Congratulations and Girlfriends’ Cyber Circuit interview with Elana Johnson

I’m really pleased to host Girlfriends’ Cyber Circuit sister Elana Johnson with an interview about her latest novel, SURRENDER!  But first, some quick congratulations:

To Lynn Flewelling for sitting pretty on the PW and Bookscan Fantasy Bestseller list at #8 with CASKET OF SOULS (her latest Nightrunner novel featuring rogues Alec and Seregil)!  You can chat with Lynn Flewelling on Twitter this Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, hashtag #knightauthor.  Come join us!  Details here.

To N.K. Jemisin for THE KILLING MOON being named to Publishers Weekly’s list of Best Summer Books 2012!  Best of all, the second book of the duology, THE SHADOWED SUN, releases tomorrow, so you can read the books back to back!

And now, a bit about Elana Johnson and SURRENDER:

About Elana: Elana’s work including POSSESSION, REGRET, and SURRENDER is available from Simon & Schuster wherever books are sold. She is the author of From the Query to the Call, an ebook that every writer needs to read before they query, which can be downloaded for free on her website. She runs a personal blog on publishing and is a founding author of the QueryTracker blog. She blogs regularly at The League of Extraordinary Writers, co-organizes WriteOnCon, and can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

She wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. To fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy.

About SURRENDER: Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.

Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque….

 Interview with ELANA JOHNSON

What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you schedule time to write each day or are you a spree writer?

My writing process is extremely messy. I’m a pantser who loves the thrill of discovery writing. I’ve been getting better and better at brainstorming and quasi-outlining though, but it’s hard.

 

At the beginning of the day, I check the Google calendar and decide if I have a block of writing time. This usually happens on days my daughter has dance, because I can drop her off and go to the library to write. If I have a block, I write during that time. If I don’t have a block, I take the 15 minutes before school, and the 25 minutes before dinner needs to be started, and the hour or two after the kids go to bed.

 

What is the hardest part about the publishing process for you and how do you get through it? (For me, it’s copyediting and barbeque pita chips.)

The hardest part of the publishing process is the social networking. It’s also the thing I love the most. Weird, I know. But twitter and Facebook and blogs take a lot of time. They sometimes also remind me of what others have that I don’t… And I try really hard to not compare marketing plans, etc.

 

To get through the social media maze, sometimes I just turn the computer off. It’s fabulous!

 

We drop your hero or heroine on a deserted island. Quick, what are the three things he or she can’t live without?

Electricity, gloves, and a hoverboard.

 

 

Are there any contests or upcoming appearances/interviews/etc. you’d like to plug?

GIVEAWAY: Elana is hosting a Spectacular Seconds giveaway this week! You can enter to win one of five signed sophomore books by Beth Revis, Ally Condie, Veronica Roth, Kristi Cook, and Kim Harrington. CLICK HERE for all the details and to enter.

 

Congratulations on your fabulous new release!

Thank you!