Author Interview with Daelynn Quinn
I’m interviewing Daelynn Quinn today, author of YA contemporary “Neverland Academy”. Thanks for answering my questions, Daelynn, and welcome to my blog.
Author Interview
1. When did you know you wanted to be an author?
After I wrote my first novel. I’d always wanted to be an artist and everybody just knew I would while I was growing up. I’d always had a creative streak and in my youth I channeled that into drawing, painting, and collage. I’d never even considered writing until I was bedridden with terrible back pain and had nothing to do but read. I’d read a few books, but was frustrated with not having control over any characters. That was when I began to write my first novel, Fall of Venus.
2. Where did you get the inspiration for Neverland Academy?
That’s easy—Peter Pan! Actually, the idea came to me one night in that moment just before I fell asleep. I woke up just then and wrote the first paragraph.
3. What is your editing process like?
First I convert the file and send it to my Kindle. Reading it on the device helps me to read critically because I feel like I’m reading a book that’s already been published. It’s also easier for me to spot errors. After I’ve corrected those errors I order a print copy of the book and read through it again. Then I repeat the process until I’m happy with the book.
4. What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
Writing a novel is always challenging in itself, but this was especially challenging for me because I wanted to stay true to the original story of Peter Pan while adding my own twist. I didn’t want the characters to be exactly the same, but they had to have some of charm that made the original story so well loved. It was also a challenge to write in third person POV after having written three books in first person POV.
5. Did you set any writing goals for 2014? Did you accomplish any, so far?
My only goal was to publish Neverland Academy while planning my next series. I’ve already accomplished that and started writing the first book of the series!
6. Are you working on something now? If so, can you tell us a little about it?
I am so excited to be working on the first of a six-book series tentatively titled 13509. Set in a world overrun with vampires who have evolved to crave more than just human blood, a teenage girl escapes her confinement at a dairy factory farm only to find she must fight to keep her freedom. I’ve decided to work on it during NaNoWriMo this year so feel free to visit my page for the full synopsis and excerpt. http://nanowrimo.org/participants/daelynnquinn/novels/13509.
About The Book
Title: Neverland Academy
Author: Daelynn Quinn
Genre: YA
It was the worst day of Daphne’s life. Not only had her parents moved her from Atlanta to the middle of nowhere, but her boyfriend broke up with her in the middle of a crowded club and her parents grounded her for a month for sneaking out and stealing the BMW. All in one night! If she were back home in Atlanta it would be no problem. She could always find ways of getting around her punishments. But this was rural Georgia. And there was nowhere to go but woods and farmland. That is, until Finn showed up at her window.
Finn was the invincible mascot of Neverland Academy where Daphne’s brothers attended. For the five years since he’d been expelled from the all-boys boarding school, he lived in the old slave tunnels under the former antebellum plantation home. He and his band of outcast boys lived for pulling pranks on the school’s professors, and especially the headmaster, Byron Trappe, who had a personal vendetta against Finn.
Daphne grew to love life under the academy. But there was one problem. She was falling for Finn. Hard. She knew he didn’t want a relationship or anything that resembled growing up. But when the wall she built between them begins to crumble before her eyes, will she stay at the academy and face impending heartbreak? Or will she leave her heart behind and escape the dangers of criminal life, including a perilous encounter with the vengeful headmaster?
Author Bio
Daelynn Quinn was born and raised in southern Maryland where she spent her youth exploring and falling in love with nature in the woods behind her house. She graduated the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in dietetics, which she promptly abandoned to pursue writing. Daelynn’s writing is fast-paced and laced with current issues that concern her. Her first dystopian trilogy, Fall of Venus, focused on climate change and the role we as humans play in it. Her YA novel, Neverland Academy, delves into child abuse and negligence. Daelynn is excited to be commencing a new series, which will tear into the animal exploitation industries. While she is not reading or writing, Daelynn enjoys brainstorming while mowing her lawn, cooking healthy meals her kids refuse to eat, and watching old episodes of Mr. Bean with her three boys.
Links
www.daelynnquinn.com
daelynnquinn.wordpress.com
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube