1 what is your favorite thing about Wattpad?

I love how global it is. I don't think I'd be talking to readers in the Philippines or India on many other platforms, and they've really supported my work here. And I've met cool people locally here, too--other writers whom I've gotten to know in real life.

2 What's your favorite movie?

That is a hard one! I guess I'll say How to Train Your Dragon, because it's such a great screenplay. When I teach creative writing, specifically scene reversals and four act plotting, that's the movie I use. There's so much going on that I basically talk through the whole movie--and no one's stormed out yet ;-)

3 Are you still surprised when you get a new vote, follow or comment?

I was lucky enough to be featured on Wattpad in the early days, so I got waaaay more votes and comments than I ever expected to get in a lifetime within months. I still look at the numbers and am incredibly grateful. I'm not able to interact here as much as I'd like, but I am so glad people feel moved enough by my writing to comment and like.

 4 What inspired you to write?

I'm one of those people who's always wanted to be a writer. That was my dream when I was a little kid, and I actually got my first, "This book shows promise," letters from a publisher when I was nineteen. I didn't realize what it was, though, so I took it as a rejection and moved on (no regrets there. I learned a lot about writing in the years since.)

I put my writing on the back burner to finish college and law school, then right after law school went to the Clarion West Writer's Workshop, and the rest is history. I sold my first novel to a small press in 2008, and then went into indiepub in 2011, where I was successful enough that I haven't really looked back since.

5 What is a song you enjoy? Who is the artist?

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Andrew McMahon. Just picking one of his songs, I'll say "Synesthesia" because I strongly suspect the lyrics were written while he was being treated for a terminal illness. As someone who was nearly killed in a car accident as a kid, I find that song has a lot of resonance with the kinds of thoughts you have when facing your own mortality.

6 What is your dream vacation?

I love to travel. Right now we're in the middle of a pandemic, so it's hard to really say, but I would love to, at some point in my life, live on the road for a while. I usually try to get back to the UK once a year (I lived there for 8 years and we have a lot of friends there), but that wasn't possible this year with the pandemic.

7 What's a good piece of advice for a newcomer?

A lot of people ask "Is it worth it." I would say, define both "its" and you'll have your answer. What do you want, and what are you willing to do to get it?

8 What is your favorite story?

I think my favorite stories are about people who risk it all and win it all. I know that isn't always the reality, and that's what makes the story so appealing.

9 What's one wattpad goal?

I try to get everything I can up on Wattpad, so my Wattpad goals are the same as my writing goals.

10 Who is your favorite author?

I have too many to list, and nowadays a lot of my friends are authors. I can't wait for the next Susanna Kearsley novel. I just downloaded another novel by Stephanie Burgis. I had a lot of fun helping Daryinda Jones with some final proofing of her last release. I could go on and on.

11 If you could hang out with your favorite celeb for a day, who would you choose and what would you do?

I've actually met most of the people I dream of meeting. If I were to meet someone I was a fan of as an actor or singer, I'm not sure I'd have much to say to them. I spent a day on the set of The Expanse, and the cast were all very nice to me.   I found that kind of nerve-wracking!

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I'd  say "Chasing Sunrise" because I have always loved science fiction and fantasy and have workshopped with a lot of top authors. It was an odd twist of luck that I had my first bestseller in romance, but I've put more time and effort into the craft of writing speculative fiction.