I’m back from the dead people!!!!

After three long weeks at sleep-away camp, I am finally back to my BELOVED COMPUTER and a new interview for you! Before I left, I was privileged enough to get to ask Kelly Oram, author of Cinder and Ella and many other books, some questions! So without further ado, here it is!

Me- Which idea came first, The Druid Prince or Cinder and Ella?

Kelly- Cinder & Ella was first. I sort of molded the idea of The Druid Prince to be what I needed as the story progressed.

Me- You were my age when you wrote your first novel (Backstreet Boys fanfiction). What prompted you to go further and create stories/ characters of your own?

Kelly- I wrote fan fiction in a few different genres. Eventually, I just got tired of using already established characters. I wanted to create my own. I wanted more freedom to write in a world that I created.

Me- Serial Hottie is a murder mystery. When you wrote it, did you have the ending in mind?

Kelly- Yup. I worked backwards with that one. Plotting the ending first and working my way to the beginning so that I’d know what clues I needed to place where and when. I think it would be extremely hard to write a mystery if you didn’t know how it ended from the beginning.

Me- Have you ever had writer’s block and if so, how did you deal with it?

Kelly- Usually if I get writer’s block it’s because a scene isn’t working for some reason. When that happens, I try to look at the story as a whole and figure out what the underlying problem is that is making me stuck. It’s usually a plot problem I didn’t know I had or sometimes it’s because I’m trying to force someone to act in a way contrary to their character. I can usually get myself unstuck. (Unless it’s my novel Jamie 3, then…avoidance is best, lol.)

Me- What authors have inspired you to write?

Kelly- There are oh, so many authors who inspire me, but the first one was probably Meg Cabot. She’s one of my favorites and the first author who really made me think, “I want to do that.”

Me- What was your favorite book growing up and your favorite book now?

Kelly- Growing up I fell in love with the Anne of Green Gables series. Now it’s so hard to pick a single favorite. Top five might be Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson, Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Host by Stephenie Meyer, and the Broken series by Jen Wylie. And of course all things Meg Cabot.

Me- Characters often find themselves in situations they aren’t sure they can get themselves out of. When was the last time you found yourself in a situation that was hard to get out of and what did you do?

Kelly- This isn’t the last time, but when I was fifteen I got my first job bussing tables at a restaurant. One of the cooks there was thirty years old and had two small kids. He started flirting with me and eventually, it turned into sexual harassment. I’ll spare you the details, but it got pretty serious. I was fifteen, naive, scared, and didn’t know what to do about it. I never told anyone about him and instead ended up quitting my job to get away from him.

What I should have done was reported him to my employer, but I was worried about him losing his job when he had two small kids to take care of. It was much easier for me to quit my job and go find a new one. So I did. I don’t know if that was the right decision or not, but I was much happier at my new job. (I became a birthday party hostess at a children’s indoor play park and made some amazing friends who I still keep in touch with today.) I’ve actually considered using that same situation in a book before, but I haven’t found the right story for it yet.

Thanks so much for reading this and I will have a new review up soon!

Here is the link to  read my review of Cinder & Ella

<3 Shelby