Potent Potables

...but man, I've been lame about blogging lately and the fabulous Carrie Harris said I could, so I'm stealing this meme for my very own. Thanks for rescuing my blog from being un-updated, Carrie!

1. What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have? The last thing I wrote was the 10,000th word in my new WIP Hitched, around midnight last night, which I decided gave me permission to go to bed.

The first thing I remember writing was a book that I no longer recall the title of, but it was about an elephant who escaped from the zoo. I also did the illustrations. Note: I'm no artist. My elephant looked like a big grey circle with ears.

2. Write poetry? Lord, no. But I used to write some real doozies.

3. Angsty poetry? Is there any other kind?

4. Favorite genre of writing? Young adult, obviously. Specifically, sci-fi and fantasy.

5. Most annoying character you've ever created? Hmm...Probably Bart from Mortal Peril. But he gets better in book two when he falls in love with a vampire named Kyle. :)

Or maybe Squish from Void, but only because he's always hungry. He's a thirteen-year-0ld boy! Of course he is!

6. Best plot you've ever created? That's a tough one because I'm partial to the plot of MP (my first novel), but I've got something in the hopper right now that I'm dying to write when I get a chance.

7. Coolest plot twist you've ever created? I love that my vampires and werewolves in MP were descended from fairies. But I'm really digging the big plot twist in Void that I cannot discuss for fear that I won't do it justice.

8. How often do you get writer's block? Not too often, but regularly enough that I have three novels that are less than half-written because whenever I get stuck with one, I move on to another. I notice it happens when I step outside the reality box (i.e. when the sci-fi or fantasy stuff comes into play). Those scenes aren't as easy for me to write because I don't always know exactly how I want those elements to play out. Most often, I have ideas about how to resolve those scenes when I'm doing something besides writing (walking, riding the subway, trying to fall asleep...).

9. Write fan fiction? Nay.

10. Do you type or write by hand? Typing, for sure. Unless you want to discuss my high school poetry, which was hand-written in journals. I have saved them all and maybe someday when I'm feeling cruel will subject you all to the horror. Or maybe I'll do it a few questions from now...

11. Do you save everything you write? Yes, including high school and college papers. Except I lost my folder of work from my college poetry class, which was the only time I ever wrote non-angsty poetry. Shame. I'm sure it was equally as bad as the crap I wrote in HS, I just can't remember it.

12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it? Yes, but I usually only abandon ideas because I'm not sure where to go with them, so once inspiration strikes, I try to pick it back up so I don't forget. I do a lot of that--forgetting.

13. What's your favorite thing you've ever written? This little gem:

The glowing moon shines down tonight
A sweet and frail white wine
That beams down on lovers’ hearts
To make their love divine

Yet moonlight changes frequently
And waxes with the tides
And so the lovers’ song does sing
And with the moon it dies

But the moon comes back to wander
Along the lonely sea
And the song comes back to sing again
When you come back to me.

That was written right after my first love dumped me. Ah, high school.

That's not really my favorite though. My favorite characters to write are the fabulously snarky Maggie and Stuart from Umber, but I'm at a point where I have to let that one sit for awhile until inspiration strikes, so they're on ice at the moment. Poor Mags and Stu.

14. What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written? Most people have only ever read one: Mortal Peril. But my mom (who was also my high school creative writing teacher) was a big fan of my more quirky poems and vignettes.

15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama? That's about all I write. I mean, with fantasy or sci-fi elements woven in, but it's all about the romance and drama for my characters.

16. What's your favorite setting for your characters? I tend to set things in NYC, where I live now. But Umber is set in northern VA where I grew up and Hitched is a cross-country journey that ends up in another world entirely. My sister and I drove cross country after we graduated from college, so you could say my settings are places where I've lived or visited.

17. How many writing projects are you working on right now? Three novels are in the early stages, but I only focus on one at a time.

18. Have you ever won an award for your writing? Not an official one. I won an award for being editor-in-chief of the literary magazine in high school. But my mom was the moderator...

19. What are your five favorite words? Palliative, morose, snippet, olfactory, and reticence. Actually, those are just the first five words that popped into my head, but they're good ones, right?

20. What character have you created that is most like yourself? Lucy from MP is pretty Lizzy-like (according to my mother). And Bree, one of the MCs from Hitched, is a bit like me in the sense that she's super-anxious and lets it get in the way of living her life sometimes.

21. Where do you get ideas for your characters? I see characters everywhere, everyday (I live in New York City!), so I create personalities for the people I see. The other day, I saw a guy who looked exactly like a gargoyle. He's now a very minor character in Hitched.

22. Do you ever write based on your dreams? No, because I can never remember my dreams. I'm a really heavy sleeper. But I still remember one dream from my childhood that someday might make a good middle grade novel...

23. Do you favor happy endings? Yes. And I like things to feel resolved. But I also like series and trilogies, so I'm ok with things not being resolved right away.

24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write? To a ridiculous degree. I always go back and edit while I'm writing, which may take longer, but means less work when I revise.

25. Does music help you write? Sometimes. I like to make playlists, but I usually end up just listening to one song on repeat.

26. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head.Ready?
I wrote this the other night, but it's the first scene in Hitched:

I’d misplaced my boyfriend at parties so many times over the last four years that I was considering carrying wallet-sized photos of him with my cell phone number on the back. That way, I could pass them out at the beginning of the night and people could call me with updates: “He’s throwing up in the bathroom,” or “He just chucked his shoe at the karaoke machine,” or “He’s doing inappropriate things to the family dog.” So, as usual, I was searching the rooms of the sprawling house, listening for outcries of anger or disgust that would lead me to him like a homing device.


Now it's your turn, writer friends!