Author: Michelle Madow
Michelle is the author of the wonderful novels Rembrance (read my review here) and Vengeance (read my review here) and she agreed to doing an author interview for my blog.
When was the first time you saw yourself as a writer?
I've
always loved to write -- in second grade I was always "that kid" who
would write twelve page long stories on free write journal day and then share
them with my class! In high school I journaled a lot, and then I started
writing fan-fiction in my freshman and sophomore years of college. Then in my
junior year of college I signed up for Intro to Creative Writing. I'd always
had lots of original ideas, but never knew how to share them with people (or if
people would even be interested in reading my ideas), so I figured the class
could be fun. For the first homework assignment I turned in the first chapter
of Remembrance. My teacher and classmates loved it, so from there I decided to
turn it into a book!
Timeless will be released at the end of this year, right? Do you have plans for
any new books?
I've
actually written two other books besides the Transcend Time Series, both which
are starts of their own series. In March I signed with agent Molly Ker Hawn
from The Bent Agency on my most recent book, a fun contemporary YA. I'm
currently working really hard on editing that book, so it's looking like
Timeless will be coming out sometime in 2013.
What is your favorite book/what are your favorite books and who is your most
favorite author?
I
have so many favorite books that it's hard to choose! Some of my all-time
favorites are the Harry Potter series, Divergent, Twilight, the Gone Series,
the Iron Fey series, and the Vampire Academy series. I just started reading The
Selection and am loving it as well. My favorite author is J.K. Rowling -- what
she created with the world of Harry Potter amazes me.
What would you have become if you hadn’t become an author?
I
was in college while I was writing Remembrance, so I was trying to figure that
out. I was considering going into editing or publicity for YA novels.
Can you describe your daily writing routine a bit?
It
all depends on which stage I'm in! When I write a book I do character bios first,
then outline the whole story, then first draft, then editing. When I'm actually
writing the first draft, I usually write in the afternoon and try to write
1,500 words a day. I wish I could do more than that, but I tend to feel
"juiced out" after reaching 1,500 words and need a break by then.
I've heard of authors writing first drafts in two weeks or a month, which I
think is amazing, but I could never work like that. I'm all about keeping a
steady pace.
I love to drink coffee. Do you have a favorite?
I
drink coffee black. I love the coffee drinks at Starbucks (particularly vanilla
lattes), but I'm lactose intolerant, so I can only drink them if I remember to
bring lactase enzymes with me -- and I usually forget to put them in my bag!
Thank you so much for interviewing me!
