Interview with Aspiring Author Jennie Bailey

Hello friends!  It is my great pleasure to bring today's Aspiring Author Interview with Jennie Bailey over at Garden Full of Lily.  She is an animal lover who is allergic to pets but still has a ton of them!  Now that is love and dedication!  Plus she has her own non-profit called the Paws and Learn Humane Education Center. 

Hop on over to her blog, and today she's doing an interview of ME, too! (totally didn't plan it like that- I mentioned to her I was putting this up today, and she was like, OMG- I'm putting yours up too!)  So that worked out perfectly!  Thanks so much for doing the interview Jennie!




1. When did you realize you wanted to be an author?

       I've wanted to be an author as long as I can remember.  I started writing small books when I was in the fourth grade - Ghost Carnival, Indian Princess, The Elephant and the Moon.  In high school, I poured all my teen angst into poetry.  My mom kept everything.  Everything.  I read some of the poems now and I cringe.  Others make me laugh.  In college, I wrote screenplays and television scripts.  My entire life, I've been a writer in some capacity.  I returned to wanting to be an author in 2000.  I was over 300 pages into a fantasy novel (adult) when my computer crashed and I lost everything.  I walked away for a few years because I was so heartbroken.  I still haven't returned to that particular story.

2.      What genre do you like to write?

      Young Adult Fantasy.  But my NaNo idea is dystopian.  We'll see how that goes!


3.      What authors inspire you?

      Laini Taylor.  Patrick Rothfuss.  J.K. Rowling.  Tolkien. 

4.      How often do you write?

     I try to write daily.  If I have a few days where I don't have the time, I start getting antsy.  It feels like I woke up with no coffee in the house, every store and coffee shop are closed and I'm three hours out of bed with NO caffeine.  I can rip heads off verbally.  I need to create!


5.      Are you a plotter or a pantser?

     Plotter.  But for NaNo, I'm pantsing.  I'm stepping outside of my comfort zone.  We'll see how that works!

6.      Where do you write best, and do you listen to music while you write?

      It depends - I've written some great scenes in a crowded teacher's lounge on a break with no music.  I prefer to write on the couch in the living room with music on, balsam fir scented candle burning and the windows open.  Our house is tucked back in on a property behind a front house.  It's like a little hideaway.  You can see the hills from our window and we have a great big Jacaranda tree in our yard.  I love writing with the view from the couch.  I can also do some great writing in the Den with no view and just a soundtrack on the computer.  I love to have music on when I write.  I'm very visual and music drives that.


7.      What is on your TBR pile?

      CassaStar by Alex J. Cavanaugh.
The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan (Book Twelve in Wheel of Time Series)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant
and I need to finish On Writing by Stephen King

8.      If Stephanie Meyer and JK Rowling got in a cat fight, who would win?

      My money is on Rowling.  It wouldn't even be close.


9.      What is your “day” job?

      I have a non-profit.  We go into the schools and teach Humane Education.  I'm in the schools at least three days a week teaching a variety of topics from Safety Around Dogs, City Wildlife, Kindness to Animals, Pet Needs, Pet Overpopulation, The Truth About Pit Bulls...We also do adult education so on the weekends, I'm frequently at community fairs or adoption events.  Our website is also a very comprehensive resource so I'm constantly updating it, writing articles for it, etc. so that I can refer people to it when I'm out and about.  I'm big on educating.  I love it!

10.  What can you not leave home without? (cell phones are off limits- NO ONE can leave home without one of those)

      My purse.  Or is that cheating?  You should see how much I have crammed into it - obviously, the essentials.  Also, healthy snacks, favorite pens (for when inspiration strikes!), a notepad, sugar free cough drops (an addiction), lip gloss, money for a Venti Shaken Iced Green with two Splenda, San Diego Chargers 2010 schedule, my inhaler, my epipen. 


11.  Mac or PC?

     PC but not by choice.  The Hubster is too cheap to fork over for a Mac.  So we replace our PCs every two years when they crash.  (Insert eye roll at hubby here)

12.  Favorite dessert?

     Weight Watchers Chocolate Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Bars.  YUM!

13.  Favorite desert?

     None.  I'm not a fan of hot and sandy.  When you throw in rattlesnakes, a poisonous lizard and the fact that you can dehydrate and die in short matter of time, I'm totally out!

14.  Where is your dream vacation?

     New Zealand.  We're going for our five year anniversary.  I can hardly wait!

15.  Finally, link us to your website, blog, fb, twitter and anything else you might like to shamelessly plug for yourself
 http://gardenfulloflily.blogspot.com
  http://pawsandlearn.org  (I'll shamelessly plug the non-profit as well because I'm just as proud of that!)

Thanks so much Abby!  That was fun!!