Author Interview & Signed Bookmark Giveaway: Jill Hathaway
We are excited to welcome 2012 debut author, Jill Hathaway, to the nest today. Jill's novel, Slide, goes on sale March 27th. You can also check out Jen's review of the book for more details. She was kind enough to answer some of Jen's questions and send us some signed bookmarks to give away to our readers. Giveaway details can be found at the end of this post.
Jen @ Reading Lark: What did you have to do the most research about while writing Slide, and can you tell us a little about what you did?
Jill: I had to do some research on narcolepsy, even though that's not what Vee technically has. I read a lot about it on the internet and watched some YouTube videos of narcoleptic people having episodes.
Jen @ Reading Lark: Can you tell us about the part of Slide that was the hardest for you to write?
Jill: Without spoiling, it was very hard for me to write about what happened to Vee during the Homecoming dance. It's always difficult to cause pain to your characters.
Jen @ Reading Lark: In Slide, there is a subtle underlying theme of bullying; where did you get the inspiration for this?
Jill: I'm a high school teacher and I see this stuff all the time. I didn't try to "teach a lesson" in SLIDE, but I think it's clear how guilty Mattie feels for being involved in the bullying.
Jen @ Reading Lark: Have the kids that you teach had any specific reactions to you becoming a published author or your book?
Jill: I've only shared it with my Creative Writing students, and they were very interested in the process of publishing a book. They had a lot of misconceptions about the publishing world and what it means to be a writer. Ha, mostly they wanted to know how much my advance was. When I explained that not all authors are J.K. Rowling rich, they were a little disappointed.
Jen @ Reading Lark: I read Slide in a single sitting because it was just so gripping... what are some of your favorite page turners?
Jill: FRACTURE by Megan Miranda and BETWEEN by Jessica Warman
Jen @ Reading Lark: And finally, because we have a bird theme at Reading Lark... if you had to be any bird in the world, which one would you pick and why?
Jill: A Mockingjay. Because I'm a symbol for freedom. Uh... just kidding. I don't know.
Want to win a SIGNED Slide bookmark? We have FOUR to offer up to our readers. We'd like to send a big thank you to Jill Hathaway for her time and the bookmarks. The giveaway runs March 23-26. Winners will be announced on Slide's birthday, March 27.
To win you must:
* Be 13+ years old
* Fill out the Form
* Leaving a comment on Jill's interview will earn you +2 entries
* Leaving a comment on Jen's review of Slide will earn you +2 entries
Haha, love the mockingjay comment!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to this even more now! I love Fracture and Between is on my shelf waiting for me to give it some love. :)
I agree, Fracture is a mega page turner. Right now I'm reading Entangled by Cat Clarke and LOVING it. Great answers!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great interview:)
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool that authors get so attached to characters it's painful to them to cause the characters pain.
And it's good that bullying and its awful effects are finally being shown.
Wow, those students must be lucky to have Jill as their teacher.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I am always in awe of teachers who also manage to be authors. I haven't figured out how to balance my time well enough for that.
DeleteLol, yeah, not everyone gets rich like J.K Rowling but we can aspire too. No, I'm kidding. Writing for profit is not fun.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty awesome that she is a teacher and that she mentions bullying because sometimes it feels like teachers aren't paying attention to what is going on around them. It's good to know that teachers are not blind.