• I really like Star Wars, but I'd totally fail a trivia contest! For some reason, I can't keep names and places straight in that universe. 

 Las Vegas in 2012

Some of my favorite books/series: HARRY POTTER (The Half-Blood Prince if I had to pick a favorite), A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE by George R.R. Martin (ASOS!), VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead, UNWIND by Neal Shusterman, THE UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld, SLOPPY FIRSTS by Megan McCafferty, FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell, JURASSIC PARK by Michael Crichton, PERCY JACKSON by Rick Riordan, DARK PLACES by Gillian Flynn, THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES by Anne Rice, and NIGHT by Elie Wiesel. I could list a ton more, but those are just some off the top of my head.

Selfie with my puppy

Some of my favorite movies: Jurassic Park, Beetlejuice, Pitch Perfect, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lion King, Back to the Future 1&2, The Wedding Singer, Hot Tub Time Machine, Spaceballs, A League of Their Own, and Terminator 2.

Jackson is never amused

Some of my favorite TV shows: The Walking Dead, The Real Housewives, Teen Wolf, The Originals, Supernatural, Modern Family, Mad Men, season 1 of Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Orange is the New Black, BBC Sherlock, Project Runway, and Doctor Who.

They think you should pick me for Pitch Wars!

Many thanks to Brenda Drake and all the mentors involved in Pitch Wars! Good luck to all the contestants! <3

The Writing Process Blog Tour

Hello!

The lovely EM Castellan invited me to join the Writing Process Blog Tour. She's super-sweet and is my CP's CP. (Does that make us CP cousins or something?) She's represented by Erin Niumata of Folio Literary and writes YA fantasy. She's also a contributor at There and Draft Again. You can find her on Twitter or her blog (where she always uses the coolest GIFs).

What am I currently working on?

I'm currently revising a YA romance called THE TREASURE HUNT, which I'm hoping will be done in time to enter Pitch Wars in August. TTH takes place in a coastal town in Maine during the summer of 1992. There's a treasure hunt, mixed-tapes, a secret admirer, and lots of late '80s and early '90s metal. (Here's my inspiration board if you're interested!)

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I usually write sci-fi or fantasy, so THE TREASURE HUNT differs from everything else I've ever written. But as far as how it differs from other YA romances, I'd say I haven't seen too many featuring metal heads. Also, my characters are often wooed by their love interests with food and drink.

Why do I write what I write?

As EM Castellan said in her post, I write things that I'd like to read. As a writer, you have to read your manuscript AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN, so it's important you write something you wouldn't mind reading over and over!

How does my individual writing process work?

I write down all my ideas in a Word Doc, so I don't forget them. When I have an idea that won't go away and I find myself thinking about it all the time, I realize it's time to work on it. I'm not much of a plotter. I usually have an idea about how it ends, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get there. (STRANGE ATTRACTORS is probably the only manuscript I really tried to plot out.) With THE TREASURE HUNT, I just started writing. I thought I knew a few things that were going to happen, but my characters ended up making up their own minds about how things were going to go. Other than the secret admirer and the treasure hunt, I figured the story out as I went.

I don't share my writing with anyone until I've gone through the rough draft a few times. I usually send my manuscript to one CP at a time. After I get their critique, I revise what needs to be revised before sending it to someone else, and so on.

Now it's time to tag some friends!

My wonderful CP Steph Sessa who writes YA SF. Because of her, I'm obsessed with Doctor Who (especially Eleven)!

My writer friend Emily Kate Muyskens who writes YA SF/F. We met through an online writing contest, and we also met in real life(!) at the NESCBWI conference in Springfield, MA.

If you'd like to be tagged, let me know in the comments! :)

An ABC Review of MORE THAN MUSIC & RRR Interview with Elizabeth Briggs

I recently purchased and read the e-book for MORE THAN MUSIC by Elizabeth Briggs. I really liked it and thought it'd be fun to do another ABC review and RRR interview. (If you missed my first ABC/RRR post, it's here.) So here we go!

Here's the book blurb for MORE THAN MUSIC:

Music major Maddie Taylor just finished her junior year of college and has a summer internship lined up with the LA Philharmonic, yet every night she practices guitar and secretly dreams of a louder life. But geeky girls like her don't get to be rock stars. That is, until tattooed singer Jared Cross catches her playing guitar and invites her to join his band on The Sound, a reality TV show competition.
Once on the show, Maddie discovers there's more to Jared than his flirty smile and bad boy reputation - and that he's just as big a geek as she is. With each performance their attraction becomes impossible to ignore, but when the show pressures them to stay single they're forced to keep their relationship secret.
As the competition heats up, Jared will do whatever it takes for his band to win, and Maddie must decide if following her dream is worth losing her heart.

MORE THAN MUSIC is now available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

The cover is great, and I loved the cool guitar graphics inside the book. This was super-fun to read--I probably finished it in only a couple sittings. I really loved all the references to super heroes, movies, and real-life bands. Jurassic Park is one of my all-time favorite books/movies, so I especially got a kick out of the Jurassic Park/John Williams reference. 

This was actually the first New Adult book I'd ever read, and I think it was a good one for a first-time NA reader. If you like romance, music, reality shows, or super heroes (or villains!), I really think you'll enjoy this book.

AN ABC Review of MORE THAN MUSIC

ACTION

The story moves quickly, which I liked. There's some drama involved with the reality show that I didn't expect, and there's lots of sexual tension that keeps the reader interested. It was easy to get sucked into the story and Elizabeth's writing. Elizabeth's knowledge of and love for music really showed during the performance scenes.

BACKDROP

MORE THAN MUSIC mostly takes place on the set of The Sound--a reality TV show. It's easy to picture the setting as you read, especially if you've watched American Idol or The Voice. A good portion of the story takes place behind the scenes of the show, and I thought it was interesting to see what reality show contestants do when they're not in front of the camera.

CHARACTERS 

The four main characters--the members of the band--are Maddie, Hector, Jared, and Kyle. Maddie is a sweet, very relatable character. She starts off a bit insecure, not feeling like she fits in, but she soon gains confidence on (and off) stage. Hector is the curly-haired drummer, who probably gives Maddie the hardest time when she first joins the band. Jared and Kyle are brothers. Kyle, the younger brother, is the keyboardist and Maddie's friend at the beginning of the book. Jared is the swoon-worthy singer with a reputation for sleeping around.

I liked all the characters, and I found it easy to imagine what they were like. Even if I hadn't heard beforehand that Elizabeth pictured Jared Leto as Jared, I still probably would have imagined him as the singer!

And now a little bit about Elizabeth Briggs:

Elizabeth Briggs is a full-time geek who writes books for teens and adults. She plays the guitar, mentors at-risk teens, and volunteers with a dog rescue group. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and a pack of small, fluffy dogs.

Some MORE THAN MUSIC questions:

I heard you pictured Jared Leto as Jared Cross while writing MORE THAN MUSIC. Did you cast any of the other characters with celebrities?

Yep, I picture Jared Cross as a younger Jared Leto, back when he had short hair. I imagine Hector looks like the drummer for Incubus, Jose Pasillas, while Kyle looks like The Neighbourhood's singer, Jesse Rutherford. 

If Villain Complex could tour with any real-life band(s), who would they choose?

It would probably be cheating to say Thirty Seconds To Mars, so I’ll go with Linkin Park or Muse – they both put on amazing shows and would probably have a lot of the same fans as Villain Complex.

If Maddie, Jared, Kyle, and Hector were villains, who would they be?

This will actually come up in one of the novellas, MORE THAN COMICS, when they go to Comic-Con! Jared and Maddie would be the Joker and Harley Quinn, of course. Though I could see them as Magneto and Mystique if we went for X-men villains instead. Jared would also make a pretty hot Loki. But if we stick with a Batman theme (with Maddie’s friends Carla and Julie as Catwoman and Poison Ivy), Hector would be Bane and Kyle would be the Riddler. 

Reading:

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading FORTUNE’S RISK by Jamie Grey, which is a novella set after her New Adult sci-fi THE STAR THIEF. I love this series!

Do you bring a book with you every place you go, or do you mainly read in one place?

I mainly read in bed or on my couch, with one of my dogs curled up at my side. I will bring a book (or my kindle) with me if I know I’ll be sitting around somewhere.

What is your favorite book to recommend to other people?

A lot of people ask me for other New Adult books that are light and geeky like mine, so I always point them to MAKE IT COUNT by Megan Erickson. It’s tons of fun and has a nerdy-cute guy in it, too.

wRiting:

What time of day do you prefer to write?

I prefer to write in the afternoon and early evening. I tend to do most of the business side of writing in the morning – answering emails, writing blog posts, and so forth – but as soon as that’s done I can start writing.

Do you need to eat or drink something while writing?

I write fastest when I chug Coke, but this isn’t particularly good for me, so I’m trying to break this habit.

Do you listen to music while writing? If so, do you listen to different types of music while drafting and revising?

I listen to music both when drafting and revising, but the type of music depends on the book. For MORE THAN MUSIC I listened to all the songs the band plays throughout the book on repeat to try to capture the feel of them. But for my YA novels I listened to movie scores, such as Inception and Tron Legacy. This partly inspired Maddie’s love of movie scores!

Relaxing:

When you’re not writing (or thinking about writing), what do you do to unwind?

I watch TV shows on Netflix for hours until it asks me “are you still watching?” Right now I’m rewatching Scrubs.

What’s your not-so-guilty pleasure?

I read a lot of sexy romance novels and drink a lot of wine. I don’t feel particularly guilty about either of those though!

Do you have any other creative outlets besides writing?

I also play the guitar, though I don’t have time to practice as much as I’d like. I learned how to play all the songs that Maddie plays in MORE THAN MUSIC though!

If you'd like a taste of the songs referenced in the book, here's the playlist for MORE THAN MUSIC:  

Thanks so much Elizabeth for doing the interview!

Music and Writing

I can't write in silence. I need music while writing, but the type of music always changes depending on where I am in the writing process.

I need noise when drafting, but lyrics distract me. So I like to listen to movie/television soundtracks.  My favorites are Game of Thrones by Ramin Djawadi, BBC Sherlock by David Arnold and Michael Price, Downton Abbey by The Chamber Orchestra of London, Harry Potter by John Williams and Alexandre Desplat, Doctor Who by Murray Gold and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Les Revenants by Mogwai, The Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore, and Jurassic Park by John Williams.

But when I'm editing or revising, I can handle listening to lyrics. Lately, my favorite singers or bands to listen to are Florence + The Machine, Ellie Goulding, MS MR, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Marina and The Diamonds.

With every manuscript (or unfinished WIP), I have listened to soundtracks while drafting and select bands or singers during revising/editing. At least I did up until THE TREASURE HUNT. With THE TREASURE HUNT, I listened to metal bands throughout the entire writing process. I think for this ms it helped me connect with my characters since music and mixed tapes play a big part in the story. I mostly listened to Metallica (Ride the Lightning, …And Justice for All, Master of Puppets, and the black album). I also listened to Slayer, Pantera, Testament, Skid Row, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, and Megadeth. Ben, the main character, likes grunge/alternative, so sometimes I listened to a select few songs by The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, and Nirvana.

With THICK AS THIEVES, my Camp Nano WIP, I've tried to stick with sci-fi soundtracks. So far, I've enjoyed listening to Star Trek by Michael Giancchino (thanks to Stephanie Garber for the suggestion!), Fringe: Season 1 by Chad Seiter, Chris Tilton, and Michael Giancchino, Thor by Patrick Doyle, and Doctor Who by Murray Gold and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

What do you listen to while drafting, revising, and editing?

Writing Inspiration

Where do you get your story ideas?

My ideas usually pop out of nowhere. I'll be driving, cleaning, at the gym, or making dinner when I'll get an idea or a feeling for a story. It's totally random. Sometimes I'll get several shiny-new-ideas in a week, and other times I'll go months with no new ideas.

And sometimes I'll get new ideas inspired by something else. The inspiration for THE TREASURE HUNT was a random idea inspired by DOCTOR WHO. This sounds completely strange--my LGBT historical romance being inspired by a British sci-fi show--but it's true. The idea of River Song leaving messages for the Doctor across time and space sparked something for me. (I mean, how cool is that?) Initially, I thought THE TREASURE HUNT was going to involve love letters with some sort of time travel element, but the sci-fi elements eventually fell away, leaving me with a treasure hunt with metal heads set in 1992.

But the inspiration for STRANGE ATTRACTORS came about in a different way. Instead of it popping out of nowhere, I was looking for a new idea. I was out for Mexican food with my husband for our anniversary when I asked him to tell me some interesting science-related topics that I could include in a YA sci-fi. He listed several, like solar flares and and nuclear fallout, but the last idea about someone being able to travel between the multiverse really sparked something for me. I immediately pictured Piper and thought of ways she could travel through universes.

Sometimes these ideas come to me fully-formed and are easy to turn into a story, but other times I really have to think about them. STRANGE ATTRACTORS came together fairly quickly. I almost immediately knew Piper was a teen spy, but her motivation wasn't always the same. THE TREASURE HUNT, on the other hand, took a lot of pondering. I mean, initially it started out as a sci-fi. But when I couldn't think of a way for the characters to send love letters through time, it became a historical romance involving a treasure hunt instead.

What's your craziest story inspiration? Do you involve other people in your brainstorming?

An ABC Review of BLACKFIN SKY & RRR Interview with Kat Ellis

I recently had the chance to read BLACKFIN SKY by Kat Ellis. (I won an ARC of the US edition through a Twitter giveaway.) 

Here's the book blurb:

Just like any other morning, Skylar Rousseau is late for school, but when she is greeted by a blanket of silent stares upon entering Blackfin High, she discovers that the whole town thought she fell from the pier and drowned on her sixteenth birthday three months earlier. However, Sky remembers the last three months living her life as normal, and since she is a full, living breathing human being, she has no idea whose body is buried underneath her tombstone. Everyone seems reluctant to help except her steadfast friend and crush, Sean . . . and a secretive man who draws her to a mysterious circus in the woods. Sky must wade through impossibilities and lies to discover the truth about what happened to her, which proves to be a bit difficult when someone is following her every move with the intent to harm her. And Sky’s only hope of finding the answers she seeks may have already been turned to ashes.

BLACKFIN SKY is now available for purchase in the UK and available for preorder in the US. (US release date is September 2, 2014.) 

First, I LOVE the cover! It's so perfect. The UK cover is great, too.

This was so much fun to read. Reviewing this is difficult, though, because I don't want to give anything away. There are so many mysteries surrounding Skylar and the other characters in BLACKFIN SKY that if I say anything it'll probably spoil something big. Sooo… you should just take my word for it and read it! ;-)

Because BLACKFIN SKY is so unique (and I want to avoid spoilers!), I thought it would be fun to do the review a little different and theme it around the ABCs.

An ABC Review of BLACKFIN SKY

ACTION

The story of BLACKFIN SKY moves quickly without feeling rushed. I was never bored or wondering when something would happen. Just enough of the mystery was revealed throughout the story to keep me reading and wondering what happens next. From the very first page, reading from the point-of-view of Silas, the haunted weathervane, I was hooked!  

My initial thoughts about the mystery surrounding Sky were wrong, and I was really surprised when I found out what actually happened to her. I think BLACKFIN SKY would appeal to fans of Les Revenants. (Sky's reemergence in Blackfin reminded me a little of Camille's in Les Revenants.)

BACKDROP

While Kat Ellis created a town completely unlike any town around, it felt very familiar and real at the same time. The town of Blackfin is mysterious and quirky. I mean, there's a haunted weathervane and a well that steals your loose change if you walk too close! I think that speaks of Kat's magic as a writer--these quirky things all feel very real and possible.  

CHARACTERS

Skylar Rousseau is a great heroine. I immediately liked her and wanted to know what happened during her three month absence. Even with her otherness, she feels like any other girl. She could be your best friend.

Sean Vega is a refreshing love interest with his grandpa cardigans, dorky glasses, and strawberry licorice always dangling from his mouth. I also liked that he's just a nice guy. Because there are so many complicated bad boys, someone like Sean is a breath of fresh air.  

If I name or explain about anyone else from BLACKFIN SKY, I'm afraid it'll give things away...

Now it's time for my interview with Kat Ellis!

Some BLACKFIN SKY questions:

What inspired you to write BLACKFIN SKY? Did you get the initial spark and immediately start writing, or did you think about it a while before writing?

I knew the hook before I began: that Sky died and came back 3 months later, and couldn’t understand why her recollection of events was so different from everyone else’s. But (and this is unusual for me) I hadn’t written an outline before I started drafting, so I hit a bit of a stumbling block when I realised I had no idea what had actually happened to Sky. I spent a few weeks mulling it over before a fateful visit to the circus with my sister and niece helped me to fill in the missing pieces. 

Have you casted any of the characters in BLACKFIN SKY in your head with celebrities?

Ha! Of course. I’d cast Dakota Fanning as Sky, and Robert Sheehan as Sean, her love interest. I’m not sure about the rest, except for Sky’s father, Gui – I’d have Tom Hardy to play him, looking like he did in the film Bronson (though Gui is a very different character from Charles Bronson…)

Other than the characters in BLACKFIN SKY, are there any literary characters you could see Sky being friends with? Or enemies?

I could definitely imagine her being friends with Cas Lowood from ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD; they have the same almost weary acceptance of the bizarre nature of the world around them, although I like to think that Sky has better taste in love interests ;) I think Willow in the ANGEL series by L A Weatherly would also make a good friend for Sky. In terms of enemies… Sky probably has enough of her own to be going on with!

Reading: 

What are you currently reading?

I’m about to start WE WERE LIARS by E Lockhart - mostly because nearly everyone I know has already read it, and I’m bound to stumble on a spoiler if I don’t read it soon!

Do you bring a book with you every place you go or do you mainly read in one place?

I tend to travel with a book or two, but if I’m going anywhere far I’ll take my kindle; I worry I’ll somehow become a super-fast reader the minute I hit the motorway, and will run out of things to read if I don’t have my overstuffed kindle.

What's your favorite book to recommend to other people?

UNWIND by Neal Shusterman, mostly because it’s less well known than a lot of my other favourite reads, and you really can’t beat it for great, creepy SF!

wRiting:

What time of day do you prefer to write?

I’m a night owl; I generally start mid-afternoon and work into the wee small hours.

Do you need to eat or drink something while writing?

Oh god yes! I mainline coffee…although I tend to forget to eat, so I quite often get lovely little caffeine headaches.

Do you listen to music while writing? If so, do you listen to different types of music while drafting and revising?

I make playlists for each manuscript I work on, and sometimes play those in the background. Other times I find random songs, or work in silence. It’s very much mood-dependant.

Relaxing:

When you’re not writing (or thinking about writing), what do you do to unwind?

I read, which really does feel like a luxury sometimes, and I mess around on my piano and guitar.

What’s your not-so-guilty pleasure?

The TV show Catfish. People on that show are INSANE, but it’s kind of addictive.

Do you have any other creative outlets besides writing?

I love travelling around North Wales taking photographs of forests and castles and stuff like that. I post quite a lot of them to my Tumblr.

Thank you so much Kat for being brave enough to be the first interview on my blog! You can find Kat on Twitter or on her blog. A few places you can find BLACKFIN SKY: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository!