The Crossroads Tour Day 8

1. Could you tell us a little bit about the world you created in 13 To Life?

The world of Junction is what I call a “thin world”—like a patina you lay over our reality through which we realize the world’s a much stranger place than we ever imagined. I’m a big believer that we tend to overlook most of the amazing moments going on around us so I used that philosophy to create Junction and Farthington.


2. Would you be willing to tell us where you see the series going?

The series is pretty much wrapped up at this point with 5 novels (13 to Life, Secrets and Shadows, Bargains and Betrayals, Destiny and Deception, Rivals and Retributions). The final two novels in my YA paranormal series release in 2012. And I think readers will like the way things get wrapped up—though there may be a brief moment where they’re ready to do me bodily harm... But it should pass quickly. I hope.


3. Which of your own characters do you most enjoy writing?

Max and Alexi. Max is easy. Hmm. Yeahhh. He has that reputation, too... Anyhow. Alexi tests me. He’s darker and more angsty. There are days you need the Alexi drama as an author (but not in real life, thanks).


4. Which of your characters do you find most difficult to write?

Jessie. I know her best, but allowing her to be herself and not steering her toward making only smart decisions is difficult. Jess is certainly not stupid but she leads with her heart more than her head and that definitely gets her in trouble.


Find Shannon:

Website | Twitter | Facebook






1. Could you tell us a bit about the world you created in Bad Taste in Boys?

Well, BTIB is about a girl named Kate Grable. Kate’s a super smart med geek, and she’s the student trainer for her high school football team. She figures the experience will look good on her college apps, and as an added bonus she gets to be close to her quarterback crush, Aaron. Then something disturbing happens. Kate finds out that the coach has given the team steroids. Except...the vials she finds don’t exactly contain steroids. Whatever’s in them is turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless, flesh-eating...zombies.

Unless she finds an antidote, no one is safe. Not Aaron, not Kate’s brother, not her best friend...not even Kate...

Dum dum DUM.


2. Would you be willing to tell us where you see the series going?

Well, BAD TASTE IN BOYS will have a sequel—BAD HAIR DAY. It’s coming out in November 2012. (I know; I know. I’m so impatient about it.) BAD HAIR DAY follows Kate Grable on a new adventure involving werewolves, nanotechnology, blueberry flavored astronauts, shaved bears in lab coats, and a bath mat made out of human hair. I’m super excited about it! And then I’ll have another to-be-determined book coming out in 2013. I’m thinking it’s going to be a non-Grable book, but I won’t rule out the possibility of seeing Kate again. I like that her adventures each stand completely alone, so I can write as many or as few as people want to read!


3. Which of your own characters do you most enjoy writing?

I think Kate’s younger brother Jonah was TOO easy to write, and he ended up taking over a lot of scenes in a way I hadn’t anticipated. I didn’t expect to fall in love with him the way that I did, and it really threw me for a loop. But it was so much fun to put every single one of my geek characteristics (and a few from people I used to know) and then make him a hero.

Geeks rule. That’s all I’m saying.


4. Which of your characters do you find most difficult to write?

Aaron is very tough for me to deal with. On one hand, he’s totally the kind of guy who would rush to the rescue. But on the other, Kate is so fiercely independent that she would eviscerate anyone who put on metal pants and tried to save her…even if they looked fabulous in metal pants as I’m sure Aaron would. So on one hand, I feel sorry for Aaron because he could totally be useful if Kate would only TELL HIM THINGS. But on the other, I admire her for her determination to solve her own problems. That’s been a very tough dynamic to write.


Find Carrie:

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How the Tour Works:

Each day of The Crossroads Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page, and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all of the answers and email them to bridgesocialmedia@gmail.com by October 31st at MIDNIGHT.