FAq

why do you write young adult?

I love young adult because the audience is so much more willing to take a chance on the content.  If I want to write about a cheerleader turned Undead or a video game come alive, I get to do that.  My voice lends naturally to teen fiction and I think deep inside, I am really just a snarky sixteen year old.

are your characters based on real people?

Ah, now for the horrifying truth.  I am a lazy writer so the answer is yes and no.  Yes in the sense that most of my characters are named after people I know because I would rather waste brain cells on the storyline than on the names for people.  And no in the sense that my characters might have my friends' names and hair color, but the character personalities are all made up in my head.  A very scary place to be conceived, you can be sure.

what kind of shows/movies do you like to watch?

I love romantic comedy and sci fi.  Sort of a happily ever after with space ships and mutants.  What can I say?  I'm a complicated chick.

So what do you do in your free time?

What can I put down to make myself sound cooler than I really am?   I am a secret agent for the CIA, an undercover alien hunter and demon slayer.  How do I find the time to do such important work between playing video games and scrapbooking?  I'll never tell.

What's the best part of being a writer?

I can work in my pajamas and slippers.  Also, when I space out in the middle of a conversation, I can just claim I had a great idea for a book and people find it charming instead of rude. Oh yeah, people think writers are smart.  Silly people.

Do you get to hobnob with ny times bestselling authors?

Nora Roberts and I write for the same house, so once a year I see her across the room at a cocktail party.  I studder a lame greeting and gush like a homicidal maniac and she graciously murmurs hello while reaching for the stun gun hidden in her evening bag.  I'd say Nora and I are pretty tight and as soon as we clear up this whole nasty restraining order business, we'll be doing lunch real soon.  I'm sure of it.

do you think you could come talk to my class/school/book group?

There is nothing I like better than to hear myself talk and pontificate about my book's deeper meanings (and that ain't easy since I write commercial fiction).  Drop me an email with plenty of lead time and I'll see what I can do.  Obviously, if you live in the Seattle area, the odds are much higher I can speak at your class/school/book group but I have been known to travel outside the state of Washington.  No really, I'm allowed out of the state.

your first book series is about vampires. Do you believe they exist?

I certainly hope not. In my books the vampires have become so domesticated that they are a large, lumbering organization, barely functioning with levels and levels of bureaucratic red tape.  I think a vamp would rather stake himself than  spend eternity as middle management.  But that's just my take on the subject. :)