1. It’s the zombie apocalypse and writers have got to stick together to survive. Pick 3 authors to be on your zombie apocalypse killing team and tell us why you’d choose them.
T. L. Says: Great question! I love imagining what I would do in the zombie apocalypse. Neil Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) because, man, he can come up with some crazy characters. Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games) because she knows a million ways to kill someone. E.L. James (Fifty Shades of Grey) because ... well, the Red Room.
2. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first? And now you have to tell us why ;)
2. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first? And now you have to tell us why ;)
T. L. Says: J.K. because Stephen scares the hell out of me. I can’t walk by a gutter without seeing that snaggle-toothed clown.
Meredith says: Sweet lord, I just choked on my coffee.
3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?
Meredith says: Sweet lord, I just choked on my coffee.
3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?
T. L. Says: I am currently reading two very different but enjoyable books. One is Fiona Quinn’s Weakest Lynx about a badass psychic girl and her quest to find and destroy her stalker. It’s keeping me on the edge of my seat. Another is a deep cut, a cult classic within the fantasy genre called The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I’d seen the movie as a child, then recently stumbled across the book and had to read it, especially since I’m writing within the genre.
4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?
4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?
T. L. Says: Charles Dickens books, because once you get to the end, you have already forgotten the beginning. But seriously, I love Great Expectations. It is so epic and full of brutal, yet beautiful, life lessons. Some authors are great writers, some are great storytellers and some, like Dickens, are both.
5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014?
5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014?
T. L. Says: Are you making me pick one??? Ok, fine. I would say Archetype by M.D. Waters. It is a lovely, intimate sci-fi story about a woman who is a newly minted clone and must unravel the mystery of her new, unfamiliar life. The story addresses the science of cloning in a personal and believable way without being too techie.
6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?
6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?
T. L. Says: Atlantia by Ally Condie. I held off on reading any mermaid or siren books until I was finished writing book one and two of SIRENS, and then sifted through a ton until I chose hers. It reminded me of Hunger Games a bit – dystopian, fast paced and dark.
7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?
7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?
T. L. Says: I can breathe underwater.
8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?
8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?
T. L. Says: With two toddlers and an inability to write after 8pm due to exhaustion, I have to write literally wherever I can... usually a place where I can hide inside my house. Sometimes there are only 5-minute chunks!
9. We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from your book SIRENS, Rising Tide.
9. We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from your book SIRENS, Rising Tide.
T. L. Says: This is easy for me. When I close my eyes I am there: a sixteen-year-old Mello standing on the outer shore of Rodinia for a ceremony in which he begins a journey across the ocean. Sirens surround him, singing in ethereal voices, and the sand is peppered with rose petals. He closes his eyes, walks into the crashing waves, and finds the courage to let the open ocean swallow him for the first time in his life.
10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you?
10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you?
T. L. Says: Mello—by far the most flawed of my characters—has a place in my heart. I relate so closely to him that deep down I must be writing myself. Though I would never torture myself the way I torture that poor guy. Nor do I have the power to start a revolution ... or do I?
11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.
11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.
T. L. Says: I created a SIRENS playlist to share with my readers. The songs all inspired me at some point during the creation of SIRENS and each one reminds me of a specific scene or character. I’ll choose five from it, but the full playlist can be found on my website.
1. M83 – We Own the Sky
2. Vance Joy – Riptide
3. The Knife – Heartbeats
4. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II
5. M83 – Midnight City
12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?
1. M83 – We Own the Sky
2. Vance Joy – Riptide
3. The Knife – Heartbeats
4. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II
5. M83 – Midnight City
12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?
T. L. Says: Let a story develop and marinate in your mind until you can’t stop yourself from telling it to the world. That is how to avoid writer’s block. Some of my best ideas come to me during idle times. I don’t sit down to write until I know what I am going to say—and am bursting at the seams to say it!
Get your copy of Rising Tide (SIRENS, Book 1)
Connect with T. L.
T.L. spent several years in the corporate world working with global "megacorps" before moving on to her most important job, raising her two children. During naptime, she created a world to escape to in SIRENS. She enjoys using science to create fantastical fiction, packing sophisticated, sometimes controversial, themes into stories of adventure, and twisting ordinary legends. Book 1 Rising Tide will be followed by Book 2, Lost World. She lives with her family and some tropical fish in Washington, DC.
