Hello readers! Today I have a very special post for you all. I had the privilege of interviewing the author of True Born, a YA sci-fi/fantasy novel releasing today, May 3rd, 2016. This was such a wonderful experience and I am so excited to share this with you!

Please join me in welcoming the wonderful L.E. Sterling!

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

Hi, everyone, and thanks for having me here. I’m L.E. Sterling, author of the upcoming True Born Trilogy. True Born (Book 1) is being released on May 3rd. It’s a YA sci-fi romantic dystopia novel, but I’m gathering from readers that it’s very different from other sci-fi dystopia – there’s a very large element of fantasy in the novel that makes it kind of unique.  I’m also the author of two other YA novels: The Originals (under my original pen name, L.E. Vollick and Pluto’s Gate. 
What else can I tell you? I’m a Canadian. Growing up, my family’s religion was Star Trek. I earned a PhD and my thesis was on magic (that was fun).

2. What are some of your goals for the future? 

Goals… What an interesting question. My first goal is to write the best darned trilogy I can, and really deliver an amazing series to readers. After that, well, it would be great if eventually I could write books full-time instead of full-time on top of my full-time job!

3. What are some things you do to help relieve writers block?

I don’t really believe in writer’s block. If I’m stuck it’s for a good reason, so I sit long enough to understand what the problem is. Typically I’ll just keep writing and then maybe go back and rewrite, or make notes until I understand what the book is trying to tell me.

4. If you weren't a writer, what do you see yourself doing? 

I honestly can’t see myself being anything else. At my “day job” (because even having published three novels, I don’t make enough to support myself by writing books) I’m also a writer. I write stories about amazing advances in science, biomedical engineering, and medicine. It’s a great job - and obviously really inspired True Born!

5. Do you have any unique/quirky writing habits? 

Hmm. I think the quirkiest thing about my writing habits is that I can’t stand having dry hands. I always need some moisturizer nearby or I get distracted.

6. What does a "normal" day of writing consist of for you? 

Ha! Define “normal”. I get up at around 5 and write in a journal for a bit, then hunker down to the book. Sometimes I don’t get a lot done, but on average I can write between 2 and 4 pages. And then I have to go to my day job!

7. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? 

Work at it! The thing about writing is that it’s a business. You’ve got to apprentice to the craft, learn to write and edit and think through the problems of writing. But then you’ve got the “business” side that you also need to learn. And it takes (well, for most of us) a long time to get really good, so don’t get discouraged!

8. How did the idea of True Born come to you? 

I was going to write another set of novels set in Dominion, centering around Serena and Carl and Storm. I wrote True Born as the backstory for those novels, just sort of exploring the world and this story emerged – and then it took off!

9. What was your favourite part of True Born to write?

I loved writing the action scenes! I’ve always wanted to write a good action scene, and in True Born I think I’d got a couple of interesting ones down.

10. What was the hardest part of writing True Born?

I think the hardest part was building the tensions properly between Jared and Lucy. I’m always afraid of tipping my hand and making things heavy handed, but I think if anything I’m guilty of the opposite! What I think is already clear is “subtle” and “simmering” for the readers.

11. If you were True Born, what animal features would you have?

Hmm. Great question. I actually had a conversation about this with a friend not so long ago. I think I’d have some characteristics of a fox. They’re clever, swift, like to run, but skittish!

12. Which character do you think you would get along with the most? 

I think Nolan Storm and I would be BFFs. At least, I hope we would! I know he doesn't seem the type to make friends easily, but I really think he’s cool. I also think I’d like him to buy me dinner, because I bet he’d take me to the very best restaurants!

13. Is there any insight you can give into the future of the True Born series?

The second book, True North, will be coming out in April 2017! I’m really excited about this one - I think it’s going to be a great read. I’m still hard at work on the third novel and I think the most I can say is…well, you’ll have to read it to believe it!

Thanks so much for the interview! I’d love to hear from readers, so please get in touch!

Ask the Author: Mastering Plot Madness – It’s no secret that DEAD RINGER is full of twists, turns, and endless surprises—talk about a nightmare to keep straight! Author Jessie Rosen dishes on how she kept track of it all (and kept her sanity along the way).

I count books like Gone Girl and Girl On a Train as some of my favorite because of their twisty, endlessly surprising plots. Naturally I wanted my own debut novel to attempt the same page-turning style. If only I’d known just how tricky a task it would be! DEAD RINGER took weeks to outline and months to write, but staying organized along the way in terms of the very layered plot is what kept me sane (mostly) and kept the story on track (totally!).

Here are the 7 tactics I used make it all work.

1. I reverse outlined similar books 

I know this sounds crazy, but I spent hours and hours reverse engineering Gone Girl into outline form. I wanted to see how many reveals Gillian Flynn chose to include in which chapters at what point in the story. The rhythm and flow of that book made it such a page-turner, and seeing it in outline form helped me understand why. All the work was fully worth the effort.

2. I decided where to place my big twist first 

I knew the big reveal would be the heart of the story, so I spent time deciding where to place that moment before I built the entire plot. It was important to me that the surprise came at the right time in the character relationships and pacing of the story. Figuring that out first helped me know how much story to place before and after.

3. I focused on my red herrings next 

Before I even decided how the book would start, I was thinking about the characters that would serve to distract from the big secrets. I knew those storylines would be incredibly important for hiding the truth, so I focused on building them into the plot early.

4. Notecards, notecards, notecards

Every time I thought of a big moment that I wanted to include in the plot I put it on a notecard. If the plot point involved to Laura it was a pink card, Charlie, blue, and Sasha, green. This helped me see how many moments I was assigning to each character and helped me make sure the story reveals felt balanced.

5. I created separate story outlines for each character

Even though the reveals are layered across all the characters, I had to make sure that each individual person had a clear story that tracked across time. Before I did the weaving I drew a straight line for each person. First Laura arrives at Englewood, next she befriends Charlie, after that she learns about Sarah’s death and so on. This helped me see if I was missing a beat.

6. I outlined inside an Excel document

Prepare for major nerdiness. I am a really visual person so I needed to see how the story was unfolding in picture format. An Excel grid was that answer. I used columns for each chapter and rows for the characters. Each box was a reveal or major moment. I used colors to delineate the various secrets. The CO mystery was yellow, for example. This helped me literally see where pieces of the puzzle sat and when they got attention. So if I saw zero yellow boxes across two chapters, I knew I needed another plot point for the CO storyline.

I know…really nerdy.

7. I reverse outlined once I had a draft

Naturally things change from the in-going outline when you’re writing the first draft, but I knew I would need a road map when my editor provided notes. I created a “real outline” of what actually made it into the book. This was critical because I could easily find the areas that needed to be adjusted for the second draft.


Now that it’s all done, I can say that all the crazy tactics worked, although at the time it felt like so much prep before finally plunging into the writing. But it’s like my grandmother the seamstress always used to say, “Measure twice, cut once!”

…And yes, I did have nightmares about plot twists until the entire book was done!

-Jessie Rosen


Read DEAD RINGER and take a look at Jessie’s very organized finished product! Buy it on Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo or direct from the Full Fathom Five Digital store (direct purchases give Jessie more royalties!).