What is your favorite part about the writing and creative process?
I often say that I prefer having “written” rather than the actual process of writing, but I think that stems from being a perfectionist and getting random bouts of cold feet. The truth is, when I’m in the zone, and the scene is well plotted, and the characters are fully developed, I love everything about the process – from the first draft, through to the final edit, and most of all, when I can pass it off to a reader.
It’s a bit silly, but I also love writing “The End” and then printing off the whole document to see the stack of pages. It’s a tremendous sense of personal accomplishment.
Can you tell us a bit about writing Killer’s Instinct and how the process was in writing this title with your co-author Judith Graves ?
When Judith and I started brainstorming the Most-Wanted Monsters series, fiction wasn’t part of the complement – we’d considered survival guides and a deck of playing cards. But Judith and I can rarely spend five minutes together without coming up with a new idea, and KILLER’S INSTINCT was born during one of those impromptu brainstorming sessions.
Judith and I write in a similar style, and we think alike, which makes co-writing much more smooth than I ever imagined it would be.
As with most of our collaborative projects, we tend to sketch out a rough outline, flush out the plot, develop the characters together, and then assign pages or sections. Generally a quick edit will smooth out any small differences in writing style.
I know it’s not always that easy with writing partners, so I’m extremely grateful we started working together.
Spirited: 13 Haunted Tales was an Anthology you were part of & was released earlier this year. Can you tell us the title of it, what the story is about & maybe a favorite line or two from the novella?
SPIRITED was such a great experience for me and I’m so honoured to have my story, THREAD OF THE PAST, included with so many amazing haunted tales by writers I consider my mentors and idols.
The official blurb for THREAD OF THE PAST is:
Letitia Hawke is used to feeling invisible, so the only thing that makes her senior dance bearable is the location – one of the most haunted houses in the country. Then Tish makes an unexpected connection with Elijah, and it’s bye-bye wallflower, hello gothic rose. Too bad the Franklin House is a jealous host.
And lastly, how about a fun question? Being that it’s the scariest time of the year – Halloween – what’s your favorite?
Oh, great questions. I LOVE Halloween.
Scary Book: Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. I love all of her books, but Heartsick made a HUGE impact on me, and Chelsea Cain is a brilliant writer.
Scary Movie: The Exorcist for sheer fright factor, and Saw (only the first one) for brilliance.
Halloween Candy: Tootsie Rolls
Costume from Halloween’s Past: When I was in Grade 5, I went as E.T. and my stepdad spent hours making me a finger that would glow. I got tons of candy that year.
Author: Dawn Dalton & Judith Graves
Publisher: Leap Books
Add to: Goodreads
Synopsis: Where there is NO life – there's Hope...
Hope has always been a bit of a freak. But when her mother crawls from her grave and her undead corpse goes MIA, Hope's last thread of normal snaps with a vengeance.
Enrolling in a militia-style school for monster slayers seems the only course of action. And the best bet at tracking her mother down.
Author: Dawn Dalton + various authors
Publisher: Leap Books, 332 Pages (February 13th, 2012)
Add to: Goodreads
Synopsis: Leap Books has summoned some big names in fiction to help put together 13 ghostly stories to support a good cause. Spirited drops this October, with all proceeds to be donated to 826 National. 826 offers free after-school tutoring, workshops, and in-school programs because they believe that "strong writing skills are fundamental to future success." The authors featured in the anthology, from best-sellers to wickedly talented debuts, will participate in a chilling blog tour that's guaranteed to raise your goosebumps.
Find Dawn Online:
Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook
Order Dawn's Books Online:
Amazon
GIVEAWAY!
How the Crossroads Tour Giveaway works
All the authors got together and decided, instead of each blog getting one or two titles to giveaway - they'd have a single grand prize - a real doozie. With that in mind each blogger is asked to encourage readers to answer the daily trivia/research question on the tour main page. (http://judithgraves.com/events/the-crossroads-tour/crossroads-2011/) At the end of the tour all answers have to be emailed to judithgraves@ymail.com by midnight on the 29th.
So, it's your job, to head over to the mail tour page I've linked above, read the question and go find the answer in the posts for that day. Make sure you get your answers in by the deadline - October 29th at Midnight!
Entries will be put in a drawing and a winner chosen randomly.
And I bet you're wondering what the heck this amazing prize is? How about a FREE KINDLE PRELOADED with an eBOOK from each of the Crossroads authors???
The more questions you answer, the better, so be sure to check back each day!
Any questions? Please send them my way!
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