F.A.Q.
CAN I HAVE…?
…a blurb?
No. I would consider it if we were friends or if I knew you from the Tenners or the Blueboards, but other than that, I’m not going to blurb your book. Even if we were friends I probably wouldn’t because what would be the point? My name on your book isn’t going to make it sell better–I’m still a rookie, remember? Ask me when I’m famous. I’d probably still say no, but at least I would understand why you were asking me.
…a signed book?
No. Not unless you win one in a giveaway. Some authors sign stock at certain bookstores and the bookstores mail them to whoever asks, but I don’t do that. Setting up something like that would require me to interact with other human beings, and that’s not really my thing. You had the misfortune to become the fan of a misanthrope, and this is the price you have to pay.
…a signed book for myself and my friends AND to giveaway on my blog?
No. I’m not a magical book fairy here to shower you and your besties and blog followers with free books just for the hell of it. Gimme a break.
…a regular, unsigned copy of your book?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you want free books go to the frigging library–that’s what libraries are for.
…ARCs (advance reader copies)?
I only got two ARCs of Bleeding Violet and three for Slice of Cherry. Those went pretty much as soon as I got them. Then, for SoC I made of list of bloggers I thought would get the word out about the book, got their addresses and sent that info to my publicist who then mailed the ARCs. There’s a small window of opportunity in which to get an ARC, usually several months before the book’s release date. ARCs are expensive to make and so only a few are printed, so people are very careful to only give them to people who are going to really spread the word. So please don’t write to me well after a book’s release date begging me for an ARC. It will not happen. It will never EVER happen.
…signed bookmarks?
Yes. Email me your address and I’ll mail you some. And no I am not being sarcastic. I have tons of bookmarks and am happy to give them away.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BOOKS…
…will there be a sequel to Bleeding Violet?
No.
…is Slice of Cherry a sequel to Bleeding Violet?
No, dammit. The two books take place in the same town, Portero, but have nothing to do with each other. I don’t do sequels; when it comes to books I am a serial monogamist. I’ve been very clear about that, but people keep asking me this. I blame Goodreads, which lists Slice of Cherry as being book 2 in the “Portero series”. Call it a series if you want, but all of my books, including the third one I’m writing now, are standalones. Screw Goodreads.
…what was your road to publication like?
I wrote Bleeding Violet for NaNoWriMo 2005, then spent about two years revising it. In June of 2008, I began querying agents, and by June 19, I scored a really good one. I revised BV again for her in July, and by August, she was shopping it around to publishers. At the end of August, we hooked up with Simon Pulse, and that was that.
…why are your characters’ relationships (Hanna and Rosalee, Kit and Fancy) so incestuous?
My characters do tend to feel things intensely, especially love. Whether that love is between a friend or a family member is beside the point. But intensity doesn’t always lead to sex; in my world it usually leads to murder and mayhem. ;p But, that said, I’m not in the business of telling you what to think. If it pleases you to think my characters are incestuous, fine. If it pleases you to think the opposite, fine. Because not getting involved with your thought processes at all is what pleases me.
…your books are so crazy; where do you come up with ideas?
I think about stuff and then I write it down. If it seems boring or unoriginal I think about other stuff and then write that down. Usually exciting and original ideas are considered crazy. At least that’s been my experience.
…when did you start writing?
When I was twelve or thirteen, but I didn’t get serious about it until I was 25.
…does it bother you when people don’t like what you write?
In a passing way, sure. It’s always disappointing when someone doesn’t get me or my work, but since it’s unavoidable (no writer is ever universally loved, not even J.K. Rowling) I get over it like that. *snaps fingers* I’m an acquired taste like avocados or Devo or the films of Pedro Almodóvar, and I like that. There’s nothing mainstream about my imagination.
…what are your influences?
Stephen King: what I know about horror I learned from reading his stuff. Anne Rice: because she made horror beautiful. MST3K: they made bad things funny. That’s what I grew up with, and that’s what informs what I write–I take horror and make it pretty and funny.
…what are you working on now?
I’m working on a third Portero book about a girl without a heart who has to steal hearts from living people in order to survive. I’ve finished the first draft, which is now with my publisher, but I don’t know yet when it will be released. I’ll also begin writing a draft for book four in July. And then I have to write a short story for an anthology called Defy the Dark–I’ll probably write it in August.
I NEED SOME ADVICE…
…tell me how to write a book.
Take the 26 letters of the alphabet and mix them up into sentences and then paragraphs and then chapters and just keep doing that until you get sick of it.
…can you read my manuscript and tell me what you think?
Hell no. The last thing I need is some wild-eyed child screaming, “She named her character Jordan. That’s what I named my character’s grandfather cousin in the manuscript I allowed her read. And look! She wrote about vampires. No one in the history of the earth has ever written about vampires but me. That Dia person is a PLAGIARIST!”
Screw that–I don’t need that kind of drama. Go ask your mom for a critique and leave me out of it.
…how do you find the time to write?
I don’t find it. I have to make the time. And then I have to force myself to use the time to write instead of doing something fun.
…how do you come up with characters?
I think of people who are the least like me, and that’s how I know they will be interesting.
…how much do you write a day?
I dunno. I don’t write everyday–only when I feel like it.
…what advice can you offer an aspiring author?
Believe in yourself and your work, but be prepared to have your heart broken.
WILL YOU PLEASE…?
…turn your book into a movie?
It’s not up to me whether my books get made into movies. Hollywood types make those decisions, not authors. At least not this author.
…come to our school/library/planet and speak to your adoring fans?
No. I don’t do the whole “public speaking” thing.
…tell me what East Texas town you’re from?
I’m not from East Texas–my family is. From my grandma on back to slavery days, I assume. The town is called Daingerfield, and no Portero is not based on Daingerfield. Portero is fictional, y’all.
…help me with my homework assignment by answering questions about yourself or your book(s)?
No. I only respond to my fan mail once a month, maybe twice a month if I’m feeling feisty, so by the time I get your question, your assignment will be over and you will make an F. Also, when I was a kid, authors didn’t help me with my homework. I had to figure out the answers by myself. As I walked uphill in the snow to AND from school.
RANDOM BIZARRE QUESTIONS…
Are you ever going to write happy stuff?
I think what I write *is* happy. I’m an optimist at heart, so love always triumphs and nobody dies at the end. Not the main characters anyway. But if you’re asking am I ever going to write a book where someone DOESN’T get some part of their body chopped off, then no, I can’t see that happening. Dismemberment isn’t always an unhappy event, though. Sometimes it can be quite amusing. I mean, really if I were the sort of person who couldn’t find amusement in goriness, I would already be writing “happy stuff”, wouldn’t I?
People keep saying your books are weird. Will I understand them?
Since I’m not telepathic, I have no way of knowing what you will or will not understand.
Did you know “Dia” means “day” in Spanish?
Yes. I do know that. I’ve known that for many many MANY years. Please don’t feel you need to enlighten me. Thank you.
Bleeding Violet is about a crazy girl. Are you crazy?
No. Yes. Maybe. I dunno. It’s not like I’ve been tested or anything. :p But as ninefly once said, “Creativity is a mental illness.” I think all creative people are on the wrong side of normal.
Bleeding Violet seems like a really weird and scary book. Should I read it?
No. I mean, seriously, if you have to ask, hell no. Save yourself a lot of mental anguish and go read Little House on the Prairie or something.
Are you as cool in real life as you seem online?
The part of me that’s cool doesn’t manifest itself in any visible way; it’s all internal. I wear my cool on the inside; that’s why my hands are always so cold.