1. When did you discover you wanted to write?
I was in the second grade when the teacher challenged the class to write a story about our favorite ocean creatures. I had so much fun writing that story that I have been writing ever since!
2. Did you know that you wanted to write for Young Adults or was it a process?
It was definitely a process. I finished my first novel when I was seventeen years old. At the time I was influenced by authors like Stephen Baxter and Isaac Asimov–writers of hard sci-fi. I used to believe that my calling was to write books like that. Later on, during my second deployment, I began to experiment with different writing techniques as a means to take my mind off some of the things that I was going through. I think it was then when I realized that I enjoyed writing books for Young Adults, too.
3. Where did the idea for your book come from?
I often rely on my imagination to help me cope with tough situations, such as deployments and time spent away from my family. It is how I deal with the pain. I have always had a vivid imagination, and I suppose that I can accredit many of my best ideas to some of the interesting situations I find myself in during my travels. I am always on the lookout for inspiration, and in my line of work, inspiration is all around me.
4. Can you share with us about the publishing process?
Sure. With the advancement of technology, publishing nowadays is easier than ever. Many publishers accept e-mail submissions, and often times you don’t even need a query letter. I published The Everafter Chronicles: Reign of the Night Creatures through a new-age traditional publisher called Tate Publishing. Once my manuscript was accepted, we moved on to various stages which included editing, revision, and interior and cover design. That process took almost a year, because we wanted everything to be just right. Finally, my book was sent to a number of distributors, who made sure it was available to thousands of retailers around the world. Overall the publishing process was a lot of hard work and fun, and it especially required a lot of patience on my part.
5. What is the one thing that you have learned through this process that will make the next book easier?
I will work on making my story tighter before sending it to the publisher. That will help the editing stage go by a little faster.
6. What were your biggest challenges?
This ties in with question #5. To me, the hardest part of the entire process was the revision stage, where I had to go through and literally take out one of the characters in the story. My editor thought that the character didn’t really serve a purpose–and she was right. But removing the character from the story required me to rewrite some of the scenes that I was really attached to. The finished product, of course, was much better because of it.
7. What piece of wisdom from your life would you like to share with us?
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
Thanks again Casey!
I hope everyone enjoyed the interview. Again, you can purchase “Reign of the Night Creatures” on Amazon. Feel free to leave a review of the book as well.
Until Next Time…
I love your blog – and that’s why I nominated you for the Best Moments Award as well as the WordPress Family Award.
Pick them up – you so deserve them!!
http://raaniyork.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/awards/
Thank you for sharing your publishing process and tips with us. it makes the whole process sound so trite when I put it in such a banal form, but know I appreciate it. The kill our darlings quote was meant for a different type of writing, but having to extract one of your favorite characters for the betterment of the project is hard but necessary. And thank you for serving to protect America. The scars you deal with everyday are recognized by someone who served as well. Thank you.
You’re so flippin’ awesome, ya know that? 🙂
Jen, thank you so much for the interview and for helping me get the word out about my book. It just reached 33 rave reviews on Amazon.com, by the way! Exciting stuff…
Wooohoo! I’m excited for you. I’ll continue to tweet and share. Thank YOU for the opportunity to interview you and read your work.
Thank you so much for publishing this really great interview, Jen. I was fascinated and it felt like I needed to read that book as soon as possible!
I like it very much. And should my book EVER hit the market, I hope I’ll be interviewed by you! 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Raani! It was a great refreshing read. Sean is a talented author.