Q: What did you expect when you first released Slammed? Were you confident enough in your writing to know it would become as successful as it did, or were you uncertain about the outcome?
A: "I expected absolutely NOTHING. I wrote the book for fun and only put it on Amazon because my friends wanted a way to read it. I was poor and didn't want to print a ton of books out, so I put it on Amazon and made it free for the five days they allow, so everyone could get it and not have to pay for it. I was STUNNED when it was downloaded 4,000 times over the 5 day period. After that, the book just started selling through word of mouth.
And no. I had absolutely zero confidence in my
writing. Like I said, to me it was just a story that I wrote for fun.
I never even tried to get it published."
Q: At what point after the release of your two books did you realize you had "made it"?
A: "I don't know that I'm even at that point yet. When I hit the New York Time's Bestsellers list for six weeks straight, I was scared to answer my phone because I knew they were calling to tell me they had made a mistake. lol. I'm still in shock that it's been received so well. "
Q: Do
you believe a good story is all that's needed for a book to become
successful, or does writing, genre, etc. play into that as well? How did
you choose which genre you wanted to write in?
A: "I
didn't have a clue about genre's. I had no idea that publishers were
at a point that they were refusing to accept anything with characters
ages 18-22 and anything with poetry. If I would have researched this
before writing the book,
I'm afraid it may have influenced what I wrote. So honestly, I think a
book needs heart. It needs to be written by someone who isn't writing
it just because they want it to be a financial success. It needs to be
written because the author has love for the
characters and wants to share that with readers, whether or not it
becomes a success. I think readers also look for different things in a
book. Some look for easy reads, some look for quality writing, some look
for simply a great story. That's what's so amazing
about writing. Not everyone will love what you do, but someone will."
Q: I heard that Slammed and Point of Retreat
got optioned for films (so exciting!). Do you think upcoming films
increase a book's success significantly, and what are you expecting, if
anything, if they do become films?
A: "They
did get optioned! I was so shocked when my agent called with the news.
We had received offers in the past, but none of them seemed legit, so I
wasn't getting my hopes up. I think if they do become films, it does
increase the
success and exposure of the book. So while there are still a lot of
hoops we have to jump through to actually see them get to that point, it
will be surreal if it happens."
Q: In regards to your latest book soon coming out, Hopeless, do you think the success you achieved from Slammed and Point of Retreat played into your decision to write this book, because you knew you would probably already have an audience?
A: "No.
The fact that I have an audience now scares me more than it motivates
me. When I wrote the first two, I had zero expectations, and no one had
expectations from me. Now that people are expecting another book that
can grip them
on the same level the others did, I'm definitely feeling the pressure.
But I'm in love with Hopeless and the characters and went into with the
same expectations that I went into writing the others. I kept
my focus on the fact that I loved the story,
loved the characters, and if people love the book I'll be happy. But if
they don't, I will still love that book and won't regret writing it.
It's what I love to do and whether I have readers or not, I'll keep on
doing it! Of course, I am HOPING beyond all
hope that people love it. ;)"
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