Interview with Saundra Mitchell + giveaway!

Hello all!  Today I'm super excited to bring you an interview with my friend, imprint buddy, and all around fabulous author, Saundra Mitchell.  Her debut novel, SHADOWED SUMMER (Amazon, B&N, Indiebound), is coming out in less than two short weeks (!!!!) and at the end of this post I'll have details for how you can win an autographed copy of this really amazing book.

A bit about the book:  I love the tagline for SHADOWED SUMMER:  In a town as small as Ondine, every secret is a family secret.  It's about a girl growing up in Louisiana one hot summer who begins to be haunted by the ghost of a boy who disappeared years ago.  But the book is more than that, it's about friendship and that age when suddenly your best friends start to notice boys and your friendships are tested.  It's about growing up, and realizing that you're growing up.

A bit about the author:  Saundra is a screenwriter and author.  She's funny, she's brilliant with graphic design, and she writes phrases that make me literally put her work down so that I can close my eyes and savour them.

The interview:

My blog is known as Carrie's Procrastinary Outlet which showcases my penchant for procrastination and makig up words.  First... do you ever struggle with procrastination and what do you do to (a) procrastinate and/or (b) not procrastinate.

The answer to both a and b is housekeeping. The procrastination starts with some light desk organizing, and has been known to mushroom into tasks like painting the hallway ceilings, or organizing the linen closets.

And the thing is, I hate to clean. I loathe it, I find it deeply unjust that it must be done. So I do eventually get to the point where I would rather write than clean, and the procrastination is over... for the moment.

Second, what are your favorite made up words?

Oh, I like bazam which is a catch-all for full of awesome and other essential win. (She's all sparkly with bazam! Ooh, he's got some bazam right there!) I'm also on the sauce- awesomesauce, failsauce, winsauce, pwnsauce.

According to ads on the internet, Chuck has pre-ordered your book.  What do you think draws Chuck to Shadowed Summer (other than its obvious awesomeness).

I feel I have to be honest- Chuck Bass would hate my book. It's languorous and longing, and entirely chaste- not his speed at all. However, Blair Waldorf, closet classicist and romantic. would love it. Therefore, Chuck would buy my book and carry it around, just to annoy Blair.

And I have to say- I'm okay with that!

What is some good advice you've gotten during your career as a writer?  Any advice you've gotten that you think is worth ignoring?

I think the best advice I ever got was to avoid listening to advice. Seek counsel, definitely; take critique, absolutely. But the only way to write a book is to sit down and write it. Anybody who says that you must outline, you must not outline, you must do character sheets, you must know whether they call it soda or pop- they're talking about what works for them. Every writer has to figure out their own method and you can make yourself sick trying to fit other people's conceptions 

of HOW TO WRITE.

What's your favorite flavor of Dum Dum?

Root beer! I love root beer lollies.

Do you like playing board/card games?  If so, which ones?

I'm from Indiana, so by law, I have to enjoy playing Euchre, and I do. But board and card games invariably tick me off. There's something about the repetitiveness, same board, same pieces, same color, same suits, blar! They make me crabby.

If it could rain anything (cats, men, fish, frogs) what would you choose?

Money, duh.

Then again, are we talking about small, localized showers, or worldwide deluge? Because if it's raining money everywhere, dude, inflation nightmare time. Can I offer you a wheelbarrow of million dollar bills for a loaf of bread, please? Also, if it rained change, that would hurt.

This question is surprisingly difficult.

Okay! If it were raining in my back yard only, then money. If it were raining everwhere, Skittles. Taste the rainbow, right?

Lightening round, choose one:  PJ's when writing all day or actually getting dressed?

Sweats, so technically, I am dressed while I'm in my PJs!

Law or Order?

Oooh, that's hard. That's like asking, Briscoe Pun or McCoy Loophole. How do you survive without both??

Zombie or Unicorn (only fair you fess up on this one since you ask it during your interviews!)

Zombies forever!

Left or Right?

I actually can't tell my left from my right unless I raise my hands. (Left hand makes an L!) So I say both. Or neither!

Head, shoulders, knees or toes?

Shoulders. Ooooh, shoulders. I bought A Great and Terrible Beauty and A Northern Light on the same day because of the girls with their pretty shoulders and profiles on the covers. I

 

love shoulders. You know who has good shoulders? Sendhil Ramamurthy. Hello kitty; that's some bazam right there.

Cats or Dogs.  If cats -- the boss or the mailroom clerk?

Cats! And the clerk. After what happened to that intern, I avoid the boss!

Now for the GIVEAWAY!  I truly am so excited for SHADOWED SUMMER to come out and to finally be able to share the love.  So leave a comment on either my blog or livejournal to be entered in a drawing for an autographed copy of SHADOWED SUMMER (I'll be giving away TWO).  You get an extra entry if you also link to the contest (and put the link in the comments so I know).  I'll choose a winner midnight (eastern) on Monday.  

And speaking of giveaways, Saundra is having a huge one at her site soon -- go check it out!!