Interview: Chelsea Cameron

Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times/USA Today Best Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting (this one time, she was tweeted by Neil Gaiman). She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is. ~goodreads.com







 

What was the hardest part about writing Deeper We Fall?

The hardest part was writing through the emotional parts. I get really attached to my characters. They’re like real people to me, and I hate it when they go through rough times. I also ended up re-writing it when I was halfway through it. That was definitely rough.

-What/Who was your inspiration for your main character and their relationship with each other? (In Deeper We Fall)

I don’t really know what it was, but my original idea was that I wanted to write a story about friendship, and that gave me the characters of Lottie and Lexie, and everything else came from there. I wondered what would happen if the guy you were falling in love with turned out to be the one who had ruined the life of someone you loved. How would you deal with that? That gave me Zan, and then the rest of the story fell into place.

-       Do you have a favorite place to write?

I write pretty much where I can, mostly in bed when it’s late, or on the couch in my living room. The most productive place for me to write is a local café. You need a code to get onto the internet, so it’s perfect because I don’t get distracted. They also have amazing drinks, including my favorite “dirty” vanilla chai, which has a shot of espresso in it J

-What advice you you have for beginner authors?

I would say that you should sit down with your favorite books and figure out why they are your favorites. What is it about those books that makes them your favorite? What is the author’s style?

Then you need to actually write. I know, it sounds silly, but the only way you learn how to write is by doing it. Not thinking about it, or talking about it, but doing it. At first, it will be hard. You will suck. Let yourself suck. Everyone starts somewhere, and you can’t edit or fix words that haven’t been written.

Look at blogs of author’s you admire. Read lots of books about writing tips, but don’t take them all as gospel. Not every writing tip will work for every person. Above all, do it if you love it. You don’t have to love it all the time, but if you find yourself dreading it more often than not, you don’t have to do it. Find something else you’re passionate about. But if you are passionate about writing, it is the greatest job in the world.

-What do you think is the best cure for writers block?

Honestly, I don’t believe in writer’s block. Yes, I have gotten stuck, and needed to take a step back, but I’ve never completely run out of words. Sometimes writer’s block is just going back, realizing where you went wrong and then maybe deleting words, or maybe even throwing the whole thing out and starting over. I’ve done it many times before.

-How did you come up with the title for Deeper We Fall?

I knew that I wanted to do something with falling, and that just came to me. I looked to see if it had been used on Amazon and it hadn’t, so I used it J

-Is there any music that helped you write Deeper We Fall?

Yes! The book is full of musical references, including The Civil Wars, Ella Fitzgerald, Mumford and Sons and Imagine Dragons. I really need to make a playlist.

-       Can you tell us anything about the next book in the series, Faster We Burn?

Faster We Burn is told from the perspective of Katie Hallman, who is Lottie’s (the girl in Deeper We Fall) roommate. She’s fresh off a breakup and ready to start over. Sort of:

Katie Hallman is done with douchebags. Done with guys who treat her like crap and leave her broken. But then Stryker Grant is there anyway. With his numerous piercings and bleached hair, he’s the polar opposite of all of her past relationships, which makes him the perfect candidate.

At first, Katie just sees him as a physical escape from her previous rocky relationship, and Stryker doesn’t seem to mind just being a distraction from Katie’s problems. But soon he’s getting under her skin, peeling back layers she’d rather keep covered. She tries to make it clear that she doesn’t want a relationship, but keeps breaking her own rules.

Then a tragedy sends Katie into the only arms who are there to catch her, and she’ll realize that she needs him more than she ever thought possible. But is she ready to let herself trust another guy with her already-battered heart? Or will she push him away to protect herself from getting hurt again?


Thanks so much for answering the questions, Chelsea! And thank YOU for joining us for another interview(:




Jackie