Rainbow Rowell is the author of ATTACHMENTS. She has two novels coming out in 2013 — ELEANOR & PARK in February and FANGIRL in the fall.

Rainbow lives with her husband and two sons in Omaha, Nebraska. Right at this moment, she is probably arguing with someone about something that doesn’t really matter in the big scheme of things — or trying to figure out how Sherlock faked his death.

Blog and other stuff at rainbowrowell.com.

TEN THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME

By Rainbow Rowell

1. 1.“Rainbow” is my real name. My mom always said I could change it when I was 18 – but, by the time I was 18, I couldn’t imagine asking all my friends to start calling me “Sarah with an h.”

2. 2.I’m addicted (ADDICTED) to Fortnum & Mason’s Smoky Earl Grey Tea, and I bribe people in the UK to ship it to me.

3. Eleanor & Park is my first YA novel, but not my first novel. My first book, Attachments, is about an IT guy who falls in love with a girl in his office after he has to read her email. (It sounds creepy, but I promise it isn’t. Much.)

4. I live in Nebraska, a place where very few books/TV shows/movies are set – so I always put lots of Omaha and Nebraska things in my books, as Easter eggs for people who live here to find. Most of the last names in Eleanor & Park are Nebraska counties. Fangirl is set at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and all the characters are named after buildings on campus.

5. I collect old ceramic things, especially planters. I don’t mean to collect them. But I keep buying them, and now they’re all over the house. The person who made my Web site worked a bunch of them into the design.

6. I’m a design/illustration junkie, and it was a dream come true to have Noelle Stevenson illustrate the cover for Fangirl.

7. I don’t have a home office, so I write most of my books at Starbucks. I like being someplace busy, but where none of the noise and activity is relevant to me.

8. Writing is lonely, so I post more often on Facebook and Twitter when I’m deep into a book. But, right now, I can’t live without Tumblr. It’s my absolute favorite place to park my brain. Fandom plus funny plus pretty pictures.
9. My entire family is obsessed with Cabin Pressure, a British radio comedy written by John Finnemore. I think he’s an absolute genius. Perfect timing, incredible characters. We listen to Cabin Pressure in the car, my kids listen to it before they go to bed – I push it on everyone I know.

10. I have kids! Two boys. They think I type for a living.

Verdell Walker is the author of THE COVEN series. Born and raised in the South, writing has been her escape from reality for many years.

Verdell is an avid sports fan and absolutely devoted to the Green Bay Packers. A gifted cook and baker, few things make her happier than making a meal for her family and friends. Except maybe writing about her favorite boys. You can find out more about Verdell at her website.

1.      I’ve been training in belly dance for five years now. Belly dance is deceptively simple; getting good at it has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It’s really soft and feminine but requires a tremendous amount of control, coordination, and strength. My teacher’s been dancing for 40 years and she still takes lessons!

2.      I am afraid of sharks, snakes, and clowns. Don’t ask me why clowns make me uncomfortable – they just do.

3.      As a teenager, I wanted to be a NASCAR driver. Then during a race I saw Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s (my favorite driver) car go up in a fireball. I decided to explore other career paths.

4.      If I don’t say so myself, I am an excellent cook and baker. Few things make me happier than feeding people and seeing them enjoy my food. I used to have a food blog with my recipes but I had to stop to have time to write Fire and Ice!

5.      I have seen every single James Bond film.

6.      If I could have any superpower, it would be the ability to communicate with anyone in their native language. I learned Spanish in high school, while I studied Arabic and Chinese in college. I love languages, and wish I could learn all of them!

7.      My favorite book when I was a kid was Catherine, Called Birdy.

8.      I am obsessed with ancient Egypt. I know more about it than someone who isn’t a trained Egyptologist has a right to know.

9.      My favorite TV shows are all time are: Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Highlander. I’m currently into Elementary and The Mindy Project. Oh, and another little show called Downton Abbey.

10.  Favorite quote: “Don’t quit. Suffer now, and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali

Eight things you don’t know about me and Revolution 19:

Most likely you know very little about me, beyond my official bio that’s floating around the ‘net…this is my first book, after all. So here are a few random facts about me and Revolution 19, in no particularorder:

1.     I’m a superstitious writer. I have a pair of “writing rings”—they’re actually guitar strings twisted and soldered into rings—and I wear them only when I’m writing.

2.     I hate first drafts! A blank page scares me. Once I get something down, I’m happy digging into revisions, but that first draft…torture. One trick I have is to type first drafts single spaced, with a small font and wide margins, so that I don’t obsess over how many pages I’ve written or failed to write.

3.     One of my bad writing habits is that I massively overuse the word “suddenly” in first drafts. “Suddenly” is rarely ever helpful—it actually slows the action down just when you’re trying to describe something quick happening—so I don’t know why I keep using it in early drafts. I always do a word search for “suddenly,” and go back and kill most of them.

4.     I’m married to another YA writer (Wendy Wunder, author of The Probability of Miracles). We met in the MFA in Creative Writing program at Emerson College in Boston.

5.     Another odd writing tic I have is I don’t like to use the verb “asked.” I’m always saying “said” when the character is asking a question…my editors have to catch that for me. I guess it’s an overreaction to the old writing rule that you should avoid flowery speaking verbs and just stick with “said,” because it’s invisible to the reader and that’s what you usually want.

6.     The first draft of Revolution 19 had a character named “Trask,” who never made it to draft 2. He was an underground rebel in the City, and he ended up betraying Nick, Kevin, and Cass. He had nice hair. He was ruining the book, and had to go. Sorry, Trask.

7.     I have specific music needs when I’m writing. There’s a lot of pop-punk and guitar-driven stuff that I listen to when I need energy, but when I’m really focused and writing, I listen to “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis over and over. Music for writing can’t have lyrics, because the words get in the way of my words. The music can’t be so relaxing that it makes me sleepy, but also can’t be so engaging that I focus too much on it. “Kind of Blue” nails it.

8.     Like many writers, I’ve written an unpublishable “trunk” novel…one that was a necessary but painful part of the learning process, that never saw the light of day. Mine was titled “Graham’s Grove.” That’s all I’m going to say about it.