Guest Writer, Gabriella Lepore

I'd like to introduce you today to a slightly different sort of writer... young adult writer Gabriella Lepore. I have to say, I adore young adult work when I'm reading outside of my own genre - and I do read out of genre all the time. Mostly because I get somewhat worried about story-lag. Liking someone else's scene so much that I end up duplicating it in my own work.

So, please welcome Gabriella, and check out her work. (Besides, she's Welsh - like me! - and that makes her AWESOME!)

When did you find out that you wanted to be a writer? What inspired you to put pen to paper?

I remember being around seven years old and telling my friend that I wanted to be an author. From that day on, I began writing down my daydreams… and I never stopped!

Of your published works, do you have a favorite? Why? 
I have 3 published YA novels, The Witches of the Glass Castle, How I Found You and Evanescent, and although there are aspects of each that are particularly significant to me, I couldn’t pick a favorite. I’d feel too disloyal to the ones I didn’t pick!

For links to the books check out http://www.gabriellalepore.com/

How do you decide on character names?

I only ever seem to have trouble deciding on the name of the female lead charter. In The Witches of the Glass Castle, Mia was called Maisy until my final edits. And in How I Found You, Rose was called Jessica in my first draft. Evanescent was a little different, I was sure I wanted a strong Welsh name to tie-in with the nods to Welsh folk lore in the book (by the way, I’m Welsh!), that’s where Bronwen came from. It means ‘pure hearted’.

How much of your life and the people you know end up in your work?

Very little. In fact, it’s usually the other way around–I’m forever slipping up and calling people by character names! I suppose because I spend so much time thinking about these characters, and writing them, it’s easy to get confused!

(Note from your blog hostess here - I have done this. When my ankle was broken and I was recovering from surgery, I spent quite a bit of time in the recovery room because I wanted, desperately wanted, my friend's demon character, Xarroch, to come sit with me... as a note, he had healing powers, so that probably contributed!)

What projects are you currently working on? Are you willing to share a small excerpt from a work in progress?

Tarantula is my current project. I’ll share the prologue below…

It was November. The leaves had changed and fallen, and they’d spread across the streets like a crisp, tawny river winding through the outer limits of Ashwood Hollow. The temperature had dropped, too; winter was on its way. I remember the air was brisk that day, and I’d made it halfway to school before the chill began to crawl under my skin. My denim jacket just wasn’t cutting it anymore. 

It’s funny, but that’s the thought that kept playing through my mind while I sat in the front passenger seat of a black Lancia, wrestling to free myself from the rope that bound my wrists. I should have worn a coat, was all I could think. 

We sped past the You Are Now Leaving Ashwood Hollow signpost. I watched it whizz by and noticed the words Come Back Soon! scrawled in small letters across the bottom. Huh, I mused. I’d never noticed that before. I guess I didn’t leave often enough. 

My captor was silent, his hands on the steering wheel, his eyes trained on the desolate road ahead. Thin, spindly trees lined the tarmac, a layer of morning mist clinging to their branches. 

I was cold, and I was scared. And I knew, as I watched the wing mirror and saw the signpost disappear into the distance, that I would not be coming back soon. In fact, I would not be coming back, ever.

I want to make one thing clear, though—he wasn’t all bad. If he had been, then maybe I wouldn’t have ended up here, telling you this story. But I’ll get to that later. For now, I probably should start at the beginning.

Tell us three things about you that are interesting.

I don’t know if these count as interesting, but I’ll give it a go… My favorite movie is Hocus Pocus, my favorite color is green, and my favorite number is 22!


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