So I’m pretty darn excited to be posting this interview. I was extremely lucky this past June when I got to spend two days with Tiffany. Hanging out with Tiffany was a lot of fun and the nice thing is, we never talked about her book. We left that for this interview!
Tiffany: I am so excited to be stopping by one of my favorite YA blogs 
Heidi: So tell me, what is was your writing process like?
Tiffany: For starters, I can’t write when it’s silent. So, I either turn on the television or camp out in a Starbucks. Besides a general outline, I like to get right to it. I write and write and write without paying any attention to grammar. It’s important for me to get the ideas down on paper. Before I start the next day’s writing session, I read through and edit the previous day’s work. It helps break down the editing process while also getting myself in the mind frame to continue the story.
Heidi: How long did it take you to write Chosen Ones?
Tiffany: It took me about two years to write Chosen Ones. It started out as purely an instrument to stretch my brain and challenge myself. I wrote when inspiration hit, but had no problem walking away from it for weeks at a time. My editor wouldn’t be so keen on this process now!
Heidi: Looking back, is there anything you’d change from your adventure?
Tiffany: No. I didn’t get my book published in the most traditional way. I signed with an unknown, emerging publisher without an agent. It was a gamble, but one that really paid off. I got to learn the system in a way I never would have working with a major publisher. I’ve watched as Entangled made its name, and I ended up signing with an amazing agent. I didn’t do it the way I was told, but sometimes you got to do it your own way. It was a risk worth taking.
Heidi: Now that you’re writing the sequel, The Naturals, is it easier than writing the first one?
Tiffany: No. It wasn’t. At all. I had a major case of writer’s block. There’s a lot of pressure writing the second book in a series. You’ve built a world and characters that people have come to love and you don’t want to disappoint them. I took it all much too seriously. I think writing the third book will be much easier…or at least I hope it will.
Heidi: What is next on the horizon for you after the Chosen Ones series is done?
Tiffany: I am working on edits for my agent for a Contemporary YA novel. I LOVE it to pieces. The characters are amazing to write, and it is entirely different world than the Chosen Ones. I hope readers will get to hold it in their hands one day.
Heidi: What do you students think about their teacher being published?
Tiffany: They treated me like a superstar. Which is ridiculous. I was really lucky. I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive group of students. It was exciting to see them get excited. I was really nervous and hesitant to show them the trailer or cover, but they were so inquisitive about it that I broke down. They loved every part of going through the process with me. That year of students will always have a special place in my heart.
Heidi: Have any of them bought your book and asked for your autograph?
Tiffany: Sadly, the book didn’t come out till after school was out, but I did give away a few ARCS to some special students and signed them. It was strange to see them so giddy to get my signature when I signed passes for them all year….passes that always ended up in the trash.
Heidi: Any advice for aspiring authors?
Tiffany: Don’t give up. It’s a hard business to break into right now, but no one ever got anything without being willing to meet with failure a few times.
About Chosen Ones
The Lost Souls, book 1 available now from Entangled Publishing!
I pushed down a key. The hair on the back of my neck shot up, and my skin tingled.
I imagined this was what it felt like to fall in love.
In that moment, I was ready to fall.
Life is bleak but uncomplicated for Tess, living in a not-too-distant future where the government, faced with humanity’s extinction, created the Chosen Ones, artificial beings who are extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.
When Tess begins work at Templeton, a Chosen Ones training facility, she meets James, and the attraction is immediate in its intensity, overwhelming in its danger. But there is more to Templeton than Tess ever knew. Can she stand against her oppressors, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?
Order your copy of Chosen Ones at Amazon | B&N
About Tiffany Truitt
Tiffany Truitt is an 8th grade English teacher in Suffolk, Virginia. When she’s not traveling the world, she enjoys reading, writing, and obsessing over coffee. Lost Souls: Chosen Ones is her first novel.
Find out more about Tiffany Truitt at her Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
