Monday YA Author Interview With Jill Daugherty

Where are you from?
I’ve lived in Denver, Colorado for the past 35 years. When I was very young, we lived in Peoria, Illinois.

When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing when I was about 3. I have very vivid memories of pestering my mom non-stop to tell me which letters made which sounds and which sounds made different words. I’d write down the letters to each of the words she told me and was fascinated with the patterns in each word. When I was 8, my teacher sent a poem I wrote in class to a local newspaper to be published. It was a very proud moment! That same year, I wrote a short story about a baby who was kidnapped from her crib. A gum wrapper found in her crib led the police to her kidnapper. It was a horrible story. I had the good sense to keep that one to myself. :-)
I write because I get really grumpy if I don’t. Over the summer I was getting frustrated with my writing and forced myself to take a two-week break. By the end of the two-week period, I was really itching to get back to it. Writing is a creative outlet for me, and when I’m not writing books or research papers, my friends have to suffer through really long emails from me.

What books have most influenced your life most?

Every book I’ve read has influenced me in one way or another. Some of them really make me think. Some of them show me how to write. Some of them show me how NOT to write. Even the bad books I’ve read have left me with something to think about.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Janet Evanovich. I love the humor of the Stephanie Plum series. They are never going to win a Pulitzer, but they are very entertaining, and that’s what I strive for with my own writing. It’s great when a book can make you grow or make you see the world in another way, but it’s also great when a book is nothing more than fun.

What book are you reading now?

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Les Miserables. I’m finding that Les Miserables is very wordy and sometimes tedious, so when I get to the point where I can’t resist poking my eyes out with a fork, I put it away and pick up one of the other two.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Yann Martel and Jonathan Safer Foer. Talk about books that make you think!

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Just one?! I have so many favorites! If someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to pick books from just one author to pack in a trunk for a ten-year solo trip to a deserted island, I’d probably pick Charles Dickens. His stories have stood the test of time for a reason. They have love and betrayal and heartache and humor and I think they’d do a decent job of keeping me entertained until I was rescued by a cruise ship with a massive library.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Learning to develop a tough skin. Writing is easy compared to dealing with rejection. In the beginning, it was really hard for me to read anything negative about my books. Then I read two reviews on Goodreads that put reviews into perspective for me. One of the reviews said that the reader really didn’t like the first half of the book, but loved the second half. Another review said the reader loved the first half, but didn’t like the second half. I realized that it wasn’t possible to write a book that everyone loved and I’ve been able to put reviews into perspective since then.

 
Have you been an avid reader your entire life? (since you could read)

Yes! When I was as young as six, I would make the 30-minute walk from our house to the local library to check out books and listen to the library employees who would read stories for children. Even now, it is a very rare occasion when I don’t have something checked out from the library.

 
Ok now some fun questions:
What is your favorite sport to watch and or play?

I love to watch the Denver Broncos play. I don’t play any team sports on a regular basis, but I do bike, hike and swim.
Favorite Movie?
Love Actually. Don’t judge me. I know it’s several sappy love stories rolled into one movie, but it’s hard to not feel good after watching it. I challenge anyone to watch the moment when the little boy runs into his step-dad’s arms in the airport without a huge smile.
Chocolate or Vanilla?
 Vanilla – it has more possibilities because you can add any flavor to it and make it even better. And, you can turn vanilla into chocolate if the mood strikes you, but you can’t turn chocolate into vanilla
Puppy's or Kittens?
Puppies! Kittens are cute enough, but I’m allergic to them, so they make me itchy. Puppies are all the fun, with none of the itch.
Beach or Mountains?
 I live in Colorado, so definitely the Mountains.

If you could be a color, what color would you be?

 Blue. It’s such a calming color.
Favorite Dessert?
 Tiramisu. I don't drink coffee, but love just about anything with coffee flavor.

If you could be a book character, what character would you be?

Hermione Granger. We both are very practical and use research as a coping mechanism, but she can do magic and I can’t think of anything cooler than that!



I’ll take on Balor—I’ve resigned myself to that fate—but I can’t take these girls anymore.”
“So, just to clarify: Most evil faery known to all of faery-dome—no problem. A bunch of snide and petty girls—that you’re not up to?”
“Bingo.”
“Seriously, cushla macree, we need to have a discussion about your ranking system.”
Maggie O’Neill had a rough junior year… She fell in love with Simon. She found out Simon was a faery. She spent some time with her dead ancestors. An evil faery with control issues came after her and brought his groupies to kill her. …but that was nothing compared to what’s in store for senior year. She’s the new girl at faery boarding school and is subjected to something she never thought she’d have to deal with in her entire life—mean girls. To make matters worse, she’s seeing less and less of Simon, her faery guard is smothering her in their efforts to protect her, and the evil faery is still stalking her, determined to kill her before she can kill him. She starts to wonder if she’ll make it to graduation. Then the unthinkable happens and she wonders if she’ll be able to survive even one more day.