The Ice Queen of My Brain

On Having A Childhood

Before we get into the article/installment/chapter/whatever you want to call it, here's the Q and A section as promised! I absolutely loved reading all of your wonderful questions, and I hope my answers are adequate. Please feel free to leave more questions if you have any, and I will answer them next time. 

PrincessJadea

Who's your favorite author?

Okay, this is a question that I get asked a lot as a writer. It's also a question that's virtually impossible to answer. When there are so many phenomenal authors out there with unique books and writing styles, how can one simply choose a single one? My list of favorite authors when written out would be several miles long, but if I absolutely had to choose just one...it would be Rick Yancey. I'm not saying that simply because I like post-apocalyptic books about aliens (I do like post-apocalyptic books about aliens very much). I'm saying that because the 5th Wave probably contains the most well-orchestrated plot twists I've ever seen, and as anyone who has read my books can tell, I have a profound appreciation for the art of the plot twist. It is attempted by many, but mastered only by a select few.

Is getting your book published fun?

The process can definitely be fun! Looking at an old chapter that has been revitalized for publication might even be a more satisfying feeling than looking over a brand new chapter you've just finished writing. However, I won't lie, sometimes, editing can get tedious. Before getting your book published, you usually have to get it edited up to standards that are much higher than those of Wattpad editing shops. Trust me, I didn't know what a true edit was until I got my publishing deal. An excellent editor will scour your work for every minuscule thing that could possibly be made better, and present his or her findings to you in a long, detailed email. While performing these corrections can grow monotonous, it's all aimed toward the success of your book in the long term. In that context and with that result in mind, I'd say it's loads of fun!

What was it like when you found out it was getting published?

I received my publication deal in the summer, so I wasn't really doing much when it happened. I was just casually scrolling through all my new Wattpad comments on my laptop and replying to them as fast as humanly possible (a standard part of my summer day) when I decided to clear my spam folder because a break in the endless stream of comments left me with absolutely nothing to do in that moment. When I checked spam, I noticed an email from an unfamiliar address: it turned out that the manuscript I had sent in months ago had been accepted for publication. To this day, I have no idea why that message was in my spam folder, and I constantly think about what would've happened if I had simply cleared spam without skimming through it first...

Anyway, the first thing I did was make sure I wasn't being scammed, and that the person who contacted me really was the publisher.

The second thing I did was scream loud enough for the entire state to hear (which is pretty loud, considering how big Texas is) and send the news to every number saved on my phone. I spend nearly a solid five minutes texting streams of random capital letters to my closest friends.

The third thing I did was print out the publishing contract and start nagging my parents to sign it.

Yes, I was a bit overly excited, but it was the kind of situation that called for such excitement.

..................

"Wow, you have no childhood." 

Queen Saralee: And you, my most unwelcome guest, have no brain. Since you are probably not aware, that is the part of the body inside the skull which controls thought and both voluntary and involuntary body processes.