1. How did you come up with the plot line for your novel, XVI?
Answer: I had an initial mental image of my main character, Nina, and the setting, a bustling city in the future, where the government and media were unavoidably intrusive and homeless people were a contemptible inconvenience. Since I wrote XVI as a NaNoWriMo novel (National Novel Writing Month), the plot evolved quickly. More with my characters taking me where they wanted to go, as opposed to me figuring it all out ahead of time.
2. Are any of the characters in XVI based on yourself?Answer: Not really. Although Nina and I share a few things. Our birthday is the same, we turned sixteen in Chicago and our mothers both died when we were teens. But, her life is definitely not what mine was!
3. What was the hardest thing about writing this book?
Answer. Hmmm... editing the original manuscript was the hardest. I had to change a lot, from Nina’s initial personality to the fate of certain characters. (Don’t want to give any spoilers here!) And - having to stop and go to work at my day job was tough. It always seemed to happen just as things were getting interesting!
4. What do you hope readers will take from reading XVI?
Answer: I think readers will take whatever they want. lol! I’d hope that they might think about media’s role in shaping how we view ourselves and others. And, that perhaps government intrusion doesn’t always keep us safe. I’m sure there’s a lot more. I can’t wait to hear discussions about XVI after its release.
5. What character did you most like to write about in XVI?
Answer: Well, I enjoyed writing them all - but, the two most fun characters to write were definitely Pops and Sandy!
3 comments:
I just reviewed this -- really enjoyed this book! Thank you for the interview!!
Great interview. I read XVI earlier this month. It's amazing.
I hadn't heard of this book before. Sounds interesting. And it's a NaNoWriMo book? That has to be inspiring to others who participate in NaNoWriMo...
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