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1. Where are you from?
Minneapolis, Minnesota2. When you aren't writing what do you like to do with your time?
I have two children, ages 3 and 18 months. Between my husband, house, and being a stay-at-home mom, I haven’t found much free time in the past year! But I’m working on it.
I love to play nickel-dime poker with my mom and sister, crossword puzzles, drawing, and eating anything that has a chocolate and peanut butter combination.
3. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
No. I had always dreamed of writing a book one day, but I hadn’t invested much time in how or what. I had never written anything before I began last summer with Progress.
4. What inspired your book?
I was rummaging through some things in the basement and found an old CD that I used to listen to back in 2002. Progress by Rx Bandits. I was nostalgic in thinking about the person I used to be at that time in my life and decided to spin a story from it.
6. Are any characters or experiences based off of your life or someone you know?
Yes. Mostly just the characters. Every person in the series is based off someone who exists in real life.
7. If The Progress series was made into movies and you could cast the leads, who would you chose?
This question is almost impossible for me to answer! But I was chatting with some friends, and this is what we came up with:
Charlie: Emma Stone
Jesse: Jordan Legault
Sam: Josh Duhamel
8. Which writer, if any, would you consider a mentor?
Oh, boy. Well, I wasn’t much of a reader until I began writing. So no one could’ve influenced my writing then. However, I have met an amazing Indie writer along my journey over the past year and she’s helped me with beta reading and structure. Claire C Riley, author of Limerence and Odium (paranormal romance, post-apocalyptic).
9. What are you reading right now?
The Heart of a Girl (YA) by Kaitlyn Oruska
10. What are your current projects?
I’m currently working on another contemporary romance titled, New Road. But I have no idea when it will be ready. I’m aiming for spring 2014.
11. What is something you hate doing? Why?
Taking out the garbage. I have a VERY sensitive nose, and I’m quick to gag every time I open the garbage to swap the bag. It’s my least favorite thing to do. Ever.
12. Do you ever write naked? :) While under the influence?
Yikes!
Under the influence? No, not that I can remember! Ha! But naked? Well, some of my best ideas come to me while I’m in the shower, does that count? (
13. Did you get emotional while writing The Progress series? I know we did reading it! :)
Extremely. Each book is written from different POVs. So when I was writing Jesse, I was a very angsty person to deal with. I shut myself off from the world and lived and breathed SKA music. I had to switch my brain from thinking emotionally, and focus more on logic and sensibility. But when I was writing Charlie, I was an emotional wreck! Oh, I was so pissed off at Jesse!
14. What was your favorite part if writing this series?
Opening myself up to a world I had no idea existed a year ago. The literary community is massive! And everyone has been so kind; the readers, the authors, the bloggers, everyone. It has been a life changing experience.
15. Tell us something no one knows about you.
I sucked my thumb until I was in the fourth grade. *hides head in shame*
16. Most embarrassing story?
Oh man! I think I just threw up.
Gah! My first French kiss. I just can’t even…its just so not…I’m just a wreck thinking about it! I was so horrible! And he told me I was!
I think I’m sweating now.
17. Biggest pet peeve?
All of my answers are going to make me sound like a nutcase! Okay, so you know the felt-type material on the ceiling of most cars? Well, when I was young, my sister used to bite her nails and at some point during a road trip with my parents she scraped her gross, jagged, hang-nailed fingertips across the ceiling of the vehicle. To this day, I can’t handle the sound of someone scraping their fingers against the ceiling of a car.
18. Any quirky habits?
19. Ebooks or Paperback?
Paperback
20. Do you judge a book by its cover?
Hmm. I suppose subconsciously I do. But I don’t usually let it deter me from reading the synopsis, and ultimately reading the book itself.
21. Do you listen to music while you write? What is your current favorite?
No. I have to have silence when I write.
22. Puppies or Kittens?
Kittens. Absolutely.
He is exactly what she needs. But how far into his mind is she willing to go?
Jesse has a curious attraction to Charlene, a hostess at the restaurant where he works. Outwardly he’s rude, awkward and unapproachable. But his sudden bursts of charm are inescapable. A devastating childhood filled with physical and emotional abuse have left him complex and frigid.
Charlene, an innocent, is quickly mystified. Her craving for him generates an infatuation and a purpose. Losing weight and gaining confidence, she begins taking more risks. She defies her past, damaged and tender, in order to move ahead.
"Progress" is a realistic tale of two friends who both have similar issues that make them hesitant to get close to anyone. Jesse's demons have manifested into an emotional detachment, and Charlene's, a physical one.
If nobody makes the first move then nobody gets hurt.
Their journeys take them down parallel paths which leave them just as emotionally unmatched and conflicted as the day they met
REVIEW
4 1/2 EMOTIONALLY CHARGED STARS!! I was captivated by this book! Charlie is a wonderful character that I think a lot of us can relate to on some level. I know most of us have body image issues. Yet with her flaws and psychological issues she is a character I came to love. Jesse has his own issues and made me So angry at times! This was book was a refreshing change from my usual romance books. I am still emotional after reading this and absolutely loved the ride I went on. Warning it does end in a bit of a cliffhanger and I'm off to read the next book in the series right now! ~ Leslie
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