Author Interview: @CecilyWhite and her Release Day for #ProphecyGirl!!!

 Hello, my darlings! Help me in welcoming my special guest on 
her Release Day... Cecily White!!! *applause* Let's jump write in! Oops, pun! ;) 

Title: Prophecy Girl
Author: Cecily White
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Series: Angel Academy
Release date: Today!! 2 April 2013
Genre: Young Adult
Website
Twitter  





Karen: Welcome, Cecily! It’s great to have you here today! *virtual handshake*

Cecily: Stunning to be here! Thanks!

Karen: Let the fun begin! Can you tell my readers what’s the weirdest thing you like to eat?

Cecily: Well, I make a lot of soups. We have a crock pot, so I’ll occasionally just root around the pantry, find some bizarre stuff, and throw it in. Like those mushrooms that look like seaweed. Or the gross dogfood-looking nuggets that are actually textured vegetable protein. We’re mostly vegetarian, so cooking is always an adventure.

Karen: Sounds exciting to me! Speaking of adventures...tell us about your novel, Prophecy Girl, what’s it about?

Cecily: I hate this question because I never know whether to give plot, theme, character arcs, or what. I guess I’ll say it’s about a well-intentioned girl, Amelie Bennett, who despite being a total screw-up, manages to get blamed for the downfall of an entire angelblood race. Thematically, it’s about determinism and free-will. Characterologically, it’s about recognizing that there are demonic sides to every angel, and angelic edges to every demon. But the gift of being human is that we get to choose who we are, every day.

Is that vaguely prophetic enough for you? ;-)

Karen: Totally. Love that answer! And I, too, am not a huge fan of that question, but I'm evil so I had to ask! :P How did you come up with the title? 

Cecily: Oh, that’s easy. My daughter picked it. In the book there’s a prophecy that says Amelie’s destined to kill everyone she loves. The problem is, it’s 100% accurate… but you know how tricky prophecies are.

 Karen: They can be tricky, for sure...only slightly more tricky than negotiating book deals. ;) What was the first thing you thought/did when you received the offer?

Cecily: Besides pass out? LOL! I actually got the offer in the midst of a rousing game of laser-tag with my six-year-old son. So, the first thing I did was shoot some little punk-kid who was trying to take down my boy. Then I ate a pizza.

Karen: LOL That's awesome! A contract, laser-tag and pizza...For the win! Will there be a sequel to Prophecy Girl?

Cecily: Already in the works! Angel Academy II will be available next year from Entangled Publishing. (Which, by the way, is the most stunningly awesome, supportive, fantabuloriffic group of publishing professionals I’ve ever met. EVER! And my editor, Liz Pelletier, is a bloody genius. No kidding! Like, smarter than Joss Whedon and Stephen Hawking put together.)

Karen: They really are a fantastic publisher! And, WOW, smarter than Joss and Stephen...Super impressive! Rock on, Liz! (Eep! Random question alert!!) Be honest, what’s the longest you’ve gone without washing your hair? 

Cecily: Hmm, I took a camping trip to the boundary waters of Canada once, so lemme see… 6 days. Yup, 6 days! But I did go swimming every day, so that sort of counts, right? RIGHT? 

Karen: Um, since there was no shampoo involved, I'll count it! Back to the hard-hitting questions…What new projects are you working on? 

Cecily: Besides Angel Academy II? Well, I’m working on a middle grade--which I LOVE--called GhostRunners, written for the express purpose of giving my daughter a shot at being on the cover of a book. She ordered me to write something with a protagonist her age who looks like her. I tried to tell her that’s not really how it works, but she insisted.

Karen: Too cute! I look forward to hearing more about GhostRunners. What were some of the biggest challenges to getting published? 

Cecily: Oh, low self-esteem was by far the biggest challenge. I didn’t query too many folks because I didn’t think I had a shot. Then I entered the Golden Heart, and one of the judges was so impressed, she contacted me and basically bullied me into querying. C.J. Redwine… LOVE HER!!! Then I got a kick-ass agent a few weeks later (Pam vanHylckama Vlieg), then a few weeks after that had a contract.

Karen: That's so awesome!! Ooh, totally agree, C.J. is a phenomenal lady. I took her query/synopsis classes online. So great! Now let’s delve a little deeper. Shall we? *winks* When did the desire to write consume you?

Cecily: I believe it was a Wednesday. Maybe a Thursday… no Wednesday. Whatever. I used to make up stories for my kids at bedtime, and one day (mid-week) my daughter said, “Mommy, you should write this down.” Ever since she’s been helping me plot and giggling at the right parts and telling which boys are cute and which are tools. That was almost four years ago.

Karen: LOL Love it! Do you have a day job? Or do you write full-time? 

Author photo: Cecily White

Cecily: I have a zillion part-time jobs. I’m a psychologist by training, an adjunct university professor when convenient, a health-room volunteer at the kids’ elementary school when needed, a part-time financial aid coordinator at Missouri State University, and a full-time mom whenever the kiddos are willing to interact with me. Which is almost all the time because, yes, I AM that cool… For now, at least. :) 

Karen: You, busy, busy, lady, you!! So, tell me, when you have a chance to put fingers to keys... Who controls your characters? You or them?

Cecily: I wish I did. But they do. They run amok. They argue while I’m trying to sleep. They make inter-dimensional messes while I make dinner. It’s chaotic. But you know, I don’t mind a bit. Because the worst thing in the world is when they stop talking to me. So I try my best to value them while they’re there, and take them into the world with me whenever possible.

Karen: That's all you can do! ;) Where do you write? (office, coffee shop, train, etc.)

Cecily: Office, coffee shop… no train. I would if we had a train. Airplane, occasionally.

Karen: How cool would it be to write on a train?! Just sayin'. How long does it take you to write a book?

Cecily: The quickest was ten weeks. The longest was seven months. But I’m ALWAYS revising. Always. I’ll see something in life that reminds me of a scene I wrote two months ago, so I’ll go back and mess with it. I have a whole bunch of manuscripts that are “almost ready” which my agent may kill me over. But I hate to show anything to anyone before I’m proud of it, you know?

Karen: I totally do know! Okay, so prepare yourself, another random question has arrived. If you could have telepathy (that could be turned on/off) or invisibility, which would you choose? And why?

Cecily: Telepathy. It’s why I became a psychologist—to understand how people operate. They’re not as mysterious as you’d think. If you listen well, you’ll find that everyone makes sense… whether a florid psychotic, or an anti-rational sociopath. Everyone has a story, and every story has a flow. I like learning that flow of humanity. It’s what makes life interesting.

Karen: Very cool. Everyone has a story...I like that! Before we go, you must face the rapid fire round. Dun, dun, dun…

Coffee or tea? Coffee.
Chocolate: dark or milk? Dark. No, milk. No, dark. Well, crud!
Flats or heels? Running shoes.
Yes or no? HECK, YES!!!
Star Wars or Star Trek? J.J. Abrams’ STAR TREK. (Chris Pine… yum!)
Ice: crushed or cubed? Dude, cubed!!!
Italian or French (food, not men)? Italian… I think.
Panster or plotter? Plotser.
Paper or plastic? Fabric. We bring our own.
Vampires or werewolves? Vampires (They smell better.)
Pencil or pen? Pencil.
Firemen or cops? Firemen.
Mountains or beach? Ooo, mountains! With Chris Pine! Dressed as an intergalactic fireman!

Karen: Thank you so much for stopping by, Cecily! Feel free to visit any time!

Cecily: I plan to lurk here often, thanks. GROUP HUG!!!

*********

Buy Cecily's amazing book here! Amazon and B&N

Add Prophecy Girl to your TBR list here! Goodreads