What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?
My name is Tracy Rozzlynn. I was born and raised in Rhode Island. As an adult I’ve lived and worked in Massachusetts then Maine. Recently I moved back to my home state of Rhode Island.
What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
Darkened Shadows is due out in late October. Shadows plagued Samantha her entire life, keeping her isolated with their destruction. When she meets Nathan everything starts to change.
How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
It’s hard to say, because I don’t work on just one book at a time. I wrote Verita in just two weeks, but it still needed a lot of work. I spent the next few months periodically working on Verita and several other novels. Eventually I picked Verita, Fast-Tracked, and Darkened Shadows to focus on. I write the scenes as I think of them, so I have a lot of the 2nd and 3rd books of each series already written.
What genre would you place your books into?
My books are young adult fantasy and science fiction.
Where do you get your book plot ideas from?
Ideas pop into my head at some of the strangest times and places: Grocery shopping, watching my daughter’s soccer game and even sitting in traffic. I carry a small notebook with me and jot them down at the first possible moment. However, I’ve gotten the majority of my good ideas when I’m hovering at the edge of sleep. I wrote the premise for Darkened Shadows at 2am in the morning, when it popped into my head and woke me up.
Do you gift books to readers to do reviews?
Yes, I use librarything.com to give away eBook copies of my novels, when they’re first released. If a reader has a book blog, they can contact me directly for a copy of the book to review.
Do you read all the reviews of your book/books?
Yes. I love reading reviews – hopefully they’re positive, but I read the negative ones too, just in case there’s any helpful constructive criticism.
What was the toughest/best review you have ever had?
Any bad review is tough. I remind myself that not everyone will like my writing. Then, I read some of my good reviews and some bad reviews of authors I like. If that doesn’t work I pull out my emergency stash of bubble wrap. I can’t stay in a bad mood when there’s bubble wrap to pop.
I appreciate all my good reviews, but the best thing I’ve ever read is “I have a new favorite author.” There are a lot of books I like, but only a few authors that I’d call favorites. To have someone considered me a favorite is a huge compliment. I just hope my future novels live up to their expectations.
How do you come up with the Title and Cover Designs for your book/books? Who designed the Cover of your books?
I try to pick titles that somehow relate to the story of the book. Verita was originally just the name of the planet in my novel. Most of our planets are named after gods. Veritas is the daughter of Saturn and goddess of truth. In Latin, Veritas also means truth, but Brett and the rest of the colonists aren’t given the full truth, so Veritas became Verita and then Verita became my title.
After a final assessment test, the top two percent of the nation is fast-tracked into the career of their choice and the exclusive gold class status. As a result the gold class refers to themselves as fast-trackers.
Darkened Shadows describes the shadows that have plagued Samantha throughout her life.
I designed all three of my covers. Verita’s cover is a combination of hand-drawn sketched and photo editing software. It depicts a scene from the novel.
Fast-Tracked’s is a combination of several photos I applied photo effects to. Originally I wanted it to be a dried up, dead rose, but it looked horrible. In the end, I chose a drooping rose that has petals falling like teardrops. The rose ties into the storyline.
Originally I had three different covers for Darkened shadows. They all focused on the same girl, but from different distances and with different backgrounds. I placed a poll on goodreads.com to see which cover everyone liked best. The poll ends October 10th, so far it’s a pretty close race. http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/54651...
Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
I avoid writers block by having multiple projects. When I don’t feel like working on story line, I skip to another,
Do you think books transfer to movies well? Which is you favourite/worst book to movie transfer?
Movies are like the cliff notes version of a book. I still enjoy them, but the books are always better. The worst book turned movie I’ve seen recently is I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. If I had seen the movie first, I never would have read the book.
What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
I’m currently reading the eBook version of Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I’m about halfway through and so far it’s really good.
Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
Probably not in my lifetime, but soon after. Right now there are too many people who love the feel and smell of a book in their hands. I used to be one of them before I read my first eBook. I can’t watch 3D movies without getting a headache. I assumed the eyestrain of electronic print would do the same, but I was wrong. Now most of the books I read are in eBook format. My seven-year-old daughter already downloads books from the library onto her computer. Her generation and the ones to follow won’t have the same attachment to the printed word and will favor the convenience of eBooks.
What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
1)Keep writing.
2)Find a good editor. My first two novels both needed second edits. I’m trying a new editor for Darkened shadows and am looking forward to much better results.
Do you or would you ever use a pen name?
Yes, I do use a pen name. It’s close to my real name, but if my books become widely popular, my daughter will still have some anonymity.
Where can readers follow you?
Your web site ? http://tracyrozzlynn.com
Your facebook page? http://www.facebook.com/#!/TracyRozzlynn...
Your Goodreads author page? http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/488...
Your Twitter details? http://twitter.com/#!/TracyRozzlynn
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