Get to know Danielle

If you could be any item on Mexican restaurant menu, what would you be and why?

An enchilada! Because what you see on the outside is only a cover for the surprise that's inside. 

If you were an item of clothing what would you be and why?

I am not a clothing aficionado. Hmm.....jelly flip flops! Why? Because jelly shoes were desperate to my childhood and flip flops are my current favorite. They are simple, loved by everyone and come in bright, fun designs and colors.

When's your birthday?

April 17

What quote inspires you most? 
 (I have three I picked!)

"Sometimes what looks like failure are beautiful redirections wrapped in unrealized expectations." Dave Barnes

 

"Freedom is not found in options. It's the sense that you are where you're supposed to be and you like it." Stuart Fuller

"Sometimes, our lives can change so fast that the change outpaces our minds and hearts. It's those times when our lives have altered but we still long for the time before everything was altered--that is when we feel the greatest pain. I tell you though, from experience, you grow accustomed to it. You learn to live your new life, and you can't imagine, or even really remember, how things were before." ~Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare (page 308) 

What's a pet peeve you have?

I am a very easy going person but I have some really, really random pet peeves. I'll list some of them.

--Not putting a new roll of toilet paper on the dispenser roll! I mean, really?? It takes two seconds. Be considerate. I don't want to touch the TP after it's been rolling across the floor. Seriously. (I realize I'm exaggerating, but I hate it.) 

--Don't shhhh me--especially if you're going to keep talking! Shhhhh is the rudest thing in the world ! (in my opinion)

--Blue pens. I can't explain my disdain for them. (oddly, I'm okay with them if it's used on yellow paper.)

Something about you that no one would know just by looking at you?

Besides my random pet peeves? I am really, really obsessive over things. Weird things, mostly. Like things that have to be in even numbers. Not being able to stop something until it's finished because I have to know the ending. (It's why I read so quickly and watch five seasons of a show in ten days.) I get really involved in my fictional characters, places and fandoms to the point of obsession. (See my Tumblr)

Who's your favorite princess and why?

I am going Disney here because it is what I know. My answer....BELLE!

I love Belle. She's fierce and independent. She doesn't need a guy, but she'll take one. She sees the truth of people--the good and the bad. She makes things happen instead of waiting around for them to happen. She didn't ask to be a princess; She's a normal girl who became a princess because she had a pure heart. She talks to inadament objects (like me!) and she LOVES TO READ. She's smart. She sings good songs. She's a dreamer. Belle is the best.

(And I have obviously thought A LOT about this.)  

Why do you want to write within the YA genre?

The simple answer: I love YA.

The other answer: My teenage years were not very exciting. It's nice to re-do them without having to really re-do them. It's more fun. Toss in some magic or space ships or time travel and lots of hot boys? My life pales in comparison.  

The complex answer: It has completely changed my life--which is weird to say since I didn't start reading it until I was 22. The community has challenged and grown me. The books have made me laugh, made me cry, made me think, made me experience things I never thought possible. They really re-instilled the love of reading I had as a kid and lost a little along the way because I was reading the wrong things. I love what the authors, what the books, what the genre represents. I want to honor it by giving back and hopefully showing someone else what I learned in between pages.

Which YA book character are you most like? Explain.

Gosh. These questions are hard. I read so many books. I'm such a layered person and I barely know myself some days, so knowing how I compare to someone else--AH! I think I'm a little bit like Emerson from Hourglass. She's a very "Make Things Happen" kind of girl and I like to think I am too. Though not as cute as her or as snarky.

Plotter or Panster?
I am a panster who pretends to be a plotter and then ruins the story. Seriously. I've learned the more I know about a story before I start it, the less I enjoy writing it. I'm usually a pantser until I reach a certain point, then I "plot" out the ending or the remaining chapters or section. 

What do you like to do when you get stuck while writing to help work through it?
I talk through the scene. I usually call someone to discuss why I'm stuck. I've learned that if I'm stuck, it's typically because I'm trying to force something OR I don't want what's happening to happen. I also have learned that I usually already know the answer, I just need some kind of weird affirmation or something. I have two other things I can do.

One: writing prompt. Pick a line somewhere in the story and start writing something else from that line. You'd be surprised what will happen if you act like nothing else exists after that point. (Someone once told me to delete the last two lines I wrote and re-do them. That has proven successful for me, too.)

Two: I wake up in the middle of night and I vlog (or journal. Depending on where I am.) Seriously. I start talking to myself. Sometimes I'm myself. Sometimes I'm a character. Sometimes I'm an omniscient narrator talking about what's happening. It's surprising what is in your unconcious mind just waiting.

Was there a specific book you read that inspired you to start writing?

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

What is your single most favorite thing (feel free to be as vague as you like) about you're current WIP?

This line: If we run far enough, maybe the guilt of everything will get tired of following me.

What book from childhood do you most wish you had written? What book from the past year?

I have no idea. I wish I could write my own book. I really, really loved Shatter Me and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and Lola and the Boy Next Door and Clean. So, I guess any of those from the last year. From childhood? A Goosebumps book all my own!

Two truths and one lie about yourself.

I love dogs. I want to go to Europe. I didn't drive until I was twenty.

I love Merlin. (That's for you Pam.)