A: My mother would read Half Magic once a year for a while when I was young. I loved it. I read nearly every Animoph book to come out while I was in middle school and discovered Ella Enchanted around the same time. I read that book aloud twice to my younger sisters. We loved it. I also love Harry Potter, Twilight, Artemis Fowl, Iron Fey, Goddess Test, Selection Trilogy, Percy Jackson, and Hunger Games to name a few series.
Author
Q: Which of the characters from the Zaria Fierce and the Secret of Gloomwood Forest would you like to meet in person?
A: Zaria is too obvious so I’ll say Hector. He would have stories and anecdotes to tell and would be wicked cool to hang out with. Plus I picture him as Chris Hemsworth as he appeared in various Thor movies. He would have a fuller beard and be ever so slightly more scruffy. Give the man some golden antlers, a white fur cloak, and a winter-wyvern and we’re set to go!
There’s another actor I like too who I think would also be perfect. Learn more at Carole Finds Her Wings where I do character casting for the non-humans in Zaria Fierce.
Q: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
A: In 1st grade, Mrs. White encouraged her class to use the computer to type up stories. They were usually short, frequently misspelled, and each page was a sentence long with room enough to spare for illustrations. I had fifty or more of these books which were bound in construction paper and lovingly stored away by my mother for many years. I think my hope of one day being a published writer started there. In 2nd grade I wrote a series of picture books about Sprinkle who was a fairy godmother/Cinderella combo, her marriage to Prince Tom, and their seventeen children and pets whose names all began with ‘S’ or ‘T.’ As I grew up my writing progressed from poetry onto fanfiction and then onto blogging. I’ve always had a creative outlet.
Q: Were you good at English in grade school?
A: Yes. I excelled in English and Reading in grade school. In high school I got A’s in English and I was president of the Writer’s Guild Club. We met on Fridays after school got over. (I can hear you all cringe at the idea of staying late after school on a Friday. Oooo.) The club focused mostly on poetry where the challenge would be to write something that met a bunch of crazy parameters. We concluded our meetings at a Dunkin’ Donuts / Baskin Robins combo. My best friends were in the club and we’d get together after everyone left and chill out for the weekend. It was great. It should be no surprise that in college I got an A in my poetry class. 🙂
Q: What is your favorite dessert?
A: Peanut butter pie! I’ll even share my recipe. Trust me you’ll be thanking me later. It’s that good.
Pie Crust:
- 1 ½ sleeves of Oreos (standard package)
- 2-4 tablespoons of butter
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Scrape filling out of Oreos into a microwave safe bowl.
- Place scraped Oreo cookies into a plastic Ziploc bag and crush until cookies are powdery (a rolling pin works great).
- Place 2 tablespoons of butter with the filling and microwave. If the mixture looks too solid add another 2 tablespoons of butter. Microwave again until everything is melted.
- Stir and pour butter mixture into plastic bag.
- Mix cookies and butter mixture together until all the crumbles are moist.
- Pour Oreo cookie crumbles into a pie pan and flatten (I find it is easier to use another pie plate than your hands, less messy.)
- Place in oven and bake until the bubbles stop forming in the crust. Takes about 10-15 minutes depending on the oven.
- Cool crust in the fridge before you put your filling in it.
Pie Filling:
- 1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I use Jiff)
- 3-4 oz. of cream cheese (roughly half the package)
- 1 ½ cups of powder sugar (I use less because I don’t fully fill the measuring cup)
Directions:
- Let the cream cheese and Cool Whip thaw to about room temperature.
- Mix all the wet ingredients together.
- Then mix in powder sugar a ½ cup at a time. If you don’t, you will have powder sugar all over your kitchen.
- Pour into pie crust and use a spatula to smooth it out.
- Put it back in fridge for twenty minutes or eat right away your choice!
Enjoy!
Q: What’s your advice for someone who wants to be an author?
A: Write. Write anything. Write a poem. Write a short story. Write a fanfic. Write a novel. Write a play. Write a song. Journal. Dream diary. Write. Just write. If you don’t write you won’t have anything to share. And read. Read a lot. Read what you want to write about. Read about stuff that inspires you. Read. When you read pay attention to the thoughts you are thinking – How would you have handled that scene? How would the story be different if this or that happened?
