Now Presenting: Karen McQuestion (and a giveaway!)

Karen McQuestion is a fabulous, bestselling Wisconsin author (Yaay Cheeseheads!); she's written three novels for adults, three for teens, and two for kids. You've probably heard of Karen, because she's sold mega-stacks of books and is amazing. If you haven't, here--let me help you out of that bomb shelter and tell you about something called the Internet.  I adore her, and am totally fan-girl that she actually talks to me; in fact, she graciously subjected herself to my interview questions below. AND, she's got signed paperbacks of her latest YA, Edgewood, to give away to TWO lucky readers! (Freebookfriday called it "What to read after The Hunger Games.")

1)      Tell us about Edgewood. Where did you get the idea?

In the beginning of Edgewood, the main character, Russ Becker, finds himself plagued by insomnia. And the only thing that seems to help is taking late night walks. On one of these walks he witnesses a strange astronomical event and eventually discovers that he’s acquired superpowers.

I can’t be sure, but I think the original idea stemmed from my own insomnia, the difference being that my sleepless nights did not result in superpowers of any kind. Disappointing.

2)      What’s one of the biggest differences between writing Young Adult vs. Women’s Fiction?

Since Edgewood is a paranormal, the storyline is far more fantastical than my traditional women’s fiction.

Besides that, I tend to think that the first time you experience something—love, a friend’s betrayal, driving, whatever—it tends to evoke some intense emotions. And since the teenage years have a lot of firsts, it’s a pretty emotionally-charged time. In my opinion, the people who unfairly characterize teenagers as dramatic have forgotten a lot.

Fiction mirrors life, so the intensity of emotion is something I try to keep in mind as I write.

3)      What do you find most challenging about the writing life, and how do you cope?

I have to admit that I’m living my dream—I earn a living writing fiction. Me of four years ago would have smacked myself in the head for complaining about anything at this point, so I have to say that my biggest challenge is writing fiction that’s worthy of the wonderful readers I’ve been lucky enough to reach so far.

4)      Tell us about one of your “most” moments: most humbling, humiliating, gratifying, life-affirming, hilarious … whatever first comes to mind.

Most humiliating:  I once met up with a woman I hadn't seen in over a year and she'd changed her hairstyle drastically--from very long beautiful hair, to an adorable chic short cut.

I spent about ten minutes raving about how cute her haircut was, and saying I'd often thought of doing the same, but never had the courage to go that short.

After babbling on like this for some time, I asked, "So what made you decide to cut it?"

And she said, "I had brain surgery."

Really and truly this did happen. Even now, my face gets red thinking about it. Talk about putting things in perspective...

The bright spot in the whole thing was that the surgery was successful in eliminating her epileptic seizures. (And her hair did look cute.)

5)      Name one book you read again and again.

I don’t usually reread books because there are so many books to read and so little time. As a writer I do sometimes flip through writing books for inspiration, notably Stephen King’s On Writing, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, and Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey.

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Thanks, Karen! Loved your answers, love you...come back and visit another time! Also, that's not me on your front lawn holding a boombox over my head. Nope.

Don't forget to enter to win a signed copy! Just leave a comment below, along with your email address. Entries close Wednesday at midnight. I'm not nearly organized enough to start spamming you, and I don't even have an author newsletter (see: not organized enough), so don't worry about me bugging you now that I have your email.