Hello!
My apologies for the delay in posting: I’ve been gathering questions from friends and random inquisitive people for today’s interview. So, without further ado, following are select questions I’ve received through Facebook, Twitter and the blog.
What was your inspiration for Forgotten?
I guess you could say that I was inspired by my own forgetfulness. My daughters were five-months old at the time, and I was doing something in the kitchen and just forgot what I was doing. I thought about amnesia, and how awful it’d be to live your life with that affliction—and how it would be even worse in high school. But then, I wondered, “What if you could remember the future instead of the past?”
How did you come up with the storyline?
To be honest, I started writing before I knew where the story would take me. I had the main character—the girl with the backward memory—and I knew I wanted both romance and mystery elements. In early drafts, not even Jamie knew about London’s condition, and a lot of the drama revolved around a car crash instead of the current mystery in the book. After multiple revisions, I arrived at the current version and when it all clicked, it was the best feeling in the world: like snapping the last piece of a particularly challenging puzzle into place.
Was your rough draft ever a tangled mess and if so, how did you untangle it?
Oh yes, my rough draft was definitely a mess in the beginning. Hands down the best piece of advice I’ve gotten so far—and the one that worked for me—is to step away from what you’re writing for a significant amount of time in order to get clarity. It’s hard to see what’s working and what isn’t when you’re too close to it. Get it all on paper, then close the file and don’t open it again for
at least a month. It’s very hard to do, particularly when you’re an impatient person (like me) with a story that you’re itching to tell. But it makes a world of difference.
There’s a book I started writing just after I finished Forgotten—let’s call it Project N—and I got through about half of it before I realized that it just wasn’t working. I set it aside, then started (and finished) something else—that something else will hit shelves next year. Six months after I mentally walked away from Project N, I opened the file again, and when I did, I knew how to fix it. I saw what I couldn’t see before. I love Project N now even though back then, I wanted to break up with it for good. A little distance works in relationships and writing.
When will your next book be released and what’s it called?
My next book will be released June 2012; unfortunately I can’t reveal the title yet. I can tell you that like Forgotten, it’s set in our world but spotlights a girl with an abnormal life. I guess that’s kind-of my thing.
What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you in a supermarket?
Do funny things happen in supermarkets?
The last time I laughed in a supermarket—because I had to laugh instead of crying—was when my husband and I took our then twin 2-year-olds to the store when they probably should have been napping. Hubby had one girl in his cart and I had the other in mine, and all was fine and dandy until we needed fruit from the produce section near the incredibly enticing mini kiddo shopping carts. Like idiots, we let the girls out of their restraints and allowed them to each pick a mini cart. All carts looked the same. If you had one and swapped it for another, you’d never know the difference. And yet, both girls wanted the Very. Same. Cart. Due to their lack of sleep and general two-ish-ness, they went bonkers and started screaming. One flung herself to the floor and the other thought it seemed like a great idea; Hubby tried to pick up the first but she did the patented “I’m a wet noodle” maneuver and slipped out of his hands. Second child screamed louder until I picked her up and hoisted her over my shoulders like a sack of potatoes (but not before she rammed the mini cart into my knee). I left the store with the potatoes and waited in the car, Hubby shoved Bonkers Number One back into restraints and finished the shopping.
Oh, I forgot the part about how all of this happened directly in front of the one entrance to the market, so everyone coming to shop at that time witnessed the show. One poor woman actually had to step over one of my children in order to come inside.
(I assure you that the girls are usually very nice and well behaved. Also, usually, I order my groceries online.)
When do you find the time to write with young kids?
I truly believe that you have to make time for the things that are important to you. To be honest, I could not do it without my very helpful husband. That said, I don’t want the girls to feel like they’ve only got one parent, so I really try for a nice balance. Hubby gets up with them in the morning and I write until he leaves for work. Then the girls and I have a fun morning together, and I write more when they nap. Sometimes, I write at night, but my brain is usually mush by then. I have outside help 1-2 mornings a week. And when it’s a particularly busy time, I work on Saturday and we do family day on Sunday. Somehow, it all works out, and I know I’m a better mom for having writing in my life.
And finally, the Number One Most Asked Question: Will there be a sequel to Forgotten?
Though I’ve learned to never say never, I’m not planning on writing a sequel to Forgotten. Originally I did envision it as a series, but when I found what I believe is the right ending, that vision changed. What I love about the ending is that it is hopeful without being too perfect, and that it still allows the reader to use a bit of imagination.
Thank you all for your questions. And to those of you in the U.S., Happy 4
th!
Cat
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Hi (:. Please write a sequel to Forgotton! I love the book and I feel like their needs to be more, like its not finished yet. I feel if you make a sequel, it will be fulfilled and that people would be more happy about the ending (:
Hi can I have some info on your family history and your life can it be by next wednesday??
thanks and btw i think another emily wrote to you about the same thing!!
thanks and make it snappy so my project can be rappy!!
hahehehe
lol byee!!
I really hope you change your mind and write a sequel to Forgotten. I absolutely loved Forgotten and am dying to read more. I think a sequel could be amazing and really broaden the story and characters. Pleas please write a sequel. Thanks.
Hopeful
Thanks all for your support. Still not planning on a sequel, but I hope you like my second book, due out June 2012. xo