More Answers!

Since there were so many awesome questions for the contest I'm going to post answers over the course of several blog posts. FYI if your question doesn't get answered it's because I couldn't answer it without spoilers and I have a strict no spoiler policy.

So my question is what inspired the names of Calla and the other characters in Nightshade?

I spend a lot of times on character names - I have to love the way the name sounds, it has to fit his or her personality and the meaning of the name usually has significance as well. Calla's name is related to her coloring - white blond hair and golden eyes, like a Calla lily, it also reflects the conflict in her life. She's a warrior, but too often she's expected to be delicate, like a lily and she hates that.

How the frak did you come up with the idea for this wickedly awesome and totally random yet justified contest?

So glad you liked it - I hold once monthly Q&A's on the blog and it seemed like it would be a fun twist to make it into a contest. I also love Battlestar Galactica - so thanks for the reference :)

How are you balancing teaching, promotion, and writing?

I was a plate-spinner in a past life. Of course I'm kidding. I have no idea. I think I'm juggling - I hope to make it to balancing some day.

When I read Goodreads reviews of Nightshade I found two reviews using Twilight as a sort of comparison/reference. In my mind that can turn people onto your novel or off of it. What do you think about being compared to other novels (not just Twilight but anything)? If you had a quote on your front novel saying for fans of _____, would you want that or would you rather a quote just talk about how good "your" novel is without name-dropping?

Great question. I'm delighted when Nightshade comes up in the context of any book readers are passionate about - and the more passionate a reader gets the more strong reactions to a novel or series can be, positive or negative. Comparisons are impossible to avoid and I don't mind them as long as they are gracious - opinions of books are subjective, so I think someone could love Twilight (or any other paranormal) and also love Nightshade or they could like one book and not the other. The most I can hope for is that when readers pick up Nightshade they are drawn into Calla's story and her world on its own merits.

If you could have any mythical creature for a pet, what would you choose and why?

A pegasus because I love horses and I'd love a horse that I could ride or fly on. I would have gone with dragon, but I just worry about how much control it would really have over that whole fire breathing thing.

If Nightshade is made into a movie(yay!),whom would you cast as the leads and why?

I actually did a separate blog post on this. You can see my picks here!!