ASK ME ANYTHING!

“What was the difference in process (if any) between Wicked Darlings and The Revenge Game?”

I’m usually very methodical when it comes to plotting my books. With The Revenge Game (as well as my three YA historical novels), I outlined the entire story in a four-act structure and wrote a thorough synopsis before I started writing a first draft.

That was not the case for Wicked Darlings, which I sold to my editor at Delacorte on a one-paragraph pitch. From that point, I had three-ish months to turn around a first draft (while still working full-time at Men’s Health), which meant there wasn’t time to do my usual plotting work. I dove in without much of a roadmap…and my meticulous robot brain did NOT enjoy the experience. I ended up having to re-write most of the book in my first round of revisions.

Pantsing works for lots of people—just not me!

“What was it like adjusting from ‘writing is a thing I do’ to ‘I have an agent’ and then ‘I’m a published author’?”

In my grade seven yearbook, I wrote that my life goal was “to write a full book.” As an eleven-year-old, that was all I wanted. But when I’d written that full book and signed with a literary agent, I suddenly had a new life goal: a book deal. When I got that book deal, a new life goal took its place: selling enough books that I could quit my day job in journalism and fully support myself as an author.

All of which is to say: While each milestone has been ridiculously, deliriously exciting, it hasn’t felt like a permanent weight off my shoulders. In fact, it’s felt like the opposite: Each milestone has led me to put even more pressure on myself. (Who else can relate? 🙃 )

I have to keep reminding myself that the quality of my work is so much better when I stop obsessing about the future and focus instead on the simple joy of writing. Less pressure, more pleasure—the actual keys to success.

“Where is the most obscure place you sat to write?”

I’m gonna be real with you: I used to write on the Microsoft Word app on my phone during my bathroom breaks at work. You gotta do what you gotta do when you’re on deadline with a full-time day job!

“How do you come up with an initial book idea?”

It’s sort of a math equation! (I’m not kidding when I say I have a meticulous robot brain.) I’ll think of an overarching theme that I want to explore, then pair it with external circumstances that I find fascinating, then add in main characters whose arcs will help me convey the book’s core theme.

For example, here’s how I came up with the initial idea for Don’t Breathe a Word, my YA historical novel about a boarding school secret society guarding the truth about a student’s mysterious death in the campus’ nuclear fallout shelter in 1962:

OVERARCHING THEME: Exploring the lengths to which people will go, and the twisted things they’ll sometimes do, in order to feel like they belong in a social group.

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EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Boarding school secret societies and nuclear fallout shelters—two random things I personally find fascinating, and would be happy to spend time researching.

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MAIN CHARACTERS: A girl in the present day who’s inducted into the secret society, and a girl in 1962 who’s recruited to test out the campus’ fallout shelter, but ends up becoming prey to a teacher’s twisted psychological experiment—both girls initially feel the pull to belong to something bigger than themselves, but end up resisting in their own ways.

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“Where do you get inspiration from?”

I recently wrote a guest post for the Nerd Daily about six surprising things that inspired Wicked Darlings—you can read it here!

▶ Current read: One Day in December by Josie Silver

▶ Currently working on: The first round of revisions for See You at the Summit, my upcoming adult romance novel about a woman who comes out as bi, only to reluctantly fall for a straight guy—coming in Jan. 2026!

▶ Currently planning for: Touring in Quebec for Canadian Children’s Book Week! Check out my public events here.

Check out my books!