1. Your books handle some tough topics. Why did you decide to write ‘nitty gritty’ books, as you title them?Renee Pace
totally believe in – dragons (in the sea and air), fairies (let’s just say I’ve got some old family history happening there), Sirens and Titans (and no they aren’t mermaids, that’s only what common folks call them but true believers know what they really are and why they walk among us), the power of universal magic and most important on my list is soul love—when you find it, anchor it to your heart and never let it go.
I live my version of paranormal and it’s my reality. I hope you enjoy my worlds that my young adults enter and enjoy the journey of self-discovery many of them make.
It was a longing to tell a true teen story. I read lots of YA stories but honestly they never seemed to talk about the everyday teen whose life was hard. Maybe I just knew too many teens struggling to get through these tough, growing years. I thought the series name should be nitty gritty because that’s what they are. My teen books aren’t for the faint of heart. I’m brutally honest but some readers love that while others find it too heart wrenching.
2. Do you have any writer quirks? Like, do you have to be in a specific place, with a certain lighting? Or, do you need a certain drink or food to write?
I need to have lots of coffee on hand. I prefer to write at a cafe. I have four children and whenever I start to write at home my kids interrupt my flow – I know, how dare they? I can be found at Starbucks, head down pounding on my laptop. Oh, I always have CBC radio on. I need background noise.
3. Are any of your characters based on people that you know? How do you come up with your characters?
When I wrote Off Leash Jay’s little sister was based on my best friend, Sissy, who died of cancer when she was young. It’s funny when I started writing Off Leash I didn’t think of her but the minute Jay’s character formed in my head I knew I had to put her in the story. For me she balanced Jay’s anger. How do I come up with characters? They really do just pop in my head but I spend time letting them brew up there in my brain before I put them on the page. I usually find my characters start to develop as I write and often when I start my first set of revisions my characters have grown.
4. Can you tell us anything about your future novels? Do you have anything in the works?
I’m currently working on a short, 10,000 word YA which might be the last in my nitty gritty series. I’ve called it Off Kilter and it’s the story of Charlie and Jennifer who are introduced as secondary characters in Off Stroke, my 3rd nitty gritty book which will debut in April on Amazon. I’m getting really excited about this character talking in my head and my gut tells me it’s going to be a contemporary sci-fi with a male POV and a mother’s POV. It might even turn out to be a mystery. Not sure yet as they’ve just started to form in my head. Once they form I’ll start mapping out the plot.
Fun questions!
5. You can only drink one flavor of coffee for the rest of your life. What flavor is it?
Bold. Dark roast. Everything else I hate.
6. If your life was made into a book, what would be the title of it? (It can be as long and weird as you like.)
Oh my god she escaped her fishing village and really is an alien looking to take over the world.
Renee's Books
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Thanks so much for having me and for showcasing my book Off Leash. It was a hard book to write but I love the journey it took me on.
ReplyDeleteI applaud authors who write YA books that deal with tough topics, because although they're sometimes hard to read and confronting, I think it's important that we're aware of the bad things in life and not just the good.
ReplyDeleteGood on you Renee Pace! :)
Rachel C.