interview

Jul 23 2017

Interview with Author Lisa Manterfield

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Lisa Manterfield to the blog. I hope you enjoy getting to meet Lisa and don’t forget to check out her book and giveaway at the end of the interview!

1. What made you decide to start writing?

Writers often talk about the idea that won’t leave them alone. I had one of those and knew I had to do something with it. It was a topic I was exploring in my real life and writing seemed to offer some answers, or at least a way to explore ideas. I wrote it as a screenplay first, but could never get it to be the story I needed to tell. Eventually, I tried it as a novel and I knew I’d found the perfect outlet. I wrote a lot of other things in between, including two non-fiction books, but that original idea eventually became my first novel, A Strange Companion.

2. Do you prefer series or standalone books?

Standalone. I like to explore new worlds when I read, so I don’t tend to stick with a series for more than a book or two. Harry Potter is the only series I’ve ever seen through to completion. I love writing stand-alone novels because each one is a fresh canvas and a whole world of possibilities. That’s both the fun and the challenging part of writing standalones.

3. In your fiction you often cover serious themes like death and grief, how do you balance these themes in your work?

In real life, I’m quite a cheerful person, so it’s sort of funny to me that I explore death and grief so much in my writing. Fortunately, I’m also a sucker for a good love story, so even in the darkest stories, there’s still room for a flicker of love to burn. And my supporting characters often bring lighter moments to my books. Without them, I think my stories could be very sad. Instead, they’re hopeful.

4. Can you give us one fact about The Smallest Thing we should know?

The nugget of trivia is that it’s a contemporary novel inspired by the true story of the plague village of Eyam, a village that voluntarily imposed a quarantine on itself back in 1665. A little behind-the-scenes detail about my updated version is that Aiden, who plays an important and juicy role in the book, was born out of a one-sentence writing prompt. All of a sudden, this character marched onto the page and took my main character—and my writing group—by storm. His arrival changed the whole trajectory of the novel and I’m so glad it did.

5. What is one wish you have for your book?

You always hope that people will love the book and tell everyone, of course. But I also hope that readers will take away the message that even the smallest of good deeds can make a huge impact on other people’s lives. With so much going on in the world right now and so many calls to protest and take action, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that one small gesture of kindness can change a person’s entire day, maybe even their life.

6. Do you have any other creative hobbies?

I love the theatre and I love to dance. I like to cook, garden, and knit, too. But the truth is that these hobbies have taken a back seat recently as I’ve thrown all my creative energy into writing. Now that The Smallest Thing is out in the world, I hope to get back to some of those other outlets. I took my first tap dancing class earlier this year. It was so much fun (not to mention great exercise) and I’d like to pick that up again.

7. What is the best advice you would give to young writers?

Write for yourself first. Write the stories you want to tell and then figure out where they fit in the world. Because publishing has changed so much, almost any kind of story can find readers who will love it. I think it’s also important to find a community of writers to grow up with. Whether you go to a writers’ conference, find a local group, or join an online community, you need to find people you can trust to give honest and useful feedback, and to support you through the hard parts as well as the celebrations.

8. What can readers look forward to from you next?

I have a collection of short stories that will come out later this year. I’m also in the early stages of a new novel. At the moment, I’m still playing around with several ideas, including one set partly during World War II and featuring a character from A Strange Companion. This might be as close to writing a series as I ever get. But I don’t want to make too many rash promises at this point, as my novels tend to evolve into something quite different to my original idea. I’m in the very early stages right now and anything could happen.

About the Author:

Lisa Manterfield is the award-winning author of A Strange Companion and I’m Taking My Eggs and Going Home: How One Woman Dared to Say No to Motherhood. Her work has appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Los Angeles Times, and Psychology Today. Originally from northern England, she now lives in Southern California with her husband and over-indulged cat. Learn more at LisaManterfield.com.

About the Book:

The very last thing 17-year-old Emmott Syddall wants is to turn out like her dad. She’s descended from ten generations who never left their dull English village, and there’s no way she’s going to waste a perfectly good life that way. She’s moving to London and she swears she is never coming back.

But when the unexplained deaths of her neighbors force the government to quarantine the village, Em learns what it truly means to be trapped. Now, she must choose. Will she pursue her desire for freedom, at all costs, or do what’s best for the people she loves: her dad, her best friend Deb, and, to her surprise, the mysterious man in the HAZMAT suit?

Inspired by the historical story of the plague village of Eyam, this contemporary tale of friendship, community, and impossible love weaves the horrors of recent news headlines with the intimate details of how it feels to become an adult—and fall in love—in the midst of tragedy.

Follow along with the tour:

July 18: Interview with Rebecca Lacko
July 19: Guest Post at A New Look on Books
July 20: Interview with Heather Sunseri
July 21: Interview at Booked for Review
July 22: Interview with Michael Raymond
July 23: Interview with Farah Oomerbhoy
July 24: Review by Mixed Bag Mama
July 25: Guest Post at History in the Margins with Pamela Toler
July 26: Review at YA Book Divas
July 27: Review at The Reading Wolf
July 28: Review at For the Novel Lovers

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May 21 2017

Interview with Author Sara Fujimura

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Sara Fujimura to the blog. I hope you enjoy getting to meet Sara and don’t forget to check out her book.

1. Please tell us a bit about what inspired you to begin your journey as an author?

Like a lot of authors, I started my writing career doing fan fiction. Eighth-grade Algebra is much more fun when you can craft exciting (but plotless) tales of pirates and space journeys and sometimes pirates on space journeys with your twin sister and your two BFFs. Things that were on my radar in 8^th grade: Duran Duran, The Pirate Movie (that cheesetastic Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins musical), and Return of the Jedi. That pretty much explains the content of my fan fiction. As I actually had to pay attention in 9th-grade Geometry, The Story (that’s what we called the tome), eventually died out and my writing in general with it. I didn’t start writing fiction again until 1998, and even then I had more success writing nonfiction magazine articles than short stories and novels. I love the human stories that often come along with nonfiction, so it’s no surprise that my YA fiction projects have a lot of truth and facts in them.

2. What inspired you to start Hapa Day and what does the day celebrate?

Hapa* Day on March 14th was created as a symbol of love for multiracial/multiethnic individuals around the world with Asian and/or Pacific Islander ancestry. I didn’t start Hapa Day. I just put my own spin on it. I’m not sure who started it, but I found out about Hapa Day through Everything Hapa. I did a blog post a few years ago in my son’s birthday month called Hapa Heroes because I was having such a hard time finding YA books for him with Asian/Hapa boys as the MC. When I found out about Hapa Day, I realigned with it and expanded it to include YA books featuring a hapa MC or hapa Love Interest of either sex. I keep a running list on my website www.sarafujimura.com and do an update and social media push each year to feature the new titles. Though the list is growing, it is still incredibly short. Just like on TV and in movies, finding an Asian or hapa boy as the hero or love interest of the story is still harder to find than a unicorn. I wrote Tanabata Wish to let these boys—including my own son—know that, yes, you can be the Love Interest, too. Also in my book, David Takamatsu does no martial arts, isn’t any more technologically proficient than your average teen, and definitely is not friend-zoned by Sky.

*Not everybody likes the term hapa, the Hawaiian word for “half,” but many in the Asian/Pacific Islander community have adopted the word as a term of pride. My teen children prefer hapa to haafu, the Japanese term for biracial people, so that’s what I use.

3. Can you share with us a bit about your book, Tanabata Wish, and how you got your story idea?

Tanabata Wish took about ten years and a million drafts to solidify into the final product, but I always knew I wanted to tell a story that reflected my children’s worldview. Americans who have lived abroad—whether it was for a summer, like Sky, or for an extended time period—know that you are forever changed by the experience. It makes you reevaluate everything about yourself, and even if you come back into your “normal,” it’s never truly normal again. I also have many biracial/bicultural teens in my life. Many of them have the same push-pull with identity in high school that David does. He’s got a foot in both American and Japanese culture, and yet both sides reinforce that he’s never truly either. Unfortunately, my children have received that same message at times. My husband, Toshi, is originally from Nagoya, and we go to Japan every summer for about a month to stay with my in-laws who now live in Gifu Prefecture. Sky’s family’s apartment and daily life were pulled from my experience of living in an apartment in Nagoya with two small children for a small part of one summer. From the Tanabata matsuri to the Nagoya Dome to the golden clock in front of the Takashimaya department store, and more, Japan is very much its own character in this book. I totally geek out when I can visit real places that authors have embedded in their books (though we will not discuss my trip to Forks in 2008), so I wanted to include a bunch of real places in Nagoya that people could go visit or may have already been to during their adventures in Japan.

4. You mentioned Tanabata Wish revolved around the Japanese Star Festival, can you tell us a bit about this festival and how it plays into the story?

There are several versions of the Tanabata story (including the original story from China) that are celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month. Nagoya uses July 7^th, but other parts of Japan use the seventh lunar month instead. You can watch the whole story at the link below*, but in a nutshell: Tanabata is a festival celebrating star-crossed lovers Orihime (the Weaver Princess) and her true love Hikoboshi (the Celestial Cow Herder) who are separated by the Amanogawa (Milky Way) and only allowed to meet once a year. The festival celebrates love, and people frequently write wishes on little slips of paper called tanzaku. Though my version of Tanabata doesn’t include mystical elements, I do send Sky and David—in Japanese attire—to the famous Ichinomiya Tanabata Matsuri for an authentic and, of course, romantic experience.

*Tanabata Story with English subtitles https://youtu.be/F9_9MM85z6I

5. Do you prefer series or standalone books?

One of my favorite authors is Stephanie Perkins. I like how she creates standalone books, but we still get cameos from our favorite characters from previous books. I’d like to do that with my future books, though the historical fiction ones are going to present a challenge. BTW, I often use Perkin’s Anna and the French Kiss as a comp book for Tanabata Wish. It has some of the same themes and questions for the main characters and the boys in their lives who are all trying to figure out how to navigate between two cultures on top of the usual teen identity issues.

6. If you could go on an adventure with one fictional character who would it be?

I would love to step inside Anna and the French Kiss and live at the School of America in Paris. I never got to be an exchange student in high school or college, and that’s one of my regrets. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to take my children (now 16 & 18) to Japan every summer for the last twelve years. Though my language skills are still crap, I’ve been able to see parts of Japan that most foreigners—both tourists and ex-pats—never get to see. My mother-in-law is a retired English teacher, so she is able to answer a lot of my whys. She also sparked my interest in Japanese cooking, which spilled over into Sky’s character.

7. What can readers be on the lookout for from you next?

Next up in my queue, a YA historical fiction set during the Spanish influenza epidemic. It’s like Dr. Quinn meets Downton Abbey but in 1918 Philadelphia. One interesting fact, when I was in Philadelphia a few years ago doing some preliminary research, I caught the worst case of influenza that I’d had in decades. Of course being a writer, I used it as source material later. Method Writing for the win! Though at the time, I wasn’t sure if I was going to ever make it back to Arizona to actually write the book.

About the Author:

I’m the American half of our Japanese-American family. I spend about a month each summer at my in-laws’ house in rural Japan with my teen-aged children. So it will be no surprise that I’ve written about Japanese culture and raising bicultural kids for such magazines as APPLESEEDS, LEARNING THROUGH HISTORY, EAST WEST, RAISING ARIZONA KIDS, and MOTHERING, as well as, writing travel-related articles for the book TO JAPAN WITH LOVE. I have been a professional freelance writer and creative writing teacher for over a decade. Along with school visits, I have done presentations for SCBWI-Arizona, SCBWI-Japan, Girl Scouts, RWA, ONEBOOKAZ, Phoenix Comicon, and at several anime/manga/Japanese culture conventions. I’m passionate about literacy and supporting the next generation of writers. I’m proud to be the organizer of Rock the Drop-Phoenix, a guerrilla literacy event to support YALSA’s Teen Read Week.

Find Sara online:
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

About the Book:

Phoenix-native Skyler Doucet’s plans with her BFF are ruined when her mom and Japanese stepfather move the entire family to Nagoya, Japan for the summer before her senior year. But when David Takamatsu, biracial Japanese-American boy, invades Skyler’s space (and her heart), this fish out of water in Japan starts to wonder if it’s the pond back home that might be too small.

“A delightful debut! Tanabata Wish is the perfect summer read for anyone who longs for life-altering adventure and swoon-worthy romance. My bags are packed. Prepare to fall in love: with Sky, with David, and with all of Japan!” ~ Tera Lynn Childs, award-winning author of Oh. My. Gods., Forgive My Fins, and Darkly Fae.

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Apr 09 2017

Interview with Author Clara Kensie

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Clara Kensie to the blog. I hope you enjoy getting to meet Clara and don’t forget to check out her book.

1. What made you decide to start writing?

I’ve always liked to write, but never considered making a career of it until a few years ago. What made me turn that corner was my love of reading. I’d just finished reading Harry Potter, and then Twilight, and both times I was so sad when the series ended. I realized that the only way I could spend forever with characters and stories I love was to write them myself. So that’s what I did. I wrote the first two books in my Run to You series, a super-romantic YA psychic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past and a first love that transcends secrets, lies, and danger. Writing those books was the most joyous time in my life. They were published in 2014 and 2015, and I love them today as much as I loved them then. I’ve gone on to write other books, but who knows, I might continue the Run to You series eventually. I’m not ready to say goodbye to those characters.

2. Do you prefer series or standalone books?

Tough question! I mostly read standalone books. Only because there are SO many books out there and I want to read them all. I want to read that one, and that one, and oh wait, that one too! A beginning, middle, and ending, all right there in one package. But going back to Harry Potter and Twilight, sometimes I love a good, long series too.

3. What inspired your latest novel, Aftermath?

When I was twelve, a girl my age, from my neighborhood, disappeared on her way home from school. I knew about stranger danger and all that, but until then, I never really believed bad things could happen in my safe, suburban town to girls like me. It was the first time I truly felt unsafe and vulnerable. But I knew that the fear I was feeling was nothing compared to the terror the missing girl must be feeling.

Fortunately, she was found alive a few days later. She’d been kidnapped by a man who lived a few blocks away, and he kept her locked in a corner of his crawlspace. Following a lead, the police had searched the man’s house, even going into the crawlspace, but they didn’t see her, and the girl’s captor had terrorized her so much that she was too scared to call for help. The police came back later to search the crawlspace again, and she finally found the courage to cry out to them.

The girl and her family moved away immediately after her rescue, and I never learned what became of her. But I never forgot about her. I made up a story about her recovery, and that story became Aftermath. I’ve thought of her often over the years. I want to know how she survived, how she recovered, what kind of impact the experience had on her and her family. I became fascinated with the subject of recovery from traumatic events – so much so that in college, I majored in psychology, sociology, and social services, with a minor in criminal justice. Triumph over tragedy is a frequent theme in the books I write.

Although that girl’s experience inspired Aftermath, the book isn’t her story. Aftermath is Charlotte’s story. Charlotte is kidnapped just before her twelfth birthday and escapes when she’s sixteen. The book starts with her escape and follows her journey to recovery, as well as her family’s.

4. You’ve mentioned you write dark fiction for young adults, what draws you to the darker topics of life and why do you enjoy exploring them in YA fiction?

I’m drawn to the darker side of storytelling because it’s how I face my fears: safely, through fiction.

Those fears are obvious in Aftermath, but it’s true even with my Run to You series. I started reading Stephen King books when I was very young—probably eleven years old? Carrie and Firestarter are huge influences on my Run to You series. A secret government psychic agency hunts the heroine and her family like in Firestarter, and the heroine’s mom is based on Carrie, if she’d grown up without the religious fanaticism and had never gone to prom.

5. What was it like winning the RITA award?

The RITA! One of the greatest triumphs of my career, and my entire life! Against all odds, the first book in my Run to You series finaled in the 2015 RITAs in two categories: Best YA Romance and Best First Book. I sobbed for an hour, no lie, when RWA’s board of directors called to tell me. The shocked, happy kind of sobbing, obviously. And then it won for Best First Book! Nora Roberts—Nora Freakin’ Roberts!—presented me with the trophy, and I gave an acceptance speech to a crowd of 2,000 people. I held myself together on stage, but afterwards, I had another happy-sob session. That was a year and a half ago, and I still can’t believe it happened.

The best part of winning the RITA for Run to You—and I know this will surprise you—was getting my rights back to the series. Here’s how it happened, and why: When I was in New York for the RITA award ceremony, my editor and I went out to lunch, and she told me that she was so sorry that her marketing team had failed the series. They’d tried something extremely risky with it: they published the two-book series as a six-part digital serial. They released Book One in three parts, and they released Book Two in three parts. But YA readers don’t want to make six separate payments for the equivalent of two complete books, and the digital serial flopped. Epic fail. I was heartbroken. More than that—I was grief-stricken. At that lunch, my editor told me that despite their bad marketing decision, she knew it was a good series—it finaled in two RITA categories and won Best First Book, after all. She said that she believed in the series so much, and she felt so bad that they messed up the marketing, that she wanted to give me my rights back so I could find a publisher that will do a better job of getting the books into the hands of readers. Her exact words! Of course, my agent and I accepted her offer. I’ll be forever grateful to my former editor for doing that, and I respect her and love her so much. It took a while for the paperwork to go through, but I finally got my rights back to the series. The books are currently off the market while I decide what to do with them, but I promise they’ll be available again, in print. Please subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on social media to be the first to hear when the RITA-award winning Run to You series is back on the market!

6. What is one wish you have for your book?

Another tough one! One wish would be for best seller status, of course. Every author wishes for that! Beyond that, and I mean this with all sincerity: I wish that I will always find joy in writing my books and that my readers always find joy in reading them.

7. What is the best advice you would give to young writers?

There’s a lot in publishing that you can’t control: trends, luck, what categories of books the New York Times decides to include on their best seller lists, if a trade organization gives your book a good review or bothers to review it at all, how your publisher chooses to market your book, if that marketing decision will succeed or fail. So don’t waste time worrying about things you can’t control, and focus on the one thing you can control: your writing. Work hard, write what brings you joy, and write the best novel you can.

8. What can readers be on the lookout for from you next?

My first priority is getting the Run to You series back on the market. I’m also working on two manuscripts: a dual-timeline, dual-romance, dual-mystery/thriller with elements of magical realism for fans of Run to You, and a dark, ripped-from-the-headlines YA contemporary about grief, guilt, and forgiveness for fans of Aftermath. After that, I’ll tackle the other ideas that are currently residing in my head and get them down on paper.

About the Author:

Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.

Today Clara is a RITA^© Award-winning author of dark fiction for young adults. Her super-romantic psychic thriller series, Run To You, was named an RT Book Review Editors Pick for Best Books of 2014, and Run to You Book One: Deception So Deadly, is the winner of the prestigious 2015 RITA^© Award for Best First Book.

Clara’s latest release is Aftermath, a dark, ripped-from-the-headlines YA contemporary in the tradition of Room and The Lovely Bones. Aftermath (Simon and Schuster/Merit Press) is on Goodreads’ list of Most Popular Books Published in November 2016, and Young Adult Books Central declared it a Top Ten Book of 2016.
Clara’s favorite foods are guacamole and cookie dough. But not together. That would be gross.

Find Clara online:
Website Newsletter Instagram Twitter Facebook Insiders Goodreads

About the Book:

Charlotte survived four long years as a prisoner in the attic of her kidnapper, sustained only by dreams of her loving family. The chance to escape suddenly arrives, and Charlotte fights her way to freedom. But an answered prayer turns into heartbreak. Losing her has torn her family apart. Her parents have divorced: Dad’s a glutton for fame, Mom drinks too much, and Charlotte’s twin is a zoned-out druggie. Her father wants Charlotte write a book and go on a lecture tour, and her mom wants to keep her safe, a virtual prisoner in her own home. But Charlotte is obsessed with the other girl who was kidnapped, who never got a second chance at life–the girl who nobody but Charlotte believes really existed. Until she can get justice for that girl, even if she has to do it on her own, whatever the danger, Charlotte will never be free.

Young Adult Books Central Top Ten Books of 2016

Goodreads Most Popular Books Published in November 2016

Children’s Book Review Best New Young Adult Books November 2016

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Apr 02 2017

Interview with Author Zara Hoffman

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Zara Hoffman to the blog. I hope you enjoy getting to meet Zara and don’t forget to check out her book.

1. What made you decide to start writing?

I decided I wanted to write as I realized the books I loved reading were written by actual people.

2. Can you tell us a little about your first book, The Belgrave Legacy? How did the story idea come to you?

It’s a YA paranormal romance between an unsuspecting witch and a dark angel sent by the Devil to seduce her. The idea grew out of a scene I wrote the day my grandmother died. It was the main character having dinner with her mom and all her female ancestors. That scene is now in the opening of the story.

3. Can you give us one fact about The Belgrave Legacy we should know?

It was originally going to be a trilogy. I had written all 3 books, and published the first individually, before deciding to publish the rest as a single book: The Belgrave Legacy.

4. What are your favorite paranormal creatures?

Witches and wizards because my favorite series was and will always be Harry Potter.

5. How do you balance your school life, day job, and your writing job? Any tricks for inspiring writers?

I write early in the morning before any of my classes and late at night. My time between classes is dedicated to working on my internship on my laptop, and right after classes until dinner is dedicated to homework. I would make a schedule and stick to it. It sounds trite, but life will get in the way of writing so writing time needs to be planned and protected.

6. What is the best advice you would give to young writers?

Draft quickly. This is something I’m still trying to do, but the most important thing for a first draft is momentum. If you stop to edit or revise every time you change your mind, you will burn out and lose the motivation to ever finish your story.

7. What can readers be on the lookout for from you next?

I’m currently working on a post-WW3 YA dystopian romance where arranged marriages are sanctioned by the government to maintain the peace. It’s called The Matchmakers and I’ve been working on it since I finished high school. I didn’t get a lot of writing done last year due to a tough college transition. School and work keep me pretty busy as it is, so it’s coming slowly but surely. You can currently add it on Goodreads.

About the Author:

Zara Hoffman is a college student and has been writing since she was eight years old. She spends most of her time doing homework and writing new stories because if she didn’t, her head would likely explode. She writes YA multi-genre fiction to share the crazy products of her imagination with the world and hopes that you find them as entertaining as she does. Her books are for young adults or the young at heart. After all, growing up is overrated.

When she isn’t wrapped up in projects, Zara listens to music or hangs out with friends. As an avid reader, Zara loves writing book reviews for her favorite books. She is a PR intern at Inklings Literary Agency She is also the founder of Our Hope Is Here.

Connect with her on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Wattpad, and Goodreads.

About the Book:

A Reluctant Heroine. A Snarky Angel. A Big Mess.

Fawn doesn’t believe in magic. But when she is unexpectedly thrust into the middle of an ancient feud, she must learn to control her powers.

Caleb is sick of Hell. But when a simple seduction becomes complicated by real feelings, he is forced to pick between keeping his past or fighting for his future.

Can this young witch navigate a dangerous world with the dark angel assigned to romance and seduce her by her side?

The Belgrave Legacy is an upper-young adult paranormal romance novel with a feminist twist. Filled with magic, witches, angels, demons, Zara Hoffman’s “coming of age” story will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

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Mar 26 2017

Interview with Author Brenda Baker

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Brenda Baker to the blog. I hope you enjoy getting to meet Brenda and don’t forget to check out her book.

1. What made you decide to start writing?

Even as a kid, other kids would ask me to tell them a story. Then in high school and college, I wrote papers and stories and my teachers encouraged me. But many years later, a friend remarked, “You’re so articulate. You should write a book.” Something clicked that day.

2. Your novel, Surviving Haley, deals with serious topics like guilt and depression. How do you approach writing about these heavy topics and why do you believe it is so important to write about them?

My original plan for the book was to write about a girl with B.E.D., binge-eating disorder. Then I needed to give her a reason to turn to food for comfort. The answer was that her family suffered a tragic loss and Lauren feels she was responsible. Surviving Haley is not so much about the accident as it is about how Lauren struggles with her guilt and finally comes to believe she deserves a life, that what happened was not entirely her fault. Many people battle eating disorders, and while there are books on anorexia and bulimia, B.E.D. is hardly ever written about.

3. As a teacher do your students inspire your writing?

I teach preschool, but I would say the people in my life definitely inspire my writing.

4. What is one wish you have for your book?

That it would help people–those with eating disorders or those who are suffering from a loss and don’t feel they deserve a life.

5. If you could make everyone read one book and one book only by an author other than yourself, what book would it be and why?

That’s a tough one! There are so many great books. YA books are my favorites, although I’ve read everything by Jodi Picoult. The Book Thief was excellent. But I also loved the children’s book, Because of Winn Dixie.

6. What are your favorite ways to connect with readers?

Online, Facebook and Twitter.

7. What is the best advice you would give to young writers?

Never quit writing. The more you write, the more you will improve. Develop a thick skin, stay humble, keep learning, and join a good critique group–people who will point out what’s working in your writing as well as what isn’t.

About the Author:

Brenda Baker is a teacher who lives in Nebraska with her husband and a mixed husky. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, word games, swimming, traveling, and spending time with family.

Connect with her on Twitter and Goodreads.

About the Book:

Lauren Werthman struggles with guilt and depression. Even moving to another state and into a new home doesn’t help her overcome the life-altering aftermath of losing her sister. Memories of the tragic accident reverberate through her life as her family tries to cope, but Lauren’s life spirals out of control. Her mother criticizes her choices every day, her father continues to work later and later, and people at her new school seem to know the family secret. Lauren binge-eats, has nightmares, and doubts the existence of a God Who didn’t intervene to prevent the senseless tragedy. As Lauren’s family and friends work through the pain and guilt, will they find that even though the void will always remain, the power of forgiveness brings peace and hope and a bright future, or will Lauren forever be lost to the pain and guilt?

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