Blog Tour: Whisper Falls (Whisper Falls #1) by Elizabeth Langston @SpencerHillP @langstonetc @ReadingWithMeSH

Welome to the Whisper Falls (Whisper Falls #1) Blog Tour!

While training for a mountain bike race, high-school senior Mark Lewis spots a mysterious girl dressed in odd clothing, standing behind a waterfall in the woods near his North Carolina home. When she comments on the strange machine that he rides, he suspects something isn’t right. When Susanna claims to be an indentured servant from 1796, he wonders if she's crazy. Yet he feels compelled to find out more.

Mark enters a ‘long-distance’ relationship with Susanna through the shimmering--and temperamental--barrier of Whisper Falls. Curious about her world, Mark combs through history to learn about the brutal life she's trapped in. But knowledge can be dangerous. Soon he must choose between the risk of changing history or dooming the girl he can't stop thinking about to a lifetime of misery

Title: Whisper Falls
Author: Elizabeth Langston
Expected Publication Date: November 19, 2013
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

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Today I am excited to be taking part and I'm really excited to welcome the author, Elizabeth Langston, for an interview!
Let's Hear what she had to say!

1. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer or did you want to be something else? 

Most of my author friends knew from an early age that they wanted to write books. Not me. I’ve worked my whole adult career in the computer industry. Until I was into my thirties, the only thing I’d ever really written was software.

Then my younger daughter started kindergarten, and I started my first manuscript. The finished story was bad, but I loved writing it. So I took lessons, wrote more manuscripts, and signed with an agent. After a dozen years of hard work, WHISPER FALLS sold.

2. How long does it take you to write a book from start to finish?

It depends on the book.

WHISPER FALLS took me 10 months. (I’d been accumulating the historical research for several years, but I’m not counting that.)

A WHISPER IN TIME (Book 2) took 7 months and WHISPERS FROM THE PAST (Book 3) took 4. With the sequels, I knew the characters and the setting very well. So they went much faster.

3. How do you come up with themes for your stories?

I don’t think about themes in advance. When I start, I know the premise that kicks off the story. I know how it’s going to end. And I generally know the main characters (although they often surprise me as I go). Then I just write. It’s only after I’m done with the first draft that I look back to see what themes emerge.

4. Do you have a schedule of when you write?

I have day job, so I have to write at nights and on the weekends.

5. How are you able to balance other aspects of your life with your writing?

The only way it works is to have an amazing family. We eat microwave meals. My husband and older daughter run the errands. Younger daughter handles the laundry. And we’ve just had to lower our standards on how clean the house is.

My day job and writing are priorities. Family is a priority. Everything else can just fall away.

6. What elements do you think make a great story line? 

A painful problem, a flawed main character (MC) who needs to solve it, and a friend who cares enough about the MC to help.

7. What was the hardest thing about writing a book?

The first draft. The whole time I’m writing it, I want it to just be over with.

8. How many books have you written so far? Do you have a favorite?

I’ve written eight. Four have sold.

I always love the one I’m working on. I’ve just wrapped up WHISPERS FROM THE PAST, so it’s my favorite right now.

9. Do you have a favorite character?

In the WHISPER FALLS trilogy—Mark’s grandfather, Charlie. He reminds me a lot of my grandfather, who was also named Charlie but I hadn’t noticed that until this moment.

10. Where do you write?

Wherever I am. I take my laptop with me everywhere. If I’m at home, I’m usually writing in a beat-up recliner in the bonus room with the TV providing background noise.

11. When deciding on how to publish, what directed you to the route you took?

I hope that librarians will want to recommend my books to their teen readers. Traditional publishing gives me the best chance with libraries and schools. My literary agent has done a great job of helping me realize that goal.

12. Have you gotten feedback from family about your book(s)? What do they think?

My husband and older daughter never read fiction. Neither of them has read any of my novels.

My younger daughter reads everything I write, multiple times. She is my copy-editor (and she’s very good.) She says that WHISPERS FROM THE PAST is my “best quality book”, but that WHISPER FALLS is still her favorite.

13. What kinds of things do you like to do outside of writing?

I love TV, shows like So You Think You Can Dance, Castle, Elementary. And I love to travel. I spend a lot of time thinking about, planning, and going on trips. (And my laptop is always with me!)

14. What kinds of advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing?

Write all the time. Everything counts. Blog posts. Emails. Journal entries. It builds up “muscle memory.” If you’ve practiced hard, once you start to write stories, your voice will be second nature.

15. What is your favorite book? favorite author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write?

My favorite author is Elizabeth George. She writes dark, smart mysteries with wonderful depth in her settings. The author who has most inspired me is Lois Lowry. The Giver was so different and unexpected. I read later that she had to battle her agent and publisher to get it published. Knowing that helped me to believe that it was okay to be different and unexpected.

16. Do you have any go to people when writing a book that help you with your story lines as well as editing, beta reading and such?

I have a freelance editor, Laura. She is a recent college graduate (BA in English) and is absolutely brilliant with fiction. She edits everything I write. When I’m planning a book, I hold brainstorming sessions with her. When I get stuck, she gets a call.  Every writer should be so lucky to have a Laura. 

17. Are you working on anything now? 


I have a fourth book releasing from Spencer Hill in November 2014. I began first round revisions on I WISH this weekend!



Thanks so much for stopping by Elizabeth! So great to have you here! Good luck with the release and with your future books!

Hello, I'm Elizabeth Langston, and I write fiction for young adults. My debut novel, Whisper Falls (Whisper Falls, #1), releases November 19, 2013. 

I live in North Carolina and work in the computer industry for my day job. I have two YA daughters and one really old husband. At night, when I'm not writing, I'm watching TV (So You Think You Can Dance, The Daily Show, Castle) or reading (and that is all over the place.)

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