I’m an artist, wife, mom, goof, geek, and cupcake enthusiast. I’m also an Associate Editor on Cool Mom Picks, one of the hottest product review sites on the web. I have a BA in Studio Art from the University of Georgia, and I was high school Valedictorian, not that it matters much in real life. Before writing, I was a kids’ art instructor and arts administrator, including gallery direction and public relations. I paint murals whenever I can. And I was also briefly a cube monkey, but they didn’t get my sense of humor, especially the poster of sheep in bow ties.Some of my favorite things are travel, books, movies, ninjas, vampires, pirates, baby pandas, cephalopods, horseback riding, roller skating, painting, Braeburn apples, boots, Candy Cane Lane tea, and cute jackets.
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First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
Sure! In addition to being a writer, I’m also an artist, a reader, a geek, a movie buff, a website editor, a mother, a wife, and a complete goof. I’m a native Georgian and a big fan of cake. I love pretty boots, climbing trees, travel, the ocean, steampunk, eating weird animals, and sleeping. I have an Ask up on my tumblr and like to reply to @s on Twitter, so if someone has a burning or embarrassing question—or an embarrassing question about burning?—they can find me.
Did you always want to be a writer?
When I was much younger, I wanted to write and illustrate books for kids, and my mom thought that’s what I would do with my life. I wrote tons of poetry and did plenty of PR writing. But getting a book published seemed so huge and impossible that I just stuck with what I was good at, getting an art degree and running galleries. Writing a book and getting obsessed with publishing was a big surprise, but now it feels like what I was supposed to be doing all along. My first book was written when I was six and titled A JUNGLE AND IT’S LIFE. It was about how people in the jungle were often bitten by snakes and died in pith helmets.
What kind of writer are you? Panster or Plotter?
A little bit of each. When I get the inspiration for a story, I spend a lot of time thinking about it and mulling it over, but I usually have the major plot points and know what happens at the end. I start with a rough outline and a page of notes, then start writing. Characters and situations pop up all the time and surprise the crap out of me. Like Emerlie the tightrope walker—she came out of nowhere. I usually get stuck at least once and can’t figure out which way the story goes. My solution is to take a bath in the dark with music, and then it’s like lucid dreaming. The answer appears!
Where do your ideas come from?
The idea for Wicked came in a dream after watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and listening to the album Like Vines by The Hush Sound. I have one book that was inspired by a photoset of images from Six Flags New Orleans after Katrina. Another one about goblins came to me while I was half-asleep with a frachetty baby. Another one is based on this cool little forest by a public auditorium in my home town. I’m always bookmarking things that spark my brain.
A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
Atlanta nurse wakes up in steampunk Victorian world where a vampire magician ringmaster professes to love her. Hijinx ensue. Bunnies attack!
What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
I want a complete escape. The characters’ problems should be nothing like mine. No mortgages, no small children, no deadlines. Maybe that’s why I read mostly YA and paranormal romance. My main life goal is to get to a point where I have no worries.
Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
I have so many that I would feel guilty naming just one! Alice in Wonderland is a long-time favorite that has captured my attention and inspired my tattoos for years. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon taught me that romance wasn’t just bodice ripping, and I also love the books of Gail Carriger, Deanna Raybourne, Karen Marie Moning, Maggie Stiefvater, Cassandra Clare, Matthew Stover, Stephanie Perkins, and David Levithan, among many, many others.
What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
The first sex scene was the most difficult thing I’ve ever written! I had to give myself a pep talk and have a glass of wine first. It was originally a blackout scene, but my beta readers rebelled. Now that I’m used to it, the racy scenes are fun. The hardest ones for me are the “time passes”. Most of my books occur in a span of days simply because I hate waiting around.
If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?
Thanks to the beauty of social media, I have had the good fortune to interact with a few of my favorite authors. Gail Carriger and Deanna Raybourn are just lovely, and it would be a lot of fun to hang out with them and Meljean Brook. We could talk about corsets and tea and uppity heroines who don’t fit the mold.
Last question, are you working on anything right now?
I’m always working on something! There’s an e-novella coming out around October, a romance set in the world of Sang between books 1 and 2. I’m writing book 2, of course. I’m really excited to be working with Villainess Soaps (villainess.net) on a delicious line of artisan perfumes and soaps based on the characters of Wicked as They Come, which should be out in April. And I have two other projects rumbling around, a YA paranormal in Savannah and a clockpunk romance version of Robin Hood. Who knows if they’ll get anywhere, but I’m having lots of fun trying to get them there!
Thanks so much for the interview, and I hope y’all enjoy Wicked as They Come!
When the locket is stolen, Tish must choose between her supposed destiny with Criminy in the steampunk Victorian world of Sang and a normal life and family in her own world, where she's the only thing keeping her grandmother alive.
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Great interview. Love to learn about new to me authors. This is a new author and would love to win and read this book. Thanks for the giveaway.
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