Interview + Giveaway with Carol Snow

Posted August 27, 2009 by shooting in Uncategorized / 101 Comments

Interview with Carol Snow
By: Lauren
Website: http://www.carolsnow.com/

1. Both of your young adult novels (Switch and Snap) deal with some kind of paranormal element. Did you set out to write in this genre or did the ideas simply arrive this way? And you have switching bodies and ghostly images…what would you like to tackle next in the paranormal/fantasy world?

The first teen novel I attempted didn’t deal with the paranormal at all – it was more like a watered-down version of my adult books, which are basically romantic comedies. Then I had the idea for Switch and discovered how much fun it could be to make up my own rules of the universe. When I started playing around with ideas for a second teen book, I knew I wanted to go paranormal again, both to appeal to Switch readers and because I enjoyed stretching my imagination. As for what comes next: right now I’m playing with some ideas for a ghost love story.

2. What about Snap was the hardest to write? What about the easiest?

I had a terrible time deciding what, exactly, Madison Sabatini was doing in Sandyland. In my first take, her father was involved with some criminals who burned down their house, so they ran away in the middle of the night and changed their identities, and – oh, it was awful. The easiest part was writing the dialogue between Madison and her friends. In general, dialogue comes pretty easily to me.

3. Do you find writing for teens is a lot different than writing for adults? Do you find you have a preference?

For the most part, writing is writing. I come up a premise and characters, and then, page by page, I build a narrative. I don’t really have a preference between adult and teen books; I enjoy writing both because it keeps me from getting in a rut.

4. Reviews are great for authors when they are positive, but what are your thoughts on negative ones? Do you feel they hinder a book’s sales? Where (site, magazine, newspaper) was one of the best places you’ve been reviewed?

I value negative reviews as much as positive ones because they give me the opportunity to learn and grow. Ha! Kidding! Like most – okay, all – authors, I hate negative reviews and have been known to say some very bad words at my computer screen. However, I have long since accepted that not everyone will like my work, and bad reviews come with the territory. Anyone who can’t accept that shouldn’t be a writer. (And anyone who becomes a writer should know enough to avoid double negatives.) With that said, if I hear the same criticism from multiple reviewers, I do try to learn from it. I don’t know how much harm bad reviews do. What I really fear are no reviews! So many books disappear from the stores before anyone’s even heard about them. With four books currently in stores, I’m fortunate to have had a lot of people say nice things about my work. Probably the biggest honor was having the American Library Association choose Switch as one of their “Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers.”

5. Who would be at your ideal party (dead or alive)?

My grandparents — three of the four died far too young, and I wish I could have gotten to know them. Besides, what’s a party without a few ghosts around to liven things up?

Giveaway-

Prize: Signed ARC of Snap

Open To: U.S. and Canada

How to Enter: Comment on something related to the interview above

Ends: Friday, September 11

Extra- LEAVE A NEW COMMENT FOR EACH!

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101 responses to “Interview + Giveaway with Carol Snow

  1. Liz

    I love how Carol Snow likes Negetive reviews as much as Positive ones. Their will probably be many Negetive reviews and it's good that Carol says she learns from them.
    -Liz

    liztapioka14[at]yahoo[dot]com

  2. I also liked how she likes negative reviews as well as positive. I know that sometimes when I read a book I just have nothing nice to really say about it..

    lovestoread0708(at)yahoo.com

  3. That's a great outlook on reviews! (and even better of course that you've been getting lots of positive ones). Congrats on the "Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers" reccomendation!

  4. "In general, dialogue comes pretty easily to me."

    Lol, because that is the same way I feel. I have a hard time writing in first person. My haven'ts and hadn'ts get all messed up. 🙂

    Please enter me!

    TheBookworm
    emailthebookworm(at)yahoo(dot)com

  5. Interesting about the negative reviews and no reviews being worse than that. I would have thought authors would never want a negative review. At least she knows not all people like all books. Some authors take a lot of humbrage if someone even slightly criticizes their book.

    florida982002[at]yahoo.com

  6. Pam

    I agree that a negative review is better than no review at all. As a reader, I will often look at what the reviewer is saying they didn't like about the book. Oftentimes, things they found annoying may be things I don't mind so I'll give the book a go anyways. Also, sometimes when you're ready for certain elements that others may not have liked, you can overlook that to enjoy the story itself.

    melacan at hotmail dot com

  7. I like how she writes for teenageers and adults the same. I tend to read books before i give them to my teen and i bet we would both enjoy this.

    reneetaylor at sympatico dot ca

  8. I definitely enjoyed reading Carol's comments about negative v. positive reviews. As book bloggers we're often very worried when we have to post a critical review of a nice author's work, so I'm happy to hear that authors will definitely take all sorts of reviews into consideration, without being offended or angry.

    stephxsu at gmail dot com

  9. Please enter me in this contest! I am really excited about this book. I love books dealing with the paranormal. Also, thanks for the review and interview. I love learning more about the authors. I thought it was really amazing how she has written both for Young Adults and Adults. Also I am a follow +1.

  10. It's great to read that there is no preference to writing to a particular audience. Writing is writing, after all.

    +1 I'm a follower

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    Limerick
    two_of_hearts_101 at yahoo dot com

  11. I would love for my grandparents to still be around. I didn't meet one of my grandads and my grandmother died very young on that side. It would have been nice to have them around too. Thank you for the giveaway!

    tiffanys819 at gmail dot com

  12. thanks for the giveaway! I think its cool that she values negative reviews, i think its helpful. people take negative things in a bad way, you should use them and improve whatever needs improving. To do better at something is never a bad thing.

    Ashley
    arudd908@gmail.com

  13. Negative reviews… I try not to write a truly negative review. I list the things I didn't like, but emphasize what I did like about a book. I don't generally like reading reviews that are full of hate (unless it's a hilarious Twilight rant.)

    paradoxrevealed (at) aim (dot) com

  14. I agree with author that negative reviews are hard to take, but they are necessary. They help a person grow as a writer.

    nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

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