Being an author also allows me to connect with readers through my books. Since I am a strong believer that life is all about connecting with people and developing relationships, I feel really lucky that writing allows me to do this. A few years ago, I met a young lady who read Whisper and was inspired by it. As we got to know each other, she confided in me that she was working on a book of her own.
I know it's kind of nerdy, but I get really excited to talk with teens who write! Nadette entrusted her then-partial manuscript to me. I read it, and I encouraged her to continue writing. During her senior year of high school, one of her teachers made it a graded project that her students publish their writing. What a phenomenal idea! Now, a year later, Nadette's young adult novel - Illusion - sits on my nightstand, and I am anxious for a sequel!
Not only did Nadette complete her graded project - write and publish a book, but she took it a step further. Nadette has jumped in to the twitter and Facebook writing communities. She is networking with other Pittsburgh authors and working hard to get her book out there. She is learning how to brand and market herself as a YA author on sites like goodreads, and she consistently writes for her blog.
So, young writers - you can do this! Be inspired and motivated by this eighteen-year-old author whose book is just amazing!
Nadette was kind enough to answer some questions for me. See below. Check her out on her website, and read Illusion! It is a paranormal romance that will keep you turning pages and begging for more at the end!
1. Tell me a little about yourself and when you started to write. I'm eighteen years old and a recent high school graduate. I love reading, writing, and dancing. I've been writing pretty much since I learned to read. I remember writing little stories in kindergarten and bringing them in to show my teachers. In the second grade I wrote my first "book" and ever since then have writing more and more. My debut novel I actually wrote my freshman year of high school. Then, this past year I had a creative writing class at school and the teacher inspired me to get the book back out and work on it again.2. Tell me about your book. What inspired you to write the story? My book is called Illusion, and it is about a girl named Addison who has very strange dreams. Soon, the dreams start blending with her waking life and she can't tell what is real and what is just a dream- an illusion in her mind. I wanted to write this book because I find dreams fascinating! Ever since I was a little kid, I would tell my mom dreams that were really weighing on me and she would be able to tell me what they meant and it instantly made me feel better about whatever situation I was dreaming about. Now, my friends call me when they have a weird dream and I'll analyze it for them. I just think dreams are our mind's way of telling us how we really feel about a situation and I think they are important to look into. I wanted to write a book centered on dreams so people could relate to it, but I wanted a story that had a fantastical dream world that people could lose themselves in at the same time.3. Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you outline? I actually wrote Illusion with no plot at all. All I knew was the ending I wanted to get to. I prefer to write what comes to me or what feels right for the character and scene at the time. Once I wrote the first draft though, I went through and outlined the whole book down to all the little details. For my next book, I'm trying to plot it out first to see how that goes.4. What are your currently working on? Currently I am working on promoting Illusion and writing the second book in the Illusion Trilogy! I'm really excited to dig deeper into each of the characters in the second book.5. You write a lot about dreams on your blog. Tell me about your most vivid dream? Actually, this is a funny, but sad story: at my senior dance recital, I was in a lot of dances and didn't have much time to change in between. Because of that, a friend and I missed the call to go backstage for our dance and ended up missing the whole first half of the song. We made it on for the end of the dance, a part I was featured in, and everyone was staring at us like "Where have you been?" I've never done that before, so it was very embarrassing. Since then, I've been having very vivid dreams where I missed my other dances too or forgot to show up to the recital entirely!6. What are your top 5 favorite books or authors who have influenced your writing?I've read so many books that's a tough question!1. Stephen King- I like scary movies, so I started reading some of his work. I'm amazed at how many books he has written in his career and they are all unique and really good. I've read his memoir about writing, and it inspired me to finish my book and put it out there. I have pages in the memoir highlighted and bookmarked so I can read it any time I'm struggling with something writing-wise.2. The Scarlet Letter- It's a classic book that I had to read for school and ended up loving. The book has so much symbolism and irony and depth, and I am always inspired by the story and writing. The book actually had some influence in my book for the antagonist.3. Ally Carter- I have been reading her books for years and really admire the way she creates such interesting characters that are still relatable. She has three very different types of series and I love them all! I loved it too when she wrote a novella combining two of her series; the story was so good!4. I'm a fan of Veronica Roth because she was young when she wrote, Divergent. It is inspiring too to see how far the book has gone and how it has turned into a movie franchise, and she wasn't much older than I am now.5. J.K. Rowling- I am amazed at the world she created- it even has it's own representation in a theme park. I think it's incredible that a story that was rejected multiple times has grown into such an incredible franchise. Everyone knows Rowling's name and everyone knows about Harry Potter, and I think that is so cool. She has helped so many people too, and I find that inspiring as well.
Noelle's social links are below. Unfortunately, they are hard to see, but they are there! Blogger is being a jerk today, so just click on the white space next to the description, and it will take you to said website!
author blog: https://nadetteraerodgers.wordpress.com/
Illusion website : http://illusiontrilogy.weebly.com/
twitter: https://twitter.com/nadetterae
https://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Book-One-Trilogy/dp/1532807511/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469284643&sr=1-1&keywords=illusion+nadette+rae+rodgers
Bio:
Nadette Rae Rodgers lives in Pennsylvania. Her passion for writing developed at a very young age. Her interest in dream analysis was the basis for this book. She hopes this book will inspire others to achieve their goals in life.
Illusion is her first published work. It is the first book of the Illusion Trilogy.
