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August 9th, 2009

Interview w/ Author Carrie Ryan The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Aug. 9th, 2009 at 6:34 PM

Hi all. Here's our latest interview with Carrie Ryan. I've read the Forest of Hands and Teeth, and devoured it in 3 days. That is saying something for me. GO out and get your copy today. ;)

Carrie, could you tell us a little about yourself, and how you came into writing?

Let me see how I can condense it all – lol. Right now I’m a full time writer and my first YA book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth was published by Delacorte Press in March 2009. It has zombies in it. When I started writing it for National Novel Writing Month in 2006, I figured that the “z” word would pretty much make my book unsaleable but at that point I was a few years into my job as a lawyer and I figured I’d write the book because I loved it.

Right after I’d started practicing law in 2005 I realized three things: (1) if I’d kept writing the book I’d written but never revised in 2000 I might have sold by that point; (2) I didn’t want to wake up in another 5-10 years having done nothing and wish I’d gotten in gear with writing; and (3) I didn’t want to be practicing law for the rest of my life. So I created the 10 Year Plan. Which was pretty basic: write and try to get published for 10 years. That’s when I re-joined RWA, started reading blogs, and began writing diligently again. I wrote over 200k words in that first year but on a million different projects. It wasn’t until NaNoWriMo in 2006 that I decided to stop paying attention to the market and just write what I love and I was lucky enough that it worked!

How does it compare to your previous profession? Do you still work a day job, and if so, how do you manage to juggle writing, day job and family obligations?

I was working as a lawyer when I wrote and sold my first book (in fact, I’d just started a new job three days before I got the offer of representation from my agent!). Juggling writing and the day job was definitely difficult — there were times when I was preparing for a trial and working nights and weekends when the only time I could find to write was the 8 minutes it took for the pasta to boil for Mac’n’Cheese. But if I could manage any words during that time, it always added up by the end of the week so I kept finding tiny bits of time here and there. But before selling, I didn’t have any deadlines, so it was okay if my progress was really slow. It was after selling that it got harder and harder for me to find the balance between writing and the day job, especially because I worked at a big firm with very high expectations.

Eventually it became clear to me that I’d have to quit working full time as a lawyer or give up writing the second book under my contract. I sat down one evening with my fiance and did the math and realized that I could write full time for a while and so I took the plunge. It was scary but also amazing — up to that point I felt like I’d followed all the rules and for the first time was taking a risk and going all-in on my dreams. My fiance was totally wonderful and supportive the whole time (it helps that he’s also a lawyer and writer). We pretty much gave up cooking, cleaning, mowing the lawn, TV, etc. so we could find time to write.

How about your agent search, could you describe that for the pre published readers?

I spent a ton of time researching agents and the industry as a whole. While I was writing I’d read agent blogs, other writer blogs, etc. which I think really gave me a lot of information about the industry and how things worked. Once I finished a rough draft of my book and sent it to beta readers, I used the time I’d usually write to research agents. I looked at who my friends were signed with, agents I heard about on message boards and blogs, and looked at some of my favorite books that I thought might be similar to mine to see who represented the author. Then I looked everyone up on sites like AgentQuery and Publishers Marketplace and individual blogs to get a feeling for how they worked, who they represented and sold to, what their submission guidelines were. From all of that research I made a list of my top picks and then spent a whoooooole lot of time revising. To the point where my critique partner got so tired of me putting of subbing that she sent my pitch to her agent who requested the full. That pretty much spurred me to get the other queries out as well.

Your book has done very well. How has it changed your life?

I think the biggest change is that I’m now writing full time which is still just so amazing to me. I’ve also gotten the chance to meet a lot of really amazing people: other writers, booksellers, publishing professionals and readers. Though I have to say if it’s changed anyone’s life, it would have to me my dog’s — he now gets to spend the entire day inside sleeping on the couch rather than outside.

Do you have any up and coming titles, and can you tell us anything about them?

My second book, The Dead-Tossed Waves, which is a companion to The Forest of Hands and Teeth, will be coming out March 2010. It starts a while after the end of the first book and has a different narrator but definitely touches on a lot of the questions raised in Forest. And then a third book in the series will be coming out in Spring 2011. I’m really excited about both! I also have a few short stories coming out but it’s too early to talk about those yet :)

OH and I found this article online....with regard to the book. I will be there opening night, for sure to see it brought to life. From ReelzChannel.com

YA Zombies to Hit the Big Screen; Kristen Stewart Likely to Star

Carrie Ryan's young adult zombie novel The Forest of Hands and Teeth has just been sold to Seven Star Pictures, the studio behind Kristen Stewart's upcoming movie K-11.

The novel, which was published in March by Delacorte Books for Young Readers, has been an instant hit with critics and book bloggers. It tells the story of Mary, a girl living in a small village bordered by a fence to keep out the Unconsecrated -- savage zombies intent on destroying the town and everyone in it. Add a little bit of romance and a gutsy female heroin, and you've got a teen thriller to rival Twilight.

Rumor has it that an A-list actress is tipped to star in the movie (could it be Kristen Stewart?), and a first draft of the screenplay is being written as soon as possible. With the popularity of vampires, werewolves, and all things supernatural currently dominating the literary world, it seems book adaptations are the way to go. What could be next? Our money's on Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy. Somewhere, somebody will be closing a movie deal on that one soon.

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August 9th, 2009

Interview w/ Author Carrie Ryan The Forest of Hands and Teeth

YA Zombies to Hit the Big Screen; Kristen Stewart Likely to Star

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