1.) Who is your favorite character in the book?

Definitely Matt, who is my main character Lake’s older brother. He’s so mean and callous, even in the face of his little sister losing her best friend and boyfriend. But he has reasons, even if his reasons are selfish and misguided and sometimes even noble.

2.) Which came first, the title or the novel?

The novel, though the title quickly followed. I first called it “When You’re Gone” but only briefly. The line, “This is not the end” came out in what was then the second chapter of the book and hasn’t changed since!

3.) What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

I worked so hard on a scene in which my main character Lake talks to her quadriplegic brother, Matt, about sex. My editor and I kept kneading at this scene, coming back to it, knowing that it was crucial to try to get it right. It can and is uncomfortable to have a character engage in an in depth conversation about sex with her brother. But it made sense for these two. What really broke the scene open for me was a conversation I was able to have with a man who was paralyzed as a teenager. He was generous with his time and it’s because of him that the scene is emotional, but at the same time very, very hopeful, I think. When I got my copyedits back, the copyeditor had left a note about how that scene was sensitive and resonated and I felt really proud of the work we’d put in.

4.) What do you like most about the cover of the book?

That font, tho! The title treatment on THIS IS NOT THE END is gorgeous. My first book, Alive, had a really bold, iconic title treatment, I think, and so I was hoping against hope that even though this book is so different, I’d somehow get another really bold font. Boy was I not disappointed.

5.) What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2017?

I’m anxiously awaiting One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake, the sequel to Three Dark Crowns. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so invested in getting my hands on the next installment in a series.

6.) What was your favorite book in 2016?

I really enjoyed an adult book, Before the Fall by Noah Hawley that was published in 2016. He’s an Austin author—represent!—and it’s an easy recommendation to friends with reading tastes of all sorts.

7.) What’s up next for you?

I have the last book in my High School Horror series, Teen Phantom, coming out in January and beyond that I’m in the exciting, secret stage with projects I can’t talk about yet. I’m pushing myself (I hope) in new directions as a writer and it’s really requiring me to keep my head down and blinders on but I’m loving it.

8.) Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?

I tend to enjoy revising more. The entire time spent drafting I live in fear that I’ll get stuck in some irreversible and unfixable way. That there won’t be a way to reach the end of the draft. Once the story is on the page, though, I know it can be molded and repaired. Most of my favorite scenes in a story come in those deep revision moments where I’m pushing for the next layer, the better idea that I wouldn’t have even known how to come up with at the outset, when I didn’t know the story so well.

9.) What would you say is your superpower?

Not getting stressed or overwhelmed easily, or at least that’s what people tell me. I have a full time day job as a lawyer and a toddler and have published two books a year for the past several years and I swear I totally have a social life and enjoy TV with my husband at night. I don’t know! I just rarely feel stressed!