I've been following Vicki and Catch Me When I Fall since I got the opportunity to host her cover reveal and read the ARC - review here. I was thrilled with the chance to interview her for her launch party. It's a great book and she's a super awesome, sweet person. You'll enjoy her in-depth answers. And go buy the book - you'll enjoy it. Links and author contact info below the interview.
1.Where/how did you come up
with the idea for your story? Did it suddenly pop into your head or were you
brainstorming?
It
suddenly popped into my head. One night, I looked up at my ceiling and saw what
resembled the shadow of an angel, as if it were protecting me from the
nightmares that kept me awake most nights. I’d thought, “Hey, that’s a good
idea for a book—guardian angels!” But there were already so many great books
about angels on the shelves. So, instead, I’d twisted it and asked myself:
“What if the creatures who guarded us at night weren’t guardian angels but
former humans who died sacrificial deaths? And what if nightmares weren’t just
in our heads but actual creatures that feed off our fears?” And from those two
questions, Catch Me When I Fall was
born!
2. Did you start with the
main character, the world or the overarching concept?
The
concept. I’m a plot-driven writer, so it’s ideas that come to me, rather than
characters or worlds. After figuring out where my story was going to go, I then
thought about POV and characters and decided to tell it through Daniel’s eyes
and built the rest of the world around him.
3. Panster or Plotter? Or in
between?
I’m
in between. Because I’m a plot-driven writer, I have to have some sort of idea
where my story’s going. So, I use basic outliners, like the 7 Point Plot or Save
the Cat, just to give me a backbone. Then I pants my way through each plot
point. My books never end up the way I thought they would, but that’s the fun
of it!
4. Are you a fan of writing
contests?
I
am! I think it gives aspiring authors an achievement to work for, and it really
helps you take your writing from being just a hobby to something a bit deeper,
more professional. I actually placed 56th in the 80th
Annual Writer’s Digest Competition, and that was sort of when I realized that
writing was what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life. It became that
push I needed to continue striving to write better so that I could see my dreams
come true.
5. How did you find your
agent? How many query letters did you send?
I
think I queried maybe 20 agents total, but I actually had my publishing
contract in hand when I contacted the majority of them. I’d participated in
last summer’s #PitchMAS and done really well. Alison Heller, an acquisitions editor
for my publishing house, had requested my full manuscript during that contest,
and after an R&R, she offered me a contract! So, though I technically
acquired my agent via the slush pile, my story is a bit different. Already having the publishing contract forced a
few of them to look at my submission a bit quicker, but I still had to send
fulls and wait to hear back. It was nerve-wrecking and kind of a whirlwind
experience with how fast everything happened. But the moment I spoke to Sarah
(my agent) on the phone, I knew I wanted to sign with her, and a week later, I
was on Team Negovetich!
6. What's the best marketing
tool you've found so far?
Form a street team! A street team is a group of readers and writers
who support you and your books, doing everything from hanging up flyers in
their hometowns to helping out with cover reveals to simply sharing your news
via their social media outlets. But I have such an awesome team of people
around me; I love having friends to share in the excitement with. And it’s
really helped me reach a wider network of people. When it comes to social
medias, though, Twitter’s where it’s at!
7. What do you like best
about your mc?
He’s
a fierce friend who would do anything to protect the people he cares about
most. And he has a cool accent. J
8. What do you like best
about your main antagonist?
He’s
one of those wickedly evil people who, I admit, doesn’t have any redeeming
qualities. But he carries himself with an air of arrogance, so his dialogue was
super fun to write.
9. Anything else you’d
like to share about your journey or your upcoming launch, including links to
giveaways or ways people can help spread the word?
Sure!
I actually wrote a post
at The Writer Diaries that shares a few things I learned this past year.
And then I plan to do a few big giveaways over the next couple months, so be
sure to follow me on Twitter
and Facebook so you
don’t miss out! J
Catch Me When I Fall, by
Vicki Leigh
Genre: young-adult, urban-fantasy,
paranormal-romance
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Date of Release: October 23, 2014
Cover Artist: Conzpiracy
Digital Arts
About Catch Me When I Fall:
Recruited at his death to
be a Protector of the Night, seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent
two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed,
red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. Each night, he risks his
eternal life, having given up his chance at an afterlife when he chose to
become a Protector. That doesn’t stop a burnt-out Daniel from risking daring
maneuvers during each battle. He’s become one of the best, but he wants nothing
more than to stop.
Then he’s given an
assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a clinically
depressed patient in a psychiatric ward. Nightmares love a human with a
tortured past. Yet, when they take a deep interest in her, appearing in unprecedented
numbers, the job becomes more dangerous than any Daniel’s ever experienced. He
fights ruthlessly to keep the Nightmares from overwhelming his team and Kayla.
Soon, Daniel finds himself watching over Kayla during the day, drawn to why
she’s different, and what it is about her that attracts the Nightmares. And
him.
A vicious attack on Kayla
forces Daniel to break the first Law and reveal his identity. Driven by his
growing feelings for her, he whisks her away to Rome where others like him can
keep her safe. Under their roof, the Protectors discover what Kayla is and why
someone who can manipulate Nightmares has her in his sights. But before they
can make a move, the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped. Daniel
will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means giving up his immortality.
Find Catch
Me When I Fall Online:
--
About The Author:
Adopted at three-days-old by a construction worker and a stay-at-home mom, Vicki Leigh grew up in a small suburb of Akron, Ohio where she learned to read by the age of four and considered being sent to her room for punishment as an opportunity to dive into another book. By the sixth grade, Vicki penned her first, full-length screenplay. If she couldn’t be a writer, Vicki would be a Hunter (think Dean and Sam Winchester) or a Jedi. Her favorite place on earth is Hogwarts (she refuses to believe it doesn’t exist), and her favorite dreams include solving cases alongside Sherlock Holmes.
Vicki is an editor for Curiosity Quills Press and is
represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.
Find Vicki
Leigh Online:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Thanks for hosting me! :)
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