Freckles and Books discussion

Hey! So sorry about the misunderstanding everyone. The Q and A will go on from now and until the next 1 or two days for Emily to answer questions. So my question is how long did it take for you to write your book?

Hi there! :)

Let's see, while I was in college I spent one summer outlining Sacrificed, and then I spent the next summer writing the first draft. Once I graduated, I spent another couple months editing. Typically when I am writing a book, I spent just as long outlining as I do writing. I'm not a huge fan of editing, so I try to do the work upfront to avoid fixing things when I'm exhausted at the end of a project.

What is your favorite YA book you've ever read?

Lauren wrote: "What is your favorite YA book you've ever read?"

Hmm, such a hard question! I love so much YA, so I'm going to have to cheat and name a couple. The book that first got me into the genre many many years ago was The Mortal Instruments Series. Since then, favorites include, Rick Yancey's "The 5th Wave," Rainbow Rowell's "Fangirl," Kresley Cole's The Arcana Chronicles, and most recently, I fell in love with Renee Ahdieh's "The Wrath and the Dawn."

I love Fangirl! I liked Eleanor and Park even more though. Rainbow Rowell is so talented!
I also love the Throne of Glass series, the Lunar Chronicles, and An Ember in the Ashes. I actually also just got your book so I'm excited to read it!

Lauren wrote: "I love Fangirl! I liked Eleanor and Park even more though. Rainbow Rowell is so talented!
I also love the Throne of Glass series, the Lunar Chronicles, and An Ember in the Ashes. I actually als..."

Eleanor and Park is gorgeous! It just made me sad haha. I just recently read An Ember in the Ashes too, it was really great! Sarah Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses is next on my TBR as well!

I know I have lots of fictional boyfriends like Jace Wayland, Pery Jackson, Rowan, and Ren from Tiger's Curse. Who are your fictional crushes?

Lauren wrote: "I know I have lots of fictional boyfriends like Jace Wayland, Pery Jackson, Rowan, and Ren from Tiger's Curse. Who are your fictional crushes?"

Oh man so many! Of course Jace Wayland. He was definitely my original book boyfriend. Both Aric and Jackson from The Arcana Chronicles, I seriously could not pick between the two of them (a real first in a love triangle for me!), and Khalid from The Wrath and the Dawn (yes my favorite books seems to be very much influenced by my book boyfriends haha)

Tucker wrote: "My question is what was your favorite part of writing your book apart from actually writing it :)"

Oh good question! Let's see, probably designing the cover. It's a really cool and rewarding experience going back and forth with and artist until the world that's in your head is on the page.

My question is how did you stay consistent throughout the whole process of writing the book? Did you often forget what your wrote the day before and had to re-read the whole chapter? And how long did it take for you to write the book and how often did you run out of ideas?

Paulson Cheung wrote: "My question is how did you stay consistent throughout the whole process of writing the book? Did you often forget what your wrote the day before and had to re-read the whole chapter? And how long d..."

I always re-read the previous day's work before I dive in. Not just to refresh my memory (although that's important) but to get my head in the right voice. Generally though, the way I stay consistent is with my outline. Outlines for me tend to me about 40 or so pages. I never begin writing a scene that I don't know exactly where it will end up! Of course that means that outlining is the hardest/most important part and generally takes me months and involves lots of writer's block and stalling, and going back to fix things.