Funday Friday! Featuring... Jen Nadol!

Hey guys! Sorry for the serious lack of reviews! I will have one for you Sunday, I promise! I've been working like crazy. Ahhh! Anyway, Today's author is Jen Nadol. She wrote The Mark, which I reviewed earlier. Hope you enjoy! :)


1. Where did you get the idea for The Mark?

"It just kind of came to me when I tossing around ideas for a story. I knew I needed something with enough interest, conflict and action-potential to carry 200+ pages. "What if you knew it was someone's day to die?" seemed like it might work, so I ran with it!"

2. Have you always been good at writing/wanted to be a writer?
"I've always really enjoyed writing, but it's definitely something that improves
with practice! And, yes, I've always wanted to be a writer, but I don't think I started believing I could be until I got an agent."

3. If you could work with any other author who would it be?

"Probably David Sedaris because I think comedic writing is so incredibly hard and he's the only writer who's ever made me laugh out loud repeatedly."

4. Are there any parts of your book that are based on events in your
own life?

"Only the small stuff...my high school history teacher used to
quiz us from the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy like Cassie's (the MC's)
does, her school colors are orange & black which were mine too. Things like
that. It's kind of neat to see what people who knew me in high school find
that's borrowed from real life without my even realizing it."

5. How long did it take to find an agent/publish your book after
finishing the manuscript?

"The short answer is 15 months to find an agent, 3
weeks to sell it once we started submitting and it was in stores 14 months
later. For anyone who wants ALL the gruesome details, I did a post with the
full timeline for The Mark here: http://www.jennadolbooks.com/blog/?p=105."

6. What advice would you give to people who "run out of creativity"
while writing?

"Step back and think about your story. Where will it end? What's a scene you know needs to happen? What has to take place in the story to get you there? Does your character need a hobby? Or an extra hurdle to overcome? Before starting, I generally know the beginning, end, a few key scenes or conflicts and any "second-layer" theme (like philosophy in The Mark). I do a lot of thinking before I start and in-between writing times and having these guideposts really helps get me from Point A to Point B without getting stuck."

7. What's your favorite part of a book?

"I love the beginning, when I'm just getting sucked in and can look forward to all the pages ahead, and the end when everything comes together or gets resolved, hopefully not too neatly."

8. Favorite song?

"Today? Probably anything by Lady Gaga. That'll change tomorrow."

9. If you were going to be stuck on a deserted island, which book, movie, food, person(s) would you take?

"Book: The Stand by Stephen King because it's really long and really good. Or
some kind of survival guide - yeah, that might be good.
Movie: The Hangover because I'd probably need a laugh and my husband says
it's hilarious.
Food: Maybe zucchini? They're nutritious, taste pretty good, you don't have
to cook them and they're easy to grow - we always get tons in the garden.
It might be too hot to grow zucchini in the tropics though. We are in the
tropics aren't we? It's not an arctic island, right?
Person: Barack Obama because they might not put much effort into finding me,
but people are gonna wonder where the heck HE is."

10. Five of your favorite things?

"My family, books, coffee, fresh air, clean white t-shirts."