Induction (Currently on Sale!)
Released September 29, 2011
ISBN (paper): 978-1-61213-062-0
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-61213-063-7
Welcome to The Zen Corner J.D. and thank you for agreeing to this interview.
Your second installment Induction continues your young adult paranormal series Children of Creation. Your first book, Convergence, saw your protagonist Daniella (Dani) Rossi as a young college student finding that she’s not two, but three races of creation, (Angel, Human, and Guardian), and getting a new guardian Nate.
In Induction, the story continues with Dani and her guardians Nate and Ana a year later while they’re in hiding. A romantic relationship begins to blossom between Nate and Dani.
- Tackling a romantic relationship in a young adult novel is quite a feat; so many readers to not offend and yet keep the storyline interesting. What boundaries did you absolutely draw when dealing with this?
J.D.: I knew up front that when their relationship developed, and it was always going to, that I was definitely going to do a fade to black scenario when the subject of physical intimacy arose. I would do that for any young adult novel, but I felt it even more important considering the sensitive nature of the subject matter. With the same token, I didn’t want to sugar coat it all either. I wanted to display the fact that there is real struggle in any relationship. They are hard work and even when they are blessed directly from heaven and you know beyond all doubt that you were made for another person, there are still struggles because interacting with other individuals and learning how to be more intimate with them in any capacity means a lot of give and take.
I really like when stories don’t freeze time in young adult novels and allow the character to mature. It feels more genuine to me.
- Did you work with an outline, or did your characters tap their feet telling you to hurry it along already?
J.D.: No outline for me. (My English teachers will probably want to wring my neck if they read that) I just get so into getting things down when I try to do an outline that I end up writing the chapter anyway, and if I try to do a bare bones outline, awesome dialogue or something will come into my head and if I don’t get it down, I often lose it later which is frustrating. I find I work much better building as I go, though I always have a generalized mental outline with a definitive beginning and end.
- What would Dani think about you, would she want to go get a coffee with you? (If she wasn’t being hunted down, I mean.)
J.D.: Hmmm…I don’t really know. I couldn’t help but put a lot of myself in her, so either we would get along great or I would annoy the heck out of her because we were too similar.
- After speaking with authors, I find that most connect with their protagonist, but who do you find you really like to write about besides Dani? Do you have a favorite?
J.D.: I love writing about Nate. His emotional journey is such a challenge to write and really makes me examine the what, why, and how of my own emotions in order to meter them out in a way that someone new to emotions might experience them or be affected by them. It’s kind of fun to dive that deep into a character’s psyche.
Every author seems to have a routine to writing whether it be writing with a laptop or preferring a pen and paper with music blaring or complete quiet.
- What puts you in the writing mood?
J.D.: Everything. It’s crazy, but I think just about everything I experience in life inspires me in one way or another. I often catch myself internally narrating experiences, reaching for the right words to describe all kinds of things. I’ve even realized once or twice that I was narrating my dreams. One thing I can say for sure, it all moves much more smoothly when the kids are asleep, soft tunes are on my headphones, and I have a keyboard in front of me. I cannot write longhand for a story to save the life of me, and humorously enough, I now type faster than I can write long hand anyway.
I found, when I wrote in my last competition, that murder/mystery really didn’t seem to fit me as a genre. It was almost as if it were an uncomfortable pair of shoes that I couldn’t wait to kick off and put my fantasy/sci-fi flip-flops back on at the end of the day.
- What would you choose for the supernatural if you had to wear it?
J.D.: I’m very comfortable in my angel/fallen angel arena. I grew up in church, so as long as I remember I’ve heard about biblical stories of angels and the such. I’ve always been so fascinated by the idea of an unseen spiritual warfare that it’s not surprising at all that I ended up writing about it.
- Which chapter, would you say was your favorite or easiest to write in Induction?
J.D.: That’s a hard question for me to answer. Almost all of Induction seemed to come really easily for me. Being the middle book in the series, it was fun to write because it’s sort of the calm before the real storm hits. Out of all of the chapters of the story though, I think my favorite is chapter nine. Nate is trying to explain to Dani about how music didn’t mean as much to him before he really felt his full range of emotions, because without an emotional connection it was just noise, but how after her opening him up inside, it’s so much more. I just love how it turned out and it seems like the perfect metaphor for their entire life together.
As an aspiring writer myself, I always find words of wisdom from the published authors out there who have been through the wringer.
- What would be the number one thing you would have liked to have known about the publishing process before your first book was published?
J.D.: That the writing was the easy part…editing is a much more difficult undertaking and promotion is a huge undertaking. Some people think that when you finish the manuscript that you’re done, but in reality it is just the beginning!
Now for the Rapid-fire Round
- Dogs or cats? Dogs
- Spaghetti or Lasagna? Lasagna
- Favorite color? Blue
- Ice cream cone or Ice cream sandwich? Sandwich if I had to choose, but prefer a cup over both
- Are you the clean-up crew in your home or the needs-to-be-cleaned-up-after? Ha, I’m a Mom! I should have MAID stamped across my forehead!
- Coffee, tea, water, or soda? Soda
- And the final question for this wonderful author: Are there plans for a third book in this series? Book 3, entitled Maelstrom, is already started and there’s even a tease of the Prologue at the end of Induction.
Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to be with us on The Zen Corner J.D., may your book rise to the top of the charts as it obviously deserves.
The second book in the series Children of Creation may be purchased here: Induction
