1. Not A Drop To Drink has a pretty interesting theme that touches on the very real fear modern society has of running out of water. Of all the global issues at hand, what attracted you to the topic of decreasing water resources?
“I actually have the boyfriend to thank for the inspiration.
He’s an avid documentary watcher, and he happened to have one rolling called Blue Gold when I was at his place one time. It focused on this topic precisely, and it left me thankful for my own backyard pond.
After seeing the film, I dreamt that night of teaching my little niece how to operate a rifle so she could help me defend our water source. I woke up and told the b/f -
“Hey, I think I wrote a book in my head just now."”
2. Your debut’s cover is stunning! Can you explain to us the process in which that particular cover made it onto your book?
“I have the amazingly talented Erin Ferdinand at Harper to thank for my cover.
It is lovely, and I’m so happy with it. There really wasn’t much of a process. I was asked what ideas I might have, and I gave them a list of things I *didn’t* want - no faces was a big one for me.
I want my readers to see themselves as the characters.
I also didn’t want any ball gowns, but given the topic, I didn’t think that was likely.
My only feedback was that DRINK felt like a very blue / green book, and if we could make that happen it’d be cool. And they came back at me with that, and I said, "Um… good job."”
3. If given the chance, what other global issue would you write about, or feature in a future novel?
“Not sure, honestly.
To me I think water is just THE BIGGEST all pervading thing. We ALL need it. We CAN’T create it. It’s insane to me that more people aren’t freaked out about it, to be honest.”
4. Can you tell us the book that turned you into a young adult fan?
"Ha. No, I honestly can’t.
I’ve been a YA librarian for about ten years so I can’t even begin to answer that. I will say that when I began working as a YA librarian I made the mistake of being a little dismissive of it as an art form. I still thought of it as easily digestible, watered down forms of "real” books. Then I picked up THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO by Patrick Ness and was thrown onto my ass by it.
OK, never mind. I guess I *can* answer the question.”
5. Can you tell us how you planned Not A Drop To Drink when you first came up with the idea?
“I’m a complete pantster. I just start typing.
I know generally where things are going to go, but I just let the story happen. DRINK totally just fell out of my head. I know that’s really attractive, but that’s pretty much what happened.”
6. There are a lot of fantastic debuts coming out in 2013, how does it feel to be part of such a fun and exciting year?
“It’s pretty awesome.
I’m a member of three groups that are all 13 debuts - The Lucky 13s, Friday the Thirteeners, and The Class of 2k13 - and they’re populated by wildly talented (and highly entertaining) people.
As a lifelong reader and complete book geek, I’ve been having the best time going into book stores and airily declaring, “Yeah, I know her. And her. And him. And her. And oh yeah… that person? We totally tweet."”
7. The publishing world is growing and expanding beyond the conventional forms of publishing (i.e. physical vs digital)–do you have any specific opinions on how this change in publishing might affect your writing career? Do you think it is an exciting change, or do you think that the publishing world has a risky future ahead?
“Personally I’m a paper person.
I like holding a book. I do use an iPad to read occasionally, but mostly I like paper. However I know plenty of people that love e-books, and who cares what the medium is? Audiobook, hardcover, paperback, e-book - whatever! It’s still a story being delivered to someone in THEIR preferred manner. So more power to them. I’ll give it to them however they want it.”
8. Can you share three of the most important things a writer needs to remember when sending out query letters and finished manuscripts to agents and/or publishers?
“1) You’re not perfect.
You did not just write the best thing ever written. Seriously, if I’d not been so ridiculously self-inflated and refused to look for critique partners, I probably could’ve been published a lot sooner. Instead I was convinced of my genius and stuck in the query trenches for a decade.
2) Subjectivity.
It never ends. At every level there will be people that don’t like your book. There will be agents that don’t like your book. There will be editors that don’t like your book. There will also be people that love your book, AN agent that loves your book and AN editor that loves your book. Now, the thing to remember here is that if YOUR MOM doesn’t like your book, you are totally back at square one and need to rethink everything.
3) Homework.
Do it. Know your market. Know your agents. Know what you’re doing and be professional.”
9. What are some of your favourite genres and books in the young adult age group, and which genres do you think will gain more popularity in the future?
"I like a fresh dystopian or post-apoc, I lean towards post-apoc.
I declare that straight, hard-core SciFi will be the next thing to blow big. At least I hope so.
Also, I’d love to read some great, non-creature, straight-up ghost stories.”
10. What do you think is the biggest global issue that we, as consumers, should keep an eye on (besides the depleting sources of water)?
“Nope. Water. It is everything. Without it, we are so stinkin’ dead.”