Interview with Eliza Crewe

Eliza Crewe 

Hi guys! I sent Eliza Crewe an email with some questions on it about her book Cracked and about herself. She has very kindly taken the time to answer them so I will be posting her answers bellow. Enjoy!

1. What was you inspiration for Cracked? 

Cracked was actually inspired by the story I wrote right before it. The main character in that book was a timid little thing with no self-esteem. I love her, but after a few months in her head, I was ready for something radically different. I remember sitting on my porch very early in the morning, drinking coffee, and I heard Meda's creepy, lyrical thoughts as she plotted someone's death--the scene that eventually became Chapter 1. After I had her character established, I figured out the rest of the plot from there.

2. What would you like to be, Crusader or Demon? 

Neither!  I am a total wimp and wouldn't last a minute as either. If I was anyone in the book, I'd probably be Mags.

3. Are your characters bases of off anyone you know? 

Not really. I will say my best friend, Sam, is responsible for a lot of the funny lines--"Get out of my head!" was one of hers.  She's not a writer, but is naturally very funny. Whenever I hang out with her (which, sadly is not as often as I'd like!), I always end up jotting down a lot of notes in my "In the Pursuit of Funny" file, where I store funny lines/scenes to be used later.

4. Is there any advice that you can give to aspiring authors?

Get started! I was always interested in writing (and an insanely avid reader), but I always thought being an author was unattainable. I filled notebooks full of partial scenes, but I never got serious about writing until recently. I look back at some of the scenes I wrote when I was in middle school and high school, and while many are crap, some are imaginative in a way I don't think I could be again. If I'd started earlier, I also could also have taken advantage of the many opportunities that were available to me when I was in high school and college. For example, I still wouldn't get a degree in creative writing (I do like my "real career" after all!), but I would definitely take creative writing classes as an elective. So that's my advice--get started!

Don't forget to check out Cracked! You can find my review to it HERE.