Did you always want to be a writer?
I never dreamed that I could actually make a living at it, but I have always loved to write. I have so many journals and computer documents filled with half-baked stories, but most of them haven’t seen the light of day in years. I think little me would be overjoyed that I wrote a whole book, though!
How did you start writing?
I wrote a lot of fanfiction! Don’t get excited — it’s not published anywhere, and it’s not the spicy kind. I just liked using existing characters to tell my stories. It was kind of like using training wheels; I could practice writing a story without having to create everything from scratch. I learned how to write dialogue that sounded true to a character, how to describe settings, and how to tell a story from beginning to end. Most of my old stories are pretty terrible, but they got me through that rough practice stage. When I wanted to write my own book, I was ready!
How long did it take you to finish your first book?
It took about six and a half years to finish my first draft! The first five years were slow going, mainly because I hadn’t worked out all the pieces ahead of time. I let inspiration strike as I went, which was sometimes helpful and sometimes hurtful. While I was working on my Master’s, I got a lot of feedback from my professors and peers that helped me polish what I had already written and work ahead to finally finish the draft. (Also, having to turn everything in by the deadline was a big motivator!)
How did you come up with all of the puzzles for your book?
I’m a huge puzzle nerd, so first of all, I have a lot of experience with different types of puzzles. I love escape rooms and murder mysteries and scavenger hunts, which have taught me a lot about how smaller puzzles can work together to give you parts of a bigger puzzle. A few years ago, I started making puzzle games for my family, which taught me how to create clues and puzzles that were challenging, but still possible to solve. I also knew that I wanted to showcase a lot of different puzzle types and solving skills in my book, so I kept asking myself, “What haven’t I done yet?” There are so many ways to create a puzzle that you can start almost anywhere! Probably most importantly, though, I bounced a lot of thoughts off my sister, and she helped me workshop my ideas into real puzzles that would be fun and interesting. Never underestimate the power of a writing buddy!
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
The best advice I can give is to give yourself permission to write messy, imperfect drafts. This was really hard for me because I’m a huge perfectionist, but hear me out: it doesn’t matter how good your ideas are if they never get to take shape. Once you’ve written something, no matter how rough, you’ll have a place to start when you come back to it. I think you’ll be surprised by how much your story grows once you let it out of your head — I know I was!
Do you respond to fan mail?
I sure do! Check out my contact page for different ways to get in touch. I love to hear from my readers! 🙂
What are some other series that fans of The Treasure of Cajmoor might enjoy?
Some great series to check out are:
•The Book Scavenger series by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
•The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer
•The Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series by Chris Grabenstein
•The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
•The Red Blazer Girls series by Michael D. Beil
•The 39 Clues series by Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, and Margaret Peterson Haddix