Since publishing Mirror, I’ve gotten a lot of emails from you guys asking me questions. I started saving the questions that were asked the most so I could write a blog post about them.

I’m going to warn you, THERE ARE SO MANY SPOILERS AHEAD. I talk about Mirror, Time, and Home. If you haven’t read any, or some, or all but the last, stop reading this right now and go read the books, then come back! I really don’t want to ruin something for you, SO STOP READING NOW! Only continue reading if you’ve read all three.

Okay, now that the screaming is over with, here are the top ten most frequently asked questions:

 

 

Finally chance for no spoilers…..turn back now.

 

 

 

1. Why did Hannah have to die? Why did you kill her, you monster! 

She didn’t die in my first draft. She was created to be a saving grace for Grace, a friend she relied on. Once I finished the very very rough draft, a lot of things didn’t sit right with me. Hannah’s storyline kept bugging me, and after fighting with myself for a long time, finally realized that’s what needed to happen. But I wrote that scene knowing I would bring her back in the third.

 

2. Are you going to write Annie and Matthew’s story?

I’ve never really thought about that. It would be a fun story to write if I got to be inside Annie’s head the entire time. Hm…this sounds interesting.

 

3. How many scenes have you left out of the books? I only ask because I’ve heard authors write, on average, 10,000 more words than what usually ends up in the final draft.

Oh. Man. Between all three books, I took out around 45,000 words! I had so many scenes that I wanted to add, but when it came down to it, the scenes were just fun and didn’t really add anything to the story, so they had to come out. Like Miles learning how to make pancakes, or Grace’s talks with Shane, or Miles talking in his sleep while being so sick, or Grace finding Miles had kept his cellphone with him the entire time he went back to Rockwell in Time, and when it was recharged she started to get mad texts from him, but they never went through because he was in Rockwell at the time, and the texts were so sad, and hilarious! Or in Home, when I didn’t add four chapters of a memory-wiped Grace who believed she loved Chris, and had no idea who Miles was.

So so so many scenes. I’m going to start posting some of the “deleted scenes” on the blog in the next few weeks, and you can tell me what you think.

 

4. Beth sucks.

Not a question, but indeed she does!

 

5. Where is Chris? Is he coming back? Why didn’t you KILL HIM??!!

Chris is . . . somewhere, no where, every where, I guess. It’s not really a place, and until I have a solid outline for another book, I don’t want to give anything away. And I couldn’t kill him. As evil as he was, I have a soft spot for him.

 

6. Will you write Chris’s story? Or maybe Gwen’s? I loved her and Shane’s story.

No. Chris’s story will remain a mystery forever. And Gwen and Shane’s story was sweet because we knew so little about it. I think they’re story is complete.

 

7. How come you had to kill Shane? That was tragic.

I know!! He made it to the ending, went back to Rockwell with Grace at the end, and was actually a huge part in the ending. But again, it didn’t feel right. The scenes with Shane were too easy to write, and that meant it was all fluff. Grace had lost a lot of people in her life, and in the end she gets her parents back, but the one person who helped her through the hardest times of her life was gone, so she had to pick herself up and do the rest on her own. I think with Shane gone, Grace had to be stronger. It killed me to kill him, but it’s what needed to happen.

 

8. What made you want to make Chris young in the third book? It caught me off guard. I ended up loving the storyline, but wanted to know why you didn’t keep him older. Was it just for the romance aspect?

Along with everything else, keeping Chris older didn’t feel right. Grace had people in her life die, she’s been on adventures at Rockwell and bringing Miles back, she’s had her heart broken, but she’s never had to dig down and find herself. Chris, for me, was a way for Grace to look inside and realize she was worth fighting for. Even though she felt evil and dark and guilty, she was good, and Chris was her way of finding that out.

 

9. I love your books, and I’m happy it ended the way it did, but I need another chapter. Why didn’t you write an epilogue? I need to know if they ended up at Rockwell or Grace’s time.

I essentially wrote an epilogue. I have it on my computer right now. When I finished Home, it felt complete having it end the way it did. The epilogue felt forced, so I didn’t add it. But I’ll be posting that in the coming weeks too.

 

10. If you are writing another book, when will it come out?

I have no idea. Definitely before my youngest graduates high school.

She’s two.