AUTHOR Interview/GIVEAWAY points- Holly Nicole Hoxter!! =]

I had the privilege of interviewing author Holly Nicole Hoxter, who wrote the awesome book The Snowball Effect . Holly is so funny and has some great answers!

Check out the interview below, and be sure to stop by her website for more info about her book!


If you leave Holly some love in the comments, I'll throw in an extra entry in my upcoming giveaway! =]

Holly's Writing Fuel

1-Tell me a little bit about yourself!
I live in Baltimore with my husband and four cats. I'm a medical transcriber by day and a writer...whenever I can fit it in. I also enjoy reading, running, and procrastinating.

2- When and why did you begin writing?
I've always been a storyteller, even before I learned how to hold a pencil. Probably because I really liked to lie. As a kid I would act out stories with my Barbies and paper dolls, and put on plays with my brother and cousin. By third grade, I'd decided I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. 


3- What inspired you to write The Snowball Effect?
To be perfectly honest and morbid, this story grew out of my fear that my parents would die suddenly and I'd have to raise my youngest siblings.

4- Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
No. Everyone comes into a book with their own perspective, so everyone will get something different out of it. What the story means to me may not be the same thing that it means to you, and I don't think it should be.

5- Name a few of your favorite Ya authors today!
I would love to be Elizabeth Scott when I grow up! But mostly I have favorite books instead of favorite authors (most of the YA books I read this past year were debuts). I really love Dominique Paul who wrote an amazing book called The Possibility of Fireflies, and Stephanie Perkins who wrote Anna and the French Kiss(the details are so amazing, I was convinced that she had really studied in Paris), and Erin McCahan who wrote I Now Pronounce You Someone Else. And so many more, but I'll stop now. 

6- Do you consider writing a career? Do you write full time?
Right now I work a real job full-time to pay the bills. My job is actually pretty awesome since I get to do it from home, but writing as a career has always been my long-term plan. 

7- Any crazy habits you have when you write?
I do my best writing at Burger King, fueled by fountain Coke and french fries. Clearly I'm a bit of a health nut.


8- What advice can you give to aspiring authors?
Believe.

9- What's next for you in the writing world?
I'm working on a few different projects, trying to branch out into middle grade but also working on a few YA ideas too. 

10- Can you throw a punch? Are you secretly an assassin?
I COULD throw a punch but I would probably end up hurting myself more than the other person. I'm not an assassin, but my sister is a ninja so she can take care of that sort of thing for me.

11 - Do you know how to drop an egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
Drop it from a very, very, very low height?  

12- What's your favorite weather to write in? Where do you write?
Summer! Everything is better in summer. I write many different places--at home, at a cafe with my writing group, in restaurants, in my car with the top down, etc.   

13- Ever dance in the mirror with your hairbrush?
Since I work from home, I do take dance breaks sometimes to break up the monotony. But not in front of the mirror. Nobody wants to see that, not even me. And, also because I work from home, I rarely touch my hairbrush.  

14- If you could live the life of any YA character, who would you choose? 
I forget her name, but the girl from Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes (and I think there's a sequel out now too, which I'll have to read). I would love to travel all over Europe having random adventures.  

15-  Is Elvis really dead??
Probably, but I do love a good conspiracy theory, so I kind of hope he's not. 
 
16- You become a mermaid. What is the first thing you do?
I would FREAK OUT, big time. I have ichthyophobia. Also, I can't swim. 
Thanks for your time, Holly! Anything else you want to say to your readers?
It's almost snowball season! You all should road trip to Baltimore this summer and try one. My favorite stand should be open soon and I cannot wait.  Thanks so much for the interview, Lindsay!