Author Interview: Welcome Amanda Panitch @AmandaPanitch

Today we welcome author Amanda Panitch for an interview!

Blurb:

"Exceedingly clever and surprisingly unsettling, Damage Done is an unforgettable read." --Melissa Marr, New York Times bestselling author of Made for You

"In her incredible debut novel, Amanda Panitch leaves you on the edge of your seat. Prepare to be stunned. Prepare to be torn apart." --Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist

"A brilliant thriller. Gillian Flynn for the YA set." --Amy Christine Parker, author of Gated

22 minutes separate Julia Vann’s before and after.

Before: Julia had a twin brother, a boyfriend, and a best friend.

After: She has a new identity, a new hometown, and memories of those twenty-two minutes that refuse to come into focus. At least, that’s what she tells the police.

Now that she’s Lucy Black, she's able to begin again. She's even getting used to the empty bedroom where her brother should be. And her fresh start has attracted the attention of one of the hottest guys in school, a boy who will do anything to protect her. But when someone much more dangerous also takes notice, Lucy's forced to confront the dark secrets she thought were safely left behind.

One thing is clear: The damage done can never be erased. It’s only just beginning. . . .

Title: Damage Done

Author: Amanda Pantitch

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Expected Publication Date: July 21, 2015

Welcome Amanda!

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

I've always wanted to be a writer, but it was always in tandem with something else. In elementary school I wanted to be a writer and a ballerina (a plan which splatted thanks to my lack of grace and coordination); in high school a writer and a doctor; in college a diplomat and a writer; after college, a publishing person and a writer.

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

It depends on the book. It takes me a while to formulate an idea and write an outline, but then my first drafts come pretty quickly – usually I'll churn one out in a month or two. Then there's a few months of revisions on my own, then more months of revision with my agent and editor.

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

Themes usually pop up organically in the plot without my noticing. My favorite thing is when somebody says "I love how you connected this part to this theme!" and I'm like "…yeah, I definitely meant to do that!"

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

Yes, I'm one of those writers who falls apart without a schedule. Since I'm also currently working full-time, my goal is usually 1,000 words on a workday and 2,000-plus words on a weekend or vacation day. Revision goals vary depending on what I'm doing – if I'm doing line edits, for example, I might try to edit 30 pages a day.

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

It can be difficult, especially because, as mentioned, I'm currently working more than full-time. It's a lot of saying "no" to fun social things, running on less sleep, and "date nights" that consist of me writing while my boyfriend does his own thing.

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

I think it depends on the book. In some books I can't stop reading because of a racing plot, in others I might not be able to stop reading despite the lack of a plot because I'm so invested in the characters, and others might carry me along with their gorgeous prose.

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

The hardest thing about writing DAMAGE DONE was the uncertainty. I didn't know when I was writing that I'd find an agent and then a publisher, so I was spending hours a day working on something that might never have been read by anyone but me.

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

DAMAGE DONE was my seventh novel; the first six (rightfully) remain unpublished. I don't have a favorite – I loved all the characters and storylines while I was writing them and would like to go back to some of them someday.

9. Do you have a favorite character?

I don't have a favorite character, but I did love writing Julia. She and I have very different ways of viewing the world, so it was both exciting and a challenge to write as her.

10. Where do you write?  

I can and have written wherever – in my apartment, in coffee shops, at the park, on the train. I do, however, have trouble writing on anything but my trusty laptop, so I'm dreading the day it dies.

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

I have nothing against self-publishing and think it's a viable route for certain types of books and people, but I always knew I wanted to publish traditionally. I wanted a hardcover available in traditional bookstores and libraries, and I didn't want to take on all the business responsibilities of a self-published author.

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

This is a hard question to answer without spoilers, because the book involves an unusual and disturbing sibling relationship – and I have four siblings. But they're all happy and excited for me, and now whenever I'm mad at them I can threaten to take them out of the acknowledgements page, which keeps them in line!

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

I'm obsessed with anything and everything food-related – I love cooking, trying out new restaurants, and reading cookbooks (of which I have a growing collection). Of course I love to read, and I keep active by walking and running. I'm hoping to take up martial arts again sometime soon – I took a Japanese Swordsmanship and aikido class in college and was absolutely terrible, but had so much fun.

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

Finish something. Start something and don't give up when the going gets hard – as Nora Roberts said, you can fix a bad page, but you can't fix a blank one. At the same time, though, don't be afraid to give something up if it's not working – I see a lot of writers who stick with their first book for years and years, revising it and querying it over and over, when really they should be taking the lessons they learned from that first book and applying them to the next one.

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

There's no way I can pin down one single favorite book or author, but some of my absolute favorite books/series are the SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS by Lemony Snicket, THE MAGICIANS by Lev Grossman, FAR FROM YOU by Tess Sharpe, A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS by Marie Brennan, and SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli. 

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 two regular critique partners, with a couple others I might call on project-by-project. Extra eyes on a project are important – half the time I might not see an issue myself, but they'll point something out and I'll be like "duh, how did I not see that before?"

17. Are you working on anything now? 

I'm finishing up edits on my second YA psychological thriller with Random House, due out in summer 2016. It's called NEVER MISSING, NEVER FOUND, and it's set in an amusement park based on Six Flags (where I worked for two years as a teenager). It draws from a lot of things I experienced those summers, including my first love (who I met at the park), so it's a far more personal story than is DAMAGE DONE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, Amanda. It was so great to have you here. Good luck with your next book!

Amanda Panitch grew up next to an amusement park in New Jersey and went to college next to the White House in Washington, DC. Amanda now resides in New York City where she works in book publishing by day, writes by night, and lives under constant threat of being crushed beneath giant stacks of books. You can follow her on Twitter @AmandaPanitch, and visit her online at www.amandapanitch.com