Interview: Rachael Harrie

I'm back from the holidays - a day late, to be exact, but the whole Christmas/New Year celebration is a big deal over here (it doesn't end until next Thursday). Things should go back to normal within the next days...or I hope they will.

I took an interview with the famous Rachael Harrie before Christmas, but decided to make it my first post of the new year! Who's Rachael Harrie? Remember the Platform-Building Crusade? Well, Rach was the mastermind behind it, rounding up a group of fellow writer-bloggers to befriend and get to know each other. There'll be another crusade in 2011!

When I first met Rach, she looked like this:

But then she looked like this:

Not much different, right?

A select few of you would also know her as this:

(Seriously, that bunny is even named :Rach: in our crit forum)

Anyway, I asked Pigmy-Puff Rach some (mostly) writing related questions:

Question 1 - If you had a million dollars, what would you spend it on? 
Ooh, that's a tough one. I really, really like choc-coated honeycomb (*chortles*). More seriously, I'd probably buy my dream house somewhere near the beach, take a few really good writing courses, upgrade my computer, and buy a room full of books to read when I wasn't writing. Oh, and I'd need a few people to help me around the house, so I could write full-time. Plus a bit of travel here and there. Research purposes, of course! 
(See? We writers always think about writing when we get questions like these. Marieke did too, in my last interview) 

Question 2 - What are you working on (genre, age group, main story plot - if it can be revealed)? 
My current WIP is a Young Adult Horror novel titled FROM THE OTHER SIDE. The logline is:

When seventeen-year-old Verity is murdered by the boy she loves, she becomes a ghost whose ability to burn her victims seems purpose-made for her mission of vengeance. However, the search for her killer and an increasing body-count stretch Verity’s sanity to the limits, and unless she finds a way to regain control more innocent people will die, including the one person with the power to save her from herself. 
(I'm reading this draft and I can tell you, people, it WILL be published some day soon!) 

Question 3 - What do you eat/drink while writing? 
I try not to eat while I'm writing. I find it distracts me and I also tend to eat too much if I'm not paying attention! I usually make myself a cup of tea when I sit down to write, but other than that I just drink water. A bit boring much? 
(Nah, not boring. When I wrote my first draft of BoB, I ate chocolate each day. I even brought out popcorn for the really exciting parts of the story. It didn't do me much good, though having the popcorn might have popped-things up a little . I just drink water today - club soda, mostly) 


Is there anything else you'd like to add?  Yep, I hear there’s a massive contest and some awesomely amazing giveaways coming soon. If you want a head start check back on Tuesday, January 4 to find out how you can collect your first points ;)


Really? Well that should be interesting!


Thank you, Rachael for this. Marieke interviewed me and put it up on her blog yesterday. Check it out of you're curious about moi, or Marieke, who is awesome as well (as Rachael! You thought I meant me, right?).

Interview: Marieke

Marieke, the one who is plotting with the falcon.

I took an interview with the Medieval Mastermind: Marieke (you know, the girl with the whip?). She's a fellow writer with sarcastic humour and lives, according to her, "Somewhere, not far from nowhere." 

Anywho, Marieke has been hosting her "How To" on her blog every other Thursday over the past months, taking interviews with impressive figures, like Elana Johnson (How to write an awesome query letter), Jackson Pearce (How to research a historical novel), and Kathleen Ortiz (How to read slush), just to mention a few.

1. If you had a million dollars, what would you spend it on?

So much! *grin* I'd travel around the world, see all the places I've wanted to see, write and write more. I would spend money on my favorite charities too - or at least I hope I would! 

Oh, and one thing more? Buy LOADS of books. And then probably a house to, you know, make a library out of it :P 

(That's basically what I would do, too. Great masterminds think alike.)

2. What are you working on (genre, age group, main story plot - if it can be revealed)?

I'm currently revising Loving Adeline - now retitled WICK - my literary YA, with a touch of magical realism. 

Jaime, my MC, is an aspie. Her world consists of colors and Secret Garden references, but what she really wants is understanding. And to be able to escape the grief that haunts her home after her father died. 

Things happen, as they always do. I'm not yet going to share the entire plot, because mystery is a good thing. ;) (Also, I want to finish revisions first, just to keep things in the right order.) 

Let's just say it's a story about grief, love, art, imagination, and - in the end - the choice between understanding the world and living in it. 

(That sounds wonderful and new. I don't believe I have read such a story. I love the Secret Garden and can't wait to read this one.)

3. What do you eat/drink while writing?

Coffee! Sugar! Especially when I'm writing late at night, but to be honest I don't have special brain food or drinks. Or maybe I should say it depends on whatever I fancy at that moment. Iced lattes is always a safe choice! 

(It's what I've been saying! I can't write late at night because I don't drink coffee.)

Is there anything else you'd like to add? 

Yes. Something is coming... 

(Hmmm...)

Thank you, Marieke, for that. 

But Marieke isn't the only one being interviewed. Yours truly is being interviewed by cute little Rachael Harrie, who is becoming yet another impressive writer on the blogsphere. It will be later today, but I thought I'd mention it now because I'm crawling through day...oh I've lost the count...of exam studying.