This giveaway is over.
Swinging by WORD today is Jen Nadol, author of The Mark and its recently released sequel The Vision!
Sixteen year old Cassandra Renfield has seen the mark since forever: a glow around certain people as if a candle were held behind their back.
The one time she mentioned it to someone else, the mark was dismissed as a trick of the light. So Cassie has kept quiet, considering its rare appearances odd, but insignificant. Until the day she watches a man die. Mining her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person's imminent death. Now how or where, only when: today.
Cassie searches her past, her philosophy lessons, even her new boyfriend for answers, answers, always careful to hide her secret. How does the mark work? Why her?
Most importantly: if you know today is someone's last, should you tell them?
Nicole: Welcome to WORD, Jen! Where did you get the idea for The Mark?
Jen Nadol: I’d just shelved my “practice novel” and wanted to try again so was tossing around story ideas. When the thought what if you knew it was someone’s day to die? popped into my head, I could see so many ways to develop it...I think I grabbed the nearest scrap of paper and just started writing.
N: Which one of the characters was most difficult for you to write about?
JN: The tertiary characters are hardest for me. I get really into the MC’s head so he/she is always easy to write and the secondary characters – Nan or Jack or Lucas in The Mark and Zander or Petra or Mr. Ludwig in The Vision – get enough airtime for me to really know them. But it’s the minor players who still have a speaking role like Liv’s friends Hannah and Erin or Zander’s mom in The Vision that I always struggle to make rounded enough in the little bit of space they have in the story.
N: What was your favorite scene?
JN: Well, I love the surprises and reveals...which of course, I can’t tell you about!
N: Spoilers! What advice would you give to an upcoming writer about writing?
JN: About writing? Write often, every bit of practice helps.
About writing for publication? Push yourself to complete something in your desired format. Whether it’s poetry or short story or a screenplay or novel, finish one. I’d always wanted to write a book, but had only ever written random scenes or bits of dialogue, never something start to finish. I learned so much about plotting and story lines/arcs by forcing myself through my first (horrible) novel.
N: Was there any point in writing The Mark that you got stuck?
JN: I don’t specifically remember anything from The Mark, but there are plenty of writing days when the muse is a no-show and the only thing you have to rely on is your own drive and creativity. And you don’t feel very “creative” when you’re wracking your brain for what should happen next or what this character might say, but that’s the only way through it – just keep writing, even if you wind up cutting ninety percent of it you’ve still made a little progress.
N: learly it paid off - The Mark was optioned to be a television series! What are some of your favorite tv shows?
JN: CI don’t watch anything regularly which was kind of embarrassing when the TV people came to meet with me because I had no clue about the shows or actors they talked about, much less producers or directors (or what producers or directors even do, really). I mostly use TV for mental downtime so put on HGTV or sports.
N: I recommend Doctor Who. What's your favorite animal and why?
JN: I’m a dog person, always have been. Puppies are adorable and dogs have all the qualities of a great friend, they’re loyal, loving, great listeners, always happy to see you – what’s not to like?
N: Just like Doctor Who. Hehe. If you could have dinner with any dead celebrity, who would it be?
JN: Oh boy - questions like this kill me because I get all tweaked up about making the perfect choice – I mean it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, right? I don’t want to pick the wrong one. So should it be someone brilliant like DaVinci or Einstein? Or maybe brilliant and a writer like Shakespeare or Vonnegut? Or maybe someone who witnessed a significant historical event like the sinking of the Titanic or the bubonic plague? And then I remember that this is just for fun. So I’m going to be completely shallow and say Kurt Cobain because his music was great and he was hot!
We’d probably have absolutely nothing to talk about.
And since The Vision, the second book in the series, just came out, Jen is being nice enough to host a giveaway of it to one lucky reader!
You must follow me either here or on Twitter to be entered to win. Sorry, folks. You'll see a few giveaways coming up that you don't have to be a follower; those are the last ones. I'm taking after Donna at Bites and giving them only to the people who regularly read and don't just wander by looking for freebies. (Sorry, freebie lovers!)
Quick Recap:
[1] copy of The Vision by Jen Nadol up for grabs
[1] winner in the U.S. or Canada only
ends October 16
How To Win:
[mandatory] must follow me either here or on Twitter
[mandatory] fill out the form below
[mandatory] comment on this post! Comments aren't hard. It can just say hi, even. I like comments.
