Destined for Doon - Author Interview + Give Away!

Here's another author interview - except I should say authorS as I'm thrilled to have both Lorie Langdon and Carey Corp as my guests today!  They co-wrote both DOON and DESTINED FOR DOON, which was released on September 2nd.  I LOVED both books - they have mystery, romance, history, and suspense elements with very likable characters - all my favorites. Plus hot guys in kilts! Below is the interview, plus pictures of their desks - see Carey's for a fun I Spy challenge!

DESTINED FOR DOON is the second in a series that will span 4 books.  The authors are giving away a signed copy of DOON for a lucky commenter on this blog - please include your email address, so I can contact you.  This give away is open for US only.

Here's the cover copy: Mackenna Reid realizes she made a horrible mistake in choosing to follow her dreams of Broadway instead of staying in the enchanted land of Doon. To make everything worse, she's received her Calling—proof she and Duncan are each other's one true love—and it's pure torment, especially when visions of the very alluring Scottish prince appear right before she goes on stage. So when Duncan tells her an ancient curse threatens to overtake Doon and the new queen and Kenna’s best friend, Veronica, needs her to return, Kenna doesn't have to think twice. With darkness closing in on all sides, Kenna and Vee must battle a world of nightmares in order to protect the kingdom. But it will take the ultimate test of courage for Kenna to salvage her happily ever after.

Take 10 with Carey and Lorie:

1.) This is my first time interviewing co-authors and I’m really curious about how you two met and then decided to write a series of books together?

Lorie: We met at a local writers meeting and became friends almost instantly! We’d just finished editing our respective solo projects and were discussing what we each wanted to write next, when I mentioned my idea of doing a retelling of Brigadoon. Coincidentally, Carey had just completed her second young adult novel, so I was picking her brain on voice and technique when somewhere along the way our conversation took a detour. Our ideas for the mythical kingdom of Doon sparked an explosion of evil witches, magic spells, daring adventures, two unique best friends, and heroic princes in kilts … soon it became clear that this story was bigger than the both of us, but that together we could make it amazing. So we jumped in with both feet and DOON was born!

2) Who came up with the idea to write a YA series based on the musical Brigadoon? What was it about that musical that inspired you?

Lorie: As I mentioned above, that would be me. J When I was sixteen I saw the musical Brigadoon and fell in love with the romantic tale of the village that only appears to the modern world once every one hundred years. But one thing always bothered me about the original – during the hundred years that the portal to the kingdom is closed, the people in Brigadoon sleep. Really? They sleep! I couldn’t stop thinking about what I could do with that hundred years…

3) How does your partnership work? Both books have chapters from Mackenna’s and Veronica’s POV. Do you each take a character?

Carey: We divide the writing by character. I write Mackenna and Lorie writes Veronica. And we both research, create the overall plot and work to polish the final document. Splitting responsibilities such as blogging, promotions, and social networking is a great blessing. The biggest advantage is that you have someone who is equally invested. Someone you can call at midnight with a brilliant plot idea, who won’t curse you out and block your phone number.

4.) What do you find most interesting about Veronica and Mackenna?

Lorie: One of the most interesting things about Veronica and Mackenna is how their friendship works when they are such polar opposites. But much like Carey and myself, they balance each other out in a way that makes them an unshakable team.

5.) Did you have to do any special research for this book? Did you travel to Scotland? I especially enjoyed Mackenna’s theater references during stressful times. Did you watch musicals and plays until you couldn’t stand them any longer? :)

Carey: I am a total Broadway nerd! I’m always watching some performance snippet on youtube. It’s my rabbit hole. I listen to Sirius On Broadway radio and see tons of shows, about 2-3 a month. Since Kenna’s and my musical theatre tastes differ somewhat, I’m always looking to expand my knowledge with new works and revisit classic shows. Lorie and I have not travelled to Scotland, yet, but I draw from the time I spent time in Northern England and Italy.

6.) What else do you enjoy doing besides writing? Interests? Hobbies??

Lorie: Of course, I love to read. No matter how busy I am, reading is still my escape. I’m married with two sons who are active in sports and band, so when we’re not at sporting events, we love to see movies together as a family.

Carey: I don’t have time for a whole lot else. My daughter is a budding theatre nerd, so we see shows together. I also read – as much as I can. And I love taking my giant puppy to the dog park. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen the pictures. LOL!

7.) How did you become a writer? Is this what you saw yourself growing up to be? Or did it take you by surprise?

Lorie: Mine was a long journey with lots of detours. I grew up obsessed with reading fiction and had a teacher in high school who encouraged me to purse writing as a career, so I majored in Journalism in college. But because of some well-meaning guidance from a professor—“you have too much talent to waste it writing stories about old ladies with cats for minimum wage”—I changed my major to Sociology with an emphasis in Human Resources.

For many years I made good money working in large corporations, but the work of hiring and firing was slowly killing my soul. So when I was in my early 30s, I began to search for a larger purpose for my life. It may sound cliché, but it’s entirely true, that my first novel came it me in a dream. (That novel is a time-travel set during the American Revolution. It has yet to be published, but I’m currently re-working it for the YA market. :)

Carey: When I invested my summer after sixth grade writing 100 pages of bad soap opera fashioned after Santa Barbara, I should have figured out that writing was my passion. But sadly, it would take another decade and a half to discover my destined path. In my late 20s, I had a dream inspired by the live-action Peter Pan movie from 2003 directed by P.J. Hogan. The next day I wrote the first chapter of Shades of Neverland and I was hooked.

8.) Do you have a writing routine? Talk process for a moment, how do the words get on the page?

Lorie: I wake up, get my coffee and start writing. I’m most productive in the morning. I typically have a word goal for the week. So, for example, if I know I need to write 5000 words that week, then my daily goal is 1000 words a day. But there are days when life intervenes or the words just aren’t coming and I only hit half my goal. I don’t sweat it. I just know I’ll need to increase my word count the next few days to make up for it. 

Carey: I’m up and at my computer at 5:00 am.[ugh - that's when I'm just going to bed!] I try to stay off social networking sites for the first couple hours and just write. I don’t get hung up by inspiration or writer’s block. Even bad words can be the origin of something good. Rather than word goals, I tend to focus on chapter goals. If I’m really struggling, I’ll start framing my chapter. For example:

Kenna
Chapter 6
(Brilliant opening paragraph)
K, bouncing on bed: “I want a cat.”
V: “No. You’re allergic.” Looks out window. “Look. The hills are on fire.”
K crosses to window, has memory of house fire. “Those are bonfires, silly.”
(Brilliant transition - Duncan enters – he explains why there are bonfires on the hills)

You get the idea. On the next pass I rework into prose.

9.) Office? Closet? Corner of the living room? Do you have a set place to write? A favorite?

Lorie: I just commandeered our dining room and converted it into my office. I have a reading corner and all of my favorite books around me. I love it.

Lorie's desk

Carey: I used to have an office upstairs, but my leaving my kids, the puppy, and the kitten unsupervised leads to wild rumpus, so now I write in a corner of the living room.

Carey’s Writing Space note: I can’t believe that I’m showing you my wreck of a writing space. But I thought that the authors who exist—and thrive—in chaos might appreciate the validation. I like to think of it like an I Spy picture book. I spy … five Doon Lego figures, a playbill from the my most recent Broadway series musical, a stuffed Kenna doll, wind chimes, a Doon coffee mug, a kalimba made from recyclables, one Scottish nutcracker, a Campbell County Public Library CONNECTIONS newsletter, a carriage fit for a princess, a Darth Vader Lego pen, the fantasy castle that inspired the Castle MacCrae, a KEEP CALM AND CROSS THE BRIDGE button, and a baggie of clothing buttons. (Bonus points for finding the owl, sheep, spotted inchworm, beanie frog, and monkey.)
[NOTE: Can you find all those things Carey mentions? How about something she doesn't? Click on the picture to make it bigger! Let me know in your comment]

10.) What are you writing now? What's coming out next in the Doon Series? And when is book 3 due out – I must know!

Lorie & Carey: We’re working on DOON, book 3 and it’s going to be fabulous! In the third book, we’ll be revisiting some characters and settings from the first book. We’ll check in on Bainbridge, Indiana and maybe even get a glimpse of Vee’s father. Then we have a short break before we start on book 4. By this 2015 we might be able to talk about what comes after. :)

Links:
Website:  http://www.DoonSeries.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoonSeries
Amazon: Destined for Doon