About
the Book:
Title: BREAKING
Author: Danielle Rollins
Pub. Date: June 6, 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages: 352
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Companion
novel to Burning.
Prep
school gets a twist of supernatural suspense in this commercial YA thriller.
Charlotte
has always been content in the shadow of her two best friends at the
prestigious Underhill Preparatory Institute. Ariel is daring and mysterious.
Devon is beautiful and brilliant. Although Charlotte never lived up to the
standards of the school—or her demanding mother—her two best friends became the
family she never had. When Ariel and Devon suddenly commit suicide within a
month of each other, Charlotte refuses to accept it as a coincidence. But as
the clues point to a dangerous secret about Underhill Prep, Charlotte is
suddenly in over her head. There’s a reason the students of Underhill are so
exceptional, and the people responsible are willing to kill to protect the
truth…
Suspenseful
and scintillating, with hints of the supernatural, this fast-paced thriller
will keep readers hooked.
1. Did you always know you wanted
to be a writer or did you want to be something else?
Today we welcome Danielle for an interview!
When I was seven years old, my mom took me to SeaWorld and for,
like, a year afterward I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. This was sort of a
continuation of my childhood dream to be an actress, but with dolphins. Now, of
course, I’ve seen BLACKFISH and would never go back to SeaWorld but, at seven,
it seemed like a perfectly legit aspiration.
2. How long does it take you to
write a book from start to finish?
It takes me two to three weeks to write a trash draft (this is a
really rough draft that I don’t show anyone, ever.) It takes me two months to turn this trash draft into
something I’m not embarrassed to send to my editor. It takes me six months to
write a book that’s ready for publication—a little longer for a complicated
book like BREAKING.
3. How do you come up with themes
for your stories?
My themes always come from the characters. I never brainstorm
theme possibilities or anything like that, but I do get ideas in my head about
the “type” of character I want to write about. For BREAKING, I knew I wanted to
write a “nice-girl” type. To me, this meant someone who often felt overshadowed
by her dynamic, outgoing best friends. I asked myself what would have to happen
to a girl like this to make her change?
The “nice girl” from this brainstorm became Charlotte, a teenage
girl who largely defined herself by her two, much more interesting, best
friends. When both of those friends commit suicide within a month of each
other, Charlotte is forced to come out of her shell and start making her own
choices—and figure out what prompted their deaths. A theme of self-discovery
emerged from there.
4. Do you have a schedule of when
you write?
When I’m on deadline (which is most of the time) I write Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10:30 to 6:30. I spend Wednesdays working on
marketing and social media.
5. How are you able to balance
other aspects of your life with your writing?
Carefully! As you can see above, I have a very strict writing
schedule. This helps keep me from falling into a cycle of
writing/procrastination that could easily last all day and take over my entire
life.
Some other things I do that are important—I make health a
priority. I do yoga 3-4x a week, and I eat well. Deadline snacks can be killer,
so I try to stick to sparkling water instead of soda, and nuts and dark
chocolate instead of candy and processed foods like chips.
I’m also big on interacting with other people. Writing can be incredibly
isolating, so I work at a co-working space in the city instead of at home, and
I usually make plans to grab drinks with friends a couple of times a week so
that I have a reason to go out and interact with people.
6. What elements do you think make
a great story line?
Conflict. In particularly, I think characters should want
something that conflicts with what they need. This is the basis for every
really juicy storyline.
I tend to gravitate toward a few central themes. Mean girls is
probably the biggest one—you’ll find a central group of mean girls in both THE
MERCILESS, and the upcoming BREAKING.
7. What was the hardest thing about
writing a book?
Getting started is always the hardest part. After that,
everything is figureoutable, if you stay motivated.
8. How many books have you written
so far? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve written thirteen books (wait, what?!) The first three
didn’t get published, and the next two were Middle Grade novels published under
a different name. I wrote three novels as Danielle Vega, with another, THE
MERCILESS: ORIGINS OF EVIL, coming out this summer, and another that’s written
but won’t come out until 2018. I’ve written two books as Danielle Rollins –
BURNING, and BREAKING – and I have another that’s written but doesn’t come out
until 2019 (DARK STARS.)
Right now my favorite is BREAKING. It’s sort of STRANGER THINGS
meets THE VIRGIN SUICIDES and I think it’s creepy and weird and wonderful. If
you ask me tomorrow, I’d probably say something else.
9. Do you have a favorite
character?
I have at least three! I love Brooklyn Stephen, from THE
MERCILESS. She’s actually the subject of THE MERCILESS: ORIGINS OF EVIL, which
comes out in July.
I think Brooklyn would be friends with Ariel, from BREAKING. I
also love a character named Dorothy, from my upcoming book DARK STARS. All
three are very angry young women.
10. Where do you write?
I rent space at a writing studio in Manhattan. Most days I write
there, but sometimes I set up shop at my kitchen table.
11. When deciding on how to
publish, what directed you to the route you took?
I went the traditional route, and I cold-queried agents for
years before finally getting a bite. Since then, I’ve written as many novels as
I could!
12. Have you gotten feedback from
family about your book(s)? What do they think?
I’m lucky to have the most supportive family on the planet. My
parents are my biggest fans (my dad actually tells me I’m his favorite author,
just nudging out Stephen King) and my husband reads all of my books before
anyone else can look at them.
13. What kinds of things do you
like to do outside of writing?
I have a very narrow field of interests that mostly consists of
writing, yoga, fashion and home décor. I also quite enjoy wine.
You’ll notice that none of my other interests could possible
become a profession, so I’m lucky this writing thing worked out.
14. What kinds of advice would you
give to someone who wants to start writing?
Write every single day. Find people who you respect (and who’ll
tell you the truth) to read your writing. Only listen to criticism when it
comes from a couple of people, and then take it really seriously. Repeat. Read
a stupid amount. This is the only recipe for being successful that I know.
15. What is your favorite book? favorite
author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write?
This is an impossible question to answer. I love Maggie Stiefvater
and Laini Taylor because they’re good at things I’m bad at. I love Stephen King
because he taught me how to make something scary, and I love Tana French
because her writing makes me lose myself a little.
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?
My husband reads everything first to tell me if it’s working,
and then I have a list of 3 to 5 writers I send everything to. Different
writers get different projects depending on what sort of advice I’m looking
for.
17. Are you working on anything
now?
DARK STARS! I just finished the first draft of this new project,
which is FIREFLY meets ROMEO AND JULIET. It’s coming out in 2019, and I’m so
freaking excited for people to read it! I’ve also just started playing around
with a new concept about ghosts that I’m hoping will turn into something cool.
18. Tell us 5 things that make you smile
1. DARK STARS
2. Sunny
Brooklyn Days
3. This Lemon LaCroix
I just drank
4. Chocolate as
Dark as my soul
5. The fact
that BREAKING is coming out so soon and I can’t freaking wait for you all to
read it!
19. Tell us 5 things that make you
sad
2. Sexism
3. Global warming
4. This new zit that just popped up on my cheek
5. Mosquitos
20. If you could travel anywhere in
the world to visit a place so you could use it as a background for a book,
where would it be?
Tokyo. I’ve wanted to
go to Tokyo forever! Not sure if I’d make it the backdrop of a story, but I
could see taking inspiration from the city!
Author of the best-selling MERCILESS series, SURVIVE
THE NIGHT, BURNING, and BREAKING. I'm currently working on the last installment
of the Merciless books, & starting a new series to be announced later this
year.
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Thanks so much for being here today, Danielle!
About
Danielle:
Author of the best-selling MERCILESS series, SURVIVE
THE NIGHT, BURNING, and BREAKING. I'm currently working on the last installment
of the Merciless books, & starting a new series to be announced later this
year.
Tour
Schedule:
Week One:
5/29/2017- The Cover Contessa- Interview
5/29/2017- A Dream Within A Dream- Review
5/30/2017- YA Books Central- Guest
Post
5/30/2017- a GREAT read- Review
5/31/2017- Pandora's Books- Excerpt
5/31/2017- Sweet Southern Home- Review
6/1/2017- BookHounds YA- Guest Post
6/1/2017- Dazzled by Books- Review
6/2/2017- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Interview
6/2/2017- Don't Judge, Read- Review
Week Two:
6/5/2017- Wandering Bark Books- Guest
Post
6/5/2017- Pretty Deadly Reviews- Review
6/6/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt
6/6/2017- Novel Novice- Review
6/7/2017- Literary Meanderings - Guest
Post
6/7/2017- YA Book Madness- Review
6/8/2017- Mama Reads Blog- Excerpt
6/8/2017- A Gingerly Review- Review
6/9/2017- Portrait of a Book- Guest
Post
6/9/2017- Storybook Slayers- Review
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