Interview with Jill Hathaway!

Hey everybody! I recently got the chance to ask Jill Hathaway, debut author of the novel Slide some questions! 

Question: Slide is a unique idea. How did you come up with the idea of having a character who slides into someone else’s mind?
Answer:  I was trying to come up with a really unique premise, and I thought it would be crazy if the main character found herself in the head of a murderer. The sliding idea evolved from that.


Q:  How long did it take you to write Slide?
A: It only took a month to six weeks to write the rough draft, but it took months to revise for my agent. And then more months to revise for my editor! 


Q:  Is Slide your first book, or have you written others?
A: Slide is the second full novel I completed and queried. I wrote my first book for NaNoWriMo. It was about a girl whose drawings could change the future.


Q: Can you tell us about your next project(s)? Will there be a sequel to Slide, or is it a stand-alone novel?
A: Slide was written to be a standalone with series potential. My publisher did request a sequel, so that's what I'm working on now. It should come out in Spring 2013.


Q: Who are some of your favorite authors? 
A:  John Green, Courtney Summers, Megan Miranda, Cynthia Hand


Q:  You did a really good job of keeping me guessing who the murderer was… do you watch and/or read a lot of murder mysteries? 
A: I watched Veronica Mars a few months before writing SLIDE, so I think that really set the tone of the book. I don't read a ton of mysteries, so I actually had to work really hard to create the trail of clues/suspects/red herrings/etc.


Q:  The way you wrote about Vee’s power is different from many YA Supernatural novels out there today. There was never a full explanation of her power because she, herself, didn’t know. I like how she had to piece together the rules as she went, right along with the reader. What made you decide to do that instead of having her take the “easy way” out by receiving a full explanation?
A:  There was actually more of an explanation (or "exploration") of her power and where it came from in an earlier draft of the book. My editor and I decided that it wasn't essential to the story in the first book, though. In further books, I anticipate revealing more about this power and how it functions within the world. 


Q: Out of all the recipes in Vee’s mom’s cookbook, which is your favorite?
A: Brownies.


Q: Can Vee slide into an animal’s mind as well, or only a human’s?
A: What an interesting question! Vee has never slid into an animal's mind, but I suppose it would be possible with a chimpanzee or something.


Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
A: Read, read, read! Read as much YA as you can. Read books about craft. Read other aspiring authors' work and critique it. Learn everything possible and apply it to your own work. Then revise your novel until it's practically perfect before sending it to agents or editors. Most of all, have fun!


Thank you so much, Jill, for taking the time to answer these questions. I can't wait to see what adventures Vee gets into next!


Everyone, don't forget to pre-order Slide before it's March 27, 2012 release! 


You can pre-order it here:


Amazon


Barnes and Noble