Interview with Colleen Hoover

Can I tell you how freakin' excited I am today?  You know why? Because Colleen Hoover is on the blog of course! If you haven't read Slammed and Point of Retreat where have you been?!  Those book are PHENOMENAL and if you haven't read them I'm going to need you to drop everything you're doing right this minute and go read them now!  I'm such a fan of this talented lady and I am honored that she is on the blog today and I hope you enjoy the interview and the SUPER awesome giveaway!

Hey Colleen! Thank you so much for joining me on this interview! I'm very excited and I know your readers are excited too!

First things first the  general question. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your books?

I've always loved to write.  I have an issue with self-doubt, as do most people, so I never thought I could actually write a successful book.  It was never a personal goal of mine to become a "writer," but it was always a far off dream.  When I wrote SLAMMED, I had no idea that I was writing a novel that would become a best-seller.  I honestly wrote it as a hobby to pass time during my sons theater rehearsals.  Once I started writing the book, I fell in love with the characters and couldn't stop.  After a few months of it being available on Amazon, it took off.  If you could see my husband and I in the evenings, you'd laugh.  We just sit there, staring at each other and shaking our heads saying, "How in the hell did this happen?"  It's been surreal.  

What is your inspiration?

Definitely the music of The Avett Brothers.  There is a line in one of their songs that says, "Decide what to be, and go be it."  I think that had a lot to do with me accepting the fact that I really did want to be a writer, and I should just do it already!

What is your favorite writing environment? Are you a music listener? A couch sitter?

I have three young boys, so it's chaotic most of the time.  I have an office with a desk, but I always unplug my laptop and sit in my chaise to write.  I listen to music while I edit, but not while I'm doing actual writing.  I need silence.  

What's the weirdest job you've had?

Weirdest?  I used to do investigations for Child Protective Services.  I saw a lot of weird stuff.  Scary stuff.  Sad stuff.  

What would you do with an unlimited supply of money?

If you frequent my blogs at all, you know how much I like giving stuff away.  I don't know why, it just makes me happy.  I would probably do bigger and better giveaways, keep writing and let my mother and sisters retire so we could go on a cruise whenever we felt like it.  

Have you ever done any unusual research for your book?

I like to play devil's advocate, which is why I took an unethical situation in Slammed and tried to make the reader root for it.  I was thinking of how it would be cool to have this them in all of my books.  Take some ethical situation and turn it around to where you empathize with the characters.  I did a search on "unethical things" and came up with mostly articles about incest.  My husband ran across it the next day and just shrugged his shoulders when I tried to explain it away.  That was awkward.  

The poetry scene is very different.  How did you come up with the Slam idea?

I love watching Slam Poetry on youtube.  I was actually watching slams when I got the urge to read a work of fiction about slam poetry.  When my searches came up empty, I decided to try and write one.  

Lastly, Can you tell us about your WIP?

I've got two I'm working on right now.  Will's Story is Slammed from Will's point of view and the first chapter can be read here: http://colleenhoover.com/2012/06/09/you-might-want-to-read-this/

The second novel I'm working on is currently titled Fall Together.  It's a contemporary young adult romance.  The main character is a 17 year old named Sky.  I can't say a lot about this one, because like Slammed, it has a huge twist.  I'm still working on how to word the blurb.

I don't know about you guys but I CANT WAIT For Will's Story and Fall Together!  Thank you so much Colleen for answering the questions and providing this amazing giveaway! If you've read Slammed I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section and if you haven't I would love to know so I can start bugging you until you buy it!

Giveaway

a signed copy of Slammed provided by the awesome Colleen Hoover

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