What do you feel are the benefits of the new electronic readers to the literary environment?
I don't own one (yet), but I feel that anything that makes it easier and fun for people to read, is a good thing.
What impact do electronic readers create on the bottom line for authors in the end?
This is something that has only affected me with Ashes, Ashes (which has only been out for three months), so I don't know yet. I do know that pirating hurts authors a lot.
Do you feel they have a negative impact or positive, or no impact at all that you can see?
I'd say both negative and positive.
What sort of things influence you into naming settings and characters from your books as they are named?
Once you start writing all the time, everything influences you. I lived in and around NYC for a long time, so it seemed like the perfect setting for Ashes, Ashes. Both my new books are set on the West Coast — where I also lived — and my current work in progress is set somewhere completely mythical, though it is humid there, so it's probably somewhere on the East Coast. Character names just come to me; sometimes they're directly linked to a real person, and sometimes they are made up.
Have you always been into reading and writing?
Yes. I started reading at a young age and afterwards there was nothing I loved doing as much. I have my nose buried in a book in many of my childhood photos.
What has been your favorite part of the writing and publishing process so far?
Talking with people about books and writing and reading. I especially love to write and talk with young adults, and I've led a lot of writing workshops for kids. Having fans is really cool and weirdly surprising as well but I LIKE it!
Did you write as a teenager?
Mostly very bad poetry. Also limericks in high school which were personalized for classmates. I kept a journal and filled it with ego-centric moanings and wild dreams.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Article comments